News


PayPal Reportedly Close to Purchasing E-Commerce Processor Braintree (Sept. 23, 2013)

Sept. 23, 2013 PayPal Inc. reportedly is nearing a deal to acquire e-commerce payments processor Braintree Payment Solutions, which processes nearly $10 billion in annual payments for popular startups, including Uber Technologies, Rovio and Airbnb. Sources familiar with the discussions did not disclose financial terms of the potential deal, and cautioned that the talks could […]

TransCard Buys PayPartners, Forms Acquisition Division (Sept. 23, 2013)

Sept. 23, 2013  TransCard is continuing its acquisition spree with the announcement last week that it’s acquiring PayPartners Inc., a provider of payroll and other corporate prepaid cards. PayPartners’ platform and cloud-based back-office portal complement TransCard’s services, making it easy to on-board, issue and manage payroll card portfolios, according to the Tenn.-based prepaid processor and […]

Occupy Wall Street Movement Seeks Donations to Launch Prepaid Card (Sept. 23, 2013)

Sept. 23, 2013 Occupy Wall Street’s second anniversary last week did not draw large crowds, but organizers are pushing forward with plans to launch a reloadable prepaid card backed by a nonprofit cooperative, a spokesperson tells Paybefore. The Occupy Card, envisioned as an FDIC-insured Visa prepaid card, is designed so that anyone—including millions excluded by banks—may qualify […]

Lloyds partnership marks start of overseas extension

Lloyds Banking Group’s partnership with Standard Chartered Bank, announced this week, is likely to be the first of a series of such deals intended to allow the UK-focused bank to extend its client services overseas.

Study: Young Consumers Ready for Mobile Payments (Sept. 19, 2013)

Younger consumers likely will lead the charge toward mobile payments ubiquity over the coming years, but they have certain expectations that must be met by providers who seek to harness that demand, according to a new report from payments processor Vantiv Inc.

State Bank of India Taps Yalamanchili for Money Transfer Card (Sept. 19, 2013)

Sept. 19, 2013 The State Bank of India has selected international payments solutions provider Yalamanchili to provide the processing platform for the bank’s new State Bank Xpress Money Card, which enables cardholders to receive instant money transfers from the United Arab Emirates. The prepaid Visa card is co-branded by the State Bank of India and […]

Foundation Seeks Green Light for Bitcoin Campaign Contributions (Sept. 19, 2013)

Sept. 19, 2013 The Bitcoin Foundation is pushing for permission to allow bitcoins as a source of federal political contributions. The trade group this week made its pitch to the U.S. Federal Election Commission in a letter announcing its support for the concept, which the Conservative Action Fund PAC (CAF) proposed earlier this month. The […]

Sibos delegates slam “ill-conceived” regulation

Sibos delegates have sent a blunt message to the world’s financial regulators that new regulations are neither well planned nor well implemented. Eighty per cent of delegates expressed their negative views regarding regulation in yesterday’s regulation plenary session.

MyBank E-Mandate pilot ready to go live

EBA Clearing has signed five financial institutions, 11 European service providers and two corporates for its MyBank E-Mandate pilot, which will begin in October and will test the firm’s solution for Sepa core direct debits for reliability, security and usability.

Barclays builds on Pingit head start

Barclays is making a determined effort to capitalise on the two-year lead it has built up with its Pingit mobile payments application with two new applications intended to allow retailers to integrate mobile payments into their services.

New Age of Bank-Technology Partnerships (September 2013)

The partnerships banks are forming with financial technology suppliers today look very different than routine client-vendor relationships of past decades, and one of the most interesting aspects of the trend is how both sides are transforming each other.

BofA Merrill Offered Faster Corporate Payments to Asia (Sept. 17, 2013)

Sept. 17, 2013 Bank of America Merrill Lynch is aiming to improve the speed and efficiency with which banks and corporations can make high-dollar payments to Asia. The company’s new Accelerated Payments to Asia solution uses smart routing technology to mitigate the difficulties typically faced by corporations making U.S. dollar payments to Asia due to […]

rePower Expands in Europe, Adds paysafecard (Sept. 17, 2013)

Sept. 17, 2013 MasterCard is expanding the reach of its rePower prepaid card reload network to more European nations and adding partners as part of its push to make loading cash onto prepaid cards easier for consumers across Europe, according to Matt Lanford, MasterCard Europe’s head of prepaid. At the 2013 MasterCard Europe Prepaid Conference […]

Companies on the Move: Mercury Payment Systems, RSPA and Inc. Recognition (September 2013)

Mercury Payment Systems, a Durango, Colo.-based payment processor, recently was recognized at the Retail Solutions Provider Association’s RetailNOW 2013 convention and expo with the RSPA 2013 Gold Medallion Award for vendor excellence and Best Electronic Payments/Financing Processor, while founders Jeff and Marc Katz were inducted into the RSPA Hall of Fame.

Swift sets course for collaborative compliance

Swift’s “True North” is the fact that it is a cooperative, and it will focus on this as it moves towards developing collaborative industry utilities to address complicated issues in areas such as KYC.

Yorkshire paves a path in shared services with HP alliance

The UK’s second largest building society is being moved to a modern delivery platform managed by HP, with the establishment of a Shared Services Alliance with HP Enterprise Services UK to offer the platform to a wider range of UK financial services institutions.

Millions prepare to switch banks as UK switching service launches

Experts are saying millions of people will abandon their old banks and switch to a new provider, following the introduction of new rules on 16 September designed to make it easier to change banks. But estimates vary widely, from single digits to tens of millions.

Capital One Exits Isis Mobile Wallet (Sept. 16, 2013)

Capital One Financial Corp. this week ends its trial run with the Isis Mobile Wallet, raising questions about what combination of payment cards Isis will have when the wallet officially launches later this year.

i2c Integrates Platform with MasterCard’s Mexico Domestic Switch (Sept. 16, 2013)

Sept. 16, 2013 i2c Inc. today announced the completion of a direct integration of its platform with MasterCard’s domestic switch in Mexico, where the cloud-based payments processor sees significant growth opportunities. Redwood City, Calif.-based i2c completed all requirements for certification with MasterCard’s Mexico Domestic Switch service, which i2c says will help accelerate implementations of prepaid, credit […]

Western Union Makes Moves in China (Sept. 16, 2013)

Sept. 16, 2013 Western Union has made a pair of major inroads into the Chinese banking channel. Through a deal struck last week with Shanghai-based payment card network UnionPay, the money transfer giant now can reach 95 percent of all personal bank accounts in China. The pact enables Western Union customers in 23 countries to […]

Rise in non-cash volumes brings innovation opportunity

Global non-cash payments volumes continue to rise unabated, according to World Payments Report 2013 (WPR 2013), which was launched today. Non-cash transactions grew by 8.8 per cent during 2011 (the latest year for which full data is available) and are predicted to top 333 billion for 2012.

Zapp zeroes in on UK banks as mobile banking competition builds

Mobile payments specialist Zapp is expecting to sign up five of the six major UK banks within the next few weeks, following a deal with acquirer WorldPay, announced this week. However, the platform still has a long way to go to catch-up with rival Barclay’s Pingit, which has a significant head-start, having launched in February 2012.