The European Central Bank has created a new board, replacing the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) Council, the ECB says will encourage development of an “integrated, innovative and competitive market” for retail payments in euro currency in the European Union.
Pakistani Bank Alfalah has teamed up with operator Warid Telecom to launch a mobile money service. The service, Mobile Paisa, will initially enable users to make utility bill payments and secure money transfers across Pakistan.
Now that you’re back in the office and once again glued to your computer screen, you’ll continue receiving the industry news, insights and analysis you’ve come to expect from Paybefore. But it won’t exactly be business as usual for Paybefore this year.
Most folks this week are concentrating on tracking down last-second gifts or holiday dinner menu items. Not U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.). He is, again, looking to “rein in hidden fees and strengthen financial protections offered by prepaid card companies” with new legislation announced today.
The European Central Bank is to create a Euro Retail Payments Board to replace the Single Euro Payments Area Council and “help foster the development of an integrated, innovative and competitive market for retail payments in euro in the European Union”.
Five international banks are to become direct participants in the UK’s CHAPS high-value payments system as part of the Bank of England’s efforts to reduce systemic risk.
PayPal’s acquisition this week of StackMob, which provides a mobile payments development platform, is the latest in a series of deals bringing in top talent and new technology to enhance payment options PayPal offers to its diverse array of customers.
Gift cards are a hot item on millennials’ wishlists this year.
Reinforcing Bitcoin’s reputation for volatility, the value of the digital currency nosedived more than 35 percent Wednesday following word that BTC China, one of the country’s largest Bitcoin exchanges, was forced to stop accepting deposits in the Chinese currency renminbi.
A breach of data that may have exposed the financial information of 40 million shoppers at Target stores highlights the urgency of bolstering payment card security measures and adopting EMV chip technology, according to industry observers.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch has signed a multi-year agreement with Earthport to “significantly expand Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s low value clearing capabilities globally, and to advance the efficiency of its high volume, low value payments”.
To attract the key millennial demographic, banks must look to prepaid and mobile.
Of any industry, the financial services sector might be the most contradictory when it comes to loyalty program effectiveness.
The impact of the Single Euro Payments Area will result in a new marketplace where bigger banks will be forced into stronger competition and smaller banks forced to cultivate their ‘local bank’ credentials.
In a recent press release, the CFPB called on financial institutions to “voluntarily” disclose to the public its financial product marketing agreements made with colleges and universities.
As we approach year-end, the Canadian federal government has introduced three items of significance to federally regulated financial institutions (FRFIs).
Electronic gifting provider Loop Commerce has landed funding from PayPal Inc., with the payment giant making a Series A investment in the San Francisco-based startup.
Blackhawk Network has inked a deal with Coinstar that will give consumers the option of receiving Blackhawk e-gifts in return for change cashed in at Coinstar’s coin-counting kiosks.
Amazon may have purchased San Francisco-based GoPago Inc., a mobile payment startup whose technology enables merchants to process card payments so consumers can order and pay ahead with a smartphone, skipping lines at the checkout, according reports from several media outlets.
La Caixa, the Barcelona, Spain-based financial institution, has announced the launch of an NFC-based mobile payments service in partnership with Telefónica, Vodafone, Orange and Visa Europe.
A years-long court battle over interchange fees has reached another milestone, but appears to be far from settled.
Blackhawk Network Inc., a global prepaid payment network, last Friday announced its first commercial agreement in Africa, which will enable it to offer iTunes Gift Cards in South Africa through a partnership with Johannesburg-based distributor Opengate, a subsidiary of Value+Nettwork.
Vodafone Germany last Friday began its German launch of a mobile wallet with the integrated Vodafone SmartPass Visa payment application.
One month after going live throughout the U.S., the Isis mobile wallet has added Wells Fargo to its roster of bank partners, enabling holders of the bank’s Visa consumer credit cards to load their cards onto the NFC-based wallet.
The technology that banks offer clients can be thought of as a true gift, enabling improvements that can reduce risk, increase efficiency and ultimately put firms on a surer footing. And it is the most advanced and newest platforms which grab everyone’s attention.
Moving to improve and clarify payroll card industry practices, MasterCard today released new standards requiring all employers and payroll card providers involved in offering MasterCard-branded payroll cards to meet specific protocols for consumer choice and transparency
A new law in California will prohibit overdraft fees and extend other protections to recipients of state unemployment and government assistance who have their benefit funds deposited onto a prepaid card.
Cachet Financial Solutions, a Minneapolis-based provider of remote deposit capture (RDC) solutions, will be providing consumers in Latin America with RDC services for YEPEX, the mobile banking network of YellowPepper Mobile Financial Network.
The U.S. financially underserved market was worth $89 billion last year, according to a new study from the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI).
PreCash is expanding its Evolve Money online and mobile bill pay app by enabling customers to pay bills using debit and prepaid cards, in addition to cash.
Square Inc. has stuffed its stocking in recent days with a few key acquisitions primed to enrich consumers’ use of the mobile payments app for everyday activities.
Gift cards will rule again as consumers’ top holiday gift choice in 2013, and a shortened holiday shopping season could benefit increasingly popular e-gift cards.
Allied Payment Network, a Fort Wayne, Ind.-based provider of online bill payment services to the financial industry, has hired two industry veterans to join the company’s executive team.
3PEA International Inc., a Henderson, Nev.-based prepaid processor and program manager, has hired Ruben Corona as vice president of sales and strategy.
Littleton, Colo.-based card producer CPI Card Group has received a Center of Excellence award by the Smart Card Alliance.
Fiserv Inc., a Brookfield, Wis.-based financial services technology provider, recently announced that its Popmoney P2P payments service has taken top honors at the Mobile Money Global Awards and the Mobile Excellence Awards.
Meta Financial Group Inc. (MFG), the holding company of MetaBank, has announced the addition of Douglas J. Hajek to its board of directors, and the retirement of E. Thurman Gaskill.
Paul Hastings LLP has placed second this year among the top 40 most innovative law firms in the Financial Times’ “U.S. Innovative Lawyers” report.
Planet Payment Inc., a Long Beach, N.Y.-based payments processor, has appointed Carl J. Williams president.
International nonprofit trade association Prepaid International Forum (PIF) announced that Dr. Saleh I. Al-Furaih, head of consumer asset business at Al Rajhi Bank, has been appointed chairman of PIF’s Middle East chapter.
