Travelex kills off Supercard
Supercard, a new card and mobile product launched by Travelex and Wirecard last June, is now being sunsetted.
PayTech
Fly Away: Netspend Prepaid Card Offers United Airlines’ MileagePlus Rewards
Netspend has launched a Visa-branded prepaid card that enables cardholders to earn miles good for travel through United Airlines’ MileagePlus loyalty program. The product addresses one of the main issues facing prepaid providers—long-term cardholder retention.
FIS Details How Younger Consumers—and Some Older Peers—Are Driving Digital Banking
Nearly half—49 percent—of millennial consumers had paid a bill via mobile within 30 days of a survey conducted for a new report from FIS. That data point underscores the growing importance of digital financial services and payments not only for younger consumers but their older counterparts.
Target to Pay $18.5 Million to States in Data Breach Settlement
Target Corp. has agreed to pay $18.5 million in a settlement with 47 states and the District of Columbia that stems from a November 2013 data breach of the Minneapolis-based retailer. The breach affected more than 41 million customer payment card accounts and exposed contact information for more than 60 million customers.
Compliance Titans: Jani Gode, Payoneer
Jani Gode’s knowledge of payments compliance reaches to parts of the globe that are about as far away from the small Minnesota farm where she grew up as you can get. Gode leads the global compliance program as chief compliance officer at Payoneer, an online payments company founded in 2005 that enables businesses to send and receive cross-border payments.
Comdata Adds Spend Escalator to ePayables to Save Clients Time, Money
Comdata is making it easier for clients who use the B2B payment and financial technology provider’s virtual credit cards, or ePayables, which it says will drive adoption. The company is so convinced its new Spend Escalator technology is beneficial, it has applied for a patent.
Games without frontiers via TransferWise borderless account
TransferWise has unveiled its “Borderless” account with the promise that it works like a local bank account in different countries. The account is its plan to replace “old-fashioned” money transfers. TransferWise says local bank details in the UK, Eurozone and US are available, and other unspecified countries are on the way at some point in […]
Swift unveils “first ever” cross-border payments tracker
Corporate treasurers have a moment to treasure as Swift has unveiled its new cross-border payments “Tracker” for real-time tracing. Swift says Tracker is the “cornerstone” of its global payments innovation (gpi) initiative – which went live in February – with the aim to deliver greater speed, transparency and end to end tracking. Tracker provides a […]
Nasdaq and Citi team up for blockchain-powered payments reconciliation
Nasdaq and Citi’s Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS) have unveiled a new payment solution for automating reconciliation using Chain’s blockchain infrastructure platform. The solution enables straight through payment processing by using a distributed ledger to record and transmit payment instructions. A number of payment transactions have been done including Citi’s automated processing of cross-border payments […]
InComm’s Asia-Pac Expansion Continues with Sony Deal
InComm and Sony Interactive Entertainment HK Ltd. have teamed up to provide promotional programs in the Hong Kong market. The initiative is part of InComm’s continued investment in promotional tools that change how gift cards are purchased by connecting physical and digital channels.
Google Casts a Wider Net for Payments
Google has a new plan to become a bigger player in payments. The search engine and web marketing giant said that it’s enabling merchants and developers to “turbocharge checkout conversion” by making it easier for consumers to use the credit cards and debit cards stored with Google.
Innovation Day: Fast-Growing Prepaid Market Offers Rewards, Risks
New growth estimates for prepaid are encouraging to say the least, but providers gathering in London for the Prepaid International Forum’s annual Innovation Day said the industry must remain focused on compliance and the customer proposition to safeguard its success.
Payments round-up: 18 May 2017
Words cut. Time saved. A round-up of key events in the payments enclave. Featuring Australian Settlements Limited, IBM, Mastercard, UnionPay International, Visa and Wirecard. Financial services provider Australian Settlements Limited (ASL) has adopted IBM Cloud for its new payments platform (NPP) implementation. ASL provides members, including building societies, credit unions and mutual banks, with settlement […]
Gaining More Value from Mobile Payments
The right technology—the systems that encourage consumer loyalty and spending—do much more than speed up checkout. An expert explains why.
Mobile Wallets to Boost Convenience for EBT Recipients
Move over prepaid cards. Mobile wallets might be be able to solve for fraud and instant delivery of benefits better than any piece of plastic.
Are Passwords Here to Stay?
Even as security experts lobby for tighter authentication, a study demonstrates that passwords still command the loyalty of consumers. A payments expert discusses why biometrics and other methods lag behind the warhorse of digital protection.
The View from Finovate
Payments compete for attention with “RegTech” while an overall lull in disruption suggests that fintech could be in the eye of a storm.
Compliance Titans: Margo Hirsch Strahlberg, U.S. Bank
If Margo Hirsch Strahlberg, prepaid compliance risk management specialist at U.S. Bank, isn’t managing responsibilities at home or work, she tries to steal time away to hit the gym. “I’ve incorporated more weight lifting into my routine,” she says. “My goal is to dead-lift a few copies of the CFPB’s prepaid accounts rule.”
Vacation Savings Plan, Prepaid Card Help Employees Get Away
It’s vacation season, and employers have a new tool to encourage employees to take much-needed time off and come back more productive. 401Play is offering what it calls a vacation savings account program with a companion Capital Prepaid Services’ BlazePays Visa Prepaid Card to help employees save for vacation.
Sweet sixteen keen on CCRManager’s trade finance platform
Sixteen financial institutions (FIs) are onboard for CCRManager’s new electronic platform, developed for the distribution of trade finance, supply chain finance and working capital assets. Bank of China, DBS Bank, ICICI Bank, Swiss Re Corporate Solutions and UniCredit have signed up as members of the platform to support their trade risk distribution businesses. In addition, […]
CFSI Sets the Table for Financial Health
Hoping to build on last year’s success, the Center for Financial Services Innovation is encouraging participants in next month’s FinHealthMatters Day to craft videos, write blogs and plan events that highlight the need for better financial health for U.S. consumers. FinHealthMatters Day is June 27.
People on the Move: Gulra Atak, Citi
Citi has appointed Gulra Atak to lead its innovation lab in Dublin.
Company on the Move: FinCEN, Law Enforcement Awards
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) held its third annual Law Enforcement Awards ceremony on May 9 at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
People on the Move: Bimal Patel, Financial Stability Oversight Council
President Trump has named former banking attorney Bimal Patel to lead the day-to-day operations of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC).
People on the Move: Chris Gunnare, PSCU
Credit union service organization PSCU has hired Chris Gunnare as chief member experience officer.
People on the Move: Mark Butler, Qualys Inc.
Qualys Inc., a provider of cloud-based security and compliance solutions, has appointed former Fiserv executive Mark Butler as chief information security officer.
SAP launches Blockchain-as-a-Service in the cloud
SAP has launched a blockchain platform – “ready-to-use blockchain technology” – in the SAP cloud.
SAP fires up Leonardo platform for digital innovation
SAP has made a raft of announcements (and promises) at its annual Sapphire conference in Orlando, Florida. Bill McDermott, CEO of SAP, says the company continues to be committed to its “empathy” strategy unveiled last year and the time is now for “the urgency of action”. The vendor has unveiled its new SAP Leonardo platform […]
Amex Study: ‘Gen Z’ Open to Brands, But Demands Seamless, Fast Experience
Consumers age 16 through 22 are open to communication from brands but have high expectations of those brands, demanding high levels of customer service and the latest in omnichannel functionality, according to a new study from American Express.
UBank’s Chatbot Helps Customers with Home Loan Applications
Bank has found another way to use the artificial intelligence-powered virtual assistants. The online-only Australian bank launched RoboChat May 15 to help home buyers—and homeowners who want to refinance—complete UBank’s online home loan application more easily.
French Retailer, Bank Tag Team on Mobile Wallet
France-based retail giant Carrefour and French bank BNP Paribas have joined forces to launch Lyf Pay, a new mobile wallet that supports in-store and P2P transactions as well as loyalty cards, coupons and offers.
Vodafone Sells M-PESA Interest to South African Affiliate
Vodafone has transferred most of its ownership stake in Safaricom—the provider of Kenya’s mega-popular M-PESA mobile money transfer service—to Vodacom, Vodafone’s South African affiliate.
White paper: value of commercial cards for banks and their clients
This free white paper provides a structured framework for measuring performance of commercial card programmes across multiple industry sectors, suggests a range of norms for card penetration and usage, and describes the key data points for measurement. It also describes the actions that card issuers could take to maximise value from the programmes they have running: retaining business that is already fruitful, and nurturing business which could be more abundantly fruitful.
CFPB Prepaid Rule Survives Congressional Repeal Deadline
The CFPB’s final rule on prepaid accounts has survived a bid to repeal it via the Congressional Review Act (CRA), with lawmakers failing to bring the matter up for vote by the May 11 deadline. But despite the CRA efforts having fizzled, reforming the rule is still on the table.
P2P rising: new study points to a market on the verge of major growth
P2P payments are proving a big hit with younger consumers.
People on the Move: Brad Fauss, Wirecard North America
Brad Fauss is joining Wirecard North America as general counsel and vice president, compliance and governmental affairs. In his new role, he is responsible for managing the legal, compliance and governmental affairs functions for the North American business. Wirecard, a payments and commerce leader headquartered in Munich, finalized its acquisition of Citi Prepaid Services in March 2017, as part of its global expansion strategy.
Blackhawk Study: Brand Loyalty Can Solve Pain Points for Merchants
Brand power is serious business, according to a new Blackhawk Network study that found consumers trust their favorite brand almost as much as they trust their own families. What’s more, retailers can harness that brand loyalty to help with a bevy of challenges, including driving foot traffic, acquiring new customers and bolstering loyalty among shoppers.
UniRush Starts Paying Off for Green Dot in Q1
Green Dot’s acquisition of UniRush, a deal that closed in February, is already paying off for the company. As part of its first-quarter earnings release, Green Dot said that UniRush not only added $12 million in revenue during its first month of new ownership, but contributed to 6 percent growth in the company’s overall active card base, to 5.05 million.
Startup Enters Teen Market Touting Budgeting Tools, Parental Controls, Charitable Giving
Current, a startup comprised of a small team of New York-based fintech entrepreneurs, has launched a prepaid card program and mobile app for kids and parents that goes beyond dispensing allowances
Industry views: Trump’s first 100 days
What President Trump’s record on regulatory reform means for payments and financial services so far, and what comes next.
