CFPB Includes Mobile Wallets in Final Prepaid Rule
The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on Oct. 5 released its final rule on prepaid accounts, and the agency’s requirements, which go into effect Oct. 1, 2017, go well beyond plastic.
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Mastercard Brings Selfie Payments to Europe
Say cheese! Or at least hold still. Mastercard is rolling out its pay-by-selfie service in a dozen European countries. The move follows a similar pilot in North America.
Bluefin nabs patent for Decryption-as-a-Service
Point-to-point-encryption services provider Bluefin Payment Systems was granted a patent for what the company calls Decryption-as-a-Service.
HSBC hits $100bn mobile payments mark for corporates
There’s glee and a spending spree for HSBC as over $100 billion in mobile payments have been made by its corporate customers. The bank says the $100 billion sum was authorised globally through the HSBCnet mobile corporate banking platform since its launch in 2011. The total transaction value of mobile payments has more than doubled […]
Avaloq locks on innovation with developer portal launch
Innovation gets more adoration as Avaloq is opening up to developers with a new portal activation. It says freelancers, start-ups, fintechs and banks will be able to innovate jointly using a dedicated online portal. Through this site, the developer community can commercialise technologies and share results within the community and the “entire Avaloq community”, which […]
BGFI Bank picks Wolters Kluwer’s OneSumX for regulatory reporting
BGFI Bank, the Gabon-based financial services conglomerate, has chosen Wolters Kluwer’s OneSumX regulatory reporting software for its French and European banking authority reporting obligations. The bank is also using the firm’s Regulatory Update Service. This service is maintained by Wolters Kluwer experts who actively monitor regulation in approximately 50 countries, “helping to ensure the solution […]
IDFC Bank deploys new revenue management platform, SunTec’s Xelerate
Pricing and billing software specialist SunTec has implemented its flagship Xelerate platform at India’s challenger bank, IDFC Bank.
CFPB Issues Final Prepaid Rules; Expanded Definition Worries Industry
The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on Oct. 5 released its final rule on prepaid accounts, a move that sharply expands the definition of prepaid—to the distinct displeasure of prepaid industry players. The new rules, which take effect Oct. 1, 2017, are quite similar to what CFPB had initially proposed, with provisions tweaked in the final rule, rather than major additions or deletions.
Standard Chartered customers taken for an Uber ride
This time we have a genuine Uber moment in fintech. Standard Chartered and Uber are partnering to offer the bank’s credit cardholders cashbacks on Uber rides. This is the “first ever multi-market partnership” for both of them. The deal is for six markets – Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, India and the United Arab Emirates – […]
Merchant Lawsuit over Fraud Liability Shift Moves Forward
A federal judge has ruled that a lawsuit alleging payment networks colluded over fraud liability can go forward, denying the networks’ motion to dismiss the lawsuit. Filed in March 2016 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California by two Florida retailers, the lawsuit accuses American Express, Discover, Mastercard and Visa of engaging in “a conspiracy” when shifting liability for transaction fraud to merchants that failed to upgrade their POS systems to accept EMV chip technology by Oct. 1, 2015.
Google Ends Support for Some Payment Cards on Android Pay
Google has ended the grace period for unsupported payment cards that can be used with Android Pay. Those cards include products from such financial institutions as Citi, Discover and Wells Fargo, according to Google.
LG Expands Payment Options for ‘Smart TVs’
LG Electronics and Paymentwall said Oct. 4 that they will expand the online payment options available through LG’s webOS “smart” TVs. The program “will give consumers easier access to paid apps, movies, games and much more through LG’s intuitive webOS Smart TV platform,” LG said. The effort involves some 140 payment options in 200 countries.
Eurogiro, TransferTo Partner to Expand Mobile Money
Members of global payments network Eurogiro are now able to transfer funds to mobile money and bank accounts through a partnership with B2B mobile payment network TransferTo, the companies announced Oct. 3. Through TransferTo’s payments network, Eurogiro’s network members can expand their service offerings by providing mobile payments and, for example, accept remittances at a post office in one country and transfer the funds to a recipient’s mobile wallet in another country.
MasterCard brings biometric payments to Europe
It’s a European roll-out as MasterCard has launched Identity Check Mobile, a new payment technology app that uses biometrics to verify a cardholder’s identity. The technology is now being introduced across 12 markets in Europe – including the UK, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden, following a […]
Fidor and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank unveil digital bank
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) has partnered with Fidor Bank to launch the region’s first “community-based digital bank”. Specifics are very thin on the ground as the bank will have “new services, features and [an] online community”, which will be available for existing and new customers to sign up to in the upcoming months. Can’t […]
Sonali Bank UK to go live with Intellect Design Arena’s core system “in near future”
Four years on since the start of the project, Sonali Bank UK is yet to go fully live with a new core banking system, Intellect Core Banking. The operations are “partially automated”, says software supplier Intellect Design Arena, but assures that all parties are committed to the project and will compete it in “near future”.
Avaloq core banking implementation at BHF-Bank put on hold
Avaloq’s implementation of its Avaloq Banking Suite at BHF-Bank in Germany has been put on hold due to differences in the interpretation of the contract. Avaloq tells Banking Technology that it is “not due to technical reasons” and it “continues to engage in conversations” with the bank. Philippe Oddo, chairman of BHF-Bank, adds that he […]
UK’s Financial Conduct Authority suffers IT incident on regulatory data system
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) had an IT incident on its online system, Gabriel, for collecting and storing regulatory data from firms. Due to the “unexpected IT incident”, it was unable to implement Taxonomy 2.4.1.1, which came into effect on 1 October. Those firms who were required to comply with the Capital Requirements Directive […]
Apple Pay launches in Russia
Apple Pay has launched in Russia with partners Sberbank and MasterCard. Russia is the tenth country where Apple Pay has been made available, following the US, UK, Canada, France, China and others. Alexander Torbakhov, deputy chairman of the executive board of Sberbank, says: “Apple Pay is driving the popularisation of contactless payments in Russia and […]
Bank of Ireland chooses Temenos for core banking revamp
Bank of Ireland has selected Temenos’ T24 core system, Temenos Connect for digital and Insight BI for analytics as part of its five-year €500 million revamp plans – aka Project Omega.
Western Union launches mobile payments app in Canada
Western Union has unveiled its mobile platform in Canada for domestic and cross-border money transfers, available for iOS and Android. The new app allows users “instant, anytime, anywhere” access to Western Union’s physical and digital money transfer infrastructure. So people can send money face-to-face or online. “Whether on a smart phone or at a store […]
Arizon moves financial messaging to Bottomline’s cloud solution
Arizon Sourcing has migrated its financial messaging traffic to Bottomline Technologies’ cloud-based solution GTExchange, hosted in Switzerland. Arizon, a joint venture between Raiffeisen Group and Avaloq, says the cloud offers cost transparency and cost reduction. On top of this, the Bottomline Swiss Service Bureau will support all of Arizon’s domestic (SIC) and cross-border (Swift) transactions. […]
Austin Public Transit Not Onboard with EMV
In perhaps one of the most dramatic instances of resistance to EMV since the technology began rolling out more than a year ago, Austin, Texas, public transit plans to stop accepting payment card purchases at vending machines at its nine commuter rail stations, rather than upgrade to EMV-compatible machines.
Meta Beefs Up its Presence in Tax Refund Space
Meta Financial Group, the parent of MetaBank and Meta Payment Systems, said Oct. 3 it will buy EPS Financial LLC, which sells tax-related financial transaction products, for $42.5 million. The half stock, half cash deal will close in the fourth quarter, Meta Financial said.
CFPB/Amex Study Indicates How to Motivate Consumers to Save
In a study conducted by the CFPB, with assistance from American Express, researchers found that offering a monetary incentive was most effective in motivating consumers to set money aside in savings accounts. The research results from the study, “Tools for Saving: Using Prepaid Accounts to Set Aside Funds,” also indicate that having a savings option reduced consumers’ use of payday loan services.
U.S. Reps Urge CFPB to Rethink Short-Term Lending Rules
A bipartisan group of federal lawmakers has asked the CFPB to reconsider some of the agency’s proposed restrictions on short-term lenders, arguing that such loans provide much-needed access to credit for those who have few other alternatives.
Queensland Country Credit Union in core banking overhaul
Australia’s Queensland Country Credit Union is replacing its core banking legacy systems and going digital with the help of local vendor Data Action (DA). Adelaide-based DA will be supplying its core banking and digital systems, DA CBS and DA Digital Banking respectively. At the front end, the credit union will get a new internet banking […]
Singapore polytechnics prep for future fintech opportunities
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and five local polytechnics have teamed up to get students up to speed for fintech jobs of the future. They have agreed to work on a framework to review and improve the polytechnics’ curricula in the next three years to prepare and equip their graduates with the skill sets […]
ING axes 7,000 jobs in digital banking drive
Dutch bank ING is cutting 7,000 jobs as its push to digital banking goes full throttle. In its strategy update “Accelerating Think Forward”, CEO Ralph Hamers and other executives will introduce a number of initiatives – such as investing €800 million in digital transformation from 2016 to 2021. The bank says its programmes will also […]
HDFC Bank picks Backbase for digital banking revamp
India-based HDFC Bank has selected Backbase to deliver its new digital omnichannel banking platform, running both its online and mobile banking apps. The mobile banking app, digital banking portal, and web site will run on the Backbase Omnichannel Digital Banking Platform. Backbase will combine HDFC Bank’s existing core banking and back-end applications with its platform. […]
Loved up couples get the Simple Shared account touch
If you and your partner can never be apart or believe your love has more intensity than Romeo and Juliet, then keep holding hands and read on. US-based Simple, “a tech company, not a bank”, has launched the “Simple Shared” account. It’s a bit like a joint account, but people get two cards and one […]
IBM Watson learns compliance in Promontory purchase
IBM plans to acquire Promontory Financial Group, a risk management and regulatory compliance consulting firm, to boost IBM Watson’s cognitive technology. Upon close of the deal, Promontory’s employees will train Watson, which will learn by “continuously ingesting regulatory information as it is created and through interaction in real-world applications”. Bridget van Kralingen, senior vice-president, IBM […]
Citi enters Danish market with DCC services
Citi is to offer direct custody and clearing (DCC) services to clients in Denmark from the fourth quarter of this year. The new offering will expand Citi’s proprietary DCC network to 63 markets globally and 36 markets across Emea. Citi will partner with VP Securities, a provider of securities and investor services in Denmark. VP […]
apoBank evaluates Avaloq Banking Suite
Germany-based Deutsche Apotheker-und Ärztebank (apoBank) is considering the implementation of Avaloq’s flagship core banking system. The two parties have signed a contract to “analyse and elaborate how far the execution of the apoBank IT strategy can be based on the Avaloq Banking Suite”, Avaloq says. The bank – which primarily focuses on servicing the healthcare […]
Top fintech stories this week – 30 September 2016
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place – and all with a Sibos touch! Blockchain: be ready to ‘fail fast and fail cheap’ Wouldn’t it be better to succeed in the first place? Innotribe plots rise of new fintech hubs A tribe calling for a […]
SCOTUS to Hear Credit Card Surcharge Case
The U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 29 agreed to hear arguments from a group of New York merchants who want the right to impose surcharges on purchases made with credit cards. The outcome of the case could have an effect on laws in 10 states that restrict such surcharges.
Green Dot’s Secured Credit Card to Help Credit-Challenged Consumers
To help consumers build a credit history or improve their existing credit scores, Green Dot Corp. launched Sept. 29 the Green Dot Platinum Visa Secured Credit Card. Being a secured credit card, the credit line is backed by the cardholder’s security deposit held with Green Dot Bank.
Global Card Base Grows Nearly 6 Percent, Nilson Says
Of the total card base, global brand general purpose cards accounted for about 60.79 percent at the end of 2015. Domestic general purpose cards accounted for 5.53 percent, while private label cards accounted for 33.69 percent, Nilson said.
CFPB Slaps Fines on Two Lenders in Two Days
Within a two-day span, the CFPB ordered two companies in separate cases to pay a total of more than $12.6 million in civil penalties and refunds.
Daily News at Sibos top photos and captions – Day 4
Top pics and captions from Swift’s Sibos 2016 conference in Geneva! A compilation from day 4.
