PayTech


Lawmakers Pressure DOE on Campus Card Rules (July 28, 2014)

New restrictions on campus debit cards being considered by the U.S. Department of Education have the potential to be too far-reaching and severely limit students’ access to financial services, according to more than 40 U.S. lawmakers—senators and congressman, Democrats and Republicans.

US mobile payment firm LoopPay wins Visa funding

Mobile payments provider LoopPay has secured funding from global payments firm Visa as it pioneers a technology that capitalises on the installed base of magnetic stripe-reader point-of-sale systems rather than NFC, which is the current favourite in mobile payment circles.

London Underground goes contactless as EE unveils NFC plans

London Underground, DLR and Overground trains are to accept contactless payments, following an announcement from Transport for London. The decision comes as mobile operator EE sets out plans to support NFC payments on London Underground, the UK’s biggest building society begins issuing contactless cards to its customers, and Apple explores cooperation with Visa on a potential new mobile wallet.

SIA and Swish launch m-commerce push

Italian financial infrastructure company SIA has inked a deal with mobile commerce provider Swish Payments to support mobile payments in Africa and Europe. The two firms claim the deal will help to bring more efficient forms of payment to both regions.

Standard Chartered launches Philippine mobile wallet

Standard Chartered has launched a mobile wallet in the Philippines through a partnership with Globe Telecom, in a deal that will tap into demand for mobile money in one of the world’s strongest remittances markets.

New Exec Director for NBPCA (July 23, 2014)

The Network Branded Prepaid Card Association announced today that Doug Bower will join the association as executive director and president, effective August 5, 2014.

Green Dot MoneyPak PIN Product Out of Market by Q1 2015 (July 17, 2014)

Green Dot Corp., a Pasadena, Calif.-based provider of prepaid debit card products and reloading services, is discontinuing the MoneyPak PIN method of reloading cards, moving fully to the card swipe reload process, according to a written statement provided yesterday at a hearing of the Senate Special Committee on Aging.

HCE and NFC: threat or opportunity?

Mobile NFC services continued to expand in 2013 but the big question is, will this be amplified or disrupted by the introduction of host-based card emulation (HCE) into mainstream operating systems?

Canadian Gov’t Gauges Interest in Prepaid for Federal Benefits (July 14, 2014)

With the Canadian government planning to phase out paper checks by 2016 for federal benefits recipients, half of Canadians who are unwilling to use direct deposit would be willing to try receiving their benefits on a reloadable prepaid card, according to a public opinion report released earlier this year and commissioned by the Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC).