Second Circuit Holds Credit Card Surcharge Doesn’t Violate U.S. Constitution
Court considers whether it’s permissible for a discount for using cash or a surcharge for using credit cards.
Analysis
SoulCycle Pushes Back Against Alleged Gift Card Violations
A high-end fitness company selling tickets to reserve a spot in a specific class at a designated date and time comes under scrutiny for violating the CARD Act.
SCOTUS Denies Cert in Borders Gift Cardholder Suit
Borders gift cardholders do not get to claim $210 million in unredeemed gift card funds.
Retailers Continue to Challenge Interchange Fee Settlement
Target Corp., Amazon.com and a host of other retailers continue to challenge MasterCard, Visa and several large banks over the terms of a $7.25 billion settlement reached in 2013. The settlement was supposed to end the retailers’ claims that the banks and MasterCard and Visa artificially inflated interchange fees. Several of the largest retailers, however, […]
Viewpoint: Contrasting Payments Innovation in Europe and the U.S.
America has led Europe in payments innovation. Europe has led in payments regulation. The recent rubberstamping of PSD2 in Brussels suggests that’s likely to continue.
The path to a post-trade utility
Shared utilities could save institutions as much as 40% of their current processing costs, but there are challenges to implementation.
The value of utility
Compliance obligations are increasing for financial institutions. A utility approach to the issue is gaining favour …
Finding the right fit
Trade finance plays an important role in helping to grease the wheels of the global economy. A largely paper-based process, effort is being put into finding ways to automate and improve processes for banks and corporates.
Building a new risk architecture
It seems that at each Sibos, certainly since the financial crisis of 2008, a regulatory deadline is looming large. This year’s model is the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s (BCBS’) 11 principles for effective risk data aggregation and risk reporting (BCBS 239), with which globally systemically important banks (GSIBs) must comply by 1 January 2016. However, a report on the progress of adoption reveals a lack of preparedness.
Meeting the need for speed
Real-time payments systems and infrastructures are being rolled out globally. What impact will they have on financial institutions? How fast is too fast? Daily News at Sibos asked delegates where the trend is heading …
The instant catalyst
Immediate payments are acting as a catalyst for banks to add value and develop holistic payment solutions. In this extract from World Payments Report 2015, the impact of immediate payments on banks’ offerings is examined
Rearranging risk
Pushing more complex products towards mandatory central clearing may increase the risks to which CCPs and clearing members are exposed. Frances Faulds examines whether CCPs can continue pooling risks in a safe and efficient way
Keeping it real
Global interoperability of real-time payments systems will require harmonisation of market practices and standards.
Chips off the old blockchain
The distributed ledger is one of the hottest topics in financial services. Born out of the crypto-currency bitcoin, the blockchain concept has gone mainstream and the first area to feel the impact is likely to be payments.
ISO 20022: Working in Harmony
Despite celebrating its 10th birthday in 2014 – or perhaps because of it – the number of variations of ISO 20022 being deployed is prompting concerns that it is rapidly becoming less useful as a standard. There is increasing recognition that differences in implementation and market practices could lead to a fragmentation of the standard.
Coming in from the cold
Fostering innovation in financial technology has become a much more collaborative affair: global banking giants are courting small technology start-ups in the hopes of gaining a competitive edge in financial services …
Caught in the crossfire
Cyber attacks cost little to perpetrate, but plenty to prevent. A focus on external and internal factors will help financial institutions to mitigate the threat.
Europe’s unsettling times
T2S, Europe’s harmonised settlement platform, is live. With a series of migration waves scheduled up until full live operation in July 2017, the next few years are likely to be characterised by intense activity as market participants finalise their strategies …
European Parliament Passes PSD2 by Landslide (Oct. 8, 2015)
The yeas have it. The European Parliament today has passed the second major payments regulation in 2015, with 578 votes in favor of the Revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2).
Defendants Appeal Judge’s Refusal to Dismiss McDonald’s Class-Action Suit in PA (Oct. 8, 2015)
Two McDonald’s franchise owners have appealed a judge’s refusal to dismiss a class-action lawsuit alleging they illegally mandated employees be paid via prepaid cards.
CFPB Draws Line in Sand Regarding Arbitration Clauses (Oct. 7, 2015)
Prior to today’s field hearing in Denver, the CFPB has announced it’s considering proposing rules that would restrict consumer financial companies from using certain types of arbitration clauses that block consumers from forming class action lawsuits to obtain compensation.
ECJ’s Takedown of Safe Harbor Spells Trouble for U.S. Firms (Oct. 7, 2015)
Europe’s top court has struck down a longstanding agreement that enabled U.S. companies to handle the personal data of users in the European Union without being subjected to EU privacy rules, in a decision that will significantly affect not only tech giants like Google and Facebook, but payments and financial services companies, as well.
Technology is an enabler for stability
A large part of any financial technology businesses is clearly driven by the need for banks to comply with the ever-changing regulatory requirements that affect their business. And this has brought about a frenetic period of activity and growth in this core market. These changes affect the various individual areas within financial organizations Wolters Kluwer Financial Services and others serve, including Finance (e.g. IFRS9), Risk (e.g. Basel III Liquidity, FRTB) and Regulatory Reporting (e.g. CRD IV). They also impact the way in which these processes are governed and controlled centrally
Understanding blockchain and the opportunity for financial institutions
Blockchain has the potential to further disrupt banking in the way that we know it today, transform traditional interbank and even peer-to-peer payments, open up opportunities to replace existing mechanisms for the exchange of financial information, and how customer records are stored and processed.
Fintech for corporates: partnering for success
With global investment into the fintech arena growing at an astonishing rate, it is only a matter of time before the corporate sector begins to feel its true force. Fred DiCocco, head of market management, BNY Mellon Treasury Services, discusses how banks are adapting. Fintech is triggering a monumental shift in the payments space, with […]
Rep. Tipton, CFPB Director Cordray Square off on Prepaid (Oct. 1, 2015)
Rep. Scott Tipton (R-Colo.) and more than 40 other lawmakers are urging CFPB Director Richard Cordray to be cautious in prepaid rulemaking and to make sure the government Direct Express program is not adversely affected by the forthcoming rule.
Viewpoint: Apple Pay Branches out of the Orchard
You’d think an A-list celebrity had shown up when Apple Pay launched in the U.K. in July. Despite some speed bumps related to transit and international acceptance, prepaid providers shouldn’t ignore the mobile wallet.
Blog: Marketing in a Mobile World Comes Down to Customer Experience
Fundamental shifts in the way socially connected and digital-savvy consumers connect have altered the customer-engagement and marketing landscape forever. To succeed, retailers and consumer brands must use data-driven engagement strategies.
Viewpoint: Good First Impressions Make for Profitable Relationships
The time has come for financial institutions to truly reap the benefits mobile connectivity offers, and the place to begin is with customer onboarding.
Viewpoint: Apple Pay Usage Report
Despite Apple Pay’s high-profile U.S. launch, recent First Annapolis primary consumer research suggests that only one in five iPhone 6 users has actually made a purchase with Apple Pay. But, that’s not the only stat that matters.
The dangers of digitisation without customer insight
In bygone days the bank manager knew each of his customers by name but could offer them only the narrowest range of products. Today the computer can tailor bespoke financial solutions in a mass market – but has no empathy with which to convey its expertise …
Cobol – do banks speak our language?
With banking IT failures happening on a seemingly weekly basis, we perhaps should be examining the language they speak more closely. Most of our banks are built on systems and programmed with languages that pre-date the birth of the internet, let alone the birth of mobile banking …
EC Seeks Input on Simplifying Cross-Border VAT Payments (Sept. 28, 2015)
With European Union law now requiring merchants to tax digital goods based on which country the buyer is located in—instead of where the seller is located—the European Commission (EC) is canvassing interested parties for feedback on the system of reconciling and paying taxes to national governments.
The emerging threat of trade-based money laundering in trade finance
Money laundering is a global phenomenon, evident in many parts of the world. Techniques have ranged from simple bulk cash movements across borders to more sophisticated techniques hidden in trade transactions. As trade between the Middle East and the rest of the world continues to grow, the threat of trade based money laundering becomes more […]
Automating incentives boosts bottom line
Sometimes the least obvious changes can have a big effect, and very often those changes are in areas that might considered outside the remit of the people best placed to make them. Bank staff remuneration, for instance …
Roundtable: a world of real-time payments
Call it immediate, instant, fast(er) or real-time, the drive to speed up payments is being discussed in almost every country. As part of that discussion Banking Technology and ACI Worldwide brought together international participants from Australia, Europe, the UK and the US review the opportunities and challenges ahead.
Singapore slings (and arrows)
For those who attend Sibos every year, it can seem as though the conference never actually ends – it simply adjourns until the following year. This year, the rise of distributed ledgers and the role of non-bank players in financial services look set to top the agenda – but there will also be a strong focus on innovation, women in finance and millennials.
The shadow Internet of Things – a new risk for financial services
While IT departments fret about BYOD and Shadow IT, a new security beast lurks on the horizon–the shadow internet of Things. A swarm of consumer devices are all connecting to the internet and beaconing out data in different forms. Because they don’t look like computers, they aren’t treated like computers, and IT departments are often not managing them to ensure that they are secure.
UKGCVA: Ireland’s Proposed Gift Card Expiry Ban Too Broad
UKGCVA’s reply to Ireland’s proposal to ban expiration dates on gift cards and vouchers.
Visa Sets Deadline for Issuers in Target Settlement
Visa set a deadline for its debit card issuers to request extra payment on top of the monies the issuers will receive in accordance with an earlier settlement reached with Target related to the 2013 breach.
