MCX CEO Addresses Hack, Rumors and Competition (Oct. 30, 2014)
It’s been a rough week for Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX), the retailer-led mobile payments consortium.
Mobile
Apple Pay Passes 1 Million Mark in 72 Hours, Plans ahead for China (Oct. 28, 2014)
More than 1 million credit cards were activated within the first three days of the Apply Pay mobile wallet’s Oct. 20 debut, Apple CEO Tim Cook told attendees at the WSJD Live Global Technology Conference this week.
MasterCard Invests in Mozido’s Global Expansion Plans (Oct. 28, 2014)
MasterCard was one of several investors to lead a round of Series B funding that brought in $185 million for Mozido LLC, a startup that focuses on cloud-based, white-label mobile payments services for banks and merchants.
Apple Pay/Pharmacy Flap Shows Consumer Interest in M-Wallets (Oct. 27, 2014)
Consumers who want to use Apple Pay at the POS may be a little confused as two large pharmacy chains reportedly accepted some initial payments with the mobile wallet that went live last week, but no longer are.
CEO Nelms: Don’t Know When but Discover to Participate in Apple Pay (Oct. 23, 2014)
David Nelms, CEO at Discover Financial Services, kept his cards close to the vest about the payments network’s involvement with the recently launched Apple Pay—but Discover’s participation does seem likely, based on his comments during a Q&A with investors on this week’s earnings call.
MasterCard Exec: Apple Pay Launch Is ‘Catalytic’ Event (Oct. 21, 2014)
Apple Pay is a “catalytic” event likely to change the U.S. payments landscape, though it may take time to see its full effect, according to Matt Barr, MasterCard’s new U.S. head of emerging payments.
Apple Pay’s Rollout a Test for Merchants Weighing NFC, Other Options
As Apple Pay goes live today, millions of merchants will be measuring consumer and marketplace reaction at the POS, as they contemplate their own mobile payments strategies, including accepting NFC-based payments.
Innovators’ Spotlight: Cachet Financial Solutions
RDC specialist’s busy year includes an IPO and a fast-growing prepaid platform.
LSC Picks Cachet for Prepaid Mobile Support (Oct. 9, 2014)
League Service Corp. (LSC), a national credit union service organization, has tapped Cachet Financial Solutions to power its prepaid mobile application, which currently is offered by 900 credit unions.
Starting over: Lloyds Banking Group’s transaction banking ambitions
While a great deal of attention has been given to Lloyds Banking Group’s retail operations as its various elements are split up, less has been given to its activities in transaction banking, where it is “one year into a three-year journey” to transform itself and its customer offerings to create“the best global transaction bank in this region”.
Financial institutions ramp up IT innovation
Banks and other financial institutions are finally spending more on growing new products in areas such as mobile and data analytics rather than maintaining legacy systems, according to a new report by Capgemini.
Dunkin’ Donuts to Add Order-Ahead Service (Oct. 7, 2014)
Dunkin’ Donuts plans to launch a new service that enables customers to order ahead and prepay for menu items via their smartphones, then visit a store location to pick up their orders.
Boku Acquires Rival mopay (Oct. 7, 2014)
Carrier billing specialist Boku Inc. has acquired one of its largest competitors, Germany-based mopay.
Boku Provides Leading MNOs with Direct Carrier Billing in U.K.
A trio of major U.K. mobile network operators—including O2, EE and Vodafone—has partnered with carrier billing specialist Boku Inc. to enable mobile phone customers in the U.K. to charge the purchase of physical goods and services up to £30 (US$48) to their phone bills.
Square Raises $150MM, Yodlee IPO Yields $75MM
Mobile payment provider Square has landed $150 million in new venture capital in a funding round valuing the company at around $6 billion, and financial app developer Yodlee Inc. raised $75 million in its initial public offering last week.
Report: Mobile-Centric ‘Moneyhawks’ a Huge Potential Market for FIs (Oct. 2, 2014)
A segment of tech-savvy, mobile-minded consumers comprising more than $1 trillion in deposits could represent a major opportunity for FIs, according to a new report.
Consumers Soon Can Use Softcard to do Laundry (Oct. 1, 2014)
Softcard has extended its reach to the self-serve laundry business.
Report: Emerging Markets Driving Noncash Payment Growth (Oct. 1, 2014)
Noncash payments are estimated to have increased by 9.4 percent last year, reaching 366 billion transactions, according to a new report from Capgemini and Royal Bank of Scotland.
PayPal, eBay Going Their Own Ways; Becoming Independent, Publicly Traded Companies (Sept. 30, 2014)
eBay Inc.’s board of directors will separate the online auction Website from subsidiary PayPal next year, making two independent, publicly traded companies.
InComm Joins MCX Fold (Sept. 30, 2014)
Prepaid product and technology provider InComm has partnered with Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX), the retailer-led consortium that recently unveiled its new mobile payments network, CurrentC.
Cachet Financial Integrates Ingo Money Check Guarantee Services for Banks, Credit Unions (Sept. 30, 2014)
Minneapolis-based remote deposit capture specialist Cachet Financial Solutions has expanded its partnership with Ingo Money Inc.
EU Lawmakers Propose Tighter Regulations for Mobile Wallets (Sept. 29, 2014)
The Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the European Union law-making body, has recommended tightening regulations regarding customer authentication and protection of sensitive payment data related to mobile wallets, according to its recently released proposal of the revised Payment Services Directive.
Visa Boosts Technology Strategy with Recruitment, Tech Facility (Sept. 25, 2014)
Visa Inc. is bolstering its technology resources by creating 2,000 full-time technologist positions and opening a technology development center in India next year.
MPIW Backs Tokenization, Calls for Coordination (Sept 25, 2014)
A key payments industry group is throwing its support behind tokenization—with a few caveats as to the hurdles that remain before broad industry adoption can occur, including coordinating different tokenization models.
Clinkle a Clunker? (Sept. 25, 2014)
After three years in “stealth mode”—and $30 million in venture funding—once-hot mobile payments startup Clinkle has finally launched, but with a drastically scaled back platform.
Citi Mobile Challenge Launches to Fuel Innovation (Sept. 23, 2014)
Citi this week launched Citi Mobile Challenge, a global competition to facilitate new concepts among technology developers surrounding mobile banking and payments.
E-Payments Surge in Nigeria, but Challenges Remain (Sept. 23, 2014)
Electronic payments are growing fast in Nigeria, with the total volume of e-payments reaching a new high of N10.85 trillion (US$ 62.2 billion) in 2013, according to data from the country’s central bank.
Citi seeks developers in global mobile banking challenge
Citi has launched a global mobile challenge that it says will help to inspire technology developers to reimagine mobile banking and payments. The bank plans to host a series of events in Miami, New York and Silicon Valley in November, after which finalists will get the chance to bring their product to market with help from Citi.
Simple Adds Touch ID, Support for Android Wear (Sept. 18, 2014)
Electronic banking provider Simple has added support for Apple’s Touch ID and Android wearable devices.
Apple Pay Coming to China (Sept. 17, 2014)
Apple and China UnionPay Co. have struck a deal to bring Apple Pay, the wallet app featured on the new NFC-enabled iPhone 6 and Apple Watch, to China.
Kalixa, Millicom Form JV to Serve Africa and Latin America (Sept. 17, 2014)
Luxembourg-based telecom Millicom and Kalixa, a London-based payments service provider and 2014 Paybefore Awards Europe winner, have created a joint venture to develop a payments service provider to operate in Africa and Latin America.
SUBWAY Deploying Softcard-Branded Payment Terminals at 26,000-Plus Stores (Sept. 16, 2014)
Starting next month, Softcard users will be able to pay for food at SUBWAY using their mobile phones, as the quick service restaurant announced today it will launch Softcard-branded NFC payment terminals at its 26,000-plus locations in the U.S.
Amazon Getting Out of P2P—at Least for Now (Sept. 16, 2014)
Amazon is shutting down its WebPay P2P money transfer service next month, the online retail giant announced this week.
The brave new world of mobile banking
The digital era is changing your bank rapidly. Is your mobile testing & assurance practice ready? P Venkatesh, director of the product division, and Srivatsan TT, vice president of the solutions group, at Maveric Systems discuss the issues
NBPCA, Gov’t, Consumer Groups Weigh In on Mobile Financial Services (Sept. 15, 2014)
Mobile financial services can play an important role among a large group of American consumers. That much the Network Branded Prepaid Card Association, the FTC and consumer organizations, including U.S. Public Interest Research Group and the Center for Digital Democracy, agree on.
Reports: Weve Pulls Plug on Mobile Wallet (Sept. 15, 2014)
Weve, the mobile payments joint venture from mobile operators Vodafone UK, Telefónica UK’s O2 and EE, has abandoned plans to develop its own mobile wallet product after the U.K.’s three largest mobile telecom providers failed to agree on how to run the wallet.
The mobile movement driving multi-channel banking
Despite the significant challenges faced by the UK’s banking sector over the last decade, there has been a dramatic evolution in the customer experience following the introduction of online, telephone and mobile banking. While the branch remains an important channel, especially for older customers, mobile technology is rapidly redefining how customers interact with their banks.
Apple’s arrival will change the payments landscape – eventually
Apple may have lined up the chief executives of Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase to laud the launch of Apple Pay, but reaction from the wider industry was more muted – disappointed, even.
Will Apple Pay and Its Backers Ignite Mobile Wallets? (Sept. 11, 2014)
Numerous payments providers, financial institutions and merchants have thrown their support behind Apple Inc.’s new Apple Pay service—and if the tidal wave of early backing is any indication, the Apple and iPhone brands already may have overcome one of the most vexing issues hindering mobile wallet adoption—lack of widespread support by stakeholders in the value chain.
Visa Launches Token Service for Safer Online, Mobile Transactions (Sept. 11, 2014)
Visa Inc. has launched Visa Token Service to provide more security for e-commerce transactions, including online and mobile, by replacing payment account information with a digital account number, or token, which can be stored safely by online merchants or on mobile devices.
