June 26, 2013 Square Inc. hopes to give a boost to micro-merchants that have traditionally sold items face to face as they move into e-commerce through its new Square Market, which the San Francisco company unveiled this week. Targeting local merchants selling items online for the first time, Square Market provides an easy path for […]
June 26, 2013 Using prepaid cards for benefit payments to individuals can help reduce costs for government agencies as well as recipients, according to a new report by the Association of Government Accountants (AGA). The study was conducted by the AGA’s Corporate Partners Advisory Group (CPAG) research project, sponsored by Visa. The report was based […]
June 26, 2013 Self-policing, self-reporting, remediation and cooperation are four factors which the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will take into account when deciding whether some form of mitigation credit is warranted in an enforcement investigation, according to a new bulletin issued by the agency. However, those seeking such credit need to go well above […]
RBS has hired Carole Berndt as global head of transaction services. Berndt has been EMEA head of transaction banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch for the past three years. She will be based in London and report to John Owen, chief executive, International Banking, at RBS, who said: “I am delighted to welcome Carole […]
June 25, 2013 Green Dot Corp. is taking the “name your price” feature to financial services as it rolls out its GoBank mobile banking solution nationwide today. Since its January unveiling, GoBank has been in beta testing with a group of invited consumers. Now anyone can sign up for the service at GoBank.com or by […]
Will Egypt be next to ignite an m-payments program for millions of unbanked consumers, similar to M-Pesa’s success in Kenya?
June 25, 2013 Barclays is taking contactless payment in a new direction with a service enabling users to make payments directly from their bank accounts by tapping their phones on QR codes on billboards, magazine ads and other printed items, potentially including routine bill payments. Harnessing the Barclays Pingit mobile payments app, the new Buyit […]
The U.S. Supreme Court this morning decided to hear the case of National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning. Hanging in the balance is the legal validity not only of appointments made by President Barack Obama to fill NLRB vacancies, but the appointment of Richard Cordray to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). A ruling […]
Click here for larger PDF version. June 24, 2013 More Europeans are pulling out cards instead of cash while on holiday, according to new research from MasterCard. The online survey of 3,310 consumers in eight countries—Spain, Italy, Germany, Sweden, U.K., France, Poland and Ukraine—found that consumers prefer having their debit or credit cards on hand […]
Speakers at the Digital Services Conference hosted by Informa in London on Tuesday expressed frustration at the lack of progress made by mobile wallets in the UK and called for more innovative solutions to bypass the impasse.
Although the network EMV liability shift is about two years out, card manufacturers already are consulting with their U.S. issuing clients to help them make decisions now about how they will approach the transition to EMV. First and foremost is the decision on when to begin, then which cards in their portfolio should have priority. […]
Most innovative network branded, closed-loop or RAN prepaid or emerging payments program. Best in Category: Bratislava City Card First-to-market integrated prepaid solution loaded with municipal and commercial advantages for residents that includes open- and closed-loop applications. First Data Slovakia’s capital of Bratislava pulled off a great technological leap forward with the introduction of a […]
The organization that stood out from the crowd in 2012 to make a positive, game-changing difference in the prepaid and/or emerging payments environment in the U.K. and Europe.
By Bill Grabarek, Senior Editor Reading between the lines of announcements from Apple Inc. to anticipate the technology titan’s next moves not only keeps analysts busy and consumers guessing, it has spawned entire Websites devoted to scrutinizing everything the company says and does. This isn’t to imply Apple doesn’t excel at effective self-promotion, but the company […]
The in-market mobile wallet or mobile application that (1) provides end users with value-added features and/or enhances payment capabilities, user decision-making or loyalty, and (2) provides retailers with a strong value proposition. Best in Category: O2 Wallet Open to customers of any bank or MNO who want to shop, send money, compare prices and receive […]
Plastyc Inc., a New York City-based prepaid debit card provider, recently announced it is doing business as Banking Up. The name change was in conjunction with the launch of Banking Up, a personal finance platform enabling banks and businesses to provide customers with an alternative to traditional checking accounts. Plastyc, which announced last year that […]
The prepaid or emerging payments program or product that delivers the best consumer value proposition for the combination of features, functionality, service and price. Best-in-Category: paysafecard paysafecard, an e-voucher with 16-digit PIN, is sold in 450,000 retail locations, bringing e-commerce to cash customers in 29 European countries at no cost to the customer. paysafecard group […]
Best use of a business- or corporate-funded prepaid card to deliver incentives, rewards or rebates to consumers to promote their loyal behavior. Best in Category: Western Union MyWU Prepaid Card Rewards customers for their prepaid transactions by giving them faster money transfers and special offers. The Western Union Company The Western Union […]
Best use of a consumer-funded gift card/voucher or line of gift cards/vouchers. Best in Category: £5 for a £10 Starbucks Card eGift LivingSocial Deal Delivered nearly 65,000 Starbucks Card eGifts from Nov. 29-Dec. 1, 2012, powered by CashStar’s eGifting platform and LivingSocial’s local marketing engine. Starbucks LivingSocial CashStar CashStar, LivingSocial and coffee giant […]
Gift cards continue to get high marks from consumers who like to buy them and receive them, according to research released today by the Retail Gift Card Association (RGCA), a trade association of closed-loop gift card retailers.
June 18, 2013 Far EasTone Telecommunications Co., one of Taiwan’s largest telcos, is launching a mobile payments pilot in cooperation with Far Eastern International Bank and MasterCard. The program, scheduled to begin during the second half of 2013, will use near field communication (NFC) technology and be limited to mobile payments under NT$3,000 (US$100.37), according […]
Amazon.com Inc. is extending its gift cards to Facebook. The Seattle-based e-commerce giant today unveiled Amazon Birthday Gift, enabling users to surprise their friends on Facebook by purchasing a digital gift card that shows up on the recipient’s Facebook Timeline on his birthday. The social media multiplier effect: Any other friend can add funds to […]
By Thomas Cornelius, SVP, InComm Today’s consumers are constantly on the go—they’re busier, they multitask more and they have less time to get everything done. As a result, their shopping habits have changed. In fact, according to Forrester, more than 50 percent of in-store retail sales (approximately $1.2 trillion) are now Web-influenced. To meet the […]
Innotribe, the Swift-backed initiative to enable collaborative innovation in financial services, has announced the names of the five contenders from the US leg of its annual Startup Challenge to compete at Sibos 2013 in Dubai in September.
The UK Payments Council has published a ‘payments roadmap’, which sets out the steps that could help to build up a shared payments infrastructure in the UK.
June 17, 2013 The U.K. Payments Council hopes to map the future of its nation’s payment infrastructure by creating a roadmap for the next decade, drawing broad input from government, business, charity and consumer groups, the London-based organization announced today. In “Payments Roadmap—An Initial Report,” the council outlined an approach to nurturing development of the […]
