PayPal could give mobile commerce a big boost with the introduction of PayPal Beacon, a service it’s piloting this fall that will enable customers who opt in to pay “hands-free” with their PayPal mobile apps at participating merchants.
Two major mass transit contactless payment initiatives are speeding forward this week, with the debut of Chicago’s Ventra system and the announcement of a smartphone-based payment feature for Hong Kong’s transit network.
Sept. 10, 2013 The money keeps pouring in as two mobile payments players, Check and Paydiant, are the latest to report recent infusions of capital. Wellesley, Mass.-based Paydiant announced today that it has closed a $15 million round of funding from North Bridge Venture Partners, General Catalyst Partners and Stage 1 Ventures, among others. The new […]
Japanese banking group Sumitomo Mistui will launch a new NFC payment service that will be available through all three of the country’s mobile network operators and more than 30 NFC-enabled smartphone models.
PayPal is making a splash with a redesign of its mobile app that pulls together several of the company’s latest initiatives into a digital wallet emphasizing consumer benefits, including instant discounts and the ability to pay at the POS.
Vodafone and Visa are teaming up to launch an NFC-based mobile payment pilot in New Zealand.
Sept. 9, 2013 Financial institutions and Bitcoin companies met last week with several British government agencies, asking them to consider regulating the virtual currency so they can be used to promote commercial growth and encourage financial innovation. Representatives from Bitcoin companies and smaller FIs told officials that “big banks are blocking the creation of business […]
Delta Air Lines has equipped more than 19,000 of its flight attendants with Nokia Lumina mobile devices with mobile POS capability for the airline’s new in-flight purchase program.
To drive customer education and engagement, financial services providers are applying the concepts of gaming—and it turns out a little fun can drive serious results.
The payment industry has never seen so much change or opportunity. It continues to be reshaped by shifts in the economic landscape, new technologies and customer needs and this is set to continue.
The scoop on the hottest jobs in prepaid. Plus, how to attract (and keep) the best talent.
Prepaid card market growth slowed from 2011 to 2012 as a then-softening economy and compliance complexities finally caught up to the industry.
Sept. 4, 2013 Green Dot Corp. is seeking $90 million in damages from Sallie Mae in a lawsuit claiming the student loan giant misled Green Dot about the prospects for a prepaid card the two companies announced last year to help colleges disburse student financial aid refunds that Sallie Mae pulled the plug on. In a […]
Sept. 4, 2013 PayPal Inc. is opening for business in Russia, now that the San Jose, Calif., payment giant has overcome the regulatory barriers to fully operating in the country. According to a report in the Moscow Times, PayPal will begin enabling account holders to transfer funds to Russian banks in rubles starting on Sept […]
Australia-based mobile payment processor Mint Wireless has announced the launch of a new platform the company says will simplify the integration of card payments across multiple mobile devices and platforms.
Isis says it’s bolstering its market position before its national rollout with a handful of payment terminal manufacturers and software providers that are integrating Isis SmartTap capabilities into a range of POS systems, including integrated POS terminals and vending machines.
Blue Label Telecoms today announced a partnership with MasterCard that will expand electronic payment terminals to 22,000 small traders and rural shops in South Africa.
Payments processor PreCash is combining a mobile app with its bill payment technology to help consumers pay bills with cash, which the company hopes will translate to a broader financial services relationship with PreCash.
What consumers want from mobile wallets is a question not easily answered, nor is it clear whether any of the mobile wallets developed so far will hit the jackpot in creating a consumer experience compelling enough to change entrenched habits.
Sept. 3, 2013 Health insurers must accept prepaid cards as payment for coverage mandated by the Affordable Care Act, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) said in a rule issued last week. The rule paves the way for more than 8.5 million uninsured people who would otherwise have difficulty buying coverage on insurance […]
Less than three months after iZettle’s first venture outside of Europe, the Swedish mobile payments company again has partnered with Spain’s Banco Santander to launch its m-payments service, which enables customers to accept card payments with their smartphones or tablets and an iZettle card reader, in Brazil.
St. Paul, Minn.-based Sunrise Banks recently appointed Brian Tordsen executive vice president and director, national products group.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently named new senior staff in four divisions.
Aug. 29, 2013 Following double-digit growth a year earlier, market growth for open- and closed-loop prepaid cards, as measured by total dollars loaded, slowed from 2011 to 2012, according to recently released annual reports by Mercator Advisory Group. Total dollars loaded in the open-loop prepaid market grew by only 6 percent to $194.5 billion year […]
Aug. 29, 2013 MasterCard is joining with mobile payment technology provider C-SAM and mobile wallet service provider DNP to bring a white-label NFC-based mobile wallet service to Japan. The service will integrate MasterCard’s PayPass Wallet Services contactless payment technology with C-SAM’s mobile transaction platform and DNP’s mobile wallet services, enabling merchants to offer their customers […]
Aug. 29, 2013 Prepaid cards are booming in India, where the prepaid card market is on track to grow 40 percent over the next four years, according to a new report from the Noida, India-based firm RNCOS Research. In its Indian Prepaid Card Market Outlook to 2017 report released this month, the consulting firm said […]
Aug. 29, 2013 Financial services technology provider Fiserv Inc. is seeking to capitalize on the recent boom in tablet-based banking with a new turnkey mobile banking app specifically for tablet users. The Mobiliti: Tablet service is being offered to banks and credit unions, which can use the system to offer their tablet banking customers a […]
Aug. 29, 2013 eGifter, a social and mobile gifting company and subsidiary of Melville, N.Y.-based GroupGifting.com, has partnered with Bitcoin wallet and platform provider Coinbase, enabling users of the eGifter Web and mobile apps to use Bitcoin virtual currency to purchase eGift cards from more than 100 brands, including GameStop, Home Depot and CVS. Coinbase enables its […]
By Shoney Yuan, Ceridian Stored Value Solutions (SVS) Take a stroll down any street in one of China’s big cities and it’s hard not to feel excited about the business potential this vast nation offers. Sophisticated marketing and innovative advertising compete for your attention as a consumer. There is much to buy—from groceries, to household […]
Aug. 27, 2013 The Federal Reserve Board of Governors has filed a motion to extend the stay of a July 31 court decision that invalidated the agency’s rules implementing debit interchange and network routing requirements under the Durbin Amendment. The consent order, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., requests that Judge Richard […]
Aug. 27, 2013 After several months of experimentation, Facebook has made the decision to focus on gift cards and eliminate the gift service in which it sold and shipped physical gifts to recipients. Since launching its Gifts service in September 2012, 80 percent of the gifts users chose to send to other Facebook users were […]
Aug. 27, 2013 Bitcoin Foundation, an advocacy group whose stated objectives include Bitcoin standardization, promotion and protection from counterfeiters and thieves, met yesterday with several federal agencies to provide information about the decentralized virtual currency. “The meeting was educational in nature,” says Jinyoung Englund, spokesperson for Bitcoin Foundation and director of communications and marketing at […]
Aug. 27, 2013 A new prepaid card in Nigeria enables shareholders to receive dividend payments directly onto the card. The First Dividend Plus Prepaid Card is being billed as a “revolutionary product” by Verve International, the payment card provider that is releasing the card in partnership with stock registrar service First Registrars Nigeria. The card […]
Aug. 26, 2013 Another element of PayPal Inc.’s in-store payments strategy fell into place today with the announcement that TSYS has inked an agreement with Discover Network to process PayPal transactions at U.S. brick-and-mortar locations as part of the PayPal in-store payment acceptance partnership announced last year with Discover. TSYS’s involvement will provide an expanded […]
Aug. 26, 2013 Shell Canada has launched a gift card program with StoreFinancial, which is providing processing and program management services. StoreFinancial is providing Shell with a restricted authorization network (RAN) card, along with its RASER card activation technology, which enables client retailers to sell and activate gift cards without a third-party distributor, regardless of […]
Aug. 26, 2013 A growing number of Canadian companies are using corporate incentive programs to motivate and reward employees and customers—and to greater effect, according to a recent report by Berkeley Payment Solutions, a Toronto-based provider of MasterCard and Visa prepaid card programs for corporations, governments and financial institutions. Slightly more than three-quarters of respondents […]
Aug. 26, 2013 Vodafone continues to expand availability of M-Pesa throughout India as it readies the launch of the money service in at least two other countries by the end of this year. As an expansion of its partnership with ICICI Bank, India’s largest private sector bank, M-Pesa is now available to consumers in Delhi, […]
Aug. 22, 2013 Financial industry groups are applauding yesterday’s announcement by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors that it will appeal a court ruling invalidating the agency’s debit interchange and network routing rules. Though the Fed’s rules setting debit interchange fee limits under the Durbin Amendment are “far from perfect,” the court’s July 31 decision […]
Aug. 22, 2013 MICROS Systems Inc. and PayPal Inc. this week announced a strategic global collaboration that will pave the way for thousands of restaurants and other hospitality industry businesses using MICROS’s payment platforms to add PayPal as a POS and mobile app payment option. MICROS, used in more than half a million businesses around the […]
Aug. 22, 2013 Bitcoin Ventures Inc. is aiming to make it easier for consumers to obtain and make transactions with Bitcoin virtual currency. The Calgary, Alberta-based software development company and provider of Bitcoin e-commerce solutions has announced CoinTap, a prepaid card the company says streamlines “an otherwise tricky and time-consuming process” of exchanging traditional currency […]
