PayPal and Shell Enable Payment at the Pump Via Smartphone (Feb. 10, 2015)
PayPal and Shell are partnering to enable motorists in the U.K. to pay for gasoline at the pump via a smartphone app.
PayTech
Amazon Adds Gift Cards to E-Commerce Portal (Feb. 10, 2015)
Amazon India’s Junglee e-commerce portal is now selling gift cards, the retail giant’s latest move in India, a market the company has described as a focal point for growth.
U.K. Contactless Payments Triple; Amex Rolls out Contactless EMV Cards in U.S. (Feb. 9, 2015)
Contactless payments surged in popularity in the U.K. within the past year, with contactless card spending volume tripling to £2.32 billion (US$3.53 billion) from £653.4 million in 2013, while total contactless transactions rose more than 200 percent to 319.2 million in 2014 from 100.4 million a year earlier, the UK Cards Association announced last week.
Fed Exec Floats Idea for Government-Backed Virtual Currency (Feb. 9, 2015)
As bitcoin and other virtual currencies remain subject to heavy scrutiny—and proposed regulation—by various government agencies, a senior Federal Reserve researcher is raising the possibility of the government creating a virtual currency of its own.
House Passes Bipartisan Bill Curbing CFPB Budget; Veto Expected
he House of Representatives on Feb. 4 passed bipartisan legislation sponsored by Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) that she says would require greater transparency in government and would cap the CFPB budget for FY2016 at $550 million, $36 million below its expected funding.
Gov. Christie Signs ZIP Code Repeal Bill (Feb. 6, 2015)
N.J. Governor Chris Christie (R) signed into law a bill that eliminates the collection of consumer ZIP code information for gift cards purchased at the POS, putting an end to a protracted legal battle over unclaimed property rules in the state.
Capgemini and First Data forge payments development alliance
Technology consultancy Capgemini has formed a global alliance with First Data to develop payment software based on First Data’s VisionPlus and AccessPlus solutions. The pair say that they expect to begin delivering new solutions in the second quarter of this year.
Blog: Tackling Fraud with Data
Merchants appear to be more apt and capable of leveraging their own data today than the preceding several years. And, they are finding that using this data is more effective in combating fraud than traditional validation services.
Analyst: Apple Pay’s Success Likely to Spark M-Payments with Android, HCE (Feb. 4, 2015)
Apple Pay is a huge catalyst, not only for Apple but also for Android and host card emulation (HCE), First Annapolis’ Lee Manfred said during a keynote at the Smart Card Alliance Payments Summit. He urged issuers and merchants to view Apple Pay as a tool to build their own customized mobile strategies.
MasterCard Opens India Tech Hub, Largest outside U.S. (Feb. 4, 2015)
MasterCard continued its expansion in India today, with the official opening of the payment network’s new Technology Hub in the city of Pune.
U.S. EMV Card Shipments up 500% over Last Year, Association Reports (Feb. 4, 2015)
The U.S. migration to EMV is well underway in advance of the October 2015 EMV network liability shift, with EMV card manufacturers shipping 185 million EMV cards last year, up more than 500 percent from 30 million in 2013, the Europe-based cross-industry Smart Payment Association announced today.
Green Dot Gets Serious about Credit (Feb. 4, 2015)
Green Dot is considering expanding the financial services it provides to include what Chairman and CEO Steve Streit describes as “modern credit,” with an eye toward using transactional data for underwriting.
Value of cryptocurrency transactions ‘to half this year’
The value of all cryptocurrency transactions will more than half this year, falling from $71 billion in 2014 to just over $30 billion. The decline was attributable to the combined impact of exchange collapses, Bitcoin theft and regulatory concerns.
Visa Exec: EMV Migration on ‘Critical Path’ (Feb. 3, 2015)
The U.S. payments card industry is on a “critical path” to EMV card migration over the next eight months but several challenges remain, Kimberly Lawrence, Visa’s senior vice president, global corporate initiatives, said today during the kickoff presentation at the Smart Card Alliance’s Payments Summit in Salt Lake City.
Prepaid Loads Nearly Double with Ingo’s MDC (Feb. 3, 2015)
A new report from Ingo Money offers evidence to support what many industry observers have long maintained: Offering cardholders robust reload capability is key to driving loads and retention.
NYAG Widens Access to Bank Accounts, But Still Plenty of Room for Prepaid (Feb. 3, 2015)
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman wants to increase access to traditional banking services by getting banks to change their account-opening criteria. But broader access to checking and savings accounts doesn’t mean consumers won’t continue to seek out alternatives, including prepaid cards, which may have more features and fewer fees, according to industry observers.
YellowPepper Raises $19 Million for Mobile Wallet in Latin America (Feb. 3, 2015)
Miami-based YellowPepper has closed a $19 million round of Series C funding to expand its mobile wallet in Latin America, where mobile money services are growing by 53 percent.
Green Dot: GoBank Deposits, Spending Surged in Q4 (Feb. 2, 2015)
Bolstered by a nationwide rollout in U.S. Walmart stores, Green Dot Corp.’s GoBank mobile bank account showed strong gains during Q4 2014, with monthly deposits up 600 percent and total debit card spend growing nearly tenfold, according to Green Dot’s latest earnings report.
Google Extends P2P to U.K. via Google Wallet (Feb. 2, 2015)
Google this month extended its Gmail-based money transfer feature to the U.K., marking the search giant’s first P2P foray outside the U.S. If successful, the move could help Google expand awareness of Google Wallet internationally before Apple Pay makes its expected move into the U.K. and other global markets, observers say. Apple Inc. CEO Tim […]
People on the Move: Brad Fauss, Brian Tate, NBPCA
The NBPCA has hired Brad Fauss as its executive vice president and general counsel and promoted Brian Tate to vice president, government relations.
CFPB Considers Comment Period Extension for Prepaid, but More Time Seems Unlikely
In a Jan. 27 letter to U.S. Rep. Sean P. Duffy (R-Wis.) and several other members of Congress, CFPB Director Richard Cordray said the agency would give the lawmakers’ request for a 60-day extension to the comment period for its prepaid NPRM “serious consideration.” But the rest of the letter suggests that the agency feels 130 days since the proposal went up on its Website will be adequate for stakeholders to comment.
FDIC Backs off Operation Choke Point (Jan. 29, 2015)
Critics of the DOJ’s controversial Operation Choke Point, which encourages financial institutions to scrutinize clients that operate certain types of businesses, such as payday lenders and firearms sales, may welcome the latest news from the FDIC.
Apple: iPhone Quarterly Sales Results Shatter Expectations (Jan. 29, 2015)
The blazing sales rate of Apple Inc.’s new iPhones during the final quarter of 2014 shattered the company’s own expectations, and Apple Pay’s rollout was “extremely positive,” helping drive historic revenues, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook told analysts this week.
Chinese E-Commerce Acquirer to Offer MasterPass (Jan. 29, 2015)
China-based e-commerce retailers have a new way to accept online payments.
Blog: Hot Topics at ‘The Big Show’ 2015
Coming off a strong holiday season, retailers have their sights set on data security and the shopping experience. First Data’s Jerry McNerney talks about how the payments industry can help.
Blog: Building the Next Generation of Payroll Cards
In 2014, payroll cards took a beating in the general press, fueling the fire in some state legislatures to impose onerous restrictions and potentially category-killer requirements. Now, CFSI, working in consultation with industry participants and consumer advocates, has created best practices for what it calls “high-quality payroll card products” that promote choice, safety, affordability, transparency and convenience (and discourage outliers).
People on the Move: Ron Hynes, Mozido
Mozido, a cloud platform mobile payments and retail engagement solutions provider, this week announced it has named Ron Hynes, as president global markets.
Company on the Move: PULSE, New Logo and Acceptance Mark
Debit/ATM network PULSE has unveiled a new corporate logo and acceptance mark.
People on the Move: Leandra English, Agnes Bundy Scanlan, Jeffrey Sumberg, CFPB
The CFPB has announced three new additions to its senior leadership team.
People on the Move: Perry Traquina and Frank Yeary, eBay Inc. Board
eBay Inc. has announced the appointments of Perry Traquina and Frank Yeary to its board of directors.
People on the Move: U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry, House Financial Services Committee
U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) has been named by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) to serve as the vice chairman of the full committee for the newly seated 114th Congress.
People on the Move: Marc Winitz, i2c Inc.
Marc Winitz has joined payment card processor i2c Inc. as the company’s chief marketing officer.
Companies on the Move: Mercury Payment Systems, International Service Excellence Award, Service All-Star Award
Mercury Payment Systems, a Vantiv company that provides payments technology and services for small and midsize businesses, has received two awards for its customer service.
People on the Move: Jan Marc Külper, paysafecard
paysafecard, a global provider of prepaid online payment methods and member of the international Skrill Group, has hired Jan Marc Külper as the company’s vice president of business development.
People on the Move: Blair Jeffery, PreCash Inc.
Payments services and processing provider PreCash Inc. has promoted Blair Jeffrey to chief operating officer.
People on the Move: Sens. Crapo, Scott, Toomey, Heller, Kirk, Senate Banking Committee
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) has announced the incoming chairs of the Senate Banking Committee’s subcommittees.
People on the Move: John Walsh, SightSpan Inc.
John Walsh, CEO of risk management and AML advisory firm SightSpan Inc. and Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the District Attorney of New York County, will present on topics related to financial crime risk management, including corporate security and counter-terrorist financing, at this year’s ACFCS Conference in New York City in April 2015.
People on the Move: D. Reed Freeman Jr., WilmerHale
D. Reed Freeman Jr. has joined law firm WilmerHale as a partner and co-chair of the firm’s cybersecurity, privacy and communications practice.
People on the Move: Kim Martin, Vantiv Inc.
Vantiv Inc., a provider of payment processing services and related technology solutions for merchants and financial institutions, has announced that Kim Martin will join the company as chief human resources officer.
FDIC Advises Banks to Contact Examiners on Brokered Deposits
Prepaid issuers aren’t the only ones confused by the potential implications of the FDIC’s recent FAQs on brokered deposits. The agency offered some clarifications to ABA staff but recommends issuers reach out to their examiners with specific questions.
