RBS offers corporate multi-bank platform across China
The Royal Bank of Scotland has launched a new service that lets corporates manage up to 18 local Chinese bank accounts through a single global electronic banking platform.
News
Microsoft XP Support Ends, Sparking ATM Security Concerns (April 7, 2014)
Microsoft tomorrow will issue the final security update for Windows XP, a 12-year-old product the software giant says no longer suits the risks of today’s computing environments. But millions of computers worldwide are still running XP, including an estimated 95 percent of U.S. ATMs, experts say.
Proposed Canadian AML Changes Could Affect Digital Currency, FMSBs (April 7, 2014)
The Canadian government has proposed a series of amendments to the country’s money laundering legislation, including provisions to extend the laws to cover digital currencies.
Study Dubs Omnichannel No. 1 Payments Trend (April 7, 2014)
Payments are in the midst of some fundamental changes that will continually reshape the industry landscape for years to come, according to a new white paper from Vantiv Inc., outlining the top 10 payment trends to watch in 2014.
Surveys: Consumers See Value in Prepaid Cards; Banks’ Overdraft Fees Increase (April 7, 2014)
A majority of Americans view the features of reloadable prepaid cards favorably as financial institutions’ fees for checking account overdrafts have started to creep up, according to two recently released surveys.
Redesigning the retail bank, the Fidor way
Banks must take note of the way that technology is changing how customers interact with the world around them and develop products and services that address their needs rather than the banks’.
You think SEPA is over? Think again
Banks should be wary of jumping the gun and assuming that SEPA implementation is a done deal. Far from being over, the task of learning to live with SEPA is just beginning.
EU Parliament Postpones Final Vote on Payments Package until After July Elections (April 3, 2014)
European Parliament today voted in a plenary session to accept the text of the revised payment industry regulations (PSD2 and MIF) that the ECON committee voted on last month.
MasterCard: Prepaid Up 40 Percent in APMEA (April 3, 2014)
MasterCard’s prepaid business is booming in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa (APMEA), showing 40 percent growth in gross dollar volume in the regions for 2013, the payment network said today.
Comdata Eyes IPO (April 3, 2014)
Corporate payments provider Comdata Inc. is set to go public.
DCR Strategies Inc./TruCash Partners with Carta to Launch Mobile Payments (April 3, 2014)
Program manager DCR Strategies Inc./TruCash and technology provider Carta Worldwide soon will be launching payment solutions, such as NFC mobile payments, virtual prepaid and integrated loyalty programs, using conventional payment methods and host card emulation (HCE), which emulates an NFC card in the cloud.
U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority Comment Period Ends April 15 (April 3, 2014)
Building on previous consultations by Her Majesty’s Treasury and the Office of Fair Trading, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is soliciting comment regarding the U.K. payments industry, in particular on issues of competition, access, governance, ownership and innovation.
Africa’s mobile revolution stands in the balance
Why are different parts of Africa experiencing widely different levels of success with mobile banking, despite years of experience in Kenya? Panellists at the IPS conference in London offered a range of explanations
Banking Goliaths must learn to dance with “Digital Davids”
Partnerships and alliances with innovative digital entrepreneurs will allow the large incumbent banks to adapt and thrive in the new economic ecosystems being created by the mobile and digital revolutions currently changing the industry.
Stop selling and start listening, say corporates
Banks don’t really understand the needs of corporates and are often so busy focusing on selling that they forget basic customer requirements, according to speakers at the IPS conference in London this week
Banks – “Don’t Panic”, says Wells Fargo’s Ellis
The banking industry is complex by its nature but banks and bankers should look up from their budgets, listen to their customers, stop whining about regulations and collaborate on industry issues.
Viewpoint: CFPB’s Draft Model Forms Highlight Problems with Uniform Disclosures
What do apples and oranges have to do with prepaid model disclosures? See David Beam’s analysis of the CFPB’s blog proposal.
D.C. Court Rules ZIP Code Isn’t an Address
Had the case not been dismissed, ZIP code-related class action lawsuits likely would spread.
PayPal Cooks Up Success with Bistros, Food Trucks (April 1, 2014)
PayPal is expanding its reach by getting on the menu as a payment option at small bistros and food trucks around the world that are switching to tablet-based POS systems.
Apple Co-Founder Wozniak Talks ‘Creative Misbehavior’ at InComm Partner Alliance (April 1, 2014)
Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak, the technical guru behind the original Apple computers, kept nearly 1,000 attendees at InComm’s annual Partner Alliance spellbound with his tale of how a “geeky, electronics kid,” driven by his passion to solve problems and compulsion to engage in “creative misbehavior,” led to a famous partnership with legendary Steve Jobs.
M-Pesa Enters Europe with Romanian Launch (April 1, 2014)
Mobile payment service M-Pesa has arrived in Europe with its launch yesterday in Romania, following expansions into other countries, such as Egypt and India, in recent years.
Survey: Mobile Apps Could Improve Customer Care Woes (April 1, 2014)
Mobile-based customer care is failing to meet the needs of users, who still suffer from many of the same old issues, along with some new problems that have cropped up more recently.
EBS rolls out mobile FX app
FX trading service EBS has launched Watch EBS, a new mobile app that is designed to show users the global spot FX market in as close to real time as possible.
Vodafone launches M-Pesa in Romania
Mobile money service M-Pesa has launched in Romania, bringing an idea hugely successful in Kenya to a European Union member state for the first time.
NACHA Pushes for Same-Day ACH Payments with Three-Step Plan (March 31, 2014)
NACHA wants to help move the U.S. toward same-day ACH payments using a phased approach to replace today’s sluggish system that can take three to five days for electronic payments to clear.
Green Dot Shifts Cash Reload Strategy to Focus on Swipe (March 31, 2014)
Green Dot Corp. is in the midst of a national rollout of a swipe reload service aimed at making reloading cash onto a prepaid card more convenient, efficient and intuitive.
India’s Central Bank Tightens Prepaid Regs (March 31, 2014)
The Reserve Bank of India has updated its rules covering prepaid products, which it says will help combat money laundering and fraud.
People on the Move: Greg Haney, CardLab Inc.
CardLab Inc., a Dallas-based provider of open-loop incentive and prepaid card products, announced that Greg Haney has joined the company as chief operating officer.
Company on the Move: Contact Solutions, Frost & Sullivan Award
Contact Solutions, a Reston, Va.-based provider of cloud-based customer self-service solutions, has been awarded the Customer Value Leadership Award for Best Practices Research on hosted interactive voice response solutions by business consulting firm Frost & Sullivan.
People on the Move: Anna Yip, MasterCard
MasterCard has appointed Anna Yip as head of Hong Kong and Macau.
People on the Move: Ari Horowitz and George Zirkel, TabbedOut
TabbedOut, an Austin, Texas-based provider of an app enabling consumers to open, review and pay their restaurant and bar tabs from their mobile phones, has hired Ari Horowitz as executive vice president, strategic partnerships and corporate development, and George Zirkel as chief revenue officer.
People on the Move: U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, New Memoir
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has written a book, “A Fighting Chance,” which chronicles her life from growing up in Oklahoma to her work establishing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to her 2012 election to the U.S. Senate.
People on the Move: Eric Duprat, WEX Inc.
WEX Inc., a provider of corporate payment solutions, announced that Eric Duprat has been elected to the company’s board of directors.
UK mobile banking doubles in a year
UK consumers have doubled the amount of transactions they make on their mobile phones over the last year, according to new figures released by the BBA.
International Bank of Qatar clamps down on money laundering
The International Bank of Qatar has installed a financial crime risk management platform from tech vendor Fiserv, which it says will help it to better manage its money laundering and fraud prevention strategy.
SIA and Orange champion mobile POS in Europe
Orange Business Services and technology infrastructure provider SIA have done a deal aimed at encouraging European banks and merchants to manage more payments via mobile point of sale terminals.
IRS Says Digital Currency is Property (March 27, 2014)
The IRS has ruled that Bitcoin and other digital currencies are property, not currency, and will be treated as such for tax purposes.
Survey: Consumers Spend Double Via Mobile, But Security/Privacy Remain Barriers for Non-Users (March 27, 2014)
The good news for mobile payments is that consumers in the U.S. and Europe are spending double when they initiate payments via their mobile devices or online, according to a survey released this month from Bain & Company.
Brazilian Bank, Telco Make NFC Play (March 27, 2014)
Brazilian mobile network operator Claro has partnered with Bradesco, one of that country’s largest banks, to create an NFC-based mobile payment service.
Walmart Opts Out of Interchange Case Settlement, Seeks Damages in New Lawsuit (March 27, 2014)
Walmart this week opted out of the $7.25 billion settlement Visa and MasterCard reached last fall over interchange fees and filed its own antitrust suit against Visa.
