Growth in prepaid GPR and payroll cards today exceeds that of all other noncash forms of payment, but stickiness remains a problem for issuers and program managers. Adding mobile access and other financial tools to the mix—such as check deposits with instant good funds and expedited bill pay–makes prepaid a compelling proposition for consumers and providers alike.
A lesson learned from the global financial crises was how critical free cash flow can be for corporates, their customers, and their suppliers. As businesses seek to unlock cash flow from day-to-day operations, savvy treasurers have discovered vendor payments as a means to extend payment terms while improving vendor health, writes Chris Bozek, Managing Director, Head of Global Trade and Supply Chain Products Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Depending on who you speak to, the definition of a data scientist seems to mean different things to different people. Some see it as a glorified number crunching role, others believe the position requires someone more inquisitive to spot and respond to key trends.
Could the establishment of an enhanced outsourcing oversight capability do more for asset managers than simply satisfy the FCA? A more mature set of oversight metrics could be used to provide foresight into how the outsourcer might perform in the future.
Rather than spending time debating which option is worse for consumers—overdraft or payday loans—or focusing solely on reining in overdraft, we ought to shift our energies to creating new credit products that meet consumers’ needs transparently and affordably.
While asking a customer for multiple pieces of information and presenting him with various questions satisfies federal guidelines and other legal compliance, it can throw a major wrench in the prepaid card activation model. Out-of-wallet authentication must be accomplished in real time—and that means mobile.
The past month has been a busy one for G-SIBs – global systemically important banks – as they confront the challenges of “what full compliance looks like” in the context of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and its Principles for Effective Risk Data Aggregation and Risk Reporting.
Reporting on the management of intraday liquidity risk will start on a monthly basis from 1 January 2015 to coincide with the implementation of the liquidity coverage ratio reporting requirements. Christian Goerlach of Deutsche Bank, takes a closer look at some of the issues facing global banks.
An question that continues to be asked is will the increased adoption of ISO 20022 facilitate the consolidation of payments clearing utilities and see the introduction of new services for customers? This suggests that despite the fact that ISO 20022 has been around for more than decade, confusion still exists over what it is.
We have the opportunity to make a difference, to be part of the process and to influence the outcome of prepaid regulations.
The speed at which the mobile market evolves is staggering. Just as we started to look at mobile first, where banks need to align their services and strategies to cater for mobile before desktop or other traditional channels, the notion of mobile-only is now creeping to the fore.
The benefits of changing a payments portfolio over to a service provider with a modern and flexible platform are inherent and far outweigh the downside of staying with a provider whose solution is a poor fit.
Year one as the head of prepaid for Discover has led to some interesting lessons, including the importance of thinking beyond practical boundaries to create unique, workable solutions.
EMV chip card technology that helps block counterfeit card fraud at the POS is coming to the U.S., and last week I was one of the first on my block to experience it.
Given that bank customers are unlikely to increase significantly their usage of ATMs and now that opportunities to deploy large numbers of additional dispensers are limited, what does the future hold for the ATM and where does its next phase of growth lie?
If proposed changes to simplified due diligence go through as drafted, it will drive out a whole section of the prepaid market from Europe.
In a post-2008 crisis landscape dominated by regulatory reform, compliance is only part of the issue. If firms can address how they manage multiple data sets and deploy a truly enterprise-wide model, they can capitalise on the real opportunity – achieving a competitive advantage.
For the banking sector, which by definition at least is as much economic activity as it is social utility, the relevance of gamification is no longer debatable. Yet recent research shows that just 9% of banks globally have made forays into gamification
The capital markets industry continues to be amongst the top data driven industries. Electronic trading generates millions of market messages during a given day. With diminishing returns in high-frequency trading, focus has shifted from high-speed trading to looking for patterns in large volumes of market data for financial information and use cases.
The work corporates are doing to streamline cash management processes should not end with SEPA implementation, says. Indeed, the principles and ideas underpinning SEPA can inform progress even in the most challenging markets.
Although this lawsuit involves lending practices, the industry would be wise to pay close attention because of its UDAAP implications, which are applicable to all entities the CFPB regulates.
Apple entering the payments space has been a tantalizing prospect for many for a while now. It’s certainly something that would easily upset the status quo of the payments market, and I don’t believe Apple is aiming for the low-hanging fruit.
Management of metrics—such as average handle time, first call resolution, etc.—certainly results in cost saving. But exclusive focus on these metrics results in a huge missed opportunity to improve customer loyalty, increase sales and build brand identity.
What we know and what we can do before the final Plenary European Parliament vote on the Payments Package.
Confusion and concern over security is cited over and over again as the biggest barrier to widespread consumer uptake of mobile payments. And no wonder – confidence in the protection of sensitive cardholder data lies at the heart of trust in this technology. An EMV card as a physical asset is cryptographically secure. How can we emulate this security with something that is virtual?
What does the Monetary Authority of Singapore have to do with virtualised data centres and cloud computing? Security measures that, among other policies, go a long way toward preventing attacks by rogue operators working on the inside, for one thing.
While the payments landscape has evolved rapidly over the past decade, due to a flurry of innovation and regulation, expansive growth in electronic payments and the inclusion of new market entrants, industry research indicates that the next decade will be a period of even faster changes.
Industry players welcome the guidance to bring the legal framework for prepaid under a single policy document that leaves little room for ambiguity, and industry continues to advocate for further reforms that will help drive growth of prepaid products to benefit Indian citizens.
Just in case there was any doubt among the critics, skeptics and the media, new numbers prove the value of prepaid cards to merchants and consumers. In 2014, retail purchases made with prepaid cards will top US$200 billion, equaling 5 percent of all retail spending in the U.S. Now, merchants are looking for ways to capitalize on the popularity.
A new Canadian bill proposes regulations on virtual currencies, cross-border MSBs, due diligence requirements, politically exposed persons and group-wide information sharing.
New regulations requiring financial institutions to increase the amount of data fields they have on their customer records and swingeing fines imposed when processes and data are found to be inadequate have triggered an increased focus on data governance.
Managing cash in stores remains a major challenge for retailers – trapped cash hinders working capital management and is unavailable for investment, debt repayment or business expansion. But new ways are being developed to manage store cash …
Did you know SWIFT, invented in 1973, the backbone of the current bank transfer system still uses telegraph to transmit payment information? Really! To me, that’s not too dissimilar from using pigeons as messengers rather than email. Maybe it’s time to upgrade our payment systems.
Forget politics. As Russia moves its way toward a cashless economy, prepaid cards will thrive amid increasing demand from different customer groups, development of a regulatory framework and increasing interest from retailers building loyalty programs.
What do apples and oranges have to do with prepaid model disclosures? See David Beam’s analysis of the CFPB’s blog proposal.
What is the latest technological snag affecting high-speed trading performance? In a word, jitter – a major risk, particularly when carrying out arbitrage.
Despite the well-known benefits of cloud computing, 75% of banks in Europe are using outdated core banking systems. Why are some banking institutions slower to adopt cloud than others?
The FinTech sector is entering a new phase – one where it is bringing old business models back from the dead
While established banks struggle with their legacy systems, smaller players and new entrants are quickly adopting new technologies – but there are some trends in digital banking that are being slowly adopted by the banking industry as a whole.
Heading to college is all about the quest for knowledge. Part of that process is learning to use fact-based, impartial research to reach educated conclusions. Unfortunately, the March 10 Department of Education’s Inspector General’s report, “Third-Party Servicer Use of Debit Cards to Deliver Title IV Funds,” doesn’t make the grade.
