Are Plastic Cards Headed for Extinction?
Probably not. Even so, the case for virtual prepaid accounts is growing stronger. A journey through the landscape—including a stop at a recent Apple conference—shows why.
Industry Comment
When large projects go bad: leadership, operational change and a dose of reality
Large-scale operational projects within asset management firms are notoriously ambitious, incredibly complex and extremely hard to deliver. Global system implementations are a common culprit, where often multiple applications (some legacy) are being replaced.
Deriving value from big data
An explosive growth in data and information, coupled with advances in technology and a boost in methods of communication, have given rise to an empowered and aware global customer. And to provide legendary experience to their customers, maintain a competitive edge and to make better and sound decisions, organisations need to harness insights from this ever growing “big data”.
Is Loyalty the New Currency?
Earning top-of-wallet privileges from consumers requires deeper thinking about the what, when, where, why and how of loyalty rewards. But the most important ingredient is simplicity.
Contactless Fraud Scare? Not So Fast.
Breathless reports point to a terrifying increase in U.K. contactless fraud. Dig a little deeper, however, and the story changes.
Want to Fight Fraud? Join the Team—Literally
All payment providers and merchants grasp the dynamic nature of fraud. But fraud prevention requires more than the latest software and security protections—it requires active collaboration. Here’s why.
Letter from the Editor: Prepping for the Year’s Biggest Industry Event
I can scarcely believe we’re approaching the halfway point of 2017. But I can’t think of a better time for the year’s biggest prepaid industry event. On June 21-23, the NBPCA will host its sixth annual Power of Prepaid conference in Washington, D.C. The business of compliance—not to mention keeping up with technology trends—is keeping everyone on their toes, but it’s vital to stop and reflect with colleagues about the state of the industry and its future. It’s also critical to actually talk to those shaping the legislation and regulations that determine the rules of the road.
Blockchain is here to stay, but what regulatory and legal hurdles does it now face?
DLA Piper’s John D. McGonagle speculates on what the rise of blockchain technology might mean for the future of banking, the feedback which the UK regulator FCA may receive from interested stakeholders, and some of the regulatory and legal hurdles which blockchain technology may need to negotiate in the near future.
Legacy IT is the least of a bank’s problems
A recent Reuters article explored how companies like Cobol Cowboys make a fortune helping banks who struggle to keep their legacy systems running. But in fact, the real problem is not legacy IT, that’s just a symptom of the root problem in banks… the decision makers.
What happens to banks when they overlook their CRM data?
Keeping high data quality in customer relationship management (CRM) should be among banks’ top priorities! We explore how outdated customer profiles and poor data quality may hurt banks’ efficiency.
Cognitive computing is not cognitive at all
IBM are not doing “cognitive computing” no matter how many times they say they are.
Will robotic process automation herald a new digital era in regulatory compliance in banks?
Exploring how the robotic process automation (RPA) powered digital workforce looks to disrupt the manual effort intensive regulatory compliance landscape in BFS, what edge it has over its human counterpart, the roadmap towards RPA driven compliance, challenges in this digitisation journey and success mantras, and innovations that are underway towards building intelligent RPA to replicate human decision-making.
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.
Bold statement two: statements around the bleeding edge of innovation
This is a series of posts on a subject that plays on my mind a little – the application of disruption, and innovation, when it is related through the filter of our use of language, and our desire to seem advanced. This instalment is about social media efforts.
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.
Blockchain: not the silver bullet against fraud that many expect it to be
Anyone that picks up any business publication has no doubt read about blockchain. Conceptualised around the same time as the financial crisis in 2008, blockchain as originally conceived served as a digital ledger to publicly record cryptocurrency transactions and execute contracts.
Facebook’s Q1 results and five things for financial services
With the release of Facebook’s Q1 2017 results, there are five things worth your attention about its strategy that are relevant for financial services. In its latest results, Facebook announced a major emphasis in solving for communities and reiterating the key messages from its F8 developer conference. Q1 2017 profit is +76.6% YoY to $3.06 […]
How future technologies are transforming banking
How two key technologies – cloud and cognitive – can aid banking transformation.
Will augmented reality transform banking?
There has been a lot of rumour and speculation recently, focused around the news that Apple is working on augmented reality (AR) as its next major product. Last year, we saw how fast the take up of AR could be with the introduction of Pokémon Go that became a massive international cultural phenomenon almost overnight. Banks need to prepare sooner rather than later if they are going to take advantage of AR and not be left behind.
A spreadsheet way of thinking: why the future of financial services still lies in rows and columns
Spreadsheets, say some, should just fade away into the dustbin of innovations’ past, but in my opinion, they might be the best bridge between the “old way” of working and the new.
Lessons learnt on a start-up journey
I grew up in Darwin, northern Australia and dreamt of playing hockey for my country. Today I live in Glasgow, thousands of miles away from the sunny climes of home and head up the UK operations and marketing for regtech firm Encompass.
Money Transfer Goes Social: What the Facebook Land Grab Means
With MoneyGram and Western Union betting that Facebook-loving consumers will use “sendbots,” the old guard of remittance providers may have an edge on startups.
How to Grow Prepaid through Financial Well-Being
Prepaid providers are at a crossroads: They can create products that carry relative high fees, or craft consumer-friendly programs that promote financial health. Here’s a case for doing the latter.
‘Mythbusting’ Payroll Cards
To coincide with its just released and first “Payroll Industry Scorecard,” CFSI is separating fact from fiction when it comes to payroll cards, which continue to face scrutiny by state regulators and the media.
How Fintech Startups Are Transforming Retail Banking and Finance
Sure, convenience remains vital. But to reach digitally savvy consumers—including millennials—new entrants in the payments arena will need to think socially, and be ready to chat.
The future of insurance is collaboration
To the outside observer the insurance industry may look very conservative with dominant global companies and local players operating in the way they have done for years and with very little interaction with their customers. But this is changing.
Four best practices in responding to a security breach
You need to tell your customers you’ve been hacked. Now what?
What’s Behind the Rise of Carrier Billing?
As the payment method gains popularity, an expert explains why young consumers buying digital content, including games, and transit tickets with their phones will be keys for the future.
What If You Could Make Prepaid More Profitable?
What does Russell Simmons know that banks don’t? GPR can be profitable. Find out how.
The Missing Piece in B2B Air Travel Payments
A highly fragmented sales environment along with unnecessary expenses are among the main pain points for B2B payments for air travel. Here is what needs to improve.
What’s Next for Mobile Ordering?
As major companies report success from mobile ordering, an expert shows what payment providers have to consider before taking the next step.
Tackling cybercrime: why the industry must unite
Cyberattacks have been dominating newspaper headlines for some time now. Whether it’s losing access to PayPal, a distributed denial of service attack on Lloyds Group, or Tesco Bank customers losing £2.5 million to hackers, the threat of a cyberattack in 2017 is so great that it’s not a case of if, but when one occurs.
Bold statement one: statements around the bleeding edges of innovation
This is a series of posts on a subject that plays on my mind a little – the application of disruption, and innovation, when it is related through the filter of our use of language, and our desire to seem advanced.
Fintech Is Poised to Thrive in Mexico
The Mexican market has everything—the market size, the interest and the right attitude. There is only one thing missing and that is the very fundamentals of what fintech represents.
Waves of Change for Payments
At this week’s Smart Card Alliance Payments Summit, experts looked to mobile and transit for a view of how payments will evolve. Here is a dive into the trends that likely will keep making news in the years to come.
Vroom, Vroom: Vehicles Accelerate the Future for Payments
A drive through the emerging landscape of in-vehicle transaction projects shows a wide variety of services that could appeal to consumers and push payments forward. But there’s still work to do before automakers are off to the races.
A vaccination for financial crime
ransaction monitoring is emerging as one of the top priorities for banks and other financial institutions. Some now employ up to three per cent of their workforce to track financial crime. But, as leadership teams look to increase the effectiveness of their processes in the face of regulatory scrutiny and reduce costs, are there lessons to be learnt from health industry and its battle against infectious diseases?
