Feb. 26, 2013 Payments industry experts eyeing the October 2015 target date for the U.S. migration to EMV card technology are contemplating plans to set up an EMV pilot in a single U.S. city to boost EMV planning and to work out the bugs in chip-card deployment. The concept, hatched by a committee within the […]
Feb. 26, 2013 European e-voucher provider paysafecard group has launched a new service it says will simplify the process of Internet shopping for its customers. The Paybefore Award-winning firm’s new system—dubbed “my paysafecard”—enables customers to combine all of their paysafecard e-vouchers into a single account. Instead of having to enter separate 16-digit PINs for each […]
Feb. 26. 2013 Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) today told attendees at a Credit Union National Association Government Affairs Conference in Washington, D.C., that federal lawmakers may revisit the debit interchange fee cap created by the Durbin Amendment this year, according to CUNA’s News Now. The publication also reports the Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) said earlier […]
Feb. 26, 2013 The Payment Cards Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia hosted a workshop last week focused on customer service in the prepaid card industry. Susan Herbst-Murphy, a senior industry specialist at the PCC, says the center was eager to learn more about customer service issues in light of the Treasury’s mandate […]
Feb. 26, 2013 Oman’s largest bank said a dozen of its prepaid travel cards were compromised outside of the country. Bank Muscat will take an impairment charge of up to 15 million rials (US$39 million) as a result of the unspecified fraud—a figure representing more than 10 percent of the bank’s latest annual earnings. […]
MasterCard has announced the roll-out of a new integrated authorisation tool that straddles the card, online and mobile payments areas, while allowing merchants and digital wallet providers to integrate it with their services.
Big banks and their large corporate clients are in the final stages of preparation for the SEPA end date of February next year, but what about the smaller clients in the non-euro countries?
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.
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Feb. 25, 2013 Recent research into the prepaid card-buying habits of ATM users indicates an opportunity for credit unions and banks to capture a portion of the prepaid card market by leveraging the convenience of ATMs. More than 85 percent of credit union members use ATMs and 70 percent of those ATM-using members also buy […]
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 […]
Payment provider PayPal has launched a card reader device that handles Chip & PIN and PayPal payments in Europe. The device will be available to select UK businesses over the coming months before becoming generally available this summer.
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.
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.
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
February 2013 By Adam Perrotta, Assistant Editor Dozens of prepaid program managers are scrambling to find a new bank issuer with First California Bank (FCB) exiting the issuing business ahead of its acquisition by PacWest Bancorp. In November, PacWest agreed to pay $231 million for FCB’s parent company, Westlake Village, Calif.-based First California Financial […]
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 […]
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 […]
Feb. 20, 2013 In a deal that could alter the competitive landscape of the prepaid industry, payments processor TSYS yesterday announced plans to acquire GPR and payroll card provider NetSpend Corp. for $1.4 billion in cash. The purchase—characterized by TSYS as a “transformational event”—enhances the Columbus, Ga.-based firm’s role in the prepaid processing arena and […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Feb. 19, 2013 Payments processor TSYS has agreed to purchase GPR card provider NetSpend for $1.4 billion in cash. The deal, which TSYS chairman and CEO Philip W. Tomlinson calls “a transformational event for TSYS and consumers,” brings 2.4 million prepaid card accounts and 500 retail distributors under the TSYS umbrella. TSYS is conducting a conference call […]
February 2013 VeriFone Systems Inc., a San Jose, Calif.-based payment solutions provider, has appointed Marc E. Rothman to executive vice president and chief financial officer, and Jay Parsons to senior vice president, digital media and taxi operations. Rothman joined Motorola Inc. through the acquisition of General Instrument in 2000, and eventually rose to become worldwide […]
February 2013 TSYS has promoted Tony Hodge to executive vice president of application systems for its North America segment. A 30-year TSYS veteran, Hodge has held numerous IT leadership positions, and currently is responsible for more than 1,000 IT professionals. During his tenure at TSYS, he has received numerous leadership awards, including the James H. […]
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. […]
February 2013 North American Bancard, a Troy, Mich.-based provider of the PayAnywhere mobile POS payment solution, announced that Robert Seward has joined the company as vice president of product management. He oversees the company’s product strategy, planning, management and the delivery technology solutions to merchant customers. Seward joins NAB after leading ACI Worldwide’s merchant retail […]
February 2013 GiftCards.com, a subsidiary of Pittsburgh-based Wolfe LLC, has hired Dana Vento, aka “Pittsburgh Frugal Mom” and founder of PittsburghFrugalMom.com, as social media manager. She will be part of a growing team responsible for broadening the company’s social media platform. Vento spent the last several years creating a successful consumer education blog, focusing on […]
February 2013 Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz stepped down Feb. 15, 2013, to pursue work in the private sector. He has served as chairman since March 2009, and as a commissioner since September 2004. While the FTC regulates anticompetitive, deceptive and unfair practices in general, Leibowitz’s tenure has been recognized for aggressive consumer and […]
February 2013 Contis Group, a U.K.-based provider of online banking and prepaid card technologies and services, has enhanced its domestic and international capabilities with the addition of five hires. Chris Cresswell joins Contis as sales and business development director. Formerly with LaSer UK, Cresswell has experience in the cards and loyalty sector and will be […]
February 2013 The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently announced that Steve Antonakes will serve as acting deputy director while the agency searches for a replacement for Raj Date. As Antonakes assumes this temporary role, he will maintain responsibility for his current duties as associate director for supervision, enforcement and fair lending, which he began […]
Feb. 19, 2013 Sightline Interactive, a provider of payment services to the gaming industry, and its partner Vantiv have inked a deal with Northern California’s Colusa Casino to create a GPR prepaid card that works in tandem with the casino’s closed-loop loyatly card. The open-loop Discover-branded Loyalty Card Plus initially will be distributed to the casino’s “best […]
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. […]
Feb. 19, 2013 The PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) has issued guidance to educate merchants on the factors and risks they need to address to protect card data when using mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, to accept payments. Because consumer mobile devices are not solely used as point-of-sale tools, but also carry […]
Feb. 19, 2013 Chase Bank (Kenya) and the University Students Community Organization (UNISCOO) have teamed up to launch a new MasterCard-branded prepaid card for Kenya’s college students. The UNISCOO card will enable students to shop in stores and online anywhere MasterCard is accepted and receive specially targeted discounts and promotional offers from merchants. Available at […]
