Viewpoint: Is Direct Debit the New Alternative Payment Tool?
Find out why direct debit is a preferred payment method for nearly 40 percent of consumers worldwide and what it means for technology providers, banks and online merchants.
Payments
Bottomline launches Direct FPS Service for payments
Bottomline Technologies has launched a new payments gateway solution, Direct FPS Service. The company says the service aims to help challenger banks gain access to the UK payments market, as well as enable any organisation wishing to make “quick” payments to their customers or suppliers. It works under the New Access Model, designed to allow […]
Payments in 2016: a pivotal year
With challenges across the board, banks will have their work cut out to keep up with the changing world of payments in 2016. It is shaping up to be a pivotal year for the payments industry as regulation, new technology, major infrastructure overhaul projects and security issues combine to reshape the landscape. According to a […]
CFPB Makes First Data Security Enforcement against Dwolla
The CFPB has hit online payments provider Dwolla with an enforcement action over what the agency describes as misleading claims the company made about customers’ data security and the risks of using Dwolla’s online system. The action is the CFPB’s first enforcement related to a data security issue, the agency said.
Wirecard on a Tear: New Prepaid Card, Two Acquisitions
Wirecard Technologies GmbH has been busy, launching a new Visa-branded prepaid/credit product in Germany today, following recent acquisitions in Romania and Brazil. Today the company released mycard2go prepaid card, which is the first Visa Simply One combined card that enables acceptance at merchants that take Visa credit and V PAY debit cards.
Square Opens up Cash Drawer
Square Inc. has added a new feature to its Square Cash P2P money transfer service that enables users to store funds within their Square Cash accounts—a move that means the service can fulfill some of the functions of a mobile wallet.
Turkish Man Pleads Guilty in $55 Million Global ATM Heist Scheme
A Turkish man pled guilty Tuesday in a federal court in Brooklyn to planning and leading cyber-attacks that swiped $55 million from ATMs around the world.
ABN Amro teams with First Data for payments
Dutch state-owned bank, ABN Amro, is partnering with US-based First Data for payments and will offer services through its joint venture European Merchant Services (EMS). EMS has been processing credit card and debit card payments for businesses for over 25 years, and ABN Amro says entrepreneurs and small business owners will be able to add […]
D+H Corporation bullish on payments software business
North American software provider, D+H Corporation, has made optimistic noises over its Global Transaction Banking Solution (GTBS) unit in its latest financial results. The vendor claims to have “won a majority of payment hub RFPs” as well as “surpassed the Fundtech [now GTBS] backlog record” in generating revenue from the existing projects. Gerrard Schmid, CEO […]
Mobile, IoT, P2P payments will rule the future
Be mobile, be fast and be ready for the demise of paper currency.
CFPB’s Latest Complaint Report Spotlights Prepaid
The CFPB’s latest consumer complaint report is out, and this month the agency took a closer look at prepaid-related complaints. Even though the agency says prepaid complaints “spiked in recent months,” such complaints continue to comprise a small fraction of the issues brought to the bureau’s attention.
Sen. Rounds Calls on CFPB for Cost-Benefit Analysis for Benefits Cards
As the CFPB prepares to release its final rule on prepaid accounts—expected this month—U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) is urging the agency to conduct a cost-benefit analysis on how the rule would affect government benefits cards and potentially increase taxpayer costs.
Enterprise Bank Finds SMBs Hungry for Mobile Banking
When Enterprise Bank began offering a mobile banking app designed by Fiserv with small business clients in mind, the uptake was far beyond expectations. Catering to business clients via mobile has several benefits, such as increasing loyalty and profitability and attracting millennial entrepreneurs.
Privacy Shield Roils Critics, Muddying U.S.-EU Data Sharing Picture
The recently proposed data-transfer pact between the U.S. and European Union has come under fire from critics, including privacy activists and some EU lawmakers, who claim the deal fails to adequately protect EU citizens from surveillance by American intelligence agencies.
Fintech 2.0: creating new opportunities through strategic alliance
Banks and fintechs should collaborate rather than compete, leveraging their respective strengths to revolutionise the B2B payments space and create sustainable business models in today’s digital era. As the next stages of digital structural change continue to transform financial services, the focus of technological developments will shift. Most recent developments in business models have been […]
Apple to Testify in House Committee Hearing on Encryption
Apple will testify tomorrow before the House Judiciary Committee on encryption amid its fight with the FBI over creating software to hack an iPhone of one of the terrorists responsible for the December attacks in San Bernardino, Calif. Fellow tech companies, including Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Twitter, are expected to file amicus briefs in support of Apple’s decision not to comply with a court order demanding that Apple comply with the FBI’s request.
In Resource Shift, Venmo Closes API to New Developers
Developers seeking to incorporate Venmo’s payments tools into their apps might be out of luck, as the popular P2P service has closed access to its payments API for new developers. The company said it’s focusing its efforts and resources on launching the beta of pay with Venmo, the new in-app payment service it announced last month.
iovation Offers Password-Less Security
As e-merchants seek to reduce friction for their Web and mobile customers, authentication specialist iovation has launched a new “password-less security” service, which the company says streamlines the user experience while maintaining robust protections.
Number26 and TransferWise partner for international money transfers
German digital bank Number26 and TransferWise, a UK-based international money transfer platform, have teamed up to provide Number26 customers with direct “in-app” access to TransferWise’s service. Number26 co-founder and CEO Valentin Stalf says the company wants banking products to be “accessible to customers with one tap, creating a fintech hub inside the Number26 app”. The […]
Misys gains new live site for FusionCapital in Vietnam, at Techcombank
Vietnam-based Techcombank has gone live with Misys’ FusionCapital software. The new platform – based on Misys’ FusionCapital Kondor product – supports treasury and capital markets (TCM) operations at the bank. The deal was inked in November 2014. Techcombank opted to work with Misys as it has offered “a configurable, fast and cost-effective analytics platform”, explains […]
New core software deal for Temenos in the UK
British Arab Commercial Bank (BACB) is looking to modernise its core software. It is believed the bank has settled for a new platform – Temenos’ T24. BACB is a London-based wholesale bank that specialises in trade finance and treasury services to Africa and the Middle East. The bank has been in the system selection mode […]
PayPal plans Latin America growth with América Móvil alliance
PayPal is teaming up with Mexican telecommunications giant América Móvil as it looks to expand in Latin America. The alliance’s focus will be on a new mobile wallet platform, which lets users pay for items by smartphone scans. With América Móvil on board, PayPal can target 140 million users in Brazil and Mexico. Dan Schulman, […]
I2c and TIS team up for payments in Asia
Payment firms i2c and TIS have formed a strategic partnership to standardise prepaid payment solutions on the i2c processing platform. Under terms of the multi-year partnership, Japan-based TIS will adopt i2c’s cloud-based platform as its standard for prepaid card processing and expand its use to support credit and debit card payment processing in “key Asian […]
PSR tells banks to sell stakes in VocaLink to increase payments competition
The UK’s Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) says banks should sell their stake in the nation’s payments infrastructure, VocaLink, to “help increase innovation and competition”. The PSR has published its provisional findings of its market review into the ownership and competitiveness of the infrastructure that supports the payments systems; Bacs, Faster Payments System (FPS) and LINK. […]
Green Dot Talks Harvest, New Products
In Green Dot Corp.’s first earnings call since investor Harvest Capital Strategies called for the ouster of Green Dot CEO Steve Streit and two board members, Streit said that while neither he nor the board members will be going anywhere, the company is open to Harvest’s input on how to improve the company’s performance and its advice on adding potential new board members.
U.K. Regulator Calls for More Bank Innovation, Competition
The Payment System Regulator (PSR), a government body created to oversee the payment systems industry in the U.K., is calling for the major banks to sell a part of their stakes in U.K.-based payments provider VocaLink, which it claims will create more fertile ground for innovation and competition.
Apple Pay Integrates with Akimbo Corporate Prepaid Cards
Apple Pay has a new foothold in corporate payroll: Payment Data Systems said that its Akimbo prepaid card program now works with the mobile wallet from the computer maker.
Chase Pay Brews up Starbucks Deal
In the battle for mobile wallet supremacy, JPMorgan Chase this week got venti-sized boost in the form of a partnership with Starbucks.
Perspectives for a Real-Time World
This webinar will look at how real-time ubiquity and reach are crucial and collaboration is the winning strategy. As real-time continues to evolve, join us to discuss how it opens up opportunities.
Company on the Move: Bank Appointees, Federal Reserve Board
The Federal Reserve Board has reappointed Federal Reserve Bank presidents and first vice presidents. Each officer will serve a five-year term beginning March 1, 2016.
Company on the Move: Ingenico, Technology Association of Georgia Award
Ingenico Group, a global payment solutions provider and 2016 Pay Award Winner, has announced that the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) has named the Alpharetta, Ga.-based company one of the Top 40 Innovative Technology Companies in the state.
People on the Move: NBPCA Chair and Board Members
The Network Branded Prepaid Card Association (NBPCA) announced Robert Skiba will return to the role of chairman of the board at the NBPCA. The association named additional officers for FY 2016.
AsiaHawala powers Iraq’s “first” mobile money service with Mahindra Comviva
AsiaHawala, Iraq’s “first” mobile money service, has chosen Mahindra Comviva’s Mobiquity Money solution as it looks to expand its reach across the country. The Iraqi company offers consumers a mobile account for a range of financial transactions – such as P2P transfer, bill payments, merchant payments, salary payments and a recharge service. With Mobiquity Money […]
Net Element enters Azerbaijan’s mobile payments market
Florida-based Net Element has launched its mobile payments platform, Digital Provider, in Azerbaijan. The venture is done via the company’s Russian subsidiary, OOO Digital Provider. The company says the new integration allows content providers and aggregators access to all “major” mobile operators in the country. It has also signed a contract with a national television […]
Talbott Roche Named Blackhawk Network CEO
Last fall Talbott Roche, along with seven other female executives at Blackhawk Network, was selected as one of the Women Driving Payments Change. Now she takes the helm of Blackhawk Network, a company she helped build from the ground up.
Ingo Money Rolls out ‘Me-to-Me’ Funding Feature
Instead of focusing on P2P, Ingo Money Inc. has its sights set on enabling what Founder and CEO Drew Edwards calls “me-to-me” payments. The company, which specializes in digitizing cash and checks through its Good Funds Network, today announced the rollout of a service within its Ingo Money App that enables consumers to cash a check with their smartphones and send the funds instantly to multiple accounts, including prepaid, PayPal, bank and private-label credit card accounts.
MWC: Mobile Money Driving Inclusion Worldwide, Says Report
There were more than 1 billion mobile money transactions worldwide in December 2015, according to a report released by the GSMA this week at the mobile association’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. In its fifth annual State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money, the GSMA outlined the growth of mobile money, which it said is “changing the landscape of financial inclusion.”
Flywire CEO Sees Increasing Demand for Cross-Border Payments
The demand for large cross-border transactions is on the rise, and consumers making those purchases are seeking the most convenient and cost-effective transaction methods and channels. That’s according to Flywire, a 4-year-old company that got its start in the international student tuition sector and has since expanded to enable multiple types of cross-border payments.
Starbucks Will Reward Spending, Not Visits, in Revamped Loyalty Program
Starbucks will change its loyalty program, rewarding what consumers spend instead of how often they visit. The change, due in April, has drawn some criticism from the chain’s customers although the coffee giant claims customers suggested it.
Achieving merchant acceptance – the key to successful digital financial services
Digital financial services (DFS) have the power to transform the lives of millions living in poverty. However, the lack of merchant acceptance presents a significant obstacle to its success. Sacha Polverini, chairman of the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) focus group on digital financial services and Carol Benson, managing partner at Glenbrook Partners, look at how […]
