Closed-loop gift cards appear poised for growth for the second consecutive holiday season after 2012 and 2013 declines, thanks in part to last-minute shopping and young consumers, according to a new report from Mercator Advisory Group Inc.
Idaho’s Department of Agriculture is the first government department to launch the eGovExpress digital wallet developed by Olathe, Kan.-based NIC Inc., provider of official government Web portals and digital government services for more than 3,500 federal, state and local government agencies.
CPI Card Group, a global provider in financial and EMV chip card production and related services, announced that Diane Fulton has been appointed to the board of directors.
The CFPB has announced that Mary McLeod will join the bureau as general counsel, upon the departure of Meredith Fuchs, current general counsel and acting deputy director, in early 2016.
FinCEN Director Jennifer Shasky Calvery has announced the selection of Andrea M. Sharrin as associate director for the agency’s policy division.
Green Dot Corp. has appointed Mark Shifke chief financial officer.
GlobalPlatform, an association which standardizes the management of applications on secure chip technology, has announced its board of directors for fiscal year 2016.
Lindquist & Vennum LLP has hired Andrew R. Toftey to join the firm’s financial institutions practice.
Online money transfer service WorldRemit has announced the hiring of Ian Cole as group chief financial officer.
PayPal’s One Touch, a fledgling mobile payments tool that enables quick purchases, has attracted 10 million users since its April launch, just as other mobile payment programs strive for dominance.
Rumors are beginning to swirl around Target developing its own m-wallet, but like Walmart, the retailer says it’s still committed to MCX’s CurrentC.
Global spending on cybersecurity will top $75 billion worldwide this year, 4.7 percent higher than 2014—and by 2020, the global cybersecurity market is projected to be worth $170 billion. The surge in spending is being driven by companies seeking to fortify their systems against the ever-evolving threat of data breaches and other cyberattacks. Government security initiatives and new legislation also have contributed to the upswing.
US payments body Nacha has set out to dispel myths about the ISO 20022 financial messaging standard with a new white paper published as part of an education programme as the US looks to convert its ACH network to the standard.
Chinese consumers soon will have a sizable selection of m-wallets to choose from as the country is becoming awash with big players in the m-wallet space. Both, Apple and Samsung Electronics, late last week announced deals with China UnionPay. Meanwhile, the road continues to be rocky for Apple in Australia, where banks have agreed to work with Android Pay, but not Apple Pay.
Up to 10 startups will join the FIS fintech accelerator, giving those fledging companies a chance to learn more about the industry from seasoned professionals.
As the issuance of EMV cards continues to grow, consumers are using their chip cards to buy sporting goods and pay for parking, according to new data from CardFlight.
There’s no questioning the popularity and appeal of gift cards—especially during this time of the year. Giving recipients the ability to treat themselves to something they really want or need has become prized among gift buyers. What’s even more exciting is how the concept of gift cards continues to evolve as new brands and card types launch.
The CFPB needs to return to its original plans on prepaid regulations and put its proposed rules on a New Year’s diet. By issuing rules focusing solely on disclosure, the CFPB could issue guidance earlier in 2016 that would help consumers, prevent access disruptions, and potentially reduce the size of the landfill needed to for the mountains of noncompliant cards and marketing materials.
The CFPB yesterday released its “Safe Student Account Toolkit,” which includes a scorecard to help colleges pick the best school-sponsored deposit or prepaid accounts for their students.
In a deal that will bring together two major players in the merchant acquirer processing business, Global Payments Inc. has reached an agreement to purchase Heartland Payment Systems Inc. for $4.3 billion.
Global Processing Services (GPS) has a new testing ground for its payments solutions, now that the Dubai-based processor has licensed the T3 test platform from Iliad Solutions Ltd. to provide functional and load testing capabilities for GPS’s prepaid and debit products.
A new transaction tool for one of the country’s largest e-commerce platform providers will enable more online merchants to accept installment payments from shoppers with credit cards.
A range of financial services and technology firms are backing efforts by The Linux Foundation to develop “an enterprise grade, open source distributed ledger framework”.
InComm is tapping into consumer preferences by connecting eBay shoppers with its gift card partners through a proprietary storefront exclusively on the e-commerce site.
Users of the popular Dunkin’ Donuts payment and loyalty app now can use Apple Pay to purchase, gift or reload virtual Dunkin’ Donuts Cards to fuel the retailer’s mobile app. The integration began on Dec. 7, in time for the holiday gifting season and adds another use case for Apple Pay.
China-based payments giant UnionPay has launched QuickPass, a mobile payments service with more than 20 bank partners and acceptance at more than 10,000 retail locations. That deep roster of launch partners could help state-run UnionPay compete with privatelyheld players in the Chinese m-payments sector, most notably Alibaba and Tencent.
London-based B2B fintech company Currency Cloud recently released a trend report revealing the need for faster, less expensive and less complicated ways to make cross-border business payments. With $18 million in funding fueling its U.S. expansion, Currency Cloud says it’s taking on those cross-border pain points.
Cashless payments are growing around the world as more people have access to bank accounts, but only at a slightly faster rate than ATM withdrawals, indicating that cash still has a strong hold.
Six out of 10 chief financial officers from mid-market and large corporate firms in the UK say they would like to see the same flexible payments technology in their business’ finances as they enjoy in their personal finances, according to a survey by HSBC.
Joby Orlowsky is a die-hard Cubs fan—is there any other kind?—but the Chicago native’s optimism extends well beyond baseball. After nearly 20 years at Discover, Orlowsky is animated when he talks about the future of payments and Discover’s place in it. And unlike some, he’s not spooked about a potential fintech bubble.
The Bancorp Inc. has named John Chrystal as interim CEO of the company and president of subsidiary The Bancorp Bank. A member of the Bancorp board of directors, Chrystal will replace Frank Mastrangelo, who will continue to serve the company in the newly created role of technologist in residence.
Big box retailer Walmart has joined the plethora of m-wallets on the market with its launch of Walmart Pay, but the retail giant says it’s committed to MCX’s CurrentC. And, even though the move could be a boon for Walmart, analysts say it doesn’t really go head-to-head with Apple Pay and other wallets usable at multiple retailers.
A new partnership between Germany’s Wirecard Group and Alipay will enable Chinese travelers to make POS payments in Europe using the Alipay mobile wallet. The initiative will give European brands and retailers access to the $165 billion Chinese tourism market—and Alipay’s more than 400 million active users.
The US and eurozone countries both look set to have live real-time payment infrastructures by the end of 2017, both using the ISO 20022 for real-time messaging standard.
Swift is planning to launch a global payment innovation initiative, which it says will dramatically improve the customer experience in correspondent banking by increasing the speed, transparency and predictability of cross-border payments. The platform is due to launch early next year.
It’s almost become a holiday tradition for Senator Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) to propose prepaid legislation in December. His previous three attempts went nowhere, but this time he proposed his bill in November. Still, more pressing issues, such as spending and cybersecurity, may keep his measure on the back burner for now.
Churn is by far the biggest challenge facing prepaid debit card companies. Issuers can combat it by tapping smartphones and real-time analytics to deliver personalized services through a preferred communication channel.
Poor user experience with EMV could be a boon for contactless cards and NFC mobile payments. But retailers could take immediate steps to improve the UX with contact EMV, starting with cashier education.
When it comes to the payments, there are more choices than sweet treats at Dylan’s Candy Bar in NYC (i.e., the world’s largest candy emporium!). The payments landscape is likely to become increasingly confusing and fragmented as retailers ramp up their efforts to influence buying decisions. If we don’t help our members evolve and understand how things are changing, credit unions risk losing the transaction and engagement.
With EMV technology increasing security for card-present transactions, fraudsters are shifting their focus to the card-not-present (CNP) environment, including online, mobile and phone purchases—but new market entrant Tender Armor has a plan to increase security for CNP transactions.
