Amazon Eyes P2P Payments and Physical Commerce (Jan. 30, 2014)
E-commerce behemoth Amazon isn’t satisfied with success in the digital world.
Worldwide
U.S. Bank Testing Voice-Based Biometrics for Mobile Financial Services (Jan. 30, 2014)
U.S. Bank is testing a voice-based biometrics mobile banking feature that could foreshadow the future of mobile payments if consumers warm up to it, Dominic Venturo, chief innovation officer at U.S. Bank, told attendees today at the Card Innovation Summit in Tempe, Ariz.
Service Gives Bitcoins for Starbucks Card Balances, New Virtual Currency Hits Market (Jan. 30, 2014)
Starbucks gift card holders now can redeem the unused balances on their cards for Bitcoin.
Senate Committee Sets Hearing on Consumer Data Security (Jan. 30, 2014)
The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing next week on safeguarding consumers’ financial information in the wake of recent data breaches at several major U.S. retailers.
A regulatory trigger for risk transformation
The Basel principles for effective risk management offer a chance to transform information management that should not be missed.
StoreFinancial Teams with Twins for RAN Gift Card (Jan. 28, 2014)
Pitchers and catchers might not report to spring training until mid-February, but StoreFinancial already is thinking about baseball.
BitInstant CEO Charged with Money Laundering in Silk Road Scheme (Jan. 28, 2014)
ederal prosecutors have charged the head of digital currency exchange BitInstant with conspiring to commit money laundering and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.
Special Delivery? Agency Says Postal Service Should Consider Prepaid (Jan. 28, 2014)
The United States Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General has once again suggested that the Postal Service should consider providing financial products, including prepaid cards.
European Department Store Giant Goes Contactless (Jan. 28, 2014)
Madrid-based El Corte Inglés, Europe’s largest department store chain, this year plans to upgrade the majority of its POS terminals to accept contactless payments from NFC-enabled cards and handsets.
ISDA begins radical overhaul of ISDAFIX swap rates
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association has set a date for the first stage of sweeping changes to the ISDAFIX benchmark for annual swap rates, as part of a major global push to clean up rates and make them more accountable.
ITRS adds Murex capability to monitoring system
Trading system monitoring specialist ITRS Group has added a module to its Geneos system for the Murex cross-asset trading and risk management platform.
WSJ: Apple Laying Groundwork for Mobile Payments Platform (Jan. 27, 2014)
Apple Inc. is making plans to launch a mobile wallet service for its iPhone, iPad and iTunes users, according to a Jan. 24 Wall Street Journal report.
CFPB Looks to Supervise Largest Nonbank International Money Transfer Providers (Jan. 27, 2014)
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed a rule it says would enable the agency to oversee larger, nonbank, international money transfer providers to ensure they are following the CFPB’s new protections for consumers sending money abroad.
Stripe Lands $80 Million in Funding, Now Valued at $1.75 Billion (Jan. 27, 2014)
Payments processor Stripe Inc. has secured $80 million in a new round of investment that valued the 4-year-old startup at $1.75 billion.
UnionPay Taps Rev for Global Prepaid Push (Jan. 27, 2014)
Austin, Texas-based prepaid processor Rev Worldwide has partnered with Chinese payment card giant UnionPay to “grow prepaid market opportunities around the world.”
How many sides can you put on a coin?
There are two sides to every coin, but with Bitcoin those sides simply could not be farther apart. Its promise is extraordinary: for those afraid of inflation, it is gold redux, while for those who hate exchange rates, it is a way to pay internationally. For merchants it is a way of avoiding high transaction fees and for former Presidential hopeful Ron Paul, it is the destruction of the US Dollar.
T-Mobile Enters Prepaid to Serve Unbanked Customers, Increase Stickiness (Jan. 23, 2014)
T-Mobile USA Inc. this week became the first major U.S. mobile carrier to enter the GPR prepaid arena with Mobile Money by T-Mobile, a new smartphone application and accompanying Visa prepaid card.
Report: New Case to Give iPhone Users Access to NFC, Isis (Jan. 23, 2014)
With the Isis mobile wallet now live across the U.S., iPhone users remain unable to use the wallet to make contactless in-store purchases due to the handset’s lack of NFC capability.
Toyota to Offer Mobile Car Payments through Pingit (Jan. 23, 2014)
Toyota owners in the U.K. can make car payments via mobile device, now that the automaker has signed on with the Barclays Pingit mobile payment app.
Virtual currency Ven takes on Bitcoin
A digital currency called Ven is poised to give alternative currency poster child Bitcoin a run for its virtual money.
Saxo Bank ‘likes’ social media trading
Denmark’s Saxo Bank has built an online social trading community called TradingFloor.com, which draws on social media concepts such as LinkedIn and blogging alongside Bloomberg/Reuters style market data and news in an attempt to make trading more ‘social’.
Blog: Intelligent Interactions Improve Customer Service, Boost Loyalty
While there are now a dozen ways to build and maintain relationships with customers, many organizations often still treat these channels as separate silos, creating a disjointed customer care experience. By sharing data across channels, you’re more likely to have less frustrated, more loyal customers.
UniRush Lands Industry Veteran Rick Savard
Recently minted CEO of UniRush LLC Rick Savard sees a bright future for the Cincinnati-based provider of the prepaid Visa RushCard.
People on the Move: Matt Rosenburg and Charles Potts, Ingo Money
Ingo Money has announced Matt Rosenburg as the Atlanta-based technology and solutions provider’s chief information officer.
People on the Move: Todd Anderson, GiftCards.com
GiftCards.com, a subsidiary of Pittsburgh-based Wolfe LLC, has appointed Todd Anderson general counsel.
People on the Move: William Lamar Jr., Sionic Mobile Board
Sionic Mobile, an Atlanta-based m-commerce company providing mobile gifting, payments and rewards, named William “Bill” Lamar Jr. to its board of directors.
Meriton takes long-term view as GoldenSource appoints new head
Mike Meriton, long-term chief executive at enterprise data management specialist GoldenSource, has stepped aside to make way for a new occupant of the post, John Eley.
Blog: 2014—Diversification for E-Money
2014 is shaping up to be a big year for e-money and those players with the ability to spot opportunities (think loyalty and mobile), and the agility to react to them, will increase market share and thrive.
“Unbanked banks” suffer from tougher KYC rules
Senior transaction banking executives have called for a political discussion to resolve the issue of emerging market access to banking services caused by the reduction of the correspondent banking services network.
Durbin/NACS Oral Arguments: Appellate Court Expresses Skepticism
A ruling from the circuit court could be issued within the next 30 to 60 days.
Mobile Solutions Can Assist Underbanked Consumers
According to a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, innovative mobile banking features can help underserved consumers obtain safe, secure and convenient options that foster financial inclusion.
Retailer Group to Appeal Card Fee Settlement
In the latest development of the ongoing credit card interchange fee dispute between merchants and Visa and MasterCard, the National Retail Federation (NRF) has appealed a $5.7 billion settlement with the payment card networks.
Growth under threat from new Basel III, EMIR, Dodd-Frank regs
Regulation is driving a structural shift away from capital markets and investment banking towards transaction banking – but even this hint of opportunity could be under threat, according to senior financial services panellists speaking at the BAFT IFSA conference in London this week.
U.S. Appeals Court Panel Hears Arguments on Interchange Rate-Cap Dispute (Jan. 21, 2014)
Three judges for the U.S. Court of Appeals in D.C. convened last Friday to ask questions of lawyers representing debit card issuers, the Federal Reserve and merchants, as the panel weighs the Fed’s appeal of a lawsuit vacating its rule capping debit interchange rates at 21 cents in 2011, in accordance with the Durbin Amendment in the Dodd-Frank Act.
Border Arrests Believed to Be Linked to Target Data Breach (Jan. 21, 2014)
The Target stores data breach that occurred during the holiday shopping season and affected millions of Target shoppers continues to make headlines as police made two arrests at the Texas-Mexico border.
Visa’s V.me Nears Full Commercial Rollout, Adding Countries and Merchants
As the push to minimize steps for consumers inputting card data when making online and mobile purchases gathers steam, competition among digital wallets is intensifying.
Getting personal: banks must brace for change
Major global banks need to grasp social networks, cloud computing, user-generated content, personalisation, contextual information and gamification if they are to maintain a competitive edge and stay connected with customers. But they also need to ensure their innovations are transmitted thoroughly to all employees, according to panellists at the BAFT IFSA conference in London on Monday.
Standards: the middle way
The financial services sector may be heavily regulated, but it is poorly standardised. A British Standards Institute-led initiative to drive more adoption of voluntary standards could reap considerable benefits for the industry.
Cost of KYC too high says Swiss start up
The rising cost of KYC at global banks is threatening to disconnect smaller regional banks and even entire countries, according to Joachim von Hänisch, head of Swiss start-up company KYC Exchange, which plans to launch next Wednesday.
Capital markets on a firmer footing for 2014
Following the tumultuous change that came in the wake of the subprime crisis, capital markets firms have yet to regain a strong foothold but 2014 is showing increasing evidence of a shift to a higher gear.
