Western Union Integrates with Nigerian Mobile Payments Service (March 18, 2014)
Western Union is continuing its global expansion in mobile payments, announcing a new mobile money transfer service for Nigeria.
PayTech
LevelUp Powers Payments App for Smartwatch (March 18, 2014)
Mobile payments with a flick of the wrist are here.
Viewpoint: Better Disclosures Are Good for Consumers and Industry
Legislators and companies, such as MasterCard, are introducing standards for prepaid card disclosures that help us all.
Visa Europe: Contactless Booming in U.K., across Continent (March 17, 2014)
Holders of contactless Visa cards in the U.K. made 94.3 million contactless purchases in 2013, a surge from the 25 million made in 2012, according to data from Visa Europe.
TAS Group Unveils Card 3.0 Card Management Platform (March 17, 2014)
Payments technology company TAS Group, based in Italy with U.S. headquarters in Las Vegas, recently launched its Card 3.0 Card Management Platform in the U.S. to offer program managers greater customization capabilities, down to the cardholder level, and quicker time to market for new programs.
China’s Central Bank Proposes Curbs on Third-Party Payments, Halts Product Rollouts (March 17, 2014)
China’s central bank last week released draft rules that would limit the use of third-party payment systems, including the payment operations of Alibaba Holding Group and Tencent Holdings Inc.
People on the Move: Jim Harper and Amy Weiss, The Bitcoin Foundation
The Bitcoin Foundation, a nonprofit institution founded to promote bitcoin use, has announced the hiring of Jim Harper and Amy Weiss.
People on the Move: Glen Holbert, CardLab Inc.
CardLab Inc., a Dallas-based provider of open-loop incentive and prepaid card products, has named Glen Holbert chief revenue officer.
People on the Move: Christopher D. Carroll, Daniel Dodd-Ramirez and Jeffrey Langer, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has named Christopher D. Carroll, Daniel Dodd-Ramirez and Jeffrey Langer to senior positions.
People on the Move: Advanced Card Education Certificate Holders, International Card Manufacturers Association
The International Card Manufacturers Association has announced that 43 individuals have been recognized as the newest Advanced Card Education certificate holders for 2014.
People on the Move: Jeffrey Tourek, JetPay Payment Services
JetPay Payment Services, a division of JetPay Corporation, has appointed Jeffrey S. Tourek executive vice president and national sales leader.
People on the Move: Thomas Auriemma and Brahm Gelfand, Optimal Payments
Optimal Payments, a London-based online payment solutions provider, has named Thomas Auriemma as an adviser to provide strategic and regulatory advice on current and future U.S. state regulation regarding payment services for the online gaming industry. The company also appointed Brahm Gelfand as a non-executive director to the company’s board of directors.
People on the Move: Rakesh ‘Rocky’ Agrawal, PayPal
PayPal has named Rakesh “Rocky” Agrawal director of strategy.
Fiserv Inks Agreement with MasterCard for Debit EMV Solution for Accel Network (March 13, 2014)
Fiserv Inc. has opted to make MasterCard’s U.S. common debit application identifier (AID) available for its Accel debit network, as another piece falls into place in the U.S. debit networks’ EMV transaction-routing puzzle.
Prepaid Earns High Marks on CFSI Scorecard (March 13, 2014)
The Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) gives the prepaid industry an A-.
Wheels in Motion for Digital Currency Regulation in N.Y. (March 13, 2014)
The New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) has begun accepting applications from firms looking to set up digital currency exchanges and will issue proposed regulations on digital currency in the coming months, the agency said.
Relationships between Big and Small Firms Can Be Rewarding, If Challenging
Developments in retail financial services are bringing together large financial institutions and more entrepreneurial, but much smaller, startup companies. While both groups benefit from partnerships—as those in prepaid have long known—there are challenges.
Industry Views: M&A on the Rise
We asked M&A experts to tell us what to expect in the coming months, specifically around prepaid, mobile and emerging payments. They all agreed on one thing: Change will continue to be the norm.
Viewpoint: Inside the EC Payments Package and the Aggressive Timeline for Passage
The European Parliament’s ECON Committee vote on the “Payments Package” has resulted in inconsistent legislative text that differs significantly from the EC draft proposal. With an aggressive timeline for passage, including an April plenary vote, the payments industry needs to make its voice heard on the potentially harmful impacts of the proposed changes.
Cachet Makes Mobile Wallet Foray with Moneto Buy (March 12, 2014)
Minneapolis-based remote deposit capture (RDC) specialist Cachet Financial Solutions has made a major move into the mobile wallet arena, acquiring the moneto mobile payment platform from DeviceFidelity Inc.
BofA Merrill’s SafeBalance Account Targets Fee-Wary Consumers (March 12, 2014)
Bank of America Merrill Lynch last week began testing a new product in six states that could compete with GPR cards and low-cost bank accounts, such as Moven, Simple and Green Dot Corp.’s GoBank, the latter two of which are Paybefore Awards winners.
McDonald’s Sweden Integrates SEQR Payments into Mobile App (March 12, 2014)
McDonald’s Sweden has integrated the SEQR payment service of Stockholm-based software development company Seamless into its own mobile app, enabling customers of the QSR to pay with SEQR.
Custodian bank trio cut T2S asset servicing deal with Clearstream
Post-trade services institutions Clearstream, BNP Paribas Securities Services, Intesa Sanpaolo and BBVA have formed a tie-up in Europe, which they say is aimed at better asset servicing n Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain under the ECB’s forthcoming T2S project.
Editor’s Note: Keeping What Makes You Great
We may not be the shiny new thing like mobile, but prepaid has a role to play in the new era of payments because it’s accessible to every consumer. For prepaid businesses to stay relevant and take their place in this evolving market, they must hold onto the innovative spirit and keen focus on solving problems that sparked the industry more than 15 years ago.
Report: European Prepaid Maturing, Open-Loop Spend to Hit €112 Billion by 2020 (March 11, 2014)
Prepaid products now have a proven track record in many major European countries, where the industry has begun the process of transitioning from its adolescent phase into one of mature, stable growth.
Mobile Parking Payments Coming to Chicago (March 11, 2014)
Many Chicago drivers soon won’t have to dig under the seat for spare change to feed the meter. The city has announced a new initiative to launch a mobile payment system for parking, set for a pilot run in the downtown area this spring, with a rollout throughout Chicago to follow.
Vodafone Wallet Goes Live Across Germany (March 11, 2014)
Vodafone’s NFC-based mobile wallet and prepaid Vodafone SmartPass Visa account went live this month in Germany, enabling Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom and Telefónica Deutschland mobile network subscribers to conduct contactless and P2P transactions with NFC-ready phones via participating banks.
EMVCo Releases Tokenization Specification, Invites Feedback (March 11, 2014)
EMVCo today has released its tokenization specification, and is inviting all payments industry participants to provide feedback.
Bank of England live on Swift’s MIRS contingency platform
The Bank of England has become the first central bank to go live with an implementation of the Market Infrastructure Resiliency Service contingency system it has been piloting with Swift over the past few years.
Blackhawk Extends Prepaid Deal with Safeway through 2019 as it Prepares to Go Solo (March 10, 2014)
Blackhawk Network Holdings Inc. next month will complete its spinoff from parent Safeway Inc., but the two companies will remain close partners because of a deal Blackhawk inked to extend its role as exclusive prepaid and gift card provider to Safeway through 2019.
MasterPass Expansion Continues with UAE Launch (March 10, 2014)
MasterCard plans to roll out its MasterPass mobile wallet platform to the United Arab Emirates later this year.
MasterCard, Visa Form Cross-Industry Security Group (March 10, 2014)
MasterCard and Visa announced the formation of a new cross-industry group focused on enhancing payment system security to keep pace with the expectations of consumers, retailers and financial institutions.
Sally Beauty Refutes Breach Rumors (March 10, 2014)
Sally Beauty, the specialty retailer and distributor of professional beauty supplies, is the latest retailer allegedly falling prey to hackers—or, at least, becoming the victim of rumors that credit and debit card information and other customer data has been compromised.
‘Why Stop at Bitcoin?’ Congressman Asks; ‘Let’s Ban Cash’ (March 10, 2014)
With Bitcoin and other digital currencies continuing to stir controversy, one of the main arguments of critics calling for tightly regulating such forms of tender is that the currencies’ anonymous nature makes them conducive to use in illicit activities and transactions. But as a U.S. Congressman points out in a letter to federal regulators, paper money also can be used anonymously for illicit ends—and thus, the tongue-in-cheek missive claims, regulators should turn their attention to banning cold, hard cash too.
The name’s Paym – UK Payments Council names mobile service
The mobile payments system planned by the UK Payments Council will be branded Paym. The Council says that it will announce the go-live date next month and final testing is on track.
BNY Mellon sets out global ambitions with new payments architecture
BNY Mellon says a global overhaul of its payments infrastructure will position it for “a new era” in payments and fundamentally change its relationship with customers and other financial institutions internationally.
Visa, First Data EMV Pact Could Boost Adoption (March 6, 2014)
First Data’s plan for its STAR Network to license Visa’s common Application Identifier (AID) could help get the ball rolling for EMV adoption as other debit networks continue to weigh their own options for routing debit transactions under the Durbin Amendment, observers say.
APEX Panel: Cardholder Satisfaction Up on Gov’t Prepaid Cards; Data Analytics Key (March 6, 2014)
Government agencies using prepaid cards to deliver benefits are seeing solid user satisfaction and improving efficiencies as such programs evolve, amid an environment of pending regulatory changes and heavy scrutiny by consumer advocates, according to a panel of experts convened at the All Payments Expo (APEX) in Las Vegas this week.
Isis Reveals Usage Stats, Dangles NYC Taxi Promo to Attract More Users (March 6, 2014)
Four months after the nationwide rollout of the Isis mobile wallet, two-thirds of Isis users have installed at least one payment card on the wallet, and those users make an average of six to seven NFC-based transactions with Isis each month.
House Approves Bill to Restructure CFPB (March 6, 2014)
The U.S. House of Representatives last week passed the Consumer Financial Protection and Soundness Improvement Act (H.R. 3193), which combines six bills, approved by the House Financial Services Committee last November, that are designed to bring more accountability, oversight and transparency to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), according to the bill’s supporters.
