Google Inc.’s vice president of payments and wallet has left the company to pursue outside interests, Google confirms. Osama Bedier, who joined Google in 2011 after eight years at PayPal, played a key role in Google Wallet’s recent milestones as well as announcing Google’s purchase of TxVia about a year ago. “We can confirm that Osama […]
As municipalities continue to explore and, in at least one case, implement programs involving government-issued identification that doubles as a prepaid card, Consumers Union this week urged city leaders to be cautious of prepaid cards that might come with “high fees and weak consumer protections.” In letters sent to the National League of Cities, an advocacy group […]
Over the past two years, the mobile retail payments landscape has been marked by collaboration across diverse industry players, increased channel and technological convergence, market entry by nonbank entities, and technological innovation and experimentation. Those were among the findings of a new white paper issued by the Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta and Boston, which […]
Brazilian exchange BM&F Bovespa has joined the BT Radianz Cloud, a financial community that connects 500 member locations in Latin America with BT’s global network.
Bank has named FIS as its technology partner to provide a technology platform in a fully-hosted outsourcing deal that will run for the next four years.
The European Commission has published proposals designed to make it easier for European consumers to understand and compare the bank services they receive and switch bank accounts if they are not happy with their existing provider.
The cost to fully upgrade the financial industry’s infrastructure to make efficient use of collateral will reach $53 billion, according to new research by Celent – but too much standardisation could do more harm than good, warns SIX Securities Services.
A legal framework for the standardised clearing of OTC derivatives has been established in Germany with the approval of standardised documentation by the German Banking Industry Committee, the Deutsche Kreditwirtschaft. The DK has published the framework agreement, called the CRV – Clearing-Rahmenvereinbarung – for use by German banks and their buy-side customers with immediate effect. The document […]
Java virtualisation specialist Waratek, one of the finalists in the Swift-backed Innotribe Challenge at this year’s Sibos in Dubai, has formed a partnership with Asia market access specialist Intralink to expand into Asia Pacific. As well as the Innotribe final, the Waratek CloudVM for Java offering has been selected for the Fintech Innovation Lab, based […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently published a final determination regarding whether the unclaimed property laws of Maine and Tennessee relating to unredeemed gift cards are inconsistent with and preempted by the gift card provisions of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act and Regulation E. In its ruling, the CFPB determined that Maine’s unclaimed property […]
Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange has joined the BT Radianz Cloud, a network that the exchange hopes will help better connect it to investors from the outside world.
NFC is gradually beginning to overcome the obstacles that have held back development. Banks should prepare for the coming upswing in usage, according to a new report by financial research firm Celent.
Discover Financial Services has signed a deal with Network International to enable acceptance of the Dubai-based company’s Mercury Network cards around the globe. Under the agreement, Mercury cardholders will be able to make payments and access cash over the Discover, Diners Club International, PULSE and other partner networks, paving the way for acceptance in more […]
PayToo Corp. has joined forces with Mobilepaid Ltd. and AnywhereCommerce to offer PayTooSwipe, a mobile payment acceptance solution it is rolling out globally. The concept, building on PayToo’s global wallet targeting unbanked consumers and mobile payment platform, enables any smartphone or tablet to accept payment from all types of cards including magnetic stripe, EMV chip […]
May 7, 2013 Wendy’s is the latest quick-serve restaurant to pilot mobile payments by adding a feature to its mobile app. The pilot, involving 88 Wendy’s locations in Oregon, Washington, Texas and New Mexico, enables consumers that have linked a credit card or Wendy’s gift card to the app to pay for their orders at […]
May 7, 2013 U.K. retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) has completed a rollout of contactless payment technology in 644 of its stores and now is processing 230,000 contactless payments a week. Piloted last summer in 25 of its London stores, M&S’s contactless program uses technology from Visa Europe that enables customers to pay for purchases […]
U.K. retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) has completed a rollout of contactless payment technology in 644 of its stores and now is processing 230,000 contactless payments a week.
PayToo Corp. has joined forces with Mobilepaid Ltd. and AnywhereCommerce to offer PayTooSwipe, a mobile payment acceptance solution it is rolling out globally. The concept, building on PayToo’s global wallet targeting unbanked consumers and mobile payment platform, enables any smartphone or tablet to accept payment from all types of cards including magnetic stripe, EMV chip […]
A bid by a group of big-name retailers to invalidate patents related to prepaid cards has failed in federal court, leaving the merchants subject to future legal action by the holder of the patents. The case dates back to 2010, when patent holder Alexsam Inc. sued retailers, including Best Buy, JC Penney, Barnes & Noble, […]
Mobile point of sale (MPOS) technology, with its quick enrollment process, low-cost hardware and apps that enable mobile devices to accept card payments, is disrupting the payments landscape as it transitions from a niche solution for small merchants to a revenue generator for large retailers, according to a white paper from Mobey Forum. “Little more […]
A new article from a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City explores the “varied” effects of the Durbin Amendment on merchants and suggests it’s unclear whether the rule achieved its goal of improving payment systems efficiency or helping merchants pass on saving to consumers. The Durbin Amendment resulted in a Federal […]
Mobile transaction services company BYNDL Inc. has teamed up with Sprout Retail, a vending-focused consumer marketing firm, to deliver mobile payments, stored value, digital coupons and surveys to vending customers via mobile devices. Seattle-based startup BYNDL offers a “vending cloud,” which enables vending technology providers to offer their vending operator clients digital services to sell […]
The US Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has appointed Carlo di Florio as executive vice president, risk and strategy. In his new role, di Florio will lead FINRA’s office of risk, emerging regulatory issues, enterprise risk management and strategy.
The UK financial services sector has asked new regulator the Financial Conduct Authority to do more to support competition, improve its communication with the industry and provide clearer and more predictable regulation, according to a the results of a survey published by the FCA today.
The Australian Securities Exchange has set out plans to offer client clearing of OTC derivatives before the end of the year, in a move designed to provide new risk management controls to Australian investors.
Google made two moves to expand its role in financial services this week, investing in a P2P lending company and rolling out a contactless transit card in Kenya. Google acquired a minority stake in Lending Club, an online financial community that matches creditworthy borrowers with investors, providing an alternative to traditional banking with competitive loan […]
Discover has signed deals with more than 50 merchant acquirers in the run-up toward implementing in-store acceptance of PayPal via Discover’s payment network. The agreements—which cover acquirers, including Heartland Payment Systems, TSYS and Vantiv—will enable PayPal acceptance at more than 2 million merchants by the end of this year, according to Discover. PayPal announced its […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau this week made some adjustments and extended by several months the effective date of final rules on international money transfers, ending a period of limbo for remittance-transfer providers. Oct. 28, 2013, is the new effective date for the CFPB’s revised final remittance rule affecting foreign remittances, amending Regulation E of […]
Consumers could have one more reason to redeem cash-based promotional offers if parago, a Lewisville, Texas-based incentive provider, succeeds with its new “action-triggered” prepaid card. Designed to increase response to direct mail and other promotional offers, the new offering enables marketers to send consumers a zero-balance prepaid card that marketers can instantly load with value […]
Banks can breathe a sigh of relief following the publication of amendments to US Dodd-Frank Rule 1073 today, which should allay fears that draconian regulation was about to stifle cross-border payments.
UMB Financial Corp., a Kansas City, Mo.-based financial services holding company, has announced that Hugh Meadows has joined UMB as vice president, debit/prepaid card product manager for health care services. He is responsible for executing strategy and driving growth to UMB prepaid and debit card portfolios through new sales and expanding existing business. He also […]
For the third consecutive year, Ukash, a London-based prepaid voucher provider, has been honored by the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise for its contribution to international trade. The International Trade award recognizes U.K. businesses that have delivered substantial growth in overseas earnings and improved levels of commercial success globally. The award reinforces Ukash’s sustained commitment to […]
B Lab’s 2013 Best for the World List, which acknowledges companies creating the most positive overall social and environmental impact, has recognized St. Paul, Minn.-based Sunrise Banks. The bank invests in projects within inner-city neighborhoods, works closely with state and federal assistance programs and supports community development, among other philanthropies. B Lab is a nonprofit […]
ROAM, a Boston-based mobile commerce platform provider and Ingenico company, has appointed Scott Goldthwaite senior vice president of operations. His duties include ensuring that the firm’s operations and business processes are aligned with the rapidly evolving needs of its customers as they deploy mobile point-of-sale solutions. Goldthwaite previously served as a senior member of the […]
The prepaid and emerging payments industry recently lost a highly respected 30-year veteran. Timothy Birk, CEO at Performance Benefits Inc., died in a car accident on April 14, 2013. Birk, 56, is survived by his wife, Sheri, her children, Brandt and Aidan, and his children, Luke, Olivia and Thomas with his first wife, LaDon. Birk […]
Mercury Payment Systems, a Durango, Colo.-based prepaid card processor, has announced that Nick Nayfack, director of product, accepted a seat on the Electronic Transactions Association’s (ETA) mobile payments committee. ETA is an international trade association for the payment processing industry. Nayfack will develop best practices in mobile commerce with industry peers to enable merchants and […]
Javelin Strategy & Research has hired Nick Holland as senior analyst of payments. He has spent the last decade focusing on the intersection of payments, mobile, retail and security, according to the company. His prior work includes Mercator Advisory Group, Pyramid Research, Aite Group and, most recently, Yankee Group’s Mobile Money Strategies practice. Holland has […]
May 2013 Javelin Strategy & Research has hired Nick Holland as senior analyst of payments. He has spent the last decade focusing on the intersection of payments, mobile, retail and security, according to the company. His prior work includes Mercator Advisory Group, Pyramid Research, Aite Group and, most recently, Yankee Group’s Mobile Money Strategies practice. […]
GoPago Inc., a San Francisco-based provider of emerging mobile payments technology, has hired Steve Elefant as chief strategy officer, and he will be in charge of strategy and ISO partnerships. Elefant has more than 25 years of experience in overall company strategy, products, end-to-end encryption, mobile, business development, and mergers and acquisitions. Most recently, he […]
Galitt, a French payments and electronic transactions consultancy, has appointed Mike Delagrange senior vice president and general manager of Galitt’s U.S. operations. He will be responsible for positioning Galitt’s success in selling EMV, NFC and TSM consulting services throughout Europe to major companies in the U.S. Delagrange has more than 20 years of conventional and […]
