Dermot Turing, partner at Clifford Chance, told the IPS conference that regulators are hampering innovation by making it hard for the industry to collaborate though application of competition law. He advocates that banks – particularly from the transaction and payments world – should be educating the regulators in order to get better regulations.
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 […]
Brick-and-mortar retailers are cheering the U.S. Senate’s support of proposed legislation that would prevent some online and catalog merchants from selling goods without collecting sales tax, which traditional retailers say would level the playing field as in-store, online and mobile sales channels converge. The U.S. Senate on May 6 will vote on the Marketplace Fairness […]
Cross-border shopping could become more convenient with a pair of new services from TSYS that display transactions in multiple currencies, along with the daily exchange rate, so consumers can decide which currency they prefer to pay with before making in-store or online purchases. Through a partnership with Planet Payment Inc., an international multicurrency payment processor, […]
In a move meant to embody the evolution of the company, automated retail provider Coinstar Inc. has announced plans to change its name to Outerwall Inc. The name change, which will be subject to shareholder vote in late June, reflects Coinstar’s growth “from a single coin-counting kiosk business into multiple automated retail businesses,” the Bellevue, […]
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 […]
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 […]
The Belgian automated interbank retail payment system has been completely migrated to a new Clearing and Settlement Mechanism developed and operated by French payment processing specialist STET
KBC Bank has partnered with payment specialist Sentenial to offer the latter’s Origix Corporate payment management solution to the bank’s business clients.
Maurice Cleaves, Barclays, talks to Banking Technology editor David Bannister about the themes that emerged at the International Payments Summit 2013 in London.
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 […]
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 […]
Online merchants using Vindicia’s CashBox SaaS platform are now able to accept paysafecard for digital goods and services, according to paysafecard, a European-based prepaid electronic payment solution provider, with offices in in Vienna, London and New York. “Vindicia is the ideal partner . . . to help us strengthen our footprint in the U.S.,” said […]
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 […]
Brett King, founder of Moven, speaks to Banking Technology editor David Bannister about how banks have to cope with the move to a virtual world and the emergence of what he calls “smarter payments”.
The U.S. EMV migration poses many challenges, but a few issuers and merchants already getting their feet wet with chip-and-PIN conversions told attendees at CARTES America this week that U.S. consumer response to EMV cards so far is positive. The first U.S. commercial bank to roll out EMV cards to its customers in mid-2011, Santa […]
A subsidiary of Leawood, Kan.-based processor Euronet Worldwide has launched a prepaid card issuing, processing and BIN sponsorship solution in Europe. Euronet 360 Finance Ltd. now is offering electronic money and payment services under the oversight of the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). By passporting its e-money license across the Single Euro Payments Area (excluding […]
Chicago-based social gifting service Boomerang has rolled out a new rewards service aimed at helping online publishers better engage and monetize their users by offering free gift card rewards to online merchants. Boomerang Rewards, an extension of the company’s recently unveiled brand platform, enables online publishers to give customers promotional gift cards to more than […]
EMV chip-enabled card growth continued at a healthy clip worldwide last year but China and Europe led demand, according to new data the Smart Payment Association (SPA) released today at the annual CARTES America meeting in Las Vegas. EMV card production overall rose 9 percent last year to 975 million cards, up from 898 million […]
With the switch from magnetic stripe to EMV-equipped payment cards in the U.S. on the horizon, American Express said it will begin issuing corporate cards with chip-and-signature EMV technology within the first half of this year. The new cards will offer enhanced security by using advanced encryption technology that makes it more difficult for unauthorized […]
StoreFinancial Services has announced a marketing program designed to strengthen the bond between professional sports teams and their fans, as well as ties between team sponsors and their customers. With the Fan Experience Card program, which features a restricted authorization network (RAN) prepaid card that can be redeemed at any merchant inside or outside the […]
State Bank of India (SBI) has launched a new prepaid card targeted for use by students and blue collar workers, the bank said. The Visa-branded State Bank Smart Payout Card is available at all SBI branches and can be used for POS and online purchases, as well as ATM cash withdrawals. Cards can be loaded […]
Blackhawk Network Holdings Inc. exceeded expectations with its initial public offering launched last week, raising $230 million and bringing its market value based on the IPO price to $1.2 billion. The prepaid card provider and third-party distributor owned by Safeway Inc. priced 10 million of its shares at $23 each, after Blackhawk’s existing shareholders initially […]
The industry has been waiting for a possible preemption ruling from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) since last summer when the agency requested comments on whether certain state laws with a two-year escheat period conflict with federal law that requires no expiration prior to five years. The CFPB has determined that escheat laws in Maine […]
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 […]
Virgin Australia is joining a growing number of airlines adding a prepaid travel card as a perk for frequent flier customers. Members of the airline’s Velocity Frequent Flyer program will have the option to upgrade their existing Global Wallet membership card to a contactless Visa prepaid card, enabling customers to load funds onto their cards […]
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 […]
Swift and the Banking Commission of the International Chamber of Commerce have introduced new legal and technology standards for the new Bank Payment Obligation payment instrument. The BPO allows buyers and suppliers to secure and finance international trade transactions. It provides the benefits of a letter of credit in an automated and secured environment, and […]
Visa Europe is adding two new functions to its Personal Payments mobile money transfer service, enabling users to make instant transactions in any European currency. The multi-currency feature will be rolled out across the European Union by the end of this year, Visa Europe said, and will enable payments to be sent and received across […]
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 […]
With privacy and security concerns among the most important factors for many online shoppers, a plan by electronic retail giant Amazon could enable consumers to make purchases from third parties without disclosing any personal information to the seller. According to a patent filed by Amazon in 2009 and published earlier this week, the system would […]
Fraud and payments specialist Alaric has hired Jan Rees as account manager to look after customers across EMEA and the Americas. Rees has more than 20 years’ experience in the payments space, including roles at S1, Wincor Nixdorf, Level Four and Logica (now CGI). For the past year he has been working on a consultancy […]
New York City is the latest to launch a mobile payment pilot for its municipal parking operations, enabling motorists to use smartphones to locate and pay for available parking spots on streets and city-operated parking lots. The pilot harnesses technology from Vancouver-based PaybyPhone, which provides mobile payment services for parking operations in 180 cities around […]
The global move toward cashless payments for mass transit continued this week, with news out of two major world cities. London soon could be banning cash payments on its iconic buses, according to the BBC, while Beijing’s subway has debuted a new payment system that uses sound waves to enable ticket purchases via smartphone. In […]
A proposed plan by the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to check prepaid card balances at the U.S. border to combat money laundering will not significantly help solve illegal cross-border funds transfers, according to a new white paper issued by the Network Branded Prepaid Card Association (NBPCA). Instead, the NBPCA said, the agency […]
Kuwait Airways aims to increase customer loyalty with a new prepaid MasterCard that provides members of its frequent-flier Al Waha Club with rewards for every purchase using the card. The Baitok-Waha Club card, offered in collaboration with a local bank, Kuwait Finance House, enables cardholders to earn two free miles for every domestic purchase and […]
Whether it’s in-store, online or using a mobile device, consumers want a seamless shopping experience, with nearly 90 percent of consumers saying it’s important to them to be able to shop in the way that is most convenient for them, regardless of the sales channel, according to a recent report. More than 80 percent of […]
Bankers can seem a little bit schizophrenic when it comes to regulation – much of the time they complain about the sheer weight of the regulatory burden they face, but at other times they talk of regulation as an opportunity. It could well be that as they have finally realised regulation – and plenty of it – is inevitable, some banks have decided to make a virtue out of it.
Concerned about reports that suggest checking account overdraft fees are on the rise again despite regulatory efforts to curb them, a group of lawmakers led by U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) recently re-introduced a bill to further restrict bank overdraft fees and launch an investigation into prepaid card overdraft protection programs. The Overdraft Protection Act […]
Another concern about the U.S. migration to EMV was alleviated last week when MasterCard Worldwide announced a solution for ATM operators facing a liability shift this week for fraudulent transactions at ATMs from Maestro cards issued abroad. MasterCard alone has a global chip liability shift for non-U.S.-issued Maestro cards that goes into effect April 19, […]
