Worldwide


Solving the Shopping Cart Abandonment Puzzle

You can design your Website to be mobile-friendly, engage the right search engine optimization (SEO) strategy to attract eyeballs and create compelling content to engage consumers. But if your checkout process has inefficiencies, you could lose sales from customers who abandon their shopping carts—an outcome that is more common than one may think, and for reasons that could easily be avoidable.

ICAP looks to blockchain for FX trades

ICAP, a UK-based financial services firm, is jumping on the bandwagon and getting ready to process foreign exchange (FX) trades on blockchain, according to the Financial Times. As Banking Technology reported earlier this year, ICAP’s post trade risk and information division completed a proof of technology test case for blockchain – so its interest is […]

A sea of penguins

I am blind as a bat, and there are times when it’s an advantage to be blind, or deaf, or even dumb to certain insults, certain situations, certain obstacles. Clearly it’s a double-edged sword because being deaf, dumb, and blind to impediments, pitfalls, and danger zones is just asking for disaster.

Citi and FIS get pally with PayPal

Citi and FIS have formed separate agreements with PayPal for Citi cardmembers and FIS linking payment cards. For Citi, its customers will be able to use their Citi Cards with PayPal – online, in-app and in store – in 2017. Terms of the agreement are not being disclosed. With this agreement, Citi says it is […]

CFPB Takes Aim at Accounts Marketed to College Students

Five months after Department of Education rules regulating financial aid disbursements went into effect, the CFPB released a report on Dec. 14 claiming that marketing deals between banks and colleges often promote financial products that lead to high overdraft and other fees. Meanwhile, industry observers note that overdraft—when permitted—requires students to opt-in and there are other ways to avoid fees.

PayPal Opens Wallet to Banks with Citi, FIS Deals

After reaching deals earlier this year with Mastercard and Visa to stop steering users away from paying with cards in favor of ACH, PayPal Inc. has struck pacts with Citi and FIS that will enable U.S. consumers to pay with bank-issued cards and accounts within the PayPal app for in-store and mobile purchases.

InComm Takes Tech to Target Australia POS

Atlanta-based prepaid product and transaction services company InComm is expanding its partnership with Target Australia from offering gift cards at Target’s online gift card store to launching point-of-sale technology in all 306 Target stores in the country.

Amex Bot Enhancement Enables Purchases on Facebook and Messenger

The expanded capability enables U.S. consumers and small businesses with OPEN cards, to add American Express card and billing information to their Facebook accounts. Once the information is added, cardholders can make in-game purchases and shop on business’ Facebook pages.

Cash Still King for P2P, Even Among Millennials

A recent study from VocaLink polled more than 5,000 U.S. consumers ages 18 to 35 on their payments behavior and preferences. And while the survey found that cash has lost ground to cards for most types of payments, it’s stubbornly clinging to the No. 1 spot when it comes to P2P.

JN Fund Managers in digital tech revamp with Objectway’s Conectus

JN Fund Managers (JNFM) has chosen Objectway’s Conectus solution for digital communication and reporting on clients’ investments. JNFM, a wholly owned subsidiary of Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS), will use interactive collaboration tools such as chat, video call and screen-sharing. Investors will also be able to make requests digitally and place trade orders. Sharon Whitelocke, […]

Judge Tosses out Shareholder Suit Related to Home Depot Breach

Home Depot has scored a victory in the legal fight that followed the retail chain’s 2014 data breach. The retailer’s investors cannot sue its board of directors via a shareholder derivative suit, ruled a federal judge in Georgia, the home state of the chain.

EBA’s Proposed Guidelines Call for 2-Hour Notice of Data Breach

The European Banking Authority working with the European Central Bank has released a consultation paper on guidelines for payment service providers to follow in the event of security breaches. Among the suggested mandates is notifying authorities of an incident within two hours from the moment the breach is detected—that’s significantly faster than the breach notification requirements set to go into force next year, which mandate notice within 72 hours and applies to some U.S. companies.

Mastercard: Europe Not Immune to Unbanked Problem

More than 138 million Europeans do not have access to formal banking services, says Mastercard in a new report—news that could present an opportunity to prepaid providers and so-called “challenger banks.”

Fiserv Continues Notification Push with OBS Buy

Financial services technology provider Fiserv Inc. has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Online Banking Solutions Inc. (OBS), in a deal Fiserv said will bolster its cash management and digital business banking capabilities—and continues the firm’s recent focus on driving customer engagement via notifications.

Viewpoint: Combating Fraud with Teamwork

The IRS reports that there’s been a nearly 50 percent drop in fraudulent returns, and there has been significant progress in stopping fraudulent returns before refunds are ever paid, due in part to new information provided by industry and state partners.

Blockchain: a real opportunity for retail financial services

Given the pace of change and innovation underway in traditional industries it would take a brave person to predict how the finance industry will look in five years’ time, however I don’t believe high street banks will disappear and be replaced by online blockchain alternatives, the regulatory hurdles are just too high.

Mastercard: Gift Cards Pack One-Two Punch during Holidays; In-Store Sales Still Dominate  

An “extremely strong” November for holiday shopping concluded with a “solid start” over Thanksgiving weekend, according to Sarah Quinlan, senior vice president of Market Insights for Mastercard. Although final holiday shopping data won’t be available until the end of the month, Quinlan spoke with Paybefore about how the shopping season is shaping up for retailers.

Irish E-Money License Could Make Facebook a P2P Force in EU

Facebook has received a key license that would enable the social media giant to bring its Messenger P2P service to Europe. The Central Bank of Ireland quietly granted an e-money license to Facebook Payments International Ltd. in late October, the company confirmed in a statement to TechCrunch, paving the way for the potential launch of Facebook’s Messenger-based money transfer service throughout the EU’s 28 member nations under passporting rules.

Chase Pay Bites into QSR Sector with LevelUp

Consumers with Chase Pay mobile wallets can now order and preemptively pay for their meals at quick service restaurants thanks to a deal with Boston-based LevelUp, Chase said. The deal, which comes as Chase expands its mobile wallet, promises to help make that payment technology more important for consumers, as the deal eventually will involve thousands of eateries.

M-Payments Deal Report: Apple Pay, WeChat, Starbucks and Square

Some of the biggest players in the mobile payments space have announced deals that could bring digital payments and gifting to more consumers around the globe. Starbucks will provide “social gifting” and payments to users of China’s WeChat messaging service, while Square will integrate its digital debit cards with Apple Pay, two recent developments that could boost the popularity of mobile payments.

Fintech funding round-up: 12 December 2016

With so much fintech funding activity going on, we’ve summarised the latest fundraising efforts of start-ups. Featuring Lunar Way, FXCH and Polychain Capital.

Inside job

Our new series of thrillers – produced and directed by CustomerXPs and Banking Technology – narrate the tales of the fight between the forces of good (the Clari5 analytics and anti-fraud software) and the forces of evil. Based on real events and guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat!

BNY Mellon suffers payments glitch

BNY Mellon experienced problems with processing clients’ payments instructions – it blamed the issue on its connection to Swift. The problems were subsequently resolved.

Viewpoint: Tapping the Power of Prepaid

Prepaid will continue to be a key ingredient in bringing 2 billion people worldwide into the financial mainstream. But over the past five years, we’ve learned that public-private partnerships are mission-critical. And we’ve still got work to do.

Viewpoint: The Year in Review and a Look Ahead to 2017

The market is evolving from being dazzled by the flashy lights of innovation to buckling down and implementing plans to address the opportunities ahead. Emphasis is shifting from talking about the cool stuff to driving adoption of the most actionable innovations. Are you investing in the right trends?

Viewpoint: The Case for B2C Digital Payments

As consumers start using mobile to pay each other, it’s only natural that they’ll expect businesses to pay them that way, too. For those of us who serve corporate clients, enabling electronic payments to those mobile-centric consumers is a significant opportunity.

Viewpoint: Winning the Prepaid Loyalty Challenge Is about Financial Empowerment

Having achieved status as a “mainstream” financial services product, prepaid cards now must prove themselves indispensable to cardholders’ lives. To take prepaid to the next level, prepaid providers need to connect with and engage cardholders in ways that position the product as vital to their financial wellbeing.

Time has proved good for HPE and NonStop; banks everywhere can run networks, 24×7!     

Having spent many years in the technology wilderness, has HPE finally determined the future of NonStop? Thinking about the more than 40 years that have passed since we were first introduced to fault tolerant Tandem Computers, particularly considering what transpired following the acquisition of Tandem Computers by Compaq and then Compaq by HPE, did we anticipate that there would be an expansion of the NonStop product portfolio? And to see not just one, but two distinct families of NonStop systems and with the possibility of further options featuring NonStop just around the corner? It is surprising to many that all this time hasn’t taken the sheen away from any of the magic that is NonStop!

Can Amazon Make the Checkout Lane Obsolete?

Amazon’s vision of the future, which it’s testing in Seattle, is a grocery store that enables customers to complete purchases via scanning mobile phones instead of waiting to pay.

People on the Move: Steve Pruitt, Americhip

Steve Pruitt has taken on the role of director of new business development for the Americhip Gift Card Group, a provider of print, specialty packaging, shopper marketing and gift card programs.