People on the Move: Patrick Murck, The Bitcoin Foundation
The Bitcoin Foundation, a nonprofit institution founded to promote bitcoin use, has appointed Patrick Murck executive director.
PayTech
People on the Move: Neil Steinhardt, ClassWallet
ClassWallet has appointed Neil Steinhardt senior vice president.
People on the Move: Gary Norcross and Frank Martire, FIS
Payment technology supplier FIS has appointed Gary Norcross president and CEO, effective Jan. 1, 2015. Frank Martire, who has served as the company’s CEO for five years, will assume the role of executive chairman.
People on the Move: Bonnie Boezeman, IP Payments Board of Directors
IP Payments Pty. Ltd. has appointed Bonnie Boezeman chairperson of its board of directors.
People on the Move: Terresa Patton, IQR Consulting
IQR Consulting has hired Terresa Patton as business development director to support the company’s analytics division.
Company on the Move: Meta Financial Group Inc., Bank Director Magazine Ranking
Meta Financial Group Inc., has been recognized in Bank Director Magazine’s 2014 Bank Performance Scorecard as earning the highest ranking among peers in South Dakota with an asset range of $1 billion to $5 billion.
People on the Move: Jeff Weikert and Fran Duggan, Payveris
Payveris, an online and mobile payments company, has appointed Jeff Weikert president. Fran Duggan the founder and president of Payveris is moving to the newly created role of chief operating officer.
People on the Move: Beverly Cole, Seamless
Stockholm-based Seamless, developer of the mobile payment solution SEQR, has hired Beverly Cole as its U.S head of sales
The Bancorp Opens Office to Industry Reps Attending CFPB Field Hearing (Nov. 11, 2014)
The Bancorp is inviting all industry representatives traveling to the CFPB field hearing on Thursday to use its complimentary workspace, which it created to make the trip more convenient and collaborative.
Skrill, Microsoft Expand Access to E-Commerce in Africa (Nov. 11, 2014)
Skrill, provider of online payment technologies to merchants and consumers, and Microsoft4Afrika, an initiative launched last year to help accelerate Africa’s economic development and to improve its global competitiveness, together are launching an e-commerce portal enabling Africans to use their mobile wallets to buy from global Internet brands, access free educational content and use Microsoft software.
Treasury, FinCEN Seek Balance between Doing Business and Compliance (Nov. 11, 2014)
The U.S. Treasury and FinCen are addressing the importance of money services businesses (MSBs) to the financial system in the wake of reports that banks are refusing to do business with categories of companies, such as remittance companies and check cashers, because of the perceived risk of doing business with them following government agencies’ aggressive efforts in fighting money laundering.
CARTES Execs: Forecast Bright for NFC, Wearables; Consumer ‘Trust Is a Must’
Payments industry executives at the CARTES Secure Connexions conference in Paris last week were bullish about NFC’s future in mobile payments, but most agreed banks and merchants still face plenty of challenges in crafting their individual mobile strategies.
Amex, Brooklyn Nets Testing M-Payments at Basketball Games (Nov. 10, 2014)
Brooklyn Nets basketball fans can use their smartphones to purchase refreshments at the Barclays Center as part of a pilot program for the Brooklyn eWallet by American Express, the Barclays Center and the Nets.
Fiserv Unveils the NOW Network (Nov. 10, 2014)
As payment options multiply, Fiserv Inc. wants financial institutions to be able to serve their customers no matter how or when they want to pay.
Payment Execs: Consumers Aren’t Compelled Yet to Change How They Pay (Nov. 10, 2014)
One of the biggest obstacles to consumer adoption of NFC- and EMV-enabled mobile payments over the next 12 months is the lack of a compelling enough reason for consumers to change how they pay, according to a recent survey of payment executives.
M&A News: Heartland Acquires XPIENT Solutions; JetPay Buys ACI Merchant Systems (Nov. 10, 2014)
In the past few days, payments processor Heartland Payment Systems has acquired XPIENT Solutions, a food-service industry POS software provider; and JetPay Corp., a provider of prepaid card services, debit and credit card processing and payroll services, acquired ACI Merchant Systems LLC, a debit and credit card processing company.
CFPB Sets Location for Prepaid Hearing Thursday and Paybefore will Be There (Nov. 10, 2014)
The time, date and location have been set for the CFPB’s field hearing on prepaid cards this week. The hearing is scheduled for 11 a.m. EST, Thursday, in the conference center at Delaware Technical Community College, 333 N. Shipley Street, Wilmington, Del. Paybefore CEO Marilyn Bochicchio will be in attendance to report on the hearing.
Money 20/20: Mobile Solutions Help SMBs Harness Big Data (Nov. 6, 2014)
The current boom in mobile commerce technologies is giving small and medium businesses an array of powerful new tools with which to manage payments—and beyond.
CARTES Paris Showcases Payments Industry’s Diversification (Nov. 6, 2014)
Attendees at the 29th gathering of CARTES concluding today in Paris noticed the event’s growing emphasis on mobile payments, as well as another striking feature of the show—drawing 20,000 attendees from 140 countries—is the diversity of products and business models mobile payments support.
Merchant Associations Urge Passage of Breach Notification Legislation (Nov. 6, 2014)
A group of state and national merchant associations, 44 in all, sent a letter to congressional leaders today calling for the establishment of a single, national standard for notifying American consumers when businesses suffer a breach of security involving financial data or other sensitive personal information.
MasterCard Exec at CARTES: EMV Migration + NFC Handsets = Innovation Explosion (Nov. 5, 2014)
The U.S. EMV migration couldn’t come at a better time, according to executives discussing chip cards on a panel at CARTES in Paris.
First Data Adds to Clover Family with Mobile POS Device (Nov. 5, 2014)
First Data Corp. is testing Clover Mobile, a hand-held mobile POS device, enabling small to midsize businesses to provide quicker service and sales, as well as improved customer engagement, by taking the POS terminal off the counter and bringing it to the consumer.
Money20/20: Biometrics Gets Apple Pay Boost; Is Cloud Storage Next? (Nov. 5, 2014)
Apple Pay’s potential to change the game for NFC payments has been one of the dominant themes at the Money20/20 conference in Las Vegas this week. But the service—which uses the iPhone’s TouchID fingerprint sensor to validate users—also represents a major milestone for biometric authentication.
Money 20/20: Visa’s McInerney on Personalizing the Buying Experience with Mobile (Nov. 4, 2014)
When one thinks of cutting-edge mobile commerce, a butcher shop in the 1980s isn’t likely the first image that comes to mind. But that was the connection made by Visa Inc. President Ryan McInerney, to illustrate what he views as one of the key ways in which mobile has the power to transform commerce—namely, by bringing personalization back to the shopping experience.
Apple Pay a Hot Topic at CARTES (Nov. 4, 2014)
Apple Pay’s rollout was a top theme for payments executives speaking today during the kickoff conference session of CARTES in Paris.
Visa QIWI Wallet Added to eBay Payment Methods in Russia (Nov. 4, 2014)
Beginning this week, Russian customers of eBay Inc. will be able to pay for their purchases with Visa QIWI Wallet, the result of a partnership between the online auction Website and QIWI plc, a provider of payment services in Russia.
i2c, Shift Payments Offer Card for ‘Cryptocurrency Adopters, Loyalty Points Junkies, Underbanked’ (Nov. 4, 2014)
Payment processor i2c Inc., is providing the payment processing infrastructure behind a payments card geared for everyone from “cryptocurrency adopters and loyalty points junkies to the underbanked.”
Ubiquity Global Services Expanding to Portugal (Nov. 4, 2014)
True to its name, Ubiquity Global Services, a New York-based financial services and payments service company, is becoming more ubiquitous globally.
UniRush Using Enacomm Biometric Tech to Protect Cardholders (Nov. 4, 2014)
Biometrics have been getting a lot of attention as a means of payments authentication, but UniRush LLC wants to use the technology to bolster security and improve the customer self-service experience for its cardholders.
MasterCard and Visa Drop Interchange Rates in Canada (Nov. 4, 2014)
MasterCard Canada and Visa Canada are reducing interchange fees to an average net effective 1.5 percent rate for the next five years for consumer credit cards.
Ripple protocol integrated into risk management system from Yantra
Yantra Financial Technologies, an electronic payment systems developer, has integrated its latest system for risk scoring of payments with the Ripple real-time settlement protocol. The integration means that institutions using the Ripple protocol can analyse transactions in seconds, including what other payments the customer recently made and potential concerns regarding a specific transaction. Risk levels can be assigned to certain transactions based on pre-determined criteria.
Prepaid Accounts Topic of Next Week’s CFPB Hearing (Nov. 3, 2014)
After a somewhat vague notice of its next field hearing, the CFPB updated its blog to specify that “prepaid accounts” will be the topic of the hearing, scheduled for 11 a.m. EST, Thursday, Nov. 13, in Wilmington, Del.—an exact location has not been given.
Money20/20 Keynote: Lawsky Floats ‘Transitional’ BitLicense for Startups (Nov. 3, 2014)
During a Money20/20 keynote, New York State Superintendent of Financial Services Benjamin M. Lawsky raised the possibility of a new addition in the proposed rules; licensing specially designed for virtual currency startups.
CPI Card Group Enables Banks to Participate in Any Wallet; Launches EMV Prepaid Card in Canada (Nov. 3, 2014)
CPI Card Group launches a mobile platform that enables NFC payments using the secure element or host card emulation. The Littleton, Colo.-based card manufacturer also announced its first EMV prepaid cards in Canada.
U.K. Consumers Prefer Buying, Giving Physical Gift Cards (Nov. 3, 2014)
As more aspects of life leave the physical world and enter the digital one, the majority of U.K. consumers still prefer buying and giving physical gift cards, rather than buying and sending them electronically, according to a recent survey by global gift card provider and program manager Stored Value Solutions (SVS).
Softcard Users Can Pay at McDonald’s Restaurant, Drive-Thru (Nov. 3, 2014)
Softcard announced a deal with QSR giant McDonald’s that adds 14,000 more U.S. locations to the mobile wallet’s acceptance network.
The Network Effect: Ingo Money Acquires Fuze
Ingo Money, known for its mobile check deposit capture technology and Good Funds Network, is planning to acquire Fuze Network, a payments technology company that enables loads to more than 1 billion bank-issued cards at thousands of retail locations.
CFPB Field Hearing Announced: Is the GPR NPRM on Its Way? (Oct. 30, 2014)
Yesterday the CFPB posted on its Website the announcement of its next field hearing, 11 a.m. EST, Thursday, Nov. 13, in Wilmington, Del.
MCX CEO Addresses Hack, Rumors and Competition (Oct. 30, 2014)
It’s been a rough week for Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX), the retailer-led mobile payments consortium.
Study: Rate of Un/Underbanked U.S. Households Still Hovers around 28% (Oct. 30, 2014)
While more than a quarter of American households still were either unbanked or underbanked last year, as was the case in 2011, the proportion of unbanked households declined to 7.7 percent or 9.6 million households, compared with 8.2 percent in 2011, according to the latest report from the FDIC.
