Consumers who use digital channels for their banking conduct more transactions per month than those who don’t but are less expensive to service. Maximize your m-banking adoption and usage with features that move the needle.
It’s an odd juxtaposition that the day before our nominations are due for the 2015 Paybefore Awards, the CFPB is holding a field hearing on prepaid. My hope is that the visionaries that make Paybefore Awards a remarkable annual event also make their voices—and those of their customers—heard, as the rules go from proposal to regulation.
We have the opportunity to make a difference, to be part of the process and to influence the outcome of prepaid regulations.
On the eve of the CFPB’s field hearing on GPR cards (and the rumored release of its GPR notice of proposed rulemaking), Consumer Reports has named the “best” GPR prepaid cards.
If you’re a third-party service provider to prepaid issuers, don’t overlook your Regulation E error resolution
responsibilities. Here are five topics to think about.
The introduction of T+2 has marked another milestone in the effort to reduce systemic risk for firms trading European securities. But what about other asset classes, such as derivatives? The inconvenient truth is that the world of derivatives, which some view as a much riskier investment choice, lags a long way behind equities in terms of operational efficiency.
The Bancorp is inviting all industry representatives traveling to the CFPB field hearing on Thursday to use its complimentary workspace, which it created to make the trip more convenient and collaborative.
The U.S. Treasury and FinCen are addressing the importance of money services businesses (MSBs) to the financial system in the wake of reports that banks are refusing to do business with categories of companies, such as remittance companies and check cashers, because of the perceived risk of doing business with them following government agencies’ aggressive efforts in fighting money laundering.
Earlier this month, the Ecuadorian Government announced its plans to introduce a digital currency, the first of its kind globally. In a country where 40% of citizens don’t have a bank account according to The Economist, this has the potential to transform banking and allow companies to gain access to those without a bank account for the first time
The challenger banks are coming of age. Aldermore, the UK’s fastest growing bank, is rumoured to be preparing for its IPO, just like OneSavings Bank, which was the first bank to list on the stock exchange since Bradford & Bingley in 2000.
The fintech start-up sector and renewed spending by larger firms are combining to create a demand for IT skills that is outstripping supply in some areas. Cyber-security, big data, business intelligence and application development skills are all in demand.
Fraud and financial crime are growing substantially in their nature and complexity as we continue to evolve into an ever more connected world. New technologies, particularly the spread of mobile devices, have opened up different avenues of attack for technically sophisticated and well organised gangs of fraudsters and criminals. The social and economic costs of organised crime in the UK alone are estimated to be £24bn, of which £8.9bn are associated with fraud.
Banks need to stop trying to exploit customers and start actually helping people, according to Brett King, chief executive at Moven. Instead of getting people to max out their credit card, a progressive bank should use smartphones and Big Data to help the consumer with the little things.
Controversy over Sharia Law reached Hollywood recently as protesters boycotted the glamorous Beverly Hills Hotel over a tough new code introduced by the hotel’s owner, the Sheikh of Brunei. More prosaically, bankers remain divided over how best to respond to demand for Sharia-compliant banking.
During a Money20/20 keynote, New York State Superintendent of Financial Services Benjamin M. Lawsky raised the possibility of a new addition in the proposed rules; licensing specially designed for virtual currency startups.
Yesterday the CFPB posted on its Website the announcement of its next field hearing, 11 a.m. EST, Thursday, Nov. 13, in Wilmington, Del.
While more than a quarter of American households still were either unbanked or underbanked last year, as was the case in 2011, the proportion of unbanked households declined to 7.7 percent or 9.6 million households, compared with 8.2 percent in 2011, according to the latest report from the FDIC.
The hypothesis that seems to be gaining ground is that banks have a wider responsibility in society. If we believe that, then part of their responsibility must clearly be to provide banking products and services that serve the financial needs of the less affulent.
Those of us immersed in payments may have a unique perspective on Apple Pay, but what about other folks? I asked one self-proclaimed Apple “fan boy” to give the mobile wallet a test drive.
Giving consumers what they really need and want from mobile payments will require making payments as invisible as possible.
India is on the brink of a huge economic transformation and making money digital is a crucial part of the solution.
Do banks still need branches, or does the smartphone make a physical presence obsolete? Panellists disagreed during a spirited debate hosted by ATM maker Wincor Nixdorf in Istanbul last week.
In the rush towards digital banking, are banks in danger of abandoning one of their best ways to engage with customers – their branches?
Finding ways to use GPR prepaid card usage data as a tool to help thin- and no-file consumers build credit has been an enticing yet elusive goal for the industry for years.
The regulatory spotlight is shining on high frequency traders and dark pools, but the technological changes that have driven down trading costs for everyone will not be reversed. With market making increasingly the preserve of profit maximising algorithmic traders, there is a growing responsibility on institutions to control where their trades are going and how they are being executed. Those that do not are writing checks to HFTs with clients’ money
In light of the intense regulatory focus and pressure on prepaid cards, it’s time for program managers to step up and manage their own compliance to the point of being “exam-ready.”
Retailers and financial institutions struggle with costs of data breaches.
TD Bank has reached a settlement over a 2012 data breach that compromised customers’ personal information.
The recent nomination of the British Banker’s Association as an intelligence node and source of benchmarks and practices in the UK’s financial infrastructure, via CBEST, has pushed the role of the banking sector in detecting and remediating breaches into the spotlight. So what can banks do to ensure their cyber defences are up to the task?
As banks develop new retail styles, they face new security challenges as the changing use of space in-store means surveillance and alarm systems must evolve in tandem.
RDC specialist’s busy year includes an IPO and a fast-growing prepaid platform.
The social contract between the banking system and society is fundamentally broken. We deserve a financial system that we can all be proud of, one that is fairer and more sustainable than the current iteration.
The internet has opened the door to purchase almost anything from any part of the world through electronic payments. As globalisation continues to flourish – especially in the banking industry – it’s now possible to transfer money across different countries with ease and speed. While this has increased the opportunity for businesses to extend their reach globally, it also creates an appealing opportunity for criminals.
The CFPB is gathering information about the methods banks and credit unions use to screen consumers before approving or denying them a checking account.
While a great deal of attention has been given to Lloyds Banking Group’s retail operations as its various elements are split up, less has been given to its activities in transaction banking, where it is “one year into a three-year journey” to transform itself and its customer offerings to create“the best global transaction bank in this region”.
It is essential for banks to ensure they have the right strategies and technology in place now, if they are to retain their position as market-leading payment providers in the future, writes Saket Sharma,chief information officer, treasury services, BNY Mellon.
The M&A market for payments companies is booming, as larger companies look to acquire smaller innovators. Even if no deal is on the immediate horizon, early preparation pays off when a sale transaction is at hand.
If we want to consolidate the gains we’ve made and scale the innovations we’ve seeded, we need to think big. We need to redefine financial services from the pursuit of wealth to the pursuit of health.
GPR cards are quickly moving beyond their traditional role as an alternative to checking accounts for the financially underserved, to serve broader use cases for a changing demographic.
In the ongoing discussion about the need to use data to increase business value, it is imperative to substantiate the argument with practical, real-world use cases. Otherwise, the debate becomes just another line of marketing waffle around big data – an area already suffering from too much hype.
