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Despite the well-known benefits of cloud computing, 75% of banks in Europe are using outdated core banking systems.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.
Mobility has risen to such a level of importance that many people believe it deserves its own C-level position to advance and align mobility strategy throughout the enterprise. In no other industry is this more pressing than in banking where financial institutions are increasingly using mobile apps to set themselves apart from their rivals.
As momentum builds for HCE, MNOs may be left wondering why they’re getting cut out of the mobile payments value chain. While GSMA has been pushing NFC adoption with great force, the problem is that this force encouraged MNOs to go solo.
Design of Square Cash’s caliber is not cheap. Finding a way to move money faster than conventional methods is not cheap. Is Jack Dorsey’s media darling gathering press and praise at the expense of sound strategy? Or, is Square Cash more than the very few screens that meet the eye?
Legislators and companies, such as MasterCard, are introducing standards for prepaid card disclosures that help us all.
Countless articles have been written about the challenges and issues facing the banking sector globally over the last few years and it is a brave pundit that tries to pin these down to a handful of sound bites,
We asked M&A experts to tell us what to expect in the coming months, specifically around prepaid, mobile and emerging payments. They all agreed on one thing: Change will continue to be the norm.
The European Parliament’s ECON Committee vote on the “Payments Package” has resulted in inconsistent legislative text that differs significantly from the EC draft proposal. With an aggressive timeline for passage, including an April plenary vote, the payments industry needs to make its voice heard on the potentially harmful impacts of the proposed changes.
We may not be the shiny new thing like mobile, but prepaid has a role to play in the new era of payments because it’s accessible to every consumer. For prepaid businesses to stay relevant and take their place in this evolving market, they must hold onto the innovative spirit and keen focus on solving problems that sparked the industry more than 15 years ago.
At the end of last year, Yahoo was hit by a malware attack. It affected over two million clients, mainly in Romania, Great Britain, France, Italy and Spain, putting their personal data at risk. Upon visiting the website between 27 December and 3 January, users received advertisements, some of which were malicious and infected users’ devices without even a click.
Something big is happening to the internet (and, no, I am not talking about Bitcoin though that would be a fascinating topic for another time). In a nutshell, it’s changing into something you wear rather than go to, writes Aman Narain, global head of digital banking at Standard Chartered.
Wherever you sit in the industry, you can help the end users of prepaid products (or future users) by supporting basic financial education. The key is to make it fun.
As we move to digitize everything, the transition to digital wallets hasn’t been an easy feat. O2 recently announced it would discontinue its mobile wallet and despite efforts by industry heavyweights, mass adoption of a digital/mobile wallet still is proving elusive.
As data volumes continue to grow, being able to make greater use of the information enhances competitive advantage. The financial services industry is taking steps towards using predictive analytics technology to do just that.
Canadians are in a hurry to get rid of their cash – at least as a method of payment, nor are they content with the contactless tap-and-go cards currently in use; they are anxious to replace cards with contactless smartphone technology, writes Aaron Rosland, senior economic counsellor for the Government of Ontario, Canada.
Ten years ago business-to-business payment options were pretty limited: cheques dominated, and organisations only had the option of 3-day BACS payments or expensive CHAPS transactions for high value, same day payments.
Concerns are emerging over the failure of some mobile banking providers to address security risks. According to a recent review of 40 home banking apps from the world’s top 60 banks, nine out of ten apps had serious security vulnerabilities.
While receipts offer tantalizing indirect evidence of past activities, they tell us only a very modest amount about the habits, personalities or needs of the purchaser. For merchants, it’s where consumers are going next—and why they’re going there—that really matters.
More than 125,000 online gambling accounts were created in less than a month, according to New Jersey’s Division of Gaming Enforcement. As one of three states where online gambling is now legal, the Garden State presents significant opportunity for digital wallet providers.
From smartwatches to voice-recognition capabilities, 2014 promises to be mobile’s best year yet. And these and other mobile trends will influence payments and financial services innovation.
There are two sides to every coin, but with Bitcoin those sides simply could not be farther apart. Its promise is extraordinary: for those afraid of inflation, it is gold redux, while for those who hate exchange rates, it is a way to pay internationally. For merchants it is a way of avoiding high transaction fees and for former Presidential hopeful Ron Paul, it is the destruction of the US Dollar.
While there are now a dozen ways to build and maintain relationships with customers, many organizations often still treat these channels as separate silos, creating a disjointed customer care experience. By sharing data across channels, you’re more likely to have less frustrated, more loyal customers.
How employees are using their accounts can have a dramatic impact on an employer’s overall HSA strategy and benefit plan. As we approach the 10th anniversary of the enabling legislation for HSAs, the industry, employers and brokers/agents all have the opportunity to move HSAs forward with the use of insightful reporting and analytical tools.
2014 is shaping up to be a big year for e-money and those players with the ability to spot opportunities (think loyalty and mobile), and the agility to react to them, will increase market share and thrive.
Following the tumultuous change that came in the wake of the subprime crisis, capital markets firms have yet to regain a strong foothold but 2014 is showing increasing evidence of a shift to a higher gear.
To kick off 2014, we asked payments industry thought leaders in the U.S. and Europe to reflect on the year that turned out not to be the “Year of NFC” and to look ahead at what will dominate prepaid and emerging payments for the next 12 months. We also asked them what the industry’s New Year’s resolutions should be.
Industry thought leaders weigh in on priorities for 2014.
