People on the Move: Andrew Cecere, U.S. Bancorp
U.S. Bancorp, parent company of U.S. Bank, announced that Andrew Cecere, currently vice chairman and chief operating officer, has been promoted to president.
News
Green Dot Responds as Leading Shareholder Calls for Ouster of CEO (Jan. 26, 2016)
Green Dot was quick to respond as CEO Steve Streit came under fire with the company’s largest shareholder, Harvest Capital Strategies LLC, calling for his ouster along with that of two board members.
Report: Fraudsters’ Test Runs Surged in Q4 2015
Cybercriminals could be ramping up their attacks on financial services providers, according to a new study. The fourth quarter of 2015 saw a tenfold increase in “bot attacks”—essentially test attacks meant to gauge the security of targeted systems—according to the report by ThreatMatrix, a San Jose, Calif., cybersecurity company.
Crime Doesn’t Pay: Two Credit Card-Related Fraud Cases Result in Jail Time (Jan. 26, 2016)
Two separate cases involving credit card fraud have led to a sentence of 80 months in prison for leading one of the largest credit card fraud schemes and a guilty plea to a charge of stealing credit card data.
National Australia Bank Launches an Android Pay Mobile Payments Tool (Jan. 26, 2016)
National Australia Bank launches a mobile payments service for devices that run Google’s Android operating system. The launch of the Android Pay service comes as Apple Pay fails to find a way into the country.
Electronic payment volumes and security fears rocket
A survey of more than 3,700 IT security practitioners from more than a dozen major industry sectors found 54% of those firms surveyed had a security or data breach involving payment data, on average four times in past two years. The research, independently conducted by the Ponemon Institute on behalf of digital security firm Gemalto, also […]
DTCC: Blockchain is “once-in-a-generation opportunity”
In a new whitepaper, the US post-trade infrastructure provider Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC), has voiced its belief that the financial services industry “has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine and modernise its infrastructure” by employing blockchain in a coordinated manner. Blockchain is the transaction model used to transfer ownership of crypto-currency bitcoin. It was developed […]
Fiserv Will Buy Digital Banking Technology from ACI Worldwide for $200 Million (Jan. 25, 2016)
Fiserv will pay $200 million for digital banking and electronic payment technology from ACI Worldwide. The deal, expected to close in the first quarter, includes ACI’s Community Financial Services business.
FTC: Big Data Practices Could Violate Federal Laws (Jan. 25, 2016)
Big data has proven to be a useful tool for retailers and financial services providers seeking to identify customer habits and preferences—but federal regulators are warning that certain uses of consumer information may potentially violate consumer protection laws.
Raphaels, VocaLink Partner for Faster Payments; SIA’s Jiffy Hits Milestone (Jan. 25, 2016)
VocaLink is working with Raphaels Bank to enable access to the Faster Payments Scheme for several U.K. banks, including competing financial institutions. Meanwhile, Italian payments processor SIA announced its mobile money service Jiffy has more than 250,000 users as of the end of 2015.
RAI Stone Analytics adopted by Americana Community Bank
Americana Community Bank (ACB) is working with RAI Stone Group, the provider of the RAI Stone Analytics platform to supports its small-to-medium business (SMB) teams, which focus on organisations employing between one and 100 people. “Using this service is adding significant, measurable return-on-investment (ROI) that might have happened over time, sure. But we didn’t see […]
‘Smart’ CRM sees investment from HSBC
Cognitive computing specialist CustomerMatrix, a co-founder of forum Cognitive Computing Consortium, has closed US$10.5 million in Series-B funding. The investment, one in a series of investments in artificial intelligence-like technologies in 2016, was led by HSBC, with participation from Aster Capital, and existing investors Newfund and True Global Ventures. CustomerMatrix, which offers a predictive engine called […]
Looming MiFID II caps fail to quench buy-side thirst for dark trading
The value of dark equity trading jumped last year despite pending European regulations which will limit a fund manager’s ability to trade shares away from stock exchanges, according to research from equities broker ITG.
Amex Folds Enterprise Growth but Keeps Prepaid (Jan. 21, 2016)
American Express will “scale back experiments” that focused on finding new revenue and consumers but continue to focus on prepaid and alternative payments, says a spokesperson for the payments network.
Washington State Proposes Problematic Payroll Card Rules (Jan. 21, 2016)
Add another state in play regarding proposed restrictions on payroll cards. Washington state representatives introduced a bill making it unlawful for payroll card providers to charge certain fees.
InComm Launches Digital Visa Cards for Loyalty, Incentives (Jan. 21, 2016)
InComm is bringing its line of Visa-branded gift and reward cards to the digital realm, announcing the launch of new digital versions of the cards for use in incentive and loyalty programs.
Swift payments innovation initiative gains ground as 45 banks sign up
A total of 45 banks including Barclays, Citi, Deutsche Bank and many others have signed up to a new payments innovation initiative headed by Swift, which is due to launch early next year. Announced in December, the initiative aims to dramatically improve the customer experience in correspondent banking by increasing the speed, transparency and predictability of cross-border payments.
‘Modular’ financial services set to benefit consumers
Financial services are becoming “modular”, with digital distribution platforms, new product providers, alternative sources of capital and a growth in outsourcing likely to reshape the industry, according to a new report by global management consultancy Oliver Wyman.
Viewpoint: Balancing Digital Money, Counter-Terrorism and the Future of E-Money in Europe
Following the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris, some European member states are calling for swift action, while others are concerned that too much regulation would stifle prepaid card distribution and innovation.
Viewpoint: Terrorist Financing and Prepaid Cards: Ban Them!
When a terrorist spends cash, there is no trace, no history of where it came from, where or how it was spent. But using a prepaid card leaves a trail to follow.
NRF BIG Show: Diebold Brings NFC to Self-Checkout (Jan. 19, 2016)
With mobile devices projected to play an increasing role in in-store shopping, ATM maker Diebold Inc. has unveiled a new self-checkout concept that enables users to make purchases by scanning items via mobile.
U.S. Court Lets First Amendment Challenge to Surcharge Prohibitions Stand (Jan. 19, 2016)
A U.S. appeals court has declined a request from Florida for a full review over a ruling that allows merchant to offer discounts for cash transactions, a move that could lead to more Floridians choosing to pay with cash.
Banks face new wave of disruption warns report
Following years of mistrust and rivalries, the time has come to reimagine the payments relationships between banks, retailers and fintech firms, according to a joint report from analyst firm Celent and payments systems company ACI Worldwide.
Announcing IFINTEC Finance Technologies Conference and Exhibition
IFINTEC Finance Technologies Conference and Exhibition will be held on 12-13 April 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey. IFINTEC is a dedicated conference focusing on banking solutions and finance technologies. IFINTEC is one of the biggest events in EMEA region in its category. Banking Technology, Finance Technology, Core Banking, Retail Banking, Universal Banking, Commercial Banking, Branchless Banking, Payment Systems, Mobile Banking, Branch Automation, Lending Solutions, Credit and Operational Risk Management, Debt Management, Fraud Prevention, Governance Risk Compliance, Banking IT, Secure Banking and Insurance Technology are key topics of the conference.
Retailers Combat Shopping Cart Abandonment with Visa Checkout (Jan. 13, 2016)
Many retailers selling products online continue to combat shopping cart abandonment and lost sales during the checkout process. Java giant Starbucks and big box chain Walmart are the latest retailers fighting back to convert consumers from browsers into buyers by making checkout easier for them.
PrePaid Ventures Buys KEEPS America (Jan. 13, 2016)
PrePaid Ventures, the company behind the Visa-branded NexisCard prepaid program, has bought KEEPS America, which provides prepaid cards for lawsuit, workers’ compensation and Social Security settlement awards.
Chime Rings in Automated Saving Feature (Jan. 13, 2016)
Many millennials recognize the importance of saving but often find it difficult to follow through on actually setting aside funds.
Markit adopts AWS cloud services
Financial information services firm Markit has begun using Amazon Web Services, in a deal the firm says will optimise the performance and scaling capabilities of Markit products and services including enterprise data management, thinkFolio, WSO, indices and processing.
People on the Move: Curt Hess, Barclaycard U.S.
Barclaycard U.S., the payments business of Barclays in the U.S., has appointed Curt Hess as CEO.
Company on the Move: CardLinx Association, New Members
CardLinx Association, which represents the card-linked rewards industry, announced the addition of several new members, including FIS, General Mills, Go Daddy, Samsung Card and Under Armour.
People on the Move: David Silberman, CFPB
The CFPB appointed David Silberman acting deputy director beginning next week, replacing Meredith Fuchs.
People on the Move: Michael O’Laughlin, Fiserv Inc.
Fiserv Inc., a global provider of financial services technology, announced that Michael O’Laughlin has been named president of its biller solutions business, which includes an array of bill presentment and payment services delivered through Web, mobile, telephone and walk-in channels.
People on the Move: Stephanie El Rhomri, GlobalPlatform Board of Directors
Stephanie El Rhomri, vice president of technology at FIME, has been elected to the board of GlobalPlatform, an industry body which standardizes the management of applications on secure chip technology.
People on the Move: H. Eugene (Gene) Lockhart, Ingo Money Inc. Board of Directors
Ingo Money Inc. announced that H. Eugene (Gene) Lockhart, former president and CEO of MasterCard Worldwide, has joined its board of directors.
People on the Move: Michael Pires, JetPay Corp.
JetPay Corp. has appointed Michael Pires CEO of its JetPay Payroll Services subsidiary.
People on the Move: Tara Nathan, MasterCard
MasterCard promoted Tara Nathan to executive vice president of public-private partnerships.
People on the Move: Steve Murphy, Mercator Advisory Group
Mercator Advisory Group has added Steve Murphy to its team as director for the company’s commercial and enterprise payments advisory service.
People on the Move: Ian Horsted, R&P Group
Ian Horsted, vice president at R&P Group has received the U.S. Recruiters Network award for Sioux Falls Area Top Producer for the fourth quarter of 2015.
Canadian Mint Selects nanoPay to Bring Digital Currency to a Widespread Audience (Jan. 12, 2016)
Toronto-based fintech startup nanoPay is taking Canada another step toward delivering digital currency on a mass scale. Following a selection process of software developers charged with creating payment apps for the MintChip digital currency created by the Royal Canadian Mint, nanoPay today announced it has acquired all MintChip assets and was chosen to further expand MintChip acceptance.
CFPB Complaint Report: Prepaid, Money Transfers Less than 2% and 1% of Consumer Complaints (Jan. 12, 2016)
The CFPB recently released its November complaint report or “snapshot” of consumer complaints it received through its Website for the three month average between September 2014 and November 2015. Although prepaid saw a jump of 215 in complaint volume, prepaid complaints still represented only 2 percent of all complaints the CFPB received during the period.
