Worldwide


paysafecard Launches Online Shopping Account (Feb. 26, 2013)

Feb. 26, 2013 European e-voucher provider paysafecard group has launched a new service it says will simplify the process of Internet shopping for its customers. The Paybefore Award-winning firm’s new system—dubbed “my paysafecard”—enables customers to combine all of their paysafecard e-vouchers into a single account. Instead of having to enter separate 16-digit PINs for each […]

GOP Leaders Talking Tough on Interchange Fee Cap (Feb. 26, 2013)

Feb. 26. 2013 Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) today told attendees at a Credit Union National Association Government Affairs Conference in Washington, D.C., that federal lawmakers may revisit the debit interchange fee cap created by the Durbin Amendment this year, according to CUNA’s News Now. The publication also reports the Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) said earlier […]

Prepaid Customer Service Takes Center Stage at Philly Fed Workshop (Feb. 26, 2013)

Feb. 26, 2013 The Payment Cards Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia hosted a workshop last week focused on customer service in the prepaid card industry. Susan Herbst-Murphy, a senior industry specialist at the PCC, says the center was eager to learn more about customer service issues in light of the Treasury’s mandate […]

Omani Bank Stung by Travel Card Fraud (Feb. 26, 2013)

Feb. 26, 2013 Oman’s largest bank said a dozen of its prepaid travel cards were compromised outside of the country. Bank Muscat will take an impairment charge of up to 15 million rials (US$39 million) as a result of the unspecified fraud—a figure representing more than 10 percent of the bank’s latest annual earnings.   […]

Heightened banking cyber threats require clear focus

As the US Federal Reserve joins a growing list of financial institutions targeted by cyber criminals, reports of an organised campaign to recruit hackers for a large-scale malware attack, dubbed Project Blitzkrieg, has further highlighted the challenge facing the banking sector.

SEPA Uncertainty

Big banks and their large corporate clients are in the final stages of preparation for the SEPA end date of February next year, but what about the smaller clients in the non-euro countries?

Jefferies adopts IPC extranet service

US investment bank Jefferies is to use a financial extranet and data service from IPC Systems, a New Jersey-based technology specialist.

Wagner aims at m-commerce gap

Dan Wagner is pretty sure that he has an idea how the use of mobile devices will play out in the commercial world and how the relationships between banks, merchant acquirers, merchants and customers will change.

Saxo Bank revamps mobile trading app

Saxo Bank has added new features to its trading app SaxoTrader, which works on iPhone and iPad and is designed to make trading more mobile.

Qatar Exchange introduces sponsored access

The Qatar Exchange has introduced sponsored access and market making for the first time, in a move intended to boost liquidity and make it easier for a wider pool of investors to access the market.

Visa Inks Deals with Samsung, Roam for ‘Ready Partner’ Program (Feb. 25, 2013)

Feb. 25, 2013 Aiming to speed up development of mobile payment technologies, Visa Inc. on the eve of this week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona announced the Visa Ready Partner Program, a framework it hopes will make it easier for mobile device manufacturers, mobile network operators and various of their technology partners around the world […]

MasterCard Unveils MasterPass for ‘Simple’ Shopping Experience (Feb. 25, 2013)

Feb. 25, 2013 MasterCard Inc. today unveiled MasterPass, a cloud-based service that builds on its PayPass Wallet Services by eliminating the need for consumers to enter card or shipping details with each purchase and adding new tools to enhance online, mobile and in-store shopping. MasterPass will roll out through banks in Canada and Australia beginning […]

PayPal to Enter Crowded European Mobile Card Reader Market (Feb. 25, 2013)

Feb. 25, 2013 PayPal continues its diversification into brick-and-mortar payments with the announcement that it will expand its PayPal Here mobile card reader to Europe, beginning in the U.K. this summer. The European iteration of PayPal Here will differ from the version launched in the U.S. nearly a year ago in some key ways, due […]

ATM Survey Suggests Prepaid Card Opportunity for FIs (Feb. 25, 2013)

Feb. 25, 2013 Recent research into the prepaid card-buying habits of ATM users indicates an opportunity for credit unions and banks to capture a portion of the prepaid card market by leveraging the convenience of ATMs. More than 85 percent of credit union members use ATMs and 70 percent of those ATM-using members also buy […]

China UnionPay Continues NFC Push with Gemalto Pact (Feb. 25, 2013)

Feb. 25, 2013 Shanghai-based payment card network China UnionPay (CUP) continues its efforts to develop NFC payments, signing an agreement with Dutch digital payment security provider Gemalto to build “a secure mobile NFC ecosystem.” The partnership will cover deployment issues including trusted service manager interoperability, along with technology standards and specifications, the firms said. China […]

CLS hires Kos to head regulatory affairs

Foreign exchange utility CLS Group has appointed Dino Kos as head of global regulatory affairs. In his new role, he will report to David Puth, chief executive at CLS from his base in New York.

ESMA guidelines could reshape European market making

New guidelines published earlier this month by European regulator ESMA could have a major impact on market making across Europe, according to Matthew Coupe, director of regulation and market structure at NICE Actimize.

PayPal rolls out Chip & PIN reader in Europe

Payment provider PayPal has launched a card reader device that handles Chip & PIN and PayPal payments in Europe. The device will be available to select UK businesses over the coming months before becoming generally available this summer.

The changing face of payments

The Payments Council’s latest report, The Way We Pay, shows rapid changes in use of payment methods over the past decade – but cash is still in the mix.

EU/US face-off over FISA on the cards

It has been clear for some time now that some of the regulations coming into force around the globe contain contradictions and inconsistencies. A large part of the work done by JWG, Banking Technology‘s  partner for our regular RegTech coverage, has been in identifying these, working out their impact on systems and processes and what issues […]

iZettle and Santander “democratise” cheap card payments

Spanish bank Banco Santander has signed a deal with iZettle, a fledgling Swedish payments specialist that focuses on ‘social’ payments. The two companies plan to distribute mini chip-card readers to customers, so that they can accept card payments with smartphones and tablets.

European exchanges unveil MSCI derivatives

European exchanges Eurex and NYSE Liffe are soon to list a host of new derivatives, based on MSCI indices. From March, market participants will be able to trade futures and options based on the MSCI World, MSCI Europe, MSCI All Countries Asia Pacific ex-Japan and futures on the MSCI Frontier Markets.

Viewpoint: A Tale of Two Gen Ys that Desire Prepaid Cards (February 2013)(2)

February 2013   By Aleia Van Dyke, Javelin Strategy & Research The slow economic recovery from the Great Recession has forced young Americans to confront a dismal financial reality marked by unprecedented student loan debt and soaring unemployment. But the financial industry cannot afford to ignore Gen Y, the generation of consumers born from 1979 […]

Viewpoint: A Tale of Two Gen Ys that Desire Prepaid Cards (February 2013)

By Aleia Van Dyke, Javelin Strategy & Research The slow economic recovery from the Great Recession has forced young Americans to confront a dismal financial reality marked by unprecedented student loan debt and soaring unemployment. But the financial industry cannot afford to ignore Gen Y, the generation of consumers born from 1979 to 1999. By […]

Experian sets out anti-fraud tools

Information company Experian has improved its Hunter anti-fraud software to help banks and other financial services firms keep track of fraud.

Infosys claims improved “time to insight” with Big Data platform

Infosys has formally announced its BigDataEdge platform, designed to allow banks to bring together Big Data analytics onto one platform. “There have been several point solutions, but it is important to have a platform,” said Vishnu Bhat, vice president and global head for cloud at Infosys. Customers that have already deployed the platform – some […]

Inside Eurograbber: the £30m mobile banking heist

In the history of bank robberies, the £30 million stolen by the Eurograbber attack in 2012 ranks as one of the all-time biggest, globally. And when you consider that this sum was stolen from more than 30,000 accounts across 30 banks in four European countries, using malware that affected both PCs and bank customers’ mobile […]

In Wake of NetSpend Buy, TSYS Calls Prepaid ‘Innovative Cornerstone’ for Emerging Payments (Feb. 20, 2013)

Feb. 20, 2013 In a deal that could alter the competitive landscape of the prepaid industry, payments processor TSYS yesterday announced plans to acquire GPR and payroll card provider NetSpend Corp. for $1.4 billion in cash. The purchase—characterized by TSYS as a “transformational event”—enhances the Columbus, Ga.-based firm’s role in the prepaid processing arena and […]

iZettle Launches Chip-and-PIN Mobile Card Reader, Resolving Visa Europe Impasse (Feb. 20, 2013)

Feb. 20, 2013 Sweden-based mobile payments player iZettle this week announced the launch of a new smartphone-based card reader for small-business merchants that uses chip-and-PIN technology and Bluetooth to accept all major card brands, resolving iZettle’s six-month impasse with Visa Europe over a security issue. iZettle in 2011 began offering its card reader to merchants […]

Australia Supermarket Chain Launches NFC Pilot (Feb. 20, 2013)

Feb. 20, 2013 Australian supermarket giant Wesfarmers Ltd.’s Coles is conducting a small pilot of a MasterCard mobile wallet that enables customers to pay using NFC-equipped phones through an app that automatically links to the store’s loyalty program. The three-month pilot, conducted in partnership with GE Capital Australia, Vodafone and Gemalto, involves 60 Coles supermarket […]

Gifting App Developer Launches Gift Card Scanning Feature (Feb. 20, 2013)

Feb. 20, 2013 As more companies work to combine the power of social media with the popularity of gift cards, Melville, N.Y.-based GroupGifting.com has added a card scanning feature to its eGifter Web and mobile social gifting app. The scanning feature enables consumers to add plastic gift cards to their digital wallets in the eGifter app […]

Breaking News: TSYS to Acquire NetSpend in $1.4 Billion Deal

Feb. 19, 2013 Payments processor TSYS has agreed to purchase GPR card provider NetSpend for $1.4 billion in cash. The deal, which TSYS chairman and CEO Philip W. Tomlinson calls “a transformational event for TSYS and consumers,” brings 2.4 million prepaid card accounts and 500 retail distributors under the TSYS umbrella. TSYS is conducting a conference call […]

People on the Move: Steering Committee, Smart Card Alliance Payments Council (February 2013)

February 2013 Smart Card Alliance Payments Council has announced its committee members for 2013-2014. The council is managed by a steering committee composed of financial payments industry and smart chip technology vendors. Steering committee officers include: Jack Jania, Gemalto, and Oliver Manahan, MasterCard, co-chairs; Troy Bernard, Discover Financial Services, vice chair; and Deborah Baxley, Capgemini, secretary. […]

People on the Move: Chris Cresswell, Oliver Smith, Renata Burdon, Alexis Wilson and Andy Ireland, Contis Group (February 2013)

February 2013 Contis Group, a U.K.-based provider of online banking and prepaid card technologies and services, has enhanced its domestic and international capabilities with the addition of five hires. Chris Cresswell joins Contis as sales and business development director. Formerly with LaSer UK, Cresswell has experience in the cards and loyalty sector and will be […]