News


People on the Move: Andy Nicholas, Citi (February 2013)

February 2013 Citi recently appointed Andy Nicholas head of commercial and prepaid card sales and account management EMEA to lead an experienced team charged with ensuring success and client satisfaction. Nicholas, who is based in the U.K., has been with Citi for 20 years, and has been responsible for commercial card sales and account management […]

People on the Move: Jerry Garcia and Mike McCarthy, Cardtronics Inc. (February 2013)

February 2013 Retail ATM network Cardtronics Inc. has announced that Jerry Garcia is transitioning from his role as chief information officer to the newly created position of chief information security officer. Garcia, who spent the last 10 years designing and developing the information technology systems Cardtronics uses to run its business, now will focus exclusively […]

NSD builds business intelligence as Moscow goes for gold

Russia’s central securities depository NSD is to get a complete business intelligence overhaul through a joint project with consultancy Optima Group. The deal should help bolster NSD as one of the key pieces in the government’s strategy to turn Moscow into an international financial centre.

CME gears up for European OTC deluge

As new rules for the central clearing of OTC derivatives loom ever larger on the horizon in both Europe and the US, technology is helping to make the transition easier – but the kind of contracts being traded may well change, according to CME Group.

CFPB Launches Inquiry on Campus Financial Products; Comments Due March 18 (Jan. 31, 2013)

Jan. 31, 2013 The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today announced it has begun an inquiry into “the impact of financial products marketed to students through colleges and universities” to determine whether these products are “in the best interest” of students. Such products include student ID cards that double as debit cards and cards used […]

FIS Pays $120 Million for Mobile Payments Specialist mFoundry (Jan. 31, 2013)

Jan. 31, 2013 In a move intended to deepen its mobile payments offerings, banking and payments technology expert Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) today said it will pay $120 million to acquire mFoundry, the mobile banking app firm that helped devise Starbucks’ vaunted mobile payments operation, among others. The transaction will give FIS the remaining […]

Western Union Expands Remittance Card Program, Offers Tax Refund GPR (Jan. 31, 2013)

Jan. 31, 2013 Money transfer and global financial services provider Western Union Co. has expanded its Receive remittance card to Costa Rica and Guatemala. Initially launched in El Salvador last June, Receive enables recipients of Western Union money transfers to put all or part of the transferred funds onto a MasterCard-branded prepaid card. The company […]

Earnings Roundup: Facebook, First Data, MasterCard (Jan. 31, 2013)

Jan. 31, 2013 Social media giant Facebook Inc. closed out its first calendar year as a public company with $1.59 billion in fourth-quarter revenue, up 40 percent from $1.13 billion in 2011’s fourth quarter, with the improvement spurred mainly by a surge in mobile ad revenue. The proportion of Facebook’s advertising revenue from mobile devices […]

Finalists named for London banking ideas challenge

Seven innovative start-up companies have been chosen to take part in a major new London-based project that aims to bolster advanced technologies in financial services. The seven firms will participate in a twelve-week programme in which they will gain support from the major banks and gather interest from venture capitalists and investors.

NCLC Study Shows Improvements in State Unemployment Cards (Jan. 30, 2013)

Jan. 30, 2013 State unemployment recipients who receive their benefits on prepaid cards are saving millions due to lower fees and improved services, according to a new report by the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC). The results of the agency’s 2013 Survey of Unemployment Prepaid Cards were an improvement over the NCLC’s 2011 study, which […]

Citi, Visa Launch Prepaid Card in Philippines (Jan. 30, 2013)

Jan. 30, 2013 Citigroup Inc. and Visa Inc. are joining forces in the Philippines to launch the new Pag-IBIG Citi Prepaid Card, which could reach as many as 13 million Filipinos through its link to the nation’s social security program. The reloadable Visa card is available to all citizens who belong to the Philippine government’s […]

Merchant Group: Retailers Unlikely to Introduce Credit Card Surcharging (Jan. 30, 2013)

Jan. 30, 2013 Merchants across the U.S. are holding off on introducing a surcharge for Visa and MasterCard credit card transactions despite getting the green light to do so this week under the terms of a proposed settlement in the merchants’ antitrust case reached last November. The settlement, subject to final approval in a hearing […]

GiftYa Raises $1 Million to Develop Patented Gift Credit System (Jan. 30, 2013)

Jan. 30, 2013 GiftYa LLC, a mobile and digital gift credit platform and spinoff company of parent GiftCards.com LLC, has received $1 million of seed capital to develop the GiftYa platform. The $1 million investment comes from Jason Wolfe, founder of GiftCards.com and CEO of Wolfe LLC. GiftYa, which will be available online and as […]

SALT Technology Raises $2 Million in Funding (Jan. 30, 2013)

Jan. 30, 2013 SALT Technology Inc., a San Francisco-based provider of a cloud-based mobile payments platform, has raised $2 million in financing from private investors with backgrounds in the mobile, financial and payments technology sectors. The company, which also has offices in London and Toronto, said it will use the new funding to accelerate the development […]

Information Mosaic sets out tools for T2S

Software company Information Mosaic has released an improved version of its corporate actions tool, IMActions, which it says will help banks and CSDs prepare for T2S.

Rise of the machines: banks embrace automation despite the cost

Flawed decisions taken by machines are causing financial services firms to lose customers and suffer unexpected costs, according to new report by the Economist Intelligence unit. Yet retail banks are increasingly turning to technology to assess customers.

Intuit Nabs Facebook-Based Commerce Platform Payvment (Jan. 29, 2013)

Jan. 29, 2013 Software maker Intuit Inc. has acquired Facebook e-commerce platform Payvment, taking over the Palo Alto, Calif., company’s employees, technology and patents—but not its customers. In a note posted on its Website yesterday, Payvment announced that its team was “joining a new company” and that the platform—which enables retailers to create their own […]

Ingenico Eyes E-Commerce with Ogone Buy (Jan. 29, 2013)

Jan. 29, 2013 In a move POS terminal maker Ingenico said is part of its bid to become a “one-stop-shop” for multichannel payment solutions, the Paris-based company has entered a deal to acquire payment processor Ogone Partners for EUR360 million (US$485 million). Ingenico will incorporate Ogone’s 42,000-merchant online payments platform into its existing POS and […]

FreedomPay Launches ‘Vibe’ Mobile Wallet for Restaurants (Jan. 29, 2013)

Jan. 29, 2013 Adding to a growing array of mobile payments options for merchants, FreedomPay is entering the fray with “Vibe,” a mobile wallet initially targeting restaurant operators interested in creating targeted consumer promotions on the fly, based on specials, weather and in-store traffic conditions. The Radnor, Pa.-based payment processor says its cloud-based mobile wallet […]

Social media 2.0 for banks

A new social media tool designed for banks and built by British technology firm Integritie aims to break through the barriers that separate customers from their bank.

Riding the payments roller-coaster

UK banks are still in “a difficult place” as they face economic uncertainty, increased cost and competitive pressures, complex regulations and rapid technological changes – but the changes that are happening in the payments industry offer scope for them to reclaim the initiative and deploy innovative solutions.

Netherlands’ Rabobank draws on outsourced IT “knowledge”

Dutch cooperative Rabobank has increased its outsourcing of banking software development and testing, via a five-year deal with technology specialist Cognizant that the cooperative hopes will provide it with the benefits of stronger technology.

Industry “not ready” for OTC derivatives reform

Four out of five financial institutions are not ready for new regulations governing the trading, reporting and clearing of OTC derivatives, according to a new survey by US communications company IPC.

Paybefore Announces Winners, Opens Voting for Best in Category (Jan. 28, 2013)

Jan. 28, 2013 Paybefore today announced winners for the 2013 Paybefore Awards—the most prestigious recognition of excellence in the worldwide prepaid and emerging payments industry. And for the first time in the seven-year history of the awards, Paybefore is allowing visitors to Paybefore.com (subscribers and nonsubscribers) to cast their votes for Best in Category through Feb. […]

Breaking News: Obama 2012 Recess Appointments Unconstitutional (Jan. 25, 2013)

Jan. 25, 2013 Just a day after President Obama nominated CFPB Director Richard Cordray to continue in his role as the bureau’s director, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the President violated the Constitution when he bypassed the Senate to fill vacancies on the National Labor Relations Board, according to a […]

Saxo Bank gobbles up Turkey business

Online investment bank Saxo Bank has opened an office in Istanbul, Turkey, following its acquisition of local broker Değer Menkul Değerler in May last year.

Regional differences colour IT spending priorities

Total bank IT spending across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific will grow to $179.2 billion in 2013, an increase of 3.4% over last year according to research and consulting firm Celent.

East Africa Exchange opens in Rwanda

The newly created East Africa Exchange, which is currently taking its first steps in Rwanda, is part of a regional integration project between Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda that aims to boost liquidity and provide a commodities market for 130 million people across the region.

Obama Re-nominates Cordray as CFPB Director (Jan. 24, 2013)

Jan. 24, 2013 Wasting little time following his inauguration on Monday, President Barack Obama this afternoon has re-nominated Richard Cordray as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The confirmation process for the former Ohio Attorney General could be rocky, considering Obama’s appointment of Cordray last year during a congressional recess. “There were no […]

Regulators to Set Guidelines on FIs’ Social Media Activity (Jan. 24, 2013)

Jan. 24, 2013 With U.S. financial institutions increasingly using social media to market to and interact with consumers, federal regulators have set their sights on establishing guidelines for consumer protection and compliance over such channels. The Federal Financial Institutions Examinations Council (FFIEC) has issued a notice of proposed guidance and request for comment from the […]

Fiserv Survey: More Consumers Use Mobile Devices to Pay Bills (Jan. 24, 2013)

Jan. 24, 2013 The number of consumers  using mobile devices to pay bills is slowly gaining momentum, according to Fiserv Inc., a Brookfield, Wis.-based provider of financial services technology, in its fifth annual Billing Household Survey, which assesses bill payment habits of active online households and infrequent or non-Internet users. Though the percentage of households […]

Taiwan’s FTC Approves Mobile Payment Platform (Jan. 24, 2013)

Jan. 24, 2012 Mobile carriers around the world continue to join forces to enable mobile payments. On Jan. 23, Taiwan’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) approved an application by five domestic mobile carriers and transit card provider EasyCard Corp. to jointly run a platform for mobile payment-related apps, according to the Central News Agency. Chunghwa Telecom […]

Report: Corporate Mobile Payments Reduce Costs by Up to 20 Percent (Jan. 24. 2013)

Jan. 24, 2013 The rise of corporate mobile payments is leading to some big saving for companies around the globe that are seeing reductions of up to 20 percent on their cash-collection costs, according to a new white paper by Mobile Money Consulting, a London-based advisory firm. Corporations in emerging markets are seeing the highest […]

Earnings Roundup: Google, TSYS (Jan. 24, 2013)

Jan. 24, 2013 Online search giant Google Inc. and payments processor TSYS recently released fourth-quarter financial results. Google reported revenues of $14.4 billion for the fourth quarter of 2012, an increase of 36 percent compared with $10.6 billion in the same quarter a year ago. Net income in the fourth quarter of 2012 grew 7.4 […]