Aug. 14, 2013 PayPal Inc. has struck deal with mobile in-app commerce provider Lotaris that will add PayPal acceptance to the Lotaris platform. The pact enables commercial app developers using Lotaris’ in-appCommerce service—which providers licensing and payment solutions for purchases made within mobile apps—to offer users the option to pay with a PayPal account. The […]
Aug. 14, 2013 EnStream, the mobile payments joint venture between Canadian telecom providers Rogers Communications, Bell Corp. and TELUS Corp., has inked a deal with credit union association Desjardins Group to enable Desjardins’ banking customers to add payment cards to NFC-enabled smartphones. Under the partnership, Desjardins can offer its own branded banking app that’s compatible […]
Aug. 14, 2013 Less than a week after a U.S. federal judge ruled that Bitcoin is real currency, New York State’s Department of Financial Services (DFS) announced it has launched an investigation into virtual currencies. “The emergence of Bitcoin and other virtual currencies has presented a number of unique opportunities and challenges,” DFS Superintendent Benjamin […]
Canada is seeing a fresh push to promote near field communication (NFC) services after Canadian cooperative financial group Desjardin signed a deal with mobile money solutions provider Monitise and a joint venture with the nation’s three largest mobile operators.
An Edgar, Dunn & Company study compares the existing state and prospects for corporate and government prepaid programs in Europe in 2010 and 2013. We assessed seven European countries— France, Italy, Germany, the U.K., Spain, Poland and Turkey—and rated the attractiveness of each market, based on the legal and regulatory environment and prepaid market receptiveness, against the prepaid market opportunity.
Aug. 13, 2013 A hearing scheduled for tomorrow in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., will be the next step in the legal wrangling over the Federal Reserve’s debit interchange rule. The hearing follows the ruling late last month by U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon that the Fed’s Board of Governors overreached in its […]
Aug. 13, 2013 Chase today jumped into the mPOS race, offering a free mobile card reader for small business customers that has a few frills but a somewhat more traditional pricing plan, according to an announcement from Chase Paymentech, JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s acquiring and processing subsidiary. Like Square, which galvanized the mobile payments market […]
Aug. 13, 2013 Another mobile wallet provider has entered the fray in the U.K. British startup CloudZync has launched its Zync Wallet app for iOS and Windows phones, with an Android version to follow soon. Thus far, 280 merchants in London have signed on to accept Zync Wallet, which works by generating a QR code […]
Aug. 13, 2013 PerkStreet Financial, a Boston-based cash-back debit rewards provider, has announced it will shutter its services next month, citing a lack of financing along with regulatory restrictions that limited its ability to compete. In a notice posted on the company’s Website, PerkStreet said it will cease business operations on Sept. 26 and will […]
One recent study shows encouraging signs about prepaid adoption, while another reveals surprisingly low usage among minority populations, including Latinos, African- and Asian-Americans, suggesting that the industry has some work to do in further penetrating these demographic markets.
Aug. 13, 2013 Although Generation Y consumers, ages 18 to 34 years old, pay bills using a mobile device more than other generations, Gen Y consumers still prefer to have other bill payment options, according to a recent Western Union Co. study. More than 30 percent of Gen Y respondents reported paying a bill using […]
By Bill Grabarek, Senior Editor Acxiom consumer data shed light on current and future prepaid customers. Industry experts estimate that prepaid—despite its exponential growth—has barely made a dent in reaching underbanked consumers. And evidence suggests that targeting younger consumers also might be fertile ground for providers looking to grow their portfolios. To help providers better […]
Aug. 12, 2013 American Express Co.’s prepaid brand Serve will get a slot in the Isis mobile wallet when the mobile commerce venture rolls out nationally later this year, which could boost Serve’s awareness among its intended audience of underbanked consumers. Today JPMorgan Chase & Co. also said it plans to expand its relationship with […]
Aug. 12, 2013 Shoppers in the London borough of Richmond now can use their photos to verify their identity when making in-store purchases with PayPal’s mobile app. A new pilot in the company’s U.K. home base enables a user to find nearby shops and restaurants that accept PayPal, then check in by clicking on the […]
Aug. 12, 2013 Google is discontinuing NFC redemption for gift and loyalty cards stored in Google Wallet. Late last week, the company sent an email to users who had added gift or loyalty cards to their Wallet app, saying NFC redemption of such cards will end on Aug. 21. Cardholders have until that date to […]
Aug. 12, 2013 A long Fourth of July weekend and warm, dry weather throughout much of the U.S., among other factors, contributed to strong consumer spending last month, according to the latest SpendTrend data released by First Data Corp., an Atlanta-based payments processor. Dollar volume growth in July increased 7.7 percent year over year, compared […]
US-based Kearny Federal Savings Bank has chosen to install bank processing and mobile payments technology from specialist firm Fiserv, which it says will help the bank increase efficiency and attract new customers.
Industry experts air their opinions in the ongoing debate about whether NFC will dominate mobile payments. By Kate Fitzgerald, Emerging Payments Editor From the moment near field communication (NFC) popped onto the payments industry radar about a decade ago, debate has sizzled around if, when and how it could revolutionize payments—adding a powerful stream of […]
Although the network EMV liability shift is about two years out, card manufacturers already are consulting with their U.S. issuing clients to help them make decisions now about how they will approach the transition to EMV.
Aug. 8, 2013 Visa Inc. this week announced the deployment in Botswana of Visa Mobile Prepaid, its product designed to convert closed-loop mobile payment ventures in emerging nations to open-loop capabilities. Through Visa’s partnership with mobile network operator Orange, Botswana’s Orange Money subscribers now may withdraw funds at ATMs and make POS or online purchases, […]
Aug. 8, 2013 Houston-based ATM operator Cardtronics Inc. is expanding its presence in the U.K. and entering the German market with the $153 million purchase of British ATM operator Cardpoint Ltd. In the U.K., Cardpoint operates more than 7,100 ATM locations under the name Cashzone, while the company’s German ATM network numbers 800 machines. Combined […]
Aug. 8, 2013 A federal judge ruled that Bitcoin, a decentralized virtual currency, is a form of money. U.S. Magistrate Judge Amos L. Mazzant’s decision this week is part of a charge levied by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission against Trendon Shavers for allegedly defrauding investors of approximately $150,000 worth of bitcoins in a […]
Aug. 8, 2013 Payments processor PreCash has unveiled a new virtual payments platform the Houston company says will help fix the “broken” consumer online and mobile bill payment experience. Dubbed PreCash PayConnect, the new platform is built on PreCash’s cloud-based processing system and offers mobile and online payment for more than 10,000 service providers, including […]
PayPal users can withdraw money from their accounts and pick up the funds via money transfer company MoneyGram, following a deal between the two US firms that also will see PayPal customers loading funds into their accounts via MoneyGram by the end of the year.
French railway operator SNCF has adopted a mobile payments system from Californian tech firm VeriFone Systems, which allows customers to pay for railway tickets using a mobile device.
Telecoms firm Orange is planning to launch a set of mobile payment services in Botswana and other countries in Africa and the Middle East, which it says will easy access to funds around the clock and bring new point of sale, online and ATM transaction options to customers.
Western Union has launched a mobile money service in Nigeria, which it says will help boost financial inclusion and provide new methods of money transfer for people sending and receiving money to Africa.
A U.S. District Judge in Washington, D.C., ruled that the Federal Reserve Board overreached in its interchange and network routing rulemaking. If upheld, the decision will have huge consequences for issuers, program managers and other payments stakeholders.
Aug. 6, 2013 Online payments titan PayPal continues its march into the brick-and-mortar world, striking a deal that will enable its 55 million U.S. account holders to withdraw funds at MoneyGram locations across the country. Later this month, customers in Dallas, New York and San Francisco also will be able to load money into their […]
Aug. 6, 2013 Although many senior citizens use prepaid cards, such as those issued for Social Security benefits delivery or the AARP Card, there’s a new card on the market that’s using fraud mitigation tools to help protect seniors from financial scams. i2c Inc., a Silicon Valley-based provider of cloud payment processing, today announced that […]
Aug. 6, 2013 Norwegian telecom provider Telenor and DNB, the country’s largest bank, are teaming up to launch an NFC-based mobile wallet. Dubbed Valyou, the wallet is managed through a smartphone app that enables users to make purchases up to NOK200 (US$33.76) via contactless tap; for higher amounts, users must enter a PIN. After a […]
Aug. 6, 2013 A growing number of small and midsize businesses (SMBs) are using m-payments and social networks to improve efficiencies and increase customer traffic. Forty percent of businesses surveyed accept POS payments using a mobile card reader attached to a smartphone or tablet, and 16 percent of respondents plan to add this capability within […]
Aug. 5, 2013 A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of portions of the Dodd-Frank Act, including the formation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the appointment of its director, Richard Cordray. U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle last week determined that the claims in State National Bank of Big […]
Aug. 5, 2013 Online cash payment provider Ukash has struck a deal that will expand its retail network across Italy. The London-based company’s new partnership with prepaid distributor and producer Epipoli gives Ukash entry to the 145 locations of grocery retailer Esselunga in which Epipoli is already present, along with the firm’s other retail partners. […]
Aug. 5, 2013 Telecom and payment services provider IDT Corp. has added a new international money transfer service to its Boss Revolution payment platform. The remittance service currently is live for recipients in Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. IDT Payment Services—the IDT Corp. subsidiary that runs Boss Revolution—said within […]
Aug. 5, 2013 On the heels of Thailand’s central bank banning the use of Bitcoin, virtual currency companies, including virtual currency exchanges, have spelled out plans to establish a self-regulating industry group called the Digital Asset Transfer Authority. “Our companies are pioneering new services with potential to reduce the friction and cost of payments substantially […]
The introduction of seven-day account switching in the UK in September is a fundamental pillar of UK government plans to inject more competition into retail banking. But the plan has its critics – some of whom warn it may achieve the opposite of what it intends.
Aug. 1, 2013 Isis may be the first whole-ecosystem mobile payments system to go national when it expands to all regions later this year, and begins its toughest challenge yet: building scale. The NFC-based mobile wallet venture, led by AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile U.S. and Verizon Wireless, on July 30 announced plans to roll out across […]
Aug. 1, 2013 MasterCard is bringing its MasterPass digital wallet to the U.K., with several major retailers onboard as launch partners. The cloud-based service, available since earlier this year in the U.S., Canada and Australia, enables consumers to store payment and loyalty card information, along with shipping and billing address details, and make purchases online […]
Aug. 1, 2013 PULSE, a Houston-based debit/ATM network and Discover Financial Services company, announced today it’s using Paydiant’s mobile payment platform, enabling PULSE financial institution and merchant partners to “quickly deploy” contactless mobile payment and cash-access capabilities for their customers. Paydiant is a Wellesley, Mass.-based provider of a cloud-based, white-label mobile payment and offer-redemption platform for retailers, banks […]
