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.
Payments
Viewpoint: Is BLE the Next Important Innovation in Mobile Technology?
BLE is getting a lot of buzz because of its potential to complement other technologies like NFC for marketing and consumer engagement, but certain questions remain about its purpose and future.
Blog: Innovation is Coming: A New Small-Dollar Credit Offering from Canada
Canada’s Vancity Credit Union could be an inspiration for U.S. lenders as it explores new territory, working with the CFSI to devise an affordable small-dollar loan product with an unsecured credit line suitable for underbanked consumers.
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.
Companies on the Move: StoreFinancial, PX Prepaid & Payments Awards
Paybefore Award-winning processor and program manager StoreFinancial has announced that the Dell Advantage ePromotional card was awarded for “Best Prepaid & Payments Innovation” at the Third Annual PX Prepaid & Payments Awards.
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.
New IRS Rule Limits Direct-Deposited Tax Refunds to 3 (July 7, 2014)
The IRS has announced new procedures, effective January 2015, limiting the number of tax refunds electronically deposited into a financial account or prepaid card account to three, in an effort to combat fraud and identity theft.
Brazil: Fraudsters Redirected Nearly $4 Billion from Boleto Payments (July 7, 2014)
A Brazilian fraud ring has absconded with US$3.75 billion in two years using malware to penetrate Boleto payments from individual consumers and companies, and redirecting those payments to fraudulent accounts, according to a report by security solutions provider RSA Research Group.
European Banking Authority: Say ‘No’ to Bitcoin–for Now (July 7, 2014)
The European Banking Authority is urging EU financial institutions to avoid buying, holding or selling digital currencies, like Bitcoin, until regulations for the decentralized currencies are in place.
Russia Changes Course on Law Requiring Visa and MasterCard to Pay Huge Security Deposit (July 3, 2014)
Visa and MasterCard may be able to dodge paying massive security deposits to continue operating in Russia, under new legislation that took effect July 1.
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.
Global Fraud Shakes Consumer Confidence; U.S. Ranks Third in Overall Fraud (July 3, 2014)
One in four consumers worldwide has been a victim of card fraud in the last five years, and consumer confidence is wavering, according to a new global fraud study from ACI Worldwide and Aite Group.
Cole Taylor Fined Millions for Insufficiently Monitoring Third-Party Higher One; Faces Potential Restitution Payments up to $30 Million (July 2, 2014)
Cole Taylor Bank has been ordered to pay more than $4.1 million by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) and the Fed for failing to properly monitor the activities of its third-party “agent” Higher One Inc.
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.
Brad Hanson: Vision with a Mission
By Marilyn Bochicchio, CEO Brad Hanson, president of MetaBank and its payments division Meta Payment Systems, has a vision. It’s bringing financial inclusion and dignity to those who don’t have access to traditional banking systems. And, he doesn’t care if you’re skeptical about a $1.9 billion asset bank from Storm Lake, Iowa, driving this initiative or […]
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.
Bancomer Adds Mexican Walmart Stores to Remittance Network (June 30, 2014)
Customers of Bancomer Transfer Services Inc. will have more than a thousand additional locations in Mexico to collect cash remittances.
Supreme Court Rules in NLRB Case (June 26, 2014)
The Supreme Court ruled today to throw out President Obama’s recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) as unconstitutional. CFPB Director Richard Cordray was appointed the same day but has since been confirmed by the Senate, suggesting the ruling will have little or no effect on the CFPB.
As Debit Usage Grows, Issuers Seek to Ramp up Security (June 26, 2014)
Debit card growth continued in 2013, with consumers and businesses increasingly shifting toward electronic payments.
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.
Viewpoint: Riding the Rails to Bridge the Rewards-Redemption Gap
With the advancement of smartphone technology and social media, we’re witnessing a cascade of innovation around loyalty and incentive products. But driving steady deal redemptions requires smooth connections to payment network rails.
Viewpoint: Optimizing the Prepaid Experience with Robust Mobile Offerings
Growth in prepaid GPR and payroll cards today exceeds that of all other noncash forms of payment, but stickiness remains a problem for issuers and program managers. Adding mobile access and other financial tools to the mix—such as check deposits with instant good funds and expedited bill pay–makes prepaid a compelling proposition for consumers and providers alike.
Payments as a Working Capital Tool
A lesson learned from the global financial crises was how critical free cash flow can be for corporates, their customers, and their suppliers. As businesses seek to unlock cash flow from day-to-day operations, savvy treasurers have discovered vendor payments as a means to extend payment terms while improving vendor health, writes Chris Bozek, Managing Director, Head of Global Trade and Supply Chain Products Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
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.
Merchants Get More Time to Petition Supreme Court in Debit Interchange Case (June 24, 2014)
A consortium of merchant groups has been given more time to decide if it will try to take a long-running lawsuit against the Federal Reserve Board of Governors to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Canada Lays Framework for Digital Currency with New Regs (June 24, 2014)
While digital currency has received a frosty reception from many national governments, it has been greeted a bit more warmly in Canada.
Companies on the Move: Meta Financial Group, Top 200 Community Banks and Thrifts List
Meta Financial Group Inc., holding company of MetaBank, has been included in the annual “Top 200 Community Banks and Thrifts” list in American Banker Magazine.
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.
