Mobile


Jury Sides with Patent Company in Gift Card Case (May 6, 2013)

A bid by a group of big-name retailers to invalidate patents related to prepaid cards has failed in federal court, leaving the merchants subject to future legal action by the holder of the patents. The case dates back to 2010, when patent holder Alexsam Inc. sued retailers, including Best Buy, JC Penney, Barnes & Noble, […]

Mobey Forum: MPOS Disrupts Payments Landscape (May 6, 2013)

Mobile point of sale (MPOS) technology, with its quick enrollment process, low-cost hardware and apps that enable mobile devices to accept card payments, is disrupting the payments landscape as it transitions from a niche solution for small merchants to a revenue generator for large retailers, according to a white paper from Mobey Forum. “Little more […]

BYNDL, Sprout Partner on M-Payments at Vending Machines (May 6, 2013)

Mobile transaction services company BYNDL Inc. has teamed up with Sprout Retail, a vending-focused consumer marketing firm, to deliver mobile payments, stored value, digital coupons and surveys to vending customers via mobile devices. Seattle-based startup BYNDL offers a “vending cloud,” which enables vending technology providers to offer their vending operator clients digital services to sell […]

Video: Rabobank’s Inneke Bussemaker at IPS 2013

Rabobank’s Inneke Bussemaker talks about The Brave New World of Payments session she chaired at IPS 2013, taking a critical look at the future of how payments work in a world where corporates will have to adapt to a consumer-driven agenda.

Google Invests in P2P Loan Company, Rolls out Transit Card in Kenya (May 2, 2013)

Google made two moves to expand its role in financial services this week, investing in a P2P lending company and rolling out a contactless transit card in Kenya. Google acquired a minority stake in Lending Club, an online financial community that matches creditworthy borrowers with investors, providing an alternative to traditional banking with competitive loan […]

Mobile is there for the taking …

Financial institutions have owned the commercial payment space for centuries, but are now seeing a threat to their incumbency from new technologies that have opened up the industry to other business sectors. Mobile transactions in particular are shaking-up banking.

People on the Move: Mike Delagrange, Galitt (May 2013)

Galitt, a French payments and electronic transactions consultancy, has appointed Mike Delagrange senior vice president and general manager of Galitt’s U.S. operations. He will be responsible for positioning Galitt’s success in selling EMV, NFC and TSM consulting services throughout Europe to major companies in the U.S. Delagrange has more than 20 years of conventional and […]

Discover’s Joe Hurley Talks PayPal, UnionPay and More (May 2013)

Joseph Hurley has been with Discover since 1985 when the then-small company with the big idea—cash-back rewards—got started. He has held positions in marketing, product management, government relations, and network products and services. From 2008-2010, Hurley was deputy president of Diners Club International, and from 2003-2008 he served as head of global client relations and vice president […]

Ukash Inks Funds-Transfer Deal with MoneyGram (April 30, 2013)

London-based prepaid voucher specialist Ukash is extending the reach of its services further with a new deal announced this week with MoneyGram. The alliance will enable Ukash customers to send funds from the Ukash Website to recipients at any MoneyGram outlet worldwide. The service will launch in the U.K. later this year, with plans to […]

Javelin: Mobile POS Could Lead to $1.1 Trillion in New Card Payments (April 29, 2013)

The rising prevalence of mobile POS systems could result in up to $1.1 trillion in additional card payments per year and increase payment card acceptance by as many as 20 million merchants, according to a new report by Javelin Strategy & Research. Mobile POS systems like Square, PayPal Here, SpotPay and iZettle, which have become popular […]

Blog: Digital/Mobile Payments and the Power of Social Media (April 2013)

By Hunny Huria, Visa At times I’m amazed how social media has changed our lives and continues to have potential to impact it more. There are innumerable people who start the day by checking their Facebook accounts. As of December 2012, Facebook had more than half a billion daily active users, and 9 million apps […]

Early Mobile ‘Wallet Wars’ Lessons Learned

Mobile wallets are still in the formative stage of their development but a few lessons already are emerging, according to certain payment industry players sharing their experiences this week at CARTES America in Las Vegas. Inventing new ways to pay using a smartphone is not enough to justify the effort to develop mobile wallets because […]

CFPB, FDIC Weigh in on Payday, Deposit Advance Loans (April 25, 2013)

Payday and deposit advance loans were in the news today, with a new report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and a Notice of Proposed Guidance from the FDIC each indicating that regulators soon could tighten rules governing short-term credit products. Payday and deposit advance loans can lead to a repeating cycle of indebtedness […]

MasterCard Exec: MasterPass Aims to Help Merchants ‘Differentiate’ in Converging Marketplace (April 25, 2013)

The U.S. rollout this spring of MasterCard’s MasterPass may be quieter than some other product launches because it doesn’t directly target consumers, Ed Olebe, group head, wallet services, emerging payments, MasterCard, said this week at CARTES America in Las Vegas. MasterPass, unveiled earlier this year as the successor to last year’s PayPass Wallet Services and […]

Isis Vending Program Going Nationwide (April 25, 2013)

The companies behind the Isis mobile wallet have teamed up with cashless acceptance technology provider USA Technologies (USAT) to launch a mobile payment and loyalty program for vending machines across the U.S. The partnership is an extension of USAT’s involvement in Isis’s test run in Salt Lake City and Austin, Texas, where Isis users can […]

Mobile account takeover: when device ID isn’t enough

Protect your transactions! Protect your login! Protect your mobile channel! Protect your end users! A layered security architecture is now standard for most organisations. The problem, however, with many of today’s layered security solutions is that they do not correlate information between the various layers (security risks, suspicious events, fraud indicators etc.) and thus fail to see the big picture.

Visa to Bring Mobile Banking Platform to Pakistan (April 22, 2013)

Visa Inc. is set to launch a new mobile financial service in Pakistan built on technology the payment network acquired under its 2011 purchase of mobile banking service provider Fundamo. According to a report on the Website of The Express Tribune of Pakistan, the service will use Visa’s VisaNet electronic payments processing network and will […]

Immediate mobile payments come to Europe, M-Pesa to India

Payment processing firm Visa Europe has introduced a service allowing consumers to make mobile payments across the region immediately and using any European currency. Meanwhile in India, popular money transfer and payment service M-Pesa has now been fully launched. Visa Europe’s Personal Payments service enables Visa credit, debit or prepaid card users to accept payments […]

Mobile money to transform Turkish transport and US retail

Turkish operator Turkcell and SIM card and mobile security solutions provider Gemalto have each found themselves at the hearts of two mobile payment projects that promise to transform the transport and retail sectors in Turkey and the USA respectively.

MCX Picks Gemalto to Build its Mobile Wallet (April 18, 2013)

The wheels are turning for U.S. merchant consortium MCX, which this week said Netherlands-based Gemalto will build its mobile wallet. MCX, founded last year by major merchants including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp. and CVS, altogether counts about 30 merchants as members aiming to create a broad mobile payment app streamlining payment and loyalty options […]

UnionPay, Intel Team Up on Mobile Payments (April 15, 2013)

China may be one step closer to becoming the one of the largest NFC payments markets. Shanghai-based payment card network China UnionPay (CUP) has tapped tech giant Intel to provide mobile payment services. Under the collaboration, announced last week at the Intel Developer Forum in Beijing, CUP will use Intel’s identity protection technology for its […]

Vodafone, China Mobile Look to Bring M-PESA to Myanmar (April 15, 2013)

The M-Pesa mobile money transfer service could be coming to Myanmar, thanks to a joint bid by Vodafone and China Mobile. The companies are among 12 groups being considered by the Myanmar government for one of two licenses to operate a mobile network in the Southeast Asian nation, according to a report in the Financial […]

Banks opt for hosted mobile services says Celent

As Banking 3.0 continues its inexorable rise, banks are increasingly turning to hosted mobile services developed with vendors – but there is still more work to be done before mobile banking becomes mainstream, according to a new report by analyst firm Celent.

The limits of the mobile revolution

Senior financial executives have clashed over the extent to which mobile payments technology has failed to reach its potential – and the best way to fix it.

Mobile opportunities for banks

The emergence of alternative payments providers such as PayPal and the growth of mobile payments systems such as M-Pesa should be seen as a major opportunity for banks, not a threat, according to Ron van Wezel, global head of emerging payment streams at Deutsche Bank.

MasterPass Digital Wallet Heads to Canada (April 11, 2013)

Canadian consumers will be the first in North America to be able to use MasterCard’s new MasterPass digital wallet, the company announced today. Unveiled in February at Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress, MasterPass offers users a cloud-based mobile solution for online shopping. Consumers can store up to 25 credit, debit or prepaid cards in the wallet—whether […]

E-Wallets Drive NFC-Enabled SIM Card Shipments (April 11, 2013)

Global shipments of NFC-enabled SIM cards rose 87 percent in 2012 compared with the previous year, according to SIMalliance. The London-based nonprofit trade association, which supports the creation, deployment and management of secure mobile services and applications, this week released a report on 2012 SIM shipments based on data provided by its members, which represent […]

Blog: Tipping Point for M-Payments Hidden in SMS App and Obscure Pizza Promo (April 2013)

By Joseph DeSetto, Emerging Payments Blogger It wasn’t long ago that mobile payments apps for the current generation of smartphones were difficult and time consuming for even experienced programmers to create. Much like the early days of e-commerce, standard ways of protecting user data, providing a consistent interface and user experience that would be trusted, […]

Kalixa Group unveils “disruptive” payments tools

Payments company Kalixa Group has launched a set of tools including an mPOS, e-wallet and acceptance kit, which it says will disrupt the global payments market in Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific and the Middle East.

Dealing with Generation Y

Banks should pay attention to the needs of a new generation of consumers if they want to secure their business lines for the future, according to Mark Hale, head of payments at KPMG.

Mobile will kill the traditional bank branch says Brett King

Disruptive digital technologies such as mobile and the internet will destroy the established retail banking business models by removing the physical product and replacing it with a digitised bank account, according to Brett King, speaking at the IPS show in London today. “In the old days there was a physical product, and a physical store,” […]

Card Forum: Discover/PayPal Rollout to Begin April 19 (April 9, 2013)

PayPal and Discover will begin the rollout of PayPal as a payment option at the point of sale, starting April 19, Don Kingsborough, PayPal’s global vice president and general manager of retail and prepaid, said yesterday. Speaking at Card Forum in Boca Raton, Fla., Kingsborough shared the stage with Discover’s Joe Hurley, senior vice president, […]

KFC Tests Mobile Payment App in U.K. (April 9, 2013)

Yum! Brands Inc.’s KFC is the latest fast-food giant to pilot a mobile payment app, launching its first such effort near London. Consumers will be able use their smartphones to place orders and pay ahead of time, then pick up their food upon arrival at the store. KFC joins Starbucks Corp., Burger King Corp., Dunkin’ […]

Orange, Vodafone Customers Can Pay with a Beep on Bucharest Subway (April 9, 2013)

Orange and Vodafone customers now can use their mobile phones to pay for trips on the subway in Bucharest, Romania. The system this month is being expanded to the city’s entire 51-station metro network after testing in seven stations last year. Customers can purchase tickets by sending a text message to a special number. A […]

LevelUp Pilot for Student Dining Launches at Pair of Colleges (April 9, 2013)

Students at two colleges have a new way to pay for campus meals, thanks to a pilot being launched by food service manager Chartwells Higher Education Dining Services and mobile payment and loyalty network LevelUp. The program—undergoing a test run at Buffalo State University in Buffalo, N.Y., and the Curry Student Center retail dining venue […]

U.K. Bans ‘Excessive’ Payment Card Surcharges (April 8, 2013)

A U.K. ban on merchants imposing “excessive” surcharges when consumers pay with credit or debit cards that went into effect April 6 could mean fewer surprises for consumers that previously complained about getting stung with unexpected transaction fees when paying for airline and rail tickets and other online purchases. But some observers say the new […]