Banking Technology May 2016 issue out now
The latest edition of our flagship magazine – Banking Technology – is out now, packed with news, analysis and insights, case studies, research and expert commentary.
PayTech
Company on the Move: Blackhawk Network, ‘Silicon Valley 150’
Blackhawk Network was ranked 18 of 25 “non-tech” firms in the Bay Area by the Bay Area News Group in its 2016 “Silicon Valley 150” (SV150) list, a four-spot jump from Blackhawk’s ranking last year.
People on the Move: Diane Faro, JetPay
Payments solutions provider JetPay Corp. has appointed Diane Faro to its board of directors.
Agencies on the Move: FinCEN Law Enforcement Awards
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) presented its second annual Law Enforcement Awards in a ceremony at the U.S. Department of the Treasury on May 10.
People on the Move: Gene Fredriksen, Global Forum to Advance Cyber Resilience
Gene Fredriksen, chief information security officer for credit union service organization PSCU, has been selected to help represent the nation’s credit unions in the Global Forum to Advance Cyber Resilience, a public/private initiative bringing together industry, business, government and critical infrastructure leaders to operationalize cyber resilience and cybersecurity.
People on the Move: Carl Gish, Affirm
San Francisco-based Affirm has hired former eBay vice president Carl Gish to be its first chief marketing officer.
People on the Move: Priti Parekh, Clutch Group
Clutch Group, a global legal, risk and compliance analytics and consulting firm, has hired Priti Parekh to serve as the company’s Global COO.
Company on the Move: TOC, FIDO Alliance
Chilean biometrics company TOC has joined the FIDO Alliance, the association aiming to develop global standards for online authentication based on methods that are more secure than simple passwords.
Vendor spotlight: the difference engine
Amidst the mass of humanity at Money 20/20 Europe in Copenhagen, Olivier Sery, general manager Iberia for TAS Group, took a few moments of his time to discuss the company’s software solutions for electronic money and payment systems; and its future plans. “We’ve done the investment, but now is the time to grow our footprint.” […]
CFSI Study Cites Key Indicators of Financial Health
Forget traditional measures like credit scores and net worth. A new report from the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) identifies eight key indicators that it says provide a better understanding of consumers’ financial health that can help financial services providers and nonprofits design products and services to help consumers get ahead.
Apple Pay Expands in Canada
The mobile payment service, once confined to American Express cardholders, now is available to MasterCard, Visa and Interac customers. Apple has signed deals with four banks for Apple Pay.
Can Password Manager Dashlane Race ahead in Wallet Wars?
Dashlane, a password manager with offices in New York City and Paris, announced on May 9 that its digital wallet has surpassed $5 billion in online consumer spending. Could this digital identity company become a leader in the wallet wars?
Groupon Sells M-POS Arm to Upserve
The sale of the unit to the restaurant management technology company comes amid financial woes for Groupon. The deal makes Upserve the industry’s largest cloud-based restaurant management platform, serving more than 6,000 restaurants in every U.S. state, according to the company.
Int’l Regulatory Roundup: Pakistan Issues Prepaid Rule; SEQR Lands E-Money License
The State Bank of Pakistan has issued new prepaid card regulations in a bid to promote prepaid for financial inclusion and enhanced security. Meanwhile, Stockholm-based mobile payment specialist Seamless Distribution AB has been granted an e-money issuing license by Sweden’s financial supervisory authority for its SEQR mobile wallet.
Green Dot’s Strong Q1 Doesn’t Silence Harvest
Green Dot’s positive financial results for the first quarter of the year included growth in the prepaid segment, the launch of the company’s revamped MonkeyPak reload product and several new partnerships. But the company’s strong quarter wasn’t enough to silence its loudest critic, as activist investor Harvest Capital sends yet another letter to shareholders blasting what it calls Green Dot’s “smear campaign” against its board of director nominees.
Alternative Financial Data Would Help Consumers, FactorTrust Says
A new report makes the case for using alternative data to judge whether consumers are good risks for loans.
Regulations Overwhelm Small Business Owners, NRF Says
The National Retail Federation finds that 66 percent of small business owners find regulations difficult to understand. Only 44 percent of respondents said government regulations help businesses.
Blockchain and bitcoin round-up: 9 May 2016
With news on blockchain and bitcoin appearing thick and fast, here’s a round-up of key events to save you time. The Swift Institute has published new research on the practical application of blockchain (or mutual distributed ledger) in securities markets. The paper, “The Impact and Potential of Blockchain on the Securities Transaction Lifecycle”, is based […]
Top fintech stories this week – 6 May 2016
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Atom Bank adds another system to its tech set-up; readies mobile app Bank has just launched, but already has problems. Monitise looks to be profitable in H2 2016 But did it grow too big too fast? EFG and BSI […]
CFPB Releases Proposed Rule on Arbitration Clauses
The CFPB today released a proposed rule that would place restrictions on arbitration clauses in financial services contracts.
Smartest People in Payments: Final Voting Open
We’ve compiled your nominations for the Smartest People in Payments and need your final votes to determine which executives will be featured in our Smartest People in Payments profile series in the Fall issue of Pay Magazine. Write-ins welcome, but your votes must be received by May 20.
Viewpoint: How Will Consumers Pay via the Internet of Things?
As printers and other devices start replacing supplies on their own, and giants such as Amazon make big bets on the evolution of self-sufficient retail, an expert ponders whether the Internet of Things needs its own payments infrastructure.
Viewpoint: Is Faster EMV the Best Solution?
As MasterCard and Visa work to enable quicker EMV transactions, could new technology leapfrog EMV by providing a better experience at the POS?
Viewpoint: As Apple Stumbles, Apple Pay Shines Brightly
Is the sky really falling for Apple, which missed its Q2 earning mark, as some analysts predict? Another view points to Apple Pay and other services from the hardware giant as growth drivers for the future.
Viewpoint: What’s Next for Tokens?
Anti-fraud tokenization technology stands to gain more attention and use in the U.S. as the mobile wallet wars develop and new specifications are issued.
Monitise looks to be profitable in H2 2016, appoints new COO, launches new product
UK-based payments vendor Monitise seeks to turn its fortunes around with a new digital payments offering, new COO and a new, re-focused business structure. Banking Technology investigates. Choppy waters The mobile payments vendor has had a difficult few years, partly attributed to growing too big too fast. By 2014, it had to write off £128.5 […]
Infographics: The world of e-commerce
Did you know that in the Netherlands 54% of all transactions are carried out using the iDEAL online banking system? Or that Germans prefer to pay on account via direct debit and the popularity of e-wallets is growing in Russia? ‘The world of e-commerce’ reveals the three most popular e-commerce payment methods across 22 countries […]
MasterCard Launches Integrated Processing Service in Asia-Pacific
MasterCard has launched its MasterCard Integrated processing service in Asia-Pacific, the company said today.
Aite Report: Contact Center Fraud on the Rise
Organized fraud rings are attacking contact centers more than ever before, according to a new report from Aite Group.
India’s Yes Bank Marks Big Gains with MasterCard Virtual Prepaid Cards
India’s Yes Bank has issued some 1.7 million MasterCard-branded virtual prepaid cards since launching the program in January 2016, making it one of the largest issuers of those cards in the world, the financial institution says.
Cybercriminals Infiltrate ADP Tax Portal, Make Off with W-2 Data
Fraudsters obtained tax and salary data on employees of more than a dozen corporate clients of payroll services provider ADP—information that could be used to file fraudulent tax returns.
Rep. Salmon’s Bill Latest to Push ID Requirements for Tax Refund Prepaid Cards
A U.S. Congressman from Arizona is the latest lawmaker to set his sights on prepaid cards in a bid to combat the growth of tax refund fraud. Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.) recently introduced a bill that would ban tax refunds from being loaded onto a prepaid card unless the identity of the accountholder has been “verified by an office or employee of the Department of the Treasury.”
Britannia Rising: Fintech Startups Still Like the U.S. Best, but the U.K. Makes Gains
As two British regional banks launch a mobile-only offering, a new white paper from the Emerging Payments Association and The Bancorp points to why the U.K. is becoming more attractive for new fintech companies.
Will Wirecard Be a ‘boon.’ for Apple Pay in U.K.?
Wirecard’s boon. mobile payments service has launched for Apple Pay in the U.K., opening the mobile payments service to consumers, regardless of bank affiliation. By offering a digital prepaid MasterCard, boon gives Apple Pay a way to reach customers without having to go through a traditional bank.
Federal Reserve Proposes Bank Executive Compensation Rule
The Federal Reserve Board seeks input on a proposed rule that could limit incentive-based executive compensation based on risk-taking behavior by banks. The move stems from the Dodd-Frank Act and comments are due July 22.
Australian Prepaid Firm to Buy U.S.-Based Store Financial
The acquisition of the card manager and processor comes after Emerchants bought Store Financial Services UK. 2016 Pay Awards winner Emerchants reportedly is raising $35 million for the new deal.
IRS Security Summit Makes Progress; Calls for New Members
The fight against tax refund fraud was part of the discussion at the recently concluded NBPCA Power of Prepaid conference, where the IRS commissioner talked about the public-private partnership designed to boost security.
FTC Investigating Venmo for ‘Deceptive or Unfair Practices’
The Federal Trade Commission is investigating Venmo, the popular P2P payment app owned by PayPal Inc. In its quarterly earnings report, PayPal said it received a Civil Investigative Demand from the FTC on March 28, as part of an investigation into whether PayPal through its Venmo service is “engaged in deceptive or unfair practices,” according to the filing.
Digital money transfer firm Remitly raises $38.5m
The money will go toward new hires and global expansion, with Remitly now offering its services in Canada.
UniCredit to unify global transaction business on one platform
Italian banking heavyweight, UniCredit, is working on standardising its global transaction business (GTB) on one platform, underpinned by D+H’s Global PayPlus (GPP) system. GPP is supplied by D+H’s Global Transaction Banking Solution (GTBS) unit, formerly known as Fundtech. UniCredit’s GTB business covers 17 countries – the bank has accrued it via an aggressive M&A strategy […]
