December 2012 By Adam Perrotta, Assistant Editor When MasterCard and global mobile carrier Telefónica joined forces to bring mobile financial services to 12 South American countries in early 2011, Richard Hartzell, president, Latin American and the Caribbean, MasterCard, said the initiative would help arm the card network with “the right artillery to strengthen our […]
Swiss market operator SIX is to expand its post-trade infrastructure in Scandinavia with the acquisition of Oslo Clearing, a subsidiary of the Oslo Børs, for NOK180 million (£19.8 million).
The unit is authorised to act as a central counterparty in Norway and currently clears derivatives and securities lending products. It will become will be part of SIX Securities Services.
December 2012 By Bill Grabarek, Senior Editor Crossing the pond and moving its headquarters from the U.K. to New York City, Waspit Inc. is creating a buzz on college campuses with a unique marketing style for its mobile banking product that’s heavily steeped in social media. Waspit users can make purchases with a Waspit […]
December 2012 Virtual Piggy Inc., a Hermosa Beach, Calif.-based provider of e-commerce solutions enabling children to manage and spend money within a parent-controlled environment, has appointed Joseph Dwyer chief financial officer. He has more than 20 years of experience at the executive level for public and private companies, including OpenLink Financial, Energy Solutions International, Capstone […]
Dec. 17, 2012 VeriFone Systems Inc.’s decision to withdraw from marketing its mobile POS device directly to merchants is the first sign of retrenchment and likely consolidation in what has been a fast-growing niche. The San Jose-based company last week said from now on it will sell its Sail smartphone attachment for mobile card payments […]
Dec. 17, 2012 MasterCard Worldwide is targeting upscale consumers based in the Middle East who travel frequently to different global regions with its new MasterCard Platinum Prepaid Travel Card launched this week in Bahrain. The card, issued by Al Baraka Islamic Bank and Nonoo Exchange Company, both based in Bahrain, enables customers to load up […]
Dec. 17, 2012 Prepaid distribution and technology provider InComm has inked a deal with Dollar General to enable the retailer’s customers to more easily purchase points and memberships for Xbox LIVE in stores via InComm’s recently launched Digital Delivery Application (DDA). The new system eliminates the need for customers to purchase and redeem physical prepaid […]
Dec. 17, 2012 Colorado-based card producer CPI Card Group was selected by Portuguese retail firm Sonae to design and manufacture gift cards available at Sonae’s Continente supermarket locations throughout the country. The cards will be sold at special free-standing displays rather than at points of sale—one of the first gift card lines in Portugal to […]
Dec. 17, 2012 QSecure Inc., a Los Altos, Calif.-based developer of dynamic payment card technology, has announced its digital wallet, Imago, which consists of a smartphone app to manage payment, gift and loyalty cards, and the powered ImagoCard that holds the data of those cards and can be swiped at the point of sale like […]
December 2012 Smart Packaging Solutions, a smart card technology provider based in France, has appointed Alex Chung chief representative, greater China and South East Asia. Chung, who has experience within the smart card industry, will be in charge of expanding SPS business in the Chinese market and ensuring SPS local presence in Southeast Asia. Most […]
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 […]
