Mobile


MasterCard Inks VimpelCom Deal, Launches NFC Services in Brazil (Feb. 28, 2013)

Feb. 28, 2013 MasterCard Worldwide pushed its global mobile payments strategy forward this week with announcements of diverse initiatives targeting new customers, including a strategic partnership with Amsterdam-based mobile network operator VimpelCom Ltd. to reach unbanked consumers in 18 countries with a “mobile money” service, as well as the card network’s first NFC launch in […]

PayPal Founder’s New App ‘Simplifies’ Mobile Shopping (Feb. 28, 2013)

Feb. 28, 2013 A new startup from PayPal co-founder Max Levchin is aiming to improve the process of making online purchases via mobile device—an improvement he says is a boon to customers and retailers alike. Known as Affirm, the new company is the brainchild of Levchin’s tech incubator Hard, Valuable, Fun and is launching a […]

Blog: New Credit Card Surcharges Could Impact Prepaid Market (February 2013)

Blog: New Credit Card Surcharges Could Impact Prepaid Market February 2013   By Lori Breitzke, E&S Consulting LLC A proposed settlement agreement in the In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation—filed in 2005 on behalf of approximately 7 million merchants alleging, among other claims, that MasterCard and Visa had separately colluded […]

Blog: New Credit Card Surcharges Could Impact Prepaid Market (February 2013)

February 2013   By Lori Breitzke, E&S Consulting LLC A proposed settlement agreement in the In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation—filed in 2005 on behalf of approximately 7 million merchants alleging, among other claims, that MasterCard and Visa had separately colluded with banks to eliminate competition and increase interchange (swipe) […]

Wincor Nixdorf predicts mobile cash withdrawal explosion

While most large banks in the UK offer a mobile app, some do not yet offer mobile cash withdrawal as a feature. That is likely to change soon, according to Ian Byrne, banking director UK and Ireland at ATM maker Wincor Nixdorf.

Wagner aims at m-commerce gap

Dan Wagner is pretty sure that he has an idea how the use of mobile devices will play out in the commercial world and how the relationships between banks, merchant acquirers, merchants and customers will change.

Saxo Bank revamps mobile trading app

Saxo Bank has added new features to its trading app SaxoTrader, which works on iPhone and iPad and is designed to make trading more mobile.

Visa Inks Deals with Samsung, Roam for ‘Ready Partner’ Program (Feb. 25, 2013)

Feb. 25, 2013 Aiming to speed up development of mobile payment technologies, Visa Inc. on the eve of this week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona announced the Visa Ready Partner Program, a framework it hopes will make it easier for mobile device manufacturers, mobile network operators and various of their technology partners around the world […]

MasterCard Unveils MasterPass for ‘Simple’ Shopping Experience (Feb. 25, 2013)

Feb. 25, 2013 MasterCard Inc. today unveiled MasterPass, a cloud-based service that builds on its PayPass Wallet Services by eliminating the need for consumers to enter card or shipping details with each purchase and adding new tools to enhance online, mobile and in-store shopping. MasterPass will roll out through banks in Canada and Australia beginning […]

PayPal to Enter Crowded European Mobile Card Reader Market (Feb. 25, 2013)

Feb. 25, 2013 PayPal continues its diversification into brick-and-mortar payments with the announcement that it will expand its PayPal Here mobile card reader to Europe, beginning in the U.K. this summer. The European iteration of PayPal Here will differ from the version launched in the U.S. nearly a year ago in some key ways, due […]

China UnionPay Continues NFC Push with Gemalto Pact (Feb. 25, 2013)

Feb. 25, 2013 Shanghai-based payment card network China UnionPay (CUP) continues its efforts to develop NFC payments, signing an agreement with Dutch digital payment security provider Gemalto to build “a secure mobile NFC ecosystem.” The partnership will cover deployment issues including trusted service manager interoperability, along with technology standards and specifications, the firms said. China […]

The changing face of payments

The Payments Council’s latest report, The Way We Pay, shows rapid changes in use of payment methods over the past decade – but cash is still in the mix.

iZettle and Santander “democratise” cheap card payments

Spanish bank Banco Santander has signed a deal with iZettle, a fledgling Swedish payments specialist that focuses on ‘social’ payments. The two companies plan to distribute mini chip-card readers to customers, so that they can accept card payments with smartphones and tablets.

Debit Network Routing Debate for EMV Transactions under Durbin Simmers (February 2013)

February 2013 By Kate Fitzgerald, Emerging Payments Editor With less than three years to go before U.S. EMV liability-shift deadlines begin to take effect, payment industry participants beginning to make their plans are facing their first obstacle, as the U.S. debit networks wrestle with options for choosing a technology approach for routing chip-based debit transactions under […]

Viewpoint: A Tale of Two Gen Ys that Desire Prepaid Cards (February 2013)(2)

February 2013   By Aleia Van Dyke, Javelin Strategy & Research The slow economic recovery from the Great Recession has forced young Americans to confront a dismal financial reality marked by unprecedented student loan debt and soaring unemployment. But the financial industry cannot afford to ignore Gen Y, the generation of consumers born from 1979 […]

Viewpoint: A Tale of Two Gen Ys that Desire Prepaid Cards (February 2013)

By Aleia Van Dyke, Javelin Strategy & Research The slow economic recovery from the Great Recession has forced young Americans to confront a dismal financial reality marked by unprecedented student loan debt and soaring unemployment. But the financial industry cannot afford to ignore Gen Y, the generation of consumers born from 1979 to 1999. By […]

Inside Eurograbber: the £30m mobile banking heist

In the history of bank robberies, the £30 million stolen by the Eurograbber attack in 2012 ranks as one of the all-time biggest, globally. And when you consider that this sum was stolen from more than 30,000 accounts across 30 banks in four European countries, using malware that affected both PCs and bank customers’ mobile […]

Viewpoint: A Tale of Two Gen Ys that Desire Prepaid Cards (February 2013)

By Aleia Van Dyke, Javelin Strategy & Research The slow economic recovery from the Great Recession has forced young Americans to confront a dismal financial reality marked by unprecedented student loan debt and soaring unemployment. But the financial industry cannot afford to ignore Gen Y, the generation of consumers born from 1979 to 1999. By […]

iZettle Launches Chip-and-PIN Mobile Card Reader, Resolving Visa Europe Impasse (Feb. 20, 2013)

Feb. 20, 2013 Sweden-based mobile payments player iZettle this week announced the launch of a new smartphone-based card reader for small-business merchants that uses chip-and-PIN technology and Bluetooth to accept all major card brands, resolving iZettle’s six-month impasse with Visa Europe over a security issue. iZettle in 2011 began offering its card reader to merchants […]

Australia Supermarket Chain Launches NFC Pilot (Feb. 20, 2013)

Feb. 20, 2013 Australian supermarket giant Wesfarmers Ltd.’s Coles is conducting a small pilot of a MasterCard mobile wallet that enables customers to pay using NFC-equipped phones through an app that automatically links to the store’s loyalty program. The three-month pilot, conducted in partnership with GE Capital Australia, Vodafone and Gemalto, involves 60 Coles supermarket […]

Gifting App Developer Launches Gift Card Scanning Feature (Feb. 20, 2013)

Feb. 20, 2013 As more companies work to combine the power of social media with the popularity of gift cards, Melville, N.Y.-based GroupGifting.com has added a card scanning feature to its eGifter Web and mobile social gifting app. The scanning feature enables consumers to add plastic gift cards to their digital wallets in the eGifter app […]

Prepaid Financial Services’ Narrow Focus Becomes a Global View (February 2013)

February 2013   By Bill Grabarek, Senior Editor  What started in late 2008 as a reseller operation, consisting of two people in an office offering payroll and corporate cards to small and midsize firms, London-based Prepaid Financial Services (PFS) has evolved into a program manager, e-money issuer, acquirer and provider of turnkey, white-label solutions. PFS […]

People on the Move: Steering Committee, Smart Card Alliance Payments Council (February 2013)

February 2013 Smart Card Alliance Payments Council has announced its committee members for 2013-2014. The council is managed by a steering committee composed of financial payments industry and smart chip technology vendors. Steering committee officers include: Jack Jania, Gemalto, and Oliver Manahan, MasterCard, co-chairs; Troy Bernard, Discover Financial Services, vice chair; and Deborah Baxley, Capgemini, secretary. […]

Citi Targets Latin America with M-Payment Service for Small Business Buyers, Suppliers (Feb. 19, 2013)

Feb. 19, 2013 Citigroup Inc. plans to expand a mobile payments service it has developed for its small-business customers to replace large cash payments in underbanked regions into Latin America. Citi recently launched a pilot of Mobile Collect in the Dominican Republic, targeting approximately 80,000 cash-based grocery stores and other small businesses and their suppliers. […]

Buck Touts ‘Dongle-Free’ Mobile Invoicing Service (Feb. 19, 2013)

Feb. 19, 2013 Buck Corp. is introducing a new mobile invoice service for small businesses that it touts as “dongle-free,” enabling businesses to send electronic invoices to any mobile phone and receive credit card payment without swiping a card. Buck Mobile Invoice is free to businesses using it, but participants must already have a merchant […]

Finovate Europe sees arrival of the Old Guard

For an event that is based around the idea of introducing new players and new concepts to the financial technology world, this year’s Finovate Europe was heavy on familiar faces and some increasingly familiar concepts.

Visa, MasterCard Proposed Debit EMV Network-Routing Options Fail to ‘Fully Satisfy’ Debit Industry Group (Feb. 14, 2013)

Feb. 14, 2013 Pressure is mounting for U.S. debit networks to find a suitable technology for routing chip-based debit transactions under the Durbin Amendment network non-exclusivity rules, but a unified plan is not yet within sight, industry executives say after a new round of meetings this week to digest last week’s developments. MasterCard Inc. and […]

Visa Launches Mobile Money Program for Developing Nations (Feb. 14, 2013)

Feb. 14, 2013 A new “plug-and-play” mobile money platform from Visa Inc. is aimed at enabling financial institutions and mobile network operators in developing nations around the world to offer mobile financial services. The program—built on technology Visa acquired via its 2011 purchase of mobile financial services provider Fundamo—enables the payment network to host and […]

Mobile malware headache looms for security managers

A 400% increase in malware for mobile devices masks a security scene where many of the threats are much as they have been for several years – but where the volume of attacks means that firms should think in terms of when they will be attacked rather than if they will be.

PermataBank pilots BlackBerry Messenger Payments with Monitise

Indonesia-based  PermataBank has developed the first mobile payments service for the BlackBerry Messenger service.  The bank has teamed up with UK mobile banking solutions provider Monitise to roll out a commercial pilot of BBM Money in the country ahead of a full launch. BlackBerry users will have the option to access a Mobile Money account from their […]

NFC-Based Navigation System Set for Tokyo Shopping District (Feb. 12, 2013)

Feb. 12, 2013 Shoppers are getting some help navigating Tokyo’s Ginza district from nearly 300 NFC-based location tags the city’s government has placed throughout the upscale retail hub. The system works with an Android app, available for download from the Google Play store, which enables users to search for and select a destination within Ginza, […]

InComm Partner Alliance Looks to Digital/Big Data Future (Feb. 12, 2013)

Feb. 12, 2013 In the opening sessions of InComm’s annual Partner Alliance yesterday, CEO Brooks Smith and futurist Mike Walsh offered glimpses of their visions of the future. With a corporate acquisition strategy based on delivering new technologies to retailers, Smith focused his comments on a future filled with more choices—for retailers and their customers. […]

MoneyGram Launches Mobile Service (Feb, 12, 2013)

Feb. 12, 2013 Money transfer provider MoneyGram has launched a mobile version of its online transfer service, which enables users to send cash via smartphones using a mobile-optimized version of moneygram.com. The service is part of Dallas-based MoneyGram’s efforts to tap into what the company claims is a $50 billion cross-border remittance industry—much of which […]

TAS, Payair to Launch Mobile Commerce Platform (Feb. 11, 2013)

Feb. 11, 2013 Italian software provider TAS Group and Payair South Europe S.A., a Swedish mobile commerce company, have agreed to launch a mobile commerce platform that incorporates Payair’s commerce platform and a customization solution supplied by TAS. The platform will support large-scale retailers that require advanced automation of their purchase and payment processes, according […]

InComm to Supply Utah Transit Authority with Prepaid Contactless Card (Feb. 7. 2013)

Feb. 7, 2013 The Utah Transit Authority (UTA), which has been at the forefront of U.S. transit system mobile payment development since introducing an open-loop, contactless payment system for city buses and trains in Salt Lake City beginning in 2009, this fall plans to add a contactless, closed-loop prepaid card to its consumer payment options. […]

Atlanta Fed Paper Examines Money Laundering Risks for GPR Cards (Feb. 7, 2013)

Feb. 7, 2013 Do GPR cards pose significant money laundering threats? That’s the question the Retail Payments Risk Forum at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta explores in recently published paper. Among the paper’s findings is that, as GPR prepaid cards have grown in popularity and come under increased scrutiny by regulators, significant regulatory measures […]