Bitcoin is the future, Money2020 delegates told
Bitcoin is here to stay and will continue to grow, according to experts speaking on separate panels at Money2020 in Las Vegas.
Worldwide
Money 2020: Innovation, Mobile-Centric Money Take Center Stage (Oct. 8, 2013)
Innovative and mobile-centric financial services are taking center stage this week at Money2020, which has drawn more than 4,500 attendees to Las Vegas.
Amex Relaunches Serve with Free Cash Reloads through InComm (Oct. 8, 2013)
American Express today announced a relaunch of its Serve prepaid account, packing the card with a raft of new features and benefits, including free cash-reload services at CVS and 7-Eleven stores nationwide, plus online bill payment and money management tools, for $1 a month.
Big Names among Group Aiming to Bolster Card-Linked Offers (Oct. 8, 2013)
Some of the heaviest hitters in e-commerce, banking and tech have joined together to enhance customers’ experience with card-linked offers. The newly formed CardLinx Association counts among its ranks a number of big names, including Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Discover, Facebook, First Data Corp., LivingSocial, MasterCard and Microsoft Corp. Announced this week at the […]
MasterCard Report Outlines Global Shift Away from Cash (Oct. 8, 2013)
Economies around the world are making the move away from cash, and the shift largely is being driven by new technologies, government initiative and consumer preference, according to a new report by MasterCard Advisors. Among the countries the report describes as the most “cashless” are: Belgium, where 93 percent of total consumer spending in 2011 […]
MasterCard and Visa Launch Prepaid Cards in Myanmar and Ghana (Oct. 8, 2013)
MasterCard and Visa separately have launched prepaid cards this week in Myanmar and Ghana, respectively. CB Bank is rolling out a prepaid travel card for citizens of the Southeast Asian country called the CB Bank EASI Travel Prepaid MasterCard card. The financial institution says the reloadable prepaid card is the first of its kind in […]
Markit masses support for open messaging service
Financial information services company Markit is aiming to create the largest financial markets messaging community and remove barriers to cross-market communication through its open messaging initiative and supporting technology, Markit Collaboration Services.
Maybe next time …
What do Monty Python star Michael Palin, a municipal cemetery, the rock band Def Leppard and a long-running debate in the press room at Sibos have in common? The answer is Sheffield, Palin’s home town, which has for some years now been an also ran in the choice of the next venue for Swift’s annual travelling circus.
Money2020: MetaBank, TSYS Execs Say Third-Party Oversight, Compliance Key (Oct. 7, 2013)
The explosion of innovation in financial service products is driving a growing reliance on third parties to help process and distribute products that, in turn, is making third-party oversight a key priority integrated with daily operations, according to top prepaid card industry experts at preliminary sessions during Money2020 in Las Vegas on Oct. 6. Because […]
Card News: Bancorp to Issue TFG Payroll; InComm Partners with Jackson Hewitt on GPR Card (Oct. 7, 2013)
GPR and payroll cards—two of the fastest-growing segments in prepaid—continue to expand as a new GPR program and a new payroll card partnership were unveiled today. In separate announcements, InComm and tax preparer Jackson Hewitt said they’re working together on a new GPR program, while The Bancorp Inc. said it will issue payroll cards to TFG Card Solutions’ […]
Sprint’s NFC Answer to Isis (Oct. 7, 2013)
When Isis, backed by AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile and Verizon, was announced nearly three years ago, Sprint was notably missing from the group of top U.S. telcos involved in the mobile wallet project.
Payments and the Government Shutdown (Oct. 7, 2013)
As the federal government shutdown drags on, the payments industry could begin to feel some impacts of the inaction, according to industry observers. And while those effects currently are relatively limited, the coming Congressional battle over the debt ceiling could have serious implications—especially for recipients of Social Security benefits via the Treasury Department’s Direct Express […]
Contact Solutions Unveils New Customer Service Platform (Oct. 7, 2013)
Contact Solutions LLC today announced a new mobile platform to help cardholders access customer service when they want it and easily switch between self-service and a live agent.
PayPal’s path to success paved with “good ideas and lots of hard work”
PayPal is belatedly paying some attention to design: in its early days, the company didn’t have designers, so the Pay with PayPal button wasn’t very consistent – sellers could tinker with it and even modify the colour. That’s changing, John Muller, vice president and general counsel, told Money 2020.
Money2020: Cybercrime threat will demand application of new defences
Basic security mechanisms in payment and banking systems are poorly applied and are out-gunned by the resources available to cybercriminals, a session at the Money2020 event in Las Vegas was told.
Making ‘social’ communication pay
Social media may be a dirty word to most banks’ CFOs. But when 28 hours of a 40-hour week are lost to emails and searching for information, there has to be a better way, according to Tony Zingale, chief executive at Jive Software, which has just launched in Europe.
CFPB: CARD Act Saved Consumers Billions, But Some Concerns Remain (Oct. 3, 2013)
The credit card industry has largely cleaned up its act in the four years since sweeping new federal rules took effect, though some concerns remain, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau concluded this week. The CFPB’s 102-page report on the impact of the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act (CARD Act) passed in 2009 found […]
MasterCard Unveils Parking-Based Couponing Platform (Oct. 3, 2013)
MasterCard and parking services provider Parkeon have announced the launch of a couponing platform that delivers offers from local retailers to consumers as they’re paying for parking. The system is being billed as the first of its kind and will be launched as a pilot next week in Rockville Center, N.Y., with a full-scale rollout […]
European Commission Considers Ways to Support Crowdfunding (Oct. 3, 2013)
Crowdfunding—a term used for a group of people pooling their money, typically through Websites, to support projects—is being used to help finance everything from films to NFC-enabled jewelry.
Australian Debit Card System Taps FIS for New Payments Hub (Oct. 3, 2013)
Australian debit card system eftpos has contracted Jacksonville, Fla.-based FIS to build out a new centralized payments hub.
Blog: Don’t Listen to Consumers on Mobile Wallets … Yet
A new survey suggests most consumers don’t want mobile wallets, but many were skeptical about the Internet, at first.
Bloomberg rolls out ‘actionable’ FX news service
Bloomberg has launched a new information service called First Word Foreign Exchange, which is designed to give FX traders ‘actionable’ news insight that they can quickly process and feed into their trading decisions.
Blog: The Case for Staying Confident about NFC (October 2013)
Once again, NFC is in the news for more of what didn’t happen than for what did. Despite the rumors that Apple would put NFC in its new security-minded iPhone 5S, the annual iPhone new model release announcement came and went without a mention of NFC.
MasterCard: Prepaid Opportunity in Europe Is Huge; Education Gap Persists
Opportunities are significant for B2B, government and consumer applications, particularly around mobile money, but the industry must work harder to overcome education gaps at the consumer and regulatory level.
Re-inventing banking: geospatial adoption drives “New World” business models
Loyalty is key to business success – and banks that can bring data and technology to bear to achieve it stand to gain the most, writes Sameet Gupte, senior vice president and managing director for Europe at IT consulting and outsourcing company Virtusa Corporation.
People on the Move: Frédéric Vasnier, SIMalliance (October 2013)
SIMalliance, a London-based nonprofit trade association supporting the creation, deployment and management of secure mobile services and applications, announced that Frédéric Vasnier has been reelected to serve a one-year term as chairman.
People on the Move: Michael De Jongh, judo payments (October 2013)
judo payments, a U.K.-based provider of card payment technology for mobile apps, appointed Michael De Jongh vice president of sales and marketing.
Payment Networks Propose Tokenization Standard to Secure Online, Mobile Payments (Oct. 1, 2013)
The time has come to agree on a simpler way to use and store digital payment credentials, a trio of payment networks said today.
CFPB, Lawmakers Continue Campus Card Examination (Oct. 1, 2013)
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau yesterday hosted a Banking on Campus Forum in Washington, D.C., as part of its ongoing investigation into campus cards. Some college students said they feel pressured into using specific financial products—which can include student ID cards that double as debit or prepaid cards and are used to access scholarships and […]
SpendSmart Expands into Gov’t Segment, Eyes More Verticals (Oct. 1, 2013)
San Diego-based prepaid provider The SpendSmart Payments Co. has set its sights on expanding beyond the teen card market, and the company is kicking off that expansion with a government-focused business line. SpendSmart’s new program management platform will focus on prepaid cards for distribution by municipal, county and state governments. The company already has inked […]
MobiKwik Unveils New Mobile Wallet in India (Oct. 1, 2013)
Indian payment startup MobiKwik is launching what the company is calling the country’s first consumer-focused mobile wallet. The MobiKwik wallet is available as an app for iOS and Android devices, and enables users to make online purchases from about 500 merchants. The wallet can be loaded via bank account transfer or credit card and a […]
Amex Debuts New Travel Card in Sri Lanka (Sept. 30, 2013)
American Express is partnering with Sri Lanka’s Sampath Bank to launch a new prepaid travel card aimed at the growing number of Sri Lankans traveling abroad for business, education or leisure. The new Travel Life Prepaid Card, American Express’ first prepaid travel card in Sri Lanka, enables travelers to lock in a particular currency exchange […]
FIS Unveils ‘Active Analytics’ Suite to Refine Product Marketing (Sept. 30, 2013)
Technology companies are continuing to focus on Big Data, specifically analyzing transaction data to help clients improve the profitability of their portfolios. The latest to do so is payments technology provider FIS, which recently unveiled the FIS Active Analytics suite to help clients create segmented marketing campaigns and merchant offers, and price products more effectively. […]
Global Payout Offers Health Discounts to GPR Cardholders (Sept. 30, 2013)
Global Payout Inc., an electronic payment and prepaid solutions provider, is offering a newly enhanced health discount plan for all holders of the company’s MoneyTrac Prepaid Discover card, a GPR card that features a health care and pharmacy discount program. The WellCard Health Discount Plan now offers cardholders pre-negotiated health services with more than 410,000 […]
National Australia Bank App Streamlines P2P Process (Sept. 30, 2013)
National Australia Bank has launched NAB Flik, a P2P payments app that enables customers to send and receive money using a mobile phone number, email or Facebook account.
New Age of Bank-Technology Partnerships (September 2013)
The partnerships banks are forming with financial technology suppliers today look very different than routine client-vendor relationships of past decades, and one of the most interesting aspects of the trend is how both sides are transforming each other.
Blog: Not Your Father’s Distribution Strategy
By Charnsin Tulyasathien, epay
The mobile space has changed—from the early, “Wild West” days where subscribers represented land, and service providers represented pioneers grabbing as much as they could.
Blog: ‘All in’… ‘Double Down’… ‘Jackpot’…
Why prepaid is a winning play for casinos and their customers
By Alpesh Shah, FIS
PayPal, Braintree Reach $800 Million Purchase Agreement (Sept. 26, 2013)
It’s official; eBay Inc. has announced it will acquire e-commerce processor Braintree Payment Solutions in an $800 million deal that will bring Chicago-based Braintree under eBay’s PayPal business unit. The two companies were reported to be in negotiations for a sale earlier this week. With the purchase agreement in place, PayPal gains Braintree’s more than […]
MasterCard, Bank of Egypt Unveil Mobile Payments App (Sept. 26, 2013)
The National Bank of Egypt (NBE) has partnered with MasterCard to launch a new mobile app that enables users to send money, pay bills and soon make purchases at selected merchants in Egypt and electronic retailers across the globe. Dubbed Phone Cash, the service was developed in conjunction with electronic bill payment provider Fawry and […]
