December 2012 Shawn Creedon, a corporate finance lawyer with nearly 20 years of experience in principal investing, bankruptcy and restructuring, has joined Washington, D.C.-based law firm Patton Boggs LLP as a partner in the firm’s corporate finance practice group in its New York City office. He joins Patton Boggs from Silver Point Capital L.P., where […]
December 2012 Mercator Advisory Group has hired Jeffrey Green to lead the company’s emerging technologies service. Green, who has 16 years of payments industry editorial experience, most recently served as editorial director of the payments group at SourceMedia, where he managed the payments group and coordinated coverage with multiple publications and departments. Send Us […]
December 2012 GlobalPlatform, a nonprofit organization that standardizes managing applications on secure chip technology, has announced its board of directors for fiscal year 2013, following elections for six of its 11 seats: Marc Kekicheff, senior business leader of chip innovation, Visa Inc.; Uwe Wittig, group vice president, head of business line payment, transit and authentication, […]
December 2012 Fiserv Inc., a Brookfield, Wis.-based financial system and service provider, has appointed Chris Flink to its board of directors. He is a partner at IDEO, an innovation and design firm, and a consulting associate professor at Stanford University. At IDEO, Flink has held a variety of roles, from heading the firm’s consumer experience […]
Asset managers should take five simple steps to counter the effect of rising collateral requirements for OTC derivatives, according to a joint study by BNY Mellon and Rule Financial.
Capital markets participants are increasingly turning to combined execution and order management systems that include tools for algorithmic and basket trading strategies in multiple asset classes, according to a new report by consultancy GreySpark Partners.
Dec. 13, 2012 The latest blow in the continuing court battle over interchange fees charged to merchants for accepting Visa and MasterCard credit cards was struck this week, when an appeals court declined a request by Home Depot to expedite the retailer’s appeal of a $7.25 billion settlement proposed in July. The agreement—which received preliminary […]
Dec. 13, 2012 Merchants that accept Discover cards online soon will have a secure, streamlined approach to selling goods to billions of Chinese shoppers through a new agreement between Discover Financial Services, the giant Shanghai-based card network China UnionPay (CUP) and CardinalCommerce Corp., a Cleveland-based card authorization platform provider. Beginning early next year, CUP’s 3.2 […]
Dec. 13, 2012 MasterCard Worldwide’s new stake in mobile wallet back-end technology expert C-SAM Inc. is the latest in a series of moves aimed to make it easy for consumers to pay with a minimum of steps through any channel. MasterCard did not disclose the terms of its deal with C-SAM, but calls it a […]
Dec. 13, 2012 PayPal Inc. has been pushing hard into brick-and-mortar retail this year—and now the online payment giant is giving users yet another reason to get into stores. The company—in partnership with third-party distributor and technology provider InComm—has unveiled its new PayPal My Cash Card, which enables users to fund their PayPal accounts via […]
Dec. 13, 2012 U.S. Sen. Robert Casey (D-Pa.) this week announced his support of the Gift Card Consumer Protection Act, which would prohibit expiration dates and dormancy, inactivity and service fees on gift certificates, store gift cards and general-use prepaid cards. The bill (US S 3636) also aims to prevent companies filing for bankruptcy from […]
The European Parliament has voted to approve the introduction of a financial transaction tax across 11 EU member states including France, Germany and Italy – but market participants warn that it may have unintended consequences.
Cross-border payments service provider Earthport has opened a low value payments service into Turkey, which will allow Earthport’s clients to reach an estimated 42 million bank accounts.
Barclays has appointed former FSA chief executive Hector Sants as head of compliance and government and regulatory relations.
The Singapore Exchange has stepped up its efforts to connect to international market participants, with a deal between itself and German derivatives exchange Eurex that will allow traders in Europe to access the Singapore market more easily.
The Financial Services Authority has instructed HSBC to set-up a board-level committee with a mandate to oversee matters relating to anti-money laundering, sanctions, terrorist financing and proliferation financing.
OpenGamma, a provider of analytics and risk management software, has appointed Mas Nakachi as global COO and chief executive, North America.
The creation of a new united bourse for Japan, called the Japan Exchange Group, has come one step closer with the final approval of Japan’s Financial Services Agency for the listing of JPX stock on the Tokyo bourse this week.
Financial institutions are still not using social media to its full potential and are missing out as a result, according to a new report by German IT firm GFT.
Experian, a provider of information services, has appointed Andy Marshall as director of sales, credit services, Experian UK and Ireland.
Dec. 11, 2012 HSBC’s record $1.9 billion payout to settle allegations that it violated U.S. anti-money laundering (AML) rules suggests that the government is getting better at spotting and punishing organizations that try to skirt regulations, legal experts say. U.K.-based HSBC Holdings plc today said it reached a deferred-prosecution agreement with the U.S. government following […]
Dec. 11, 2012 Prepaid services provider InComm has reached a deal to acquire a majority stake in Adility Inc., a platform for “online-to-offline” commerce, which InComm will integrate into its existing in-store POS infrastructure in a bid to help retailers generate retail sales using virtual prepaid cards and coupons. Adility enables retailers and brands to […]
Dec. 11, 2012 Dollar volume growth for November was solid but came in lower than last month and the year-ago period, according to the latest SpendTrend data released by First Data Corp., an Atlanta-based payments processor. November dollar volume growth was 5.8 percent, down from 6.7 percent in October and down from 7.3 percent in […]
Dec. 11, 2012 Mobile payments specialist Bango Inc. is expanding its reach again, this time to Australia where local mobile network operator Telstra has added the capability for its subscribers to make one-click purchases of digital goods through Google Play. U.K.-based Bango, which began providing payment services to Facebook earlier this year, recently integrated a […]
Dec. 11, 2012 A new startup aims to combine shopping, loyalty and gifting to provide what it calls “the most relevant offers to consumers and the most targeted customers to merchants.” Philadelphia-based Clutch last week launched its free iOS app, which enables users to manage gift and loyalty cards, daily deals, coupons, social gifting and […]
The Futures and Options Association has appointed former Financial Services Authority policy leader Natasha Stromberg as head of regulation, with core responsibility for working groups on energy, power, emissions, metals and other commodities-related areas.
Market participants trying to clear OTC derivatives under new European trading rules will soon be able to use a service from CSD Euroclear and clearinghouse CME Clearing Europe that promises to make the job easier.
Global investment bank Jefferies has chosen a cash management solution from software firm TwoFour Systems for its UK and US-based Jefferies Bache Treasury business, to help it keep better track of its business processes.
BNP Paribas Securities Services is planning to offer a post-trade service for banks and brokers that want to take advantage of the new cross-trade deal between the London Stock Exchange and the Singapore Exchange.
Dec. 10, 2012 Apple Inc.’s Passbook mobile wallet app gradually is gaining momentum with merchants and card issuers integrating with the mobile wallet app. And while Apple continues to remain mum about plans to add NFC to its handsets, where Apple is going with its proliferating number of other payments-related patents is anyone’s guess. Apple […]
Dec. 10, 2012 Banking and payments technology provider FIS has unveiled a new program the company says will save ATM users from high convenience fees, while increasing traffic and earnings for ATM owners. FIS’s new DOLLAR$TOP limited surcharge program enables consumers to access ATMs across the U.S. with a guaranteed $1 convenience fee limit. Available […]
Dec. 10, 2012 Just months after becoming an issuer of prepaid cards, global online payments provider Optimal Payments has taken another step into the prepaid arena, inking a deal with MasterCard International Inc. in a bid to expand the company’s presence in the European prepaid market. The collaboration will be based around Optimal’s Net+ MasterCard […]
Dec. 10, 2012 Small merchants that accept Square Wallet are hoping to get a holiday sales boost from Square Inc.’s introduction this week of digital gift cards. San Mateo-based Square’s latest offering enables smartphone users to purchase a gift card from 250,000 merchants participating in Square Wallet, and pay using any card. Consumers buying Square […]
Dec. 10, 2012 Asperity Employee Benefits, a U.K.-based employee benefits provider, has chosen Giftango Corp. to manage and fulfill e-gift cards for Asperity’s recently launched rewards program in the United States. The partnership enables Asperity and its Web-based benefits platform to provide customers with a wider selection and instant delivery of e-gift cards through the […]
Dec. 10, 2012 San Francisco-based startup Cardfree has launched a white-label mobile platform providing merchants with the ability to implement personalized offers and promotions, mobile payments, loyalty programs, social media engagement and data analytics, among other capabilities designed to drive incremental visits, larger ticket size and greater consumer engagement. The goal of Cardfree is to […]
US post-trade services utility the DTCC has appointed Christopher Behney as head of enterprise production assurance at its Dallas office.
A new service called MasterCard rePower that lets users transform cash into electronic money on a prepaid account has launched in Europe.
At a gala event in London this week, industry luminaries gathered for an evening of entertainment and excitement as the winners of the 2012 Banking Technology Awards and Readers’ Choice Awards were announced. Comedian Simon Evans (left) kept the audience on the edge of their seats with an acerbic and hilarious routine before being joined on stage […]
Despite delays and arguments over migration, the European Central Bank’s T2S project to improve Europe’s post-trade infrastructure is now back on track, according to senior industry participants.
Europe’s businesses are unprepared for the arrival of the Single Euro Payments Area in February 2014, with many completely unaware of its consequences, according to new research by IT business services provider Steria.
