First Data to Expand Mobile Bandwidth via Gyft Buy (July 30, 2014)
First Data has announced it will acquire digital gift card provider Gyft Inc.
Mobile
Blackhawk, Amazon Launch Mobile Wallet Features (July 30, 2014)
Blackhawk Network and Amazon today announced they are providing consumers with ways to spend and better manage their gift cards (from dozens of major retailers and restaurants) using the Amazon Wallet app.
Apple, Visa Reportedly in Mobile Wallet Talks (July 28, 2014)
Apple could finally be preparing to make its long-awaited debut in the mobile wallet sector.
Blog: Convergence is the Real Non-Payment Payment Story
Analyst Rick Oglesby posits that what’s happening outside of payments will actually have a bigger impact than what’s happening inside payments. Crazy or on point? Read and decide.
Why we should put a mobile wallet in every pocket
The mobile wallet is having a transformative effect on people’s lives in developing countries, bringing safer, faster, easier financial services to the people who need it most
New Gift, Loyalty App Latest Sign of Amazon’s Offline Ambitions (July 22, 2014)
Amazon has launched a new mobile wallet app for managing and redeeming gift and loyalty cards.
Snapchat Eyeing Payments, Patent Filings Indicate (July 22, 2014)
Mobile photo sharing and messaging app Snapchat might be seeking to move into payments.
Google Wallet Adds Gift Card Management, Free Debit Card P2P (July 21, 2014)
As Google Wallet continues to experiment, the latest evolution adds a new gift card management function and removes fees on debit card-based P2P money transfers made via the wallet.
Social Media, Shopping Convergence Continues with Twitter, Facebook Moves (July 21, 2014)
The boundary between social media and commerce continues to blur, with a pair of announcements from two major tech companies accelerating the convergence of shopping and socializing online.
Visa Launches 1-Click Shopping Service for e-Commerce (July 17, 2014)
The battle for space at the online checkout counter continues as Visa Inc. unveils a new service to enable e-merchants to add a one-click purchase button to shopping Websites and apps.
HCE and NFC: threat or opportunity?
Mobile NFC services continued to expand in 2013 but the big question is, will this be amplified or disrupted by the introduction of host-based card emulation (HCE) into mainstream operating systems?
New Braintree SDK Features PayPal Integration (July 15, 2014)
eBay Inc.’s Braintree payments unit has unveiled a new software development kit (SDK), marking Braintree’s first major upgrade since being acquired by eBay in an $800 million deal last year.
China Post to Launch Mobile Payment Services (July 15, 2014)
Chinese postal network China Post will make a major investment toward building a mobile and online payment service.
Offers, P2P Could Be Keys to Driving Mobile Wallet Use (July 14, 2014)
Forty percent of mobile wallet users are using mobile as their primary form of payment—and mobile-specific offers and rewards could be the key to converting the remainder, a new report suggests.
iZettle, Cover Land Fundings (July 14, 2014)
Swedish mPOS provider iZettle has added €5 million (US$6.8 million) to its coffers, after the latest investment in the company’s Series C round of funding.
First Data Bets on Gambling Growth with PayLucky Solutions (July 9, 2014)
First Data is going all in to the booming gambling and casino industry with a suite of payment features to streamline the flow of money for U.S.-based online and offline gambling operations from casinos to racetracks, lotteries and poker.
Report: More than Half of U.S. Consumers Don’t Know about Mobile Gift Cards (July 9, 2014)
Gift cards are popular with U.S. consumers, but there’s still room for growth, as many consumers are uninformed about or uncomfortable with mobile gift cards and e-codes, according to research by the Retail Gift Card Association (RGCA), a trade association of closed-loop gift card retailers.
i2c Sets up Singapore Location to Meet Growing Asia-Pacific Demand (July 9, 2014)
i2c Inc. has opened a Singapore office to address the growing market for prepaid products and mobile financial services in the Asia Pacific region.
Sear shows up at Skrill after Weve departure
David Sear, the former chief executive of the Weve mobile network e-commerce joint venture, has been appointed as group chief commercial officer at Skrill Group.
Mobile banking to overtake online within five years
Analyst firm Juniper Research reckons more people will be using mobile apps for banking than web-based options by 2019, as the 800 million people who used their phones for banking more than doubles to 1.75 billion in five years.
PayPal Adds Next-Day Settlement for Funds-Transfers in Pilot Program (July 8, 2014)
PayPal is slashing the time needed for businesses to receive PayPal funds in their bank accounts.
Isis Will Rebrand Rather Than Share Name with Militant Group (July 8, 2014)
Isis, the NFC-based mobile payment initiative backed by AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile, announced it will rebrand its mobile wallet to distance the company from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a jihadist militant group that often goes by the acronym ISIS.
Monitise’s New Business Model Changes 2014 Earnings Forecast (July 8, 2014)
Calling it a transition year, U.K.-based Monitise announced today its full year revenue for 2014 will fall short of expected growth because of a change to its business model.
Branches could blossom as transactions move to digital channels
Banks are continuing to spend money on branches, but they are dramatically changing their role to become centres for sale-oriented advice rather than service-oriented transactions, driven by the rapid growth of digital banking.
Payza Lands in U.S. (July 3, 2014)
Payza announced this week that its online payment processing and eWallet services now are available to U.S. residents and businesses.
paysafecard Launches in Ready-for-Growth Latin American Countries (July 3, 2014)
Paybefore Award-winning online voucher provider paysafecard.com Wertkarten AG has expanded this week into Peru and Uruguay, two Latin American countries the company says are ripe for prepaid online payments growth.
BofA Report Explores Consumer Attitudes toward Smartphones, Mobile Banking (July 1, 2014)
The notion that millennials wouldn’t be caught dead in a bank branch might have been greatly exaggerated.
Telecom Italia to Offer payleven Readers to SME Clients (July 1, 2014)
With new laws in Italy requiring all merchants and businesses to accept debit card payments on purchases over €30 (US$41), Telecom Italia is equipping its small-business customers with m-POS readers from payleven.
Moven Raises Cash for Added Features, Global Expansion (July 1, 2014)
Moven, a mobile-focused financial services provider, announced today it has raised $8 million in Series A funding.
Yodlee Eyes $75 Million from Planned IPO (July 1, 2014)
Financial app development pioneer Yodlee Inc. is ready to go public, 15 years after it launched amid the dotcom boom.
InComm to Offer Digital Retail Cards through SEQR Wallet (June 30, 2014)
Just months after landing a mobile app partnership with McDonald’s in Sweden, Stockholm-based developer Seamless has reached a deal with U.S.-based technology company and prepaid distributor InComm.
PayPal Launches Smartwatch App, Expands Fingerprint Authentication (June 30, 2014)
PayPal’s bid for payments ubiquity continues. The company has unveiled a pair of initiatives that incorporate wearable and biometric technology, launching a new app for the Android Wear line of smartwatches and expanding its fingerprint authentication to the Samsung Galaxy tablet.
BBVA Adopts HCE for Mobile Wallet (June 30, 2014)
Getting mobile payments services to market quickly is one of the calling cards for host card emulation (HCE) technology, and Spanish financial services group BBVA is claiming to be the first major global bank to commercially launch an HCE-based mobile contactless payments service.
U.K. Legislation Opens Door for Mobile Deposit Capture (June 26, 2014)
A convenience that’s been catching on in the U.S.—depositing a check by taking a picture of it with a smartphone—is coming to the U.K., according to reports.
Mobey Forum: Big European Banks Can’t Ignore Prepaid Anymore (June 24, 2014)
The combination of prepaid card infrastructure and mobile wallets will disrupt the current account model in Europe, according to a new white paper from Mobey Forum.
Online transactions to touch $5 trillion in four years’ time
The annual transaction value of online, mobile and contactless payments will nearly double over the next four years, reaching $4.7 trillion by 2019, up from just over $2.5 trillion this year, with contactless payments primarily driven by card purchases rather than mobile.
SIMalliance: HCE Will Expedite NFC Rollout (June 23, 2014)
Host card emulation (HCE) technology has gained an unlikely supporter. SIMalliance, which had been critical of HCE’s role in bringing NFC-based mobile payments into the mainstream, said today that HCE likely will expedite SIM-based NFC payment deployments.
Report: D.C. to Get Moving on NFC Transit Pilot (June 23, 2014)
Mass transit continues to be among the most promising areas for NFC payments, with Washington, D.C., reportedly planning to put the technology in motion next year.
Conference Coverage: Industry Leaders Outline Ways to Keep Prepaid Going Up
The prepaid card continues to be the fastest-growing form of electronic payment, but to maintain that position in a world where emerging payments are gaining ground every day, the industry must keep innovating.
CFPB Launches Mobile Banking Inquiry, Requests Information (June 17, 2014)
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is turning its attention to mobile financial services and is seeking information from the industry and consumers.
