By David Parker, Polymath Consulting Are we reaching market saturation for consumer-loaded prepaid programs in the U.K.? Our latest industry research suggests the answer may be “yes.” Polymath has published The Prepaid Report since 2007, tracking the number and types of consumer-loaded prepaid cards programs in the U.K. Our latest report makes interesting reading because […]
By Joseph DeSetto, Emerging Payments Blogger It wasn’t long ago that mobile payments apps for the current generation of smartphones were difficult and time consuming for even experienced programmers to create. Much like the early days of e-commerce, standard ways of protecting user data, providing a consistent interface and user experience that would be trusted, […]
By Joseph DeSetto, Emerging Payments Blogger A continuous stream of posts with witty comments or pop culture references is nothing new online after years of Facebook, Twitter and various other social services. But when the same type of feed appears in social commerce app Venmo—available online and on a mobile device near you—the effect is […]
By Hunny Huria, Visa At times I’m amazed how social media has changed our lives and continues to have potential to impact it more. There are innumerable people who start the day by checking their Facebook accounts. As of December 2012, Facebook had more than half a billion daily active users, and 9 million apps […]
By Nick Holland, Javelin Strategy & Research I bought a new laptop the other day. I won’t bore you with the details of its specifications, but suffice to say, as a professional nerd, I get pretty excited about these things. In fact, I got so excited that I actually bought it as an impulse purchase […]
NYSE Technologies has appointed Varghese Thomas as senior vice president and global head of Infrastructure Solutions.
Prepaid: The Global Phenomenon; MCX Perspective on Mobile Payments; Special Section: Countdown to U.S. EMV; 2013 Paybefore Awards: Top 30 Winners, 12+ Countries; The NFC Debate: Yes, No or Maybe
Temenos execs were surprised when a group of attractive young women started approaching delegates outside its annual user conference in Abu Dhabi this week. The delegates – existing and potential bank customers – were being tempted by the offer of cocktails in the adjacent hotel, and the prospect of helicopter rides.
A new payments service aims to change the way banks, merchants and payments providers interact with each other by using cloud technology.
Financial technology company SunGard has released a new tool designed to help banks and other financial institutions to streamline their compliance with regulation, reduce their costs and control risk.
Google is launching a trio of new services that leverage the tech giant’s ubiquitous online presence to spur usage of its mobile wallet. Announced at Google’s I/O Conference in San Francisco this week, the new initiatives include a one-click payments function for Google Wallet, an instant buy feature for Android and the ability to send […]
May 16, 2013 Green Dot Corp.’s GoBank mobile banking concept has proved successful with its first batch of users during a beta test launched in January and the company plans to roll out nationally by July 4, with a marketing push targeting younger consumers, including promotions at Rite Aid and Kmart, the company said this […]
May 16, 2013 Marqeta today announced plans for a major expansion with the $14 million raised in its latest funding round. The company also went public with the news that its stored value payments platform is powering the Facebook Card launched earlier this year. The Emeryville, Calif.-based startup last year rolled out its stored value […]
Retail banking is changing through many external forces. The on-going global financial crisis has impacted the regulation surrounding the banking industry, but there are other factors changing the environment banks find themselves operating in.
Mobile banking can be more secure than online banking – but the real challenge is to move from closed circuit payments to a world in which customers of any bank can use any mobile app to send funds to any recipient, according to Hannes van Rensberg, founder and chief executive at mobile payments specialist Fundamo.
Social investment network eToro is to open up shop in the UK, having won approval from new regulator the FCA this month. Founded in 2007, eToro is a social trading network that aims to revolutionise the way retail investors and high net-worth individuals connect with the market.
It’s often been said that the financial services industry is evolutionary rather than revolutionary, and in some instances this may have proved to be a safe bet. The industry is littered with systems that have grown out of cottage industry and ‘fitting square pegs into round hole, writes Paul Taylor, director global matching, Swift. However, we […]
Milan-based financial technology firm SIA is expanding its reach to New York later this year in a move that caps the latest-phase of a three-year recovery plan for the firm. The extension of SIA’s Financial Ring to New York follows that activation of a hub in Frankfurt is the third cornerstone, after Milan and London, […]
Amazon hopes to spark interest among tablet customers in using its apps to purchase games and other items by giving certain users $5 in free digital goods.
Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has teamed up with telecom provider Bell Canada to announce a new mobile payment system that will enable RBC customers to make purchases online and in stores using NFC-compatible smartphones on Bell’s mobile network.
A new program from MasterCard and Nigeria’s National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) will roll out 13 million new ID cards with prepaid payment functionality, in what the payment network calls the largest program of its kind in Africa.
May 13, 2013 As fees on GPR prepaid cards go down, prepaid purchasing volume is expected to grow by nearly $45 billion over the next five years, from $150 billion this year, according to a new report by Javelin Strategy & Research. The study found that more than 13 percent of adults in the U.S. […]
The funds industry is going through a time of great change, with a combination of regulation, cost pressure, consolidation and globalisation forcing many participants to take a close look at their business and operating models and consider what their future role in the ecosystem should be. For some, this means outsourcing activities, creating opportunities for […]
Harrogate, where the Building Societies Association holds its annual conference, is located at the end of a branch railway line from York. The route takes in the town of Knaresborough, crossing a picturesque gorge with a river at the bottom and the remains of a medieval castle up on the hill. Arriving at the BSA conference venue the taxi driver observed, with a distinct sense of regret, that “there aren’t as many building societies around as there used to be.” That’s true
Skrill Group, one of Europe’s largest payment providers, has appointed Roland Schaar senior vice president of technology. He has more than 17 years of experience in the IT industry and 13 years in the financial payments sector. He recently joined the company following Skrill’s acquisition of paysafecard, the Austrian prepaid payments business, where he was, […]
With the newly formed LEI Foundation moving forward with establishing processes for issuing and managing the Legal Entity Identifier through its Regulatory Oversight Committee and the registration of seven pre-Local Operating Units, it is worth taking a step back to understand exactly why the industry is pushing forward with the LEI and what it could achieve.
Momentum continues to build for U.S. merchant consortium MCX, which today announced another batch of diverse merchants joining its mobile commerce effort. Southwest Airlines and Chili’s Grill & Bar are the latest to join MCX, along with other recently added companies, including DICK’S Sporting Goods, Hobby Lobby Stores Inc., Meijer and convenience store chains QuikTrip […]
Payment processor i2c Inc. has processed more than $1 billion in payments on cards issued by partner banks in Latin America and the Caribbean over the past year, the company said this week. “We started focusing on [the region] just over two years ago and our $1 billion milestone is evidence of the momentum our […]
Google Inc.’s vice president of payments and wallet has left the company to pursue outside interests, Google confirms. Osama Bedier, who joined Google in 2011 after eight years at PayPal, played a key role in Google Wallet’s recent milestones as well as announcing Google’s purchase of TxVia about a year ago. “We can confirm that Osama […]
As municipalities continue to explore and, in at least one case, implement programs involving government-issued identification that doubles as a prepaid card, Consumers Union this week urged city leaders to be cautious of prepaid cards that might come with “high fees and weak consumer protections.” In letters sent to the National League of Cities, an advocacy group […]
Over the past two years, the mobile retail payments landscape has been marked by collaboration across diverse industry players, increased channel and technological convergence, market entry by nonbank entities, and technological innovation and experimentation. Those were among the findings of a new white paper issued by the Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta and Boston, which […]
By Nick Holland, Javelin Strategy & Research I bought a new laptop the other day. I won’t bore you with the details of its specifications, but suffice to say, as a professional nerd, I get pretty excited about these things. In fact, I got so excited that I actually bought it as an impulse purchase […]
Bank has named FIS as its technology partner to provide a technology platform in a fully-hosted outsourcing deal that will run for the next four years.
In the debate about the future of UK retail banking, the role of the building society is often overlooked, but technological change is playing to their strengths.
