As 2015 gets under way, it is time to take stock of some of the biggest challenges facing the banking industry this year – including cybercrime, cultural change, more stress testing, ever-increasing regulatory scrutiny and a troubled economic outlook in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
With much of the holiday revelry come and gone, the payments industry must refocus on two important NPRMs and their respective comment periods, which already have begun.
Dublin-based 3V Transaction Services Ltd., which specializes in issuing, processing and management of prepaid card programs, will be the foundation of a new issuing division of SafeCharge, which acquired the technology provider for €14.5 million (US$17.4 million).
As you get back to business in 2015, bookmark this catalog of the biggest stories from the past 12 months as well as insights into the future of payments in the New Year.
Maintaining credit and debit card information on behalf of financial services organisations demands the highest levels of security and customer confidence, and adhering to standards like PCI DSS plays a crucial role in this. Yet, though the standard is unique in that it regulates data protection across a multitude of industries, PCI DSS remains one of the most challenging regulations with which companies must comply. Its Janus-faced qualities – some say it’s too prescriptive, while others complain that the standards are confusingly vague – make achieving and managing compliance difficult and time-consuming
This quick reference guide provides a snapshot of our interviews with the Movers and Shakers of 2014, including key insight into what’s ahead for payments in the New Year.
The National Technical Information Service (NTIS) is expected to publish tomorrow its NPRM in the Federal Register that would create a certification program to replace the temporary certification program in place now for access to the Death Master File (DMF).
Seven of every 10 shoppers plan to buy gift cards this holiday season and, among them, 92 percent of shoppers plan to spend either the same amount or more on gift cards than they spent last year, according to an interim holiday spending report by Stored Value Solutions (SVS).
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group and Japanese telecom and Internet firm Softbank are in the midst of preliminary talks to work together, instead of compete, to capture a sizable chunk of India’s consumer Internet market, according to a report.
Mike Cahill has returned to carrier billing specialist Boku Inc. as chief technology officer.
Littleton, Colo.-based card producer CPI Card Group has received the Center of Excellence award for the second consecutive year at the Smart Card Alliance’s annual member meeting.
Fiserv Inc., a global provider of financial services technology solutions, has received awards in two categories at the Banking Technology Awards, held in London.
The Members Group (TMG) has announced the addition of several directors, each of whom brings extensive financial services experience to the Des Moines, Iowa-based payments processor.
The CFPB’s NPRM on prepaid accounts is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register tomorrow.
The N.J. General Assembly last week approved by a vote of 73-1 the ZIP code repeal bill (A-3480), which eliminates the collection of consumer ZIP code information for gift cards at the POS.
The mobile payments piece of Starbucks’ partnership with Square has ended.
Industry experts earlier this year predicted abundant M&A activity in the payments industry, and they are being proved correct right to the very end of 2014.
One of the trends of 2014 was its delivery of technology that we had been promised for years but had fallen short until now. Siri, Cortana and Google Now all make good on the sci-fi staple of the voice-activated computer. Virtual reality has been attempted many times, but it seems that the Oculus Rift may have finally cracked it. And biometric authentication, while often included in devices but rarely used, is now commonly used by owners of new iPhones to unlock their devices thanks to Touch ID.
Firms that excel at data analytics also achieve better financial results according a study by EY. High-growth companies are twice as likely to focus on data and analytics in revenue-generating areas such as marketing and sales,
A string of stinging fines in recent months has driven a renewed focus on compliance, taking it to the top of the risk agenda
Members of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee and European Union Council negotiators yesterday agreed to cap the interchange fees on cross-border and domestic card-based payments, ensuring uniform rules across the EU.
Store openings on Thanksgiving Day and the typical headline-seeking weekend deals by retailers helped somewhat during the traditional kickoff to the holiday shopping season this year.
Transit systems throughout the world continue to adopt electronic payment systems—the latest among them Toronto and Indonesian province Jakarta.
Changing times call for new priorities. Clients want a partner with a nimble organization and a flexible and feature-rich technology stack, but not at the expense of business and operational reliability.
Financial services providers have amassed mountains of data about customers, but what’s it worth? Real value comes from the analysis and timely application of knowledge through push marketing campaigns and ongoing product improvements.
Apple Pay’s Touch ID application has pushed biometrics payments authentication into the mainstream. But biometrics authentication goes beyond fingerprint sensors, and voice biometrics authentication is one of the best ways to thwart identity fraud.
The CFPB is calling for greater transparency from colleges and financial institutions when they enter agreements to offer prepaid or debit products to students.
First Data Inc. and Verifone are helping U.S. merchants reduce their exposure to large-scale consumer payment data breaches and expedite merchant acceptance of EMV-enabled credit and debit cards.
Apple in recent weeks has become somewhat more accommodating to consumers who use PayPal or Google Wallet. For example, consumers in the U.S. and U.K. now may use PayPal when making purchases on Apple’s online store.
NCR Corp. today announced the NCR Silver POS system now includes a feature enabling merchants to easily add LevelUp, the mobile payments and loyalty network, to customer payment options.
Widespread use of fingerprint authentication for financial transactions on mobile devices could start taking off from early next year as Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Google, Samsung, Lenovo, Microsoft, Alipay and others adopt a new authentication standard through their joint project, the FIDO Alliance, which has just published its specifications and launched its first server.
In 2015, organisations in the business finance solutions space are likely to spend significantly on business intelligence and analytics. This data goldmine can help organisations unlock hidden opportunities and insights
American Express has launched a research pilot to study what marketing tactics and behavioral triggers can convince cardholders to save using its Serve prepaid account software platform.
The growth in consumer popularity of mobile bill pay features continues unabated as 27 million U.S. households with access to the Internet are paying at least one bill from their phones, an increase of nearly 70 percent compared with 2013, according to The Seventh Annual Billing Household Survey from Fiserv.
Paybefore Award-winning Rȇv Worldwide is continuing its focus on multicurrency travel cards with its latest launch in India.
If Maxwell the talking pig can show a police officer his proof of Geico insurance on a smartphone, why not a driver’s license?
Overall holiday sales figures may be a mixed bag so far this year, but gift card sales for the season are on track to hit news sales peaks in the U.S. and the U.K., aided by an uptick in online sales, plus growing popularity for digital gift cards, new data suggest.
The financially underserved market in the U.S. generated approximately $103 billion in fee and interest revenue in 2013, based on consumer usage volume of $1.3 trillion in financial products and services, according to a new study from the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) and Core Innovation Capital.
After a strong showing in consumer bitcoin spending on Black Friday weekend, Blade Financial yesterday launched what it’s calling the first B2B payment processing platform that extends traditional debit card programs to bitcoin businesses.
Anabel Perez, CEO of prepaid processor and program manager NovoPayment, has been selected as one of this year’s Endeavor Entrepreneurs, which recognizes entrepreneurs who have become role models and give back to their communities as mentors and investors for the next generation of innovators.
