Walmart is adding a new rewards program to its Pay Award-winning prepaid MoneyCard that will give cardholders cash back on purchases made in-store, online and at the fuel pump. The news follows American Express’ launch of 1 percent cash back for Serve cardholders and could signal stiffer competition in the GPR space
As the IRS and industry continue to fight identity theft-related tax refund fraud, the agency’s Criminal Investigation Program initiated 776 investigations into ID theft fraud during the 2015 fiscal year, according to the IRS’s newly released 2015 Data Book.
Mobile banking use in the U.S. has increased to 43 percent of adults with capable devices. But only a relative few of those consumers have paid bills with their mobile phones.
An Accenture survey finds not only that most consumers prefer people over digital channels for customer service, but that human-based interaction can save hassles.
Exchange group SIX and Switzerland’s five largest banks are in talks over a joint mobile payments platform for the country. SIX, retail chains Migros and Coop, and telecoms company Swisscom are planning to create a standardised digital payment system for consumers in Switzerland. A joint statement from the banks – UBS, Credit Suisse, Raiffeisen, PostFinance […]
Bank of Ceylon, the largest bank in Sri Lanka, has continued its long-term relationship with Fiserv, and upgraded to the recent versions of Signature (retail core banking) and Teller (a front-end teller system). The bank has also chosen Fiserv’s Communicator to provide integration between Signature and third-party solutions. Luxaman Perera, head of IT, Bank of […]
Payment systems specialist Dovetail has helped US-based BMO Harris Bank with the upgrade phase of its wire platform replacement project. Dovetail’s solution provides “modular, out-of-the-box” payments processing capability that enables the bank to “improve in the short term while working towards an ultimate goal of full legacy replacement”, comments Martin Coen, CEO of Dovetail. Dovetail […]
BPC Banking Technologies has teamed with Da Afghanistan Bank to launch a SmartVista-powered national payment system in Afghanistan. Afghanistan Payments Systems (APS), a consortium of financial institutions funded by Da Afghanistan Bank (the nation’s central bank) through the World Bank, aims to develop the retail banking market in the troubled nation by providing electronic and […]
Global risk and compliance and payments solutions provider Accuity has opened a new office in Miami to serve new and existing clients in Miami, Central America, Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela and the Caribbean.
Javelin Strategy & Research has announced that Emmett Higdon has joined the firm and will assume the role of director of mobile.
The Hyperledger Project—a collaborative effort, led by the nonprofit Linux Foundation, with the goal of establishing an open blockchain distributed ledger platform that will satisfy a variety of use cases across multiple industries—has announced newly elected leaders of its governing board and technical steering committee, along with new corporate members.
The Retail Gift Card Association (RGCA) has elected five new members to its board of directors and appointed two current board members to executive-level positions.
John Sloan has been named president and CEO of Allegiance Capital Corp., a Dallas-based private investment bank.
FIS and Vocalink’s PayPort have become the first to gain accreditation to supply access to Faster Payments through its New Access Model. Both have been awarded the new certificate of technical accreditation “trust mark”, after passing all the required technical tests covering the origination and receipt of payments by a direct participant of Faster Payments. […]
Sweden’s Länsförsäkringar Bank has become the first bank in the country to take TCS Financial Services’ Bancs core banking system. Meanwhile, Temenos and SAP are also busy with core renovation projects in the region (see below for more details). TCS will provide system integration and support services to Länsförsäkringar, the fifth largest retail bank in […]
The IRS has concluded that a company can defer the recognition of advance payment income received from the sale of unredeemed gift cards that are redeemable for goods or services for up to two years.
Samsung Electronics and China UnionPay (CUP) have launched the mobile payment service Samsung Pay in China. The South Korean firm joins Apple in entering the country, as the US giant launched its mobile payment system in China last month. That was also in partnership with state-owned bankcard association CUP. Samsung Pay currently supports credit and […]
Starbucks plans to add another prepaid card to its popular loyalty program, enabling members to earn points for purchases made at other retailers. The Starbucks Reward Prepaid Card is issued by Chase and runs on Visa’s payment network, meaning cardholders can use the card anywhere Visa is accepted and earn loyalty points for Starbucks.
New approaches to authentication are kicking into high gear as eBay joins the FIDO Alliance, which promotes biometrics, while IDology launches a mobile authentication product.
The OCC will release a paper to start discussions on new regulations for financial startups, which banks reportedly want.
The U.S. Department of Justice has dropped its legal claim against Apple Inc. over the FBI’s request that the tech company help unlock the iPhone of one of the shooters in last year’s attacks in San Bernardino, Calif. According to a court filing, the FBI was able to access the device without Apple’s assistance.
The Nordics have a unique model for domestic payment processing, but some of the upheavals in the system provide a lesson for other countries debating faster, upgraded payments initiatives. Owned by the eight largest banks in Sweden, Bankgirot is the clearing house for domestic payments in Sweden, and provides the banks with payment product and […]
Merchants have been challenging state surcharge laws, but the courts stand firm.
A Radio Shack gift card holder’s motion to get his legal fees and expenses paid first in the electronics retailer’s Chapter 11 case has been denied. Consumers with Radio Shack gift cards may file a claim by Dec. 2, 2016and if the claim is judged to be valid, claimants will receive 100 percent of the card balance, according to the Website.
Swift has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with China International Payment Service (CIPS Co.) to develop China’s cross-border payments infrastructure. The agreement sets out plans to use Swift to connect China’s Cross-border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) with its global user community. Alain Raes, Swift chief executive of Asia Pacific and EMEA, says there are […]
The world has been talking about “mobile payments” for years, but the phrase means different things to different people. So what exactly are mobile payments? And how much more mobile than cash or cards can payments actually get, asks Philipp Nieland, co-founder and CTO of PPRO Group. Some people believe that mobile payments are those […]
There is a lot of activity going on in the UK’s credit union space, as the participants realise they have no choice but to modernise. So who is doing what? Which technology providers are set to gain and who might be a loser? London Mutual Credit Union and TCS Financial Solutions London Mutual credit union […]
The National Retail Federation and the Electronic Payments Coalition don’t agree on much when it comes to interchange, but the two groups each have reached out to the Fed arguing that consumers aren’t benefiting enough from the cap on debit card interchange.
Legal experts suggest that the investigation could provide insight on how the FTC might seek to influence the audit process going forward.
The settlement calls for Home Depot to establish a fund of $13 million to reimburse customers who suffered out-of-pocket financial losses due to the breach, and spend at least $6.5 million to fund identity protection services for affected shoppers.
The payments network gave few details of a December 2013 incident involving an unidentified merchant, but an online letter says card account information could have been compromised.
Banking Technology is conducting a brief survey to find out the industry view on real-time payments and their implications for all parties involved. How ready are you? What are the key drivers for your organisation to embrace real-time payments? Will they displace the existing types of payments? And what are your main concerns when it […]
On the final day of the All Payments Expo in New Orleans on March 23, Sam Maule, emerging payments practice lead at Carlisle & Gallagher Consulting Group, challenged the audience to change the way they think about providing payments solutions. “You all care [about new payment options], but consumers don’t. They have solution overload,” he said.
For retailers and brands setting their sights on digital gifting, it’s important to maintain a strong focus on card design and delivery to ensure the best possible customer experience, according to a group of retail and gifting experts this week at the All Payments Expo in New Orleans.
The sharks were circling at the All Payments Expo in New Orleans this week. To close out the day on Tuesday, a group of eight startups and early stage payment companies pitched their idea or product to a group of three payments industry expert “sharks.” When the waters had calmed, AuthenticID, an Atlanta-based provider of identity verification products, had emerged as the winner.
B2B represents the most promising growth area for Web-connected devices and cars that can order products. And prepaid could be how users pay for such transactions.
A U.S. Treasury Department lawyer gives tips about how to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to regulatory rulemaking.
Google is bringing Android Pay to the UK market – with Bank of Scotland, First Direct, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, M&S Bank, MBNA and Nationwide Building Society the first to support it. This latest move follows Android Pay’s launch in the US in September 2015, and it should be available in the UK “in the […]
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! As it’s Easter holidays in the UK, this time it’s published on Thursday. Deutsche Bank reduces branch network in Germany Rise of digital banking drives change. Polymer notes pose £45m problem for UK cash machines Slippery when plastic. […]
Since the introduction of the Faster Payments Service (FPS) the best part of a decade ago the UK has been rather proud of its payments system – industry body Payments UK uses the phrase “world class payments” in its development plans, and successive politicians have trumpeted the country’s prowess in this field, much as their […]
