News

Treasury’s Koide: Prepaid Has Important Role in Financial Services Revolution, Needs to Ask Hard Questions (July 1, 2013)

July 1, 2013 “We’re only at the beginning of a technology-driven revolution in financial services,” Melissa Koide, deputy assistant secretary, office consumer policy, U.S. Treasury Department, said last week during the NBPCA’s second annual Power of Prepaid conference in Washington, D.C. Koide noted that the prepaid platform has brought powerful and positive innovations to financial […]

• 1st July 2013

It’s Official: TSYS Closes $1.4 Billion NetSpend Buy (July 1, 2013)

July 1, 2013 Payments processor TSYS has completed its $1.4 billion acquisition of GPR and payroll card provider NetSpend Corp., the company said today. First announced in February, the deal was billed as a “transformational event” for TSYS, and gives the Columbus, Ga.-based firm a major foothold in the program management arena, bringing more than […]

• 1st July 2013

Visa Contactless Payments Coming to German Shell Stations (July 1, 2013)

July 1, 2013 Motorists in Germany soon will be able to use Visa payWave technology to make contactless payments when filling up their tanks at Shell petrol stations. Beginning in spring 2014, Shell stations in the country will accept payments via contactless Visa card or NFC-enabled smartphone. Full rollout to all 2,200 German Shell locations […]

• 1st July 2013

Square Shuts Down Digital Gift Card Service (July 1, 2013)

July 1, 2013 Square Inc. is shutting down its digital gift card operation after little more than six months, due to operational difficulties, according to Reuters. Square announced its gift card program in December 2012, touting it as a way for small businesses that lacked a gift card program to instantly enable users to send […]

• 1st July 2013

Misys shows its post-merger mettle

For the first three months of 2012, Misys was the subject of a protracted bidding war. Misys is clearly not the company it was a year ago:the firm has endured some painful change, but it has at least been quick. It has also produced what promise to be tangible benefits for users …

• 28th June 2013

Data structures hampering banks’ ability to monitor risk

According to a new white paper from Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, one of the key issues faced by data architects tasked with creating a unified data management infrastructure is the fact that operations in different countries often have different internal systems.

• 27th June 2013

Power of Prepaid: House Rep. Urges Industry to Build Relationships with Govt., Put Face on Prepaid (June 27, 2013)

June 27, 2013 During the kickoff to the NPBCA’s Power of Prepaid conference in Washington, D.C., this morning U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) urged the industry to reach out to lawmakers and regulators on the Hill and in their home states, and to share stories about real consumers’ success with prepaid cards. Coming to Washington […]

• 27th June 2013

MasterCard Launches Prepaid Travel Card in Canada (June 27, 2013)

June 27, 2013 The latest entry in a spate of new prepaid travel cards comes from Canada, where MasterCard Canada and its subsidiary Access Prepaid Worldwide this week launched the new Cash Passport Prepaid MasterCard Currency Card. Targeting Canadian travelers seeking a secure alternative to traveler’s checks or cash, the EMV-enabled Cash Passport card enables […]

• 27th June 2013

Group Seeks to Rally Industry Input on Proposed Ontario Escheat Law; Comments Due July 19 (June 27, 2013)

June 27, 2013 Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney General is accepting comments through July 19 on the possible inclusion of prepaid products into the province’s pending escheat law, and one trade group is hoping to organize a unified payments industry response. Earlier this week, Payments eXchange Canada released a notice calling for prepaid stakeholders to […]

• 27th June 2013

Report: U.S. EMV Migration Price Tag to Exceed $10 Billion (June 27, 2013)

June 27, 2013 As more U.S. card issuers solidify their plans to migrate to the EMV chip-card standard by October 2015, the estimated cost of the effort is settling in at $10 billion to $11 billion, according to a new report from Aite Group. Most U.S. issuers will launch with chip cards requiring only a […]

• 27th June 2013

Lloyds Bank, Monitise Partner on mPOS Play (June 27, 2013)

June 27, 2013 Lloyds Bank is entering the mobile POS market via a new deal with Monitise plc under which the U.K. bank will sell Monitise’s card acceptance technology to small businesses and micro-merchants. The companies will begin offering “a suite of mobile payments products” beginning this fall, with Monitise’s technology also serving as the […]

• 27th June 2013

UKGCVA, SVS Launch Christmas Design Competition (June 27, 2013)

June 27, 2013 Christmas is coming early for children in the U.K., who have the chance to see their own gift card design in stores this holiday season. The UK Gift Card and Voucher Association (UKGCVA), the trade body representing the U.K.’s £4.7 billion voucher, gift card and stored value solutions industry, has launched a […]

• 27th June 2013

BNP Paribas creates Collateral Access umbrella for buy- and sell-side clients

BNP Paribas Securities Services has added Collateral Access, an integrated and comprehensive collateral management system for both buy-side and sell-side clients.

• 26th June 2013

Broadridge buys Bonaire to build data-driven strategy

Broadridge Financial Solutions is to acquire Bonaire Software Solutions, a provider of asset management fee calculation, billing, and revenue and expense management solutions.

• 26th June 2013

MasterCard Inks Small-Business MasterPass Deal with Web.com (June 26, 2013)

June 26, 2013 MasterCard Worldwide, looking to extend its MasterPass e-commerce checkout service to merchants on a mass basis, today announced a partnership with online retail services provider Web.com Group Inc., making MasterPass immediately available to tens of thousands of small-business merchants. Web.com, which has about 3 million small-business customers, now bundles MasterPass e-commerce checkout […]

• 26th June 2013

Square Launches Online Marketplace for Local Micro-Merchants (June 26, 2013)

June 26, 2013 Square Inc. hopes to give a boost to micro-merchants that have traditionally sold items face to face as they move into e-commerce through its new Square Market, which the San Francisco company unveiled this week. Targeting local merchants selling items online for the first time, Square Market provides an easy path for […]

• 26th June 2013

Report: Gov’t Prepaid Offers Savings for Agencies, Recipients (June 26, 2013)

June 26, 2013 Using prepaid cards for benefit payments to individuals can help reduce costs for government agencies as well as recipients, according to a new report by the Association of Government Accountants (AGA). The study was conducted by the AGA’s Corporate Partners Advisory Group (CPAG) research project, sponsored by Visa. The report was based […]

• 26th June 2013

CFPB: Investigated Parties Can Earn Credit toward Mitigation (June 26, 2013)

June 26, 2013 Self-policing, self-reporting, remediation and cooperation are four factors which the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will take into account when deciding whether some form of mitigation credit is warranted in an enforcement investigation, according to a new bulletin issued by the agency. However, those seeking such credit need to go well above […]

• 26th June 2013

Six to supply data for GBST financial transaction tax system

GBST‘s Capital Markets and Six Financial Information have teamed up to enhance GBST´s solution for the Financial Transaction Tax that some European countries are introducing.

• 25th June 2013

RBS poaches Berndt from BAML to head global transaction services

RBS has hired Carole Berndt as global head of transaction services. Berndt has been EMEA head of transaction banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch for the past three years. She will be based in London and report to John Owen, chief executive, International Banking, at RBS, who said: “I am delighted to welcome Carole […]

• 25th June 2013

Green Dot’s GoBank Goes to Market with Optional Fee Intact (June 25, 2013)

June 25, 2013 Green Dot Corp. is taking the “name your price” feature to financial services as it rolls out its GoBank mobile banking solution nationwide today. Since its January unveiling, GoBank has been in beta testing with a group of invited consumers. Now anyone can sign up for the service at GoBank.com or by […]

• 25th June 2013

MasterCard Plants M-Payments Flag in Egypt (June 25, 2013)

Will Egypt be next to ignite an m-payments program for millions of unbanked consumers, similar to M-Pesa’s success in Kenya?

• 25th June 2013

India’s RuPay Goes Online with New E-Commerce Functionality (June 25, 2013)

• 25th June 2013

Barclays Readies ‘Buyit’ QR Code-Based M-Payment Service (June 25, 2013)

June 25, 2013 Barclays is taking contactless payment in a new direction with a service enabling users to make payments directly from their bank accounts by tapping their phones on QR codes on billboards, magazine ads and other printed items, potentially including routine bill payments. Harnessing the Barclays Pingit mobile payments app, the new Buyit […]

• 25th June 2013

OU Offers Gift Card for Tuition (June 25, 2013)

• 25th June 2013

Object Trading clients go live on new London derivatives market

Direct market access provider Object Trading has connected its clients to Nasdaq OMX NLX, the newly launched London derivatives market, and they have begun live trading.

• 24th June 2013

Cordray, NLRB Appointments in Supreme Court’s Hands (June 24, 2013)

The U.S. Supreme Court this morning decided to hear the case of National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning. Hanging in the balance is the legal validity not only of appointments made by President Barack Obama to fill NLRB vacancies, but the appointment of Richard Cordray to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). A ruling […]

• 24th June 2013

Visa Readies for Europe V.me Launch with More Retail Partners (June 24, 2013)

• 24th June 2013

MasterCard Survey: European Consumers Say No to Cash for Holiday Spend (June 24, 2013)

  Click here for larger PDF version.   June 24, 2013 More Europeans are pulling out cards instead of cash while on holiday, according to new research from MasterCard. The online survey  of 3,310 consumers in eight countries—Spain, Italy, Germany, Sweden, U.K., France, Poland and Ukraine—found that consumers prefer having their debit or credit cards on hand […]

• 24th June 2013

Indonesian Startup Launches Multi-Use Gift Card (June 24, 2013)

• 24th June 2013

Government should push banking platform upgrades in wake of Treasury report say IT firms

Reaction to the publication of the Report of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards earlier this week focussed largely on the restrictions that senior management in banks, but it also made recommendations about the systems banks use, and the need to upgrade them.

• 21st June 2013

Spain’s Banco Sabadell offers mobile cash withdrawal

Spanish bank Sabadell has released a mobile app that lets consumers withdraw cash without a debit card.

• 20th June 2013

Union Bank of Taiwan adopts Calastone funds tools

Union Bank of Taiwan has signed up with global fund transaction network Calastone to automate its offshore fund transactions through the new Taiwan Depository and Clearing Corporation fund service.

• 20th June 2013

NetSpend Shareholders Green Light TSYS Acquisition (June 20, 2013)

• 20th June 2013

MasterCard, Western Union Team Up to Make Cross-Border Payments Easier for SMBs (June 20, 2013)

• 20th June 2013

Russian Bank Launches NFC-Based Mobile Wallet (June 20, 2013)

• 20th June 2013

Webinar: Debunking ‘Myths of Prepaid’ (June 20, 2013)

• 20th June 2013

SEC hopes for Midas touch from HFT surveillance system

the US Securities and Exchange Commission says that its cloud-based approach is paying dividends and allowing it to examine the structures of the markets it supervises at a greater level of granularity than ever before.

• 20th June 2013

Keeping it simple: market data management made easy …

New York start-up Simplified Financial Information is piloting a market data analytics system prior to release later this summer.

• 20th June 2013

Norwegian oil firm looks to leverage case-based analytics system for financial services

Case-based reasoning tools developed for the oil industry are being re-engineered for financial markets by a new division of the Swedish firm Verdande Technology with the intention of creating a systems monitoring tool for trading firms.

• 20th June 2013