Lenson takes NED role at CurrencyCloud
Mitchel Lenson, former chief information officer at Deutsche bank, has become a non-executive director at CurrencyCloud
News
Italian Financial Police round up money-laundering gang
The Italian Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza), supported by Europol, arrested 10 members of a transnational criminal group yesterday. The criminals, mainly Nigerian citizens, were involved in laundering the proceeds of online fraud, amounting to more than €2.5 million.
‘Hound of Hounslow’ highlights need for surveillance says Nasdaq
As greater convergence between asset classes and the unification of trading desks and trading strategies across multiple asset classes becomes more common, the opportunities for sophisticated market abuse may be on the rise. That may mean that the need for surveillance is greater than ever, according to Tony Sio, head of SmartsTrade Surveillance, exchange and regulators at Nasdaq.
MCX Founding Member Best Buy Supports Rival Apple Pay
Best Buy Co., a founding member of MCX , surprised observers this week with news that it’s supporting Apple Pay on its Website, and adding POS support later this year. Is there a problem?
MasterCard Buys Software Analytics Firm (April 28, 2015)
MasterCard is paying $600 million to acquire Applied Predictive Technologies, a maker of analytics software to help companies tailor investments and calibrate pricing, marketing and merchandising of products. A key asset the new company provides is its “Test & Learn” platform, which will help MasterCard’s clients make more informed decisions to stay competitive, according to […]
Citi Prepaid Services Teams with Enservio to Tackle ‘Great Frontier’ (April 28, 2015)
Citi Prepaid Services is teaming up with Enservio to offer property insurance policyholders the option of a Citi prepaid card for claims payments.
Chase Pulling Out of International Commercial Card Biz (April 28, 2015)
JPMorgan Chase will exit the international commercial card issuing business by the end of this year, but it will continue supporting North American card programs and investing in purchasing cards and single-use accounts, such as virtual cards, as well as other products, a spokesperson for J.P. Morgan’s commercial card business tells Paybefore.
Discover Joins Apple Pay Fold (April 27, 2015)
Discover credit and debit cardholders will be able to make payments via Apple Pay beginning this fall, the companies announced today.
Processor Guidance Important to FI EMV Migration (April 27, 2015)
The Oct. 1, 2015, date for EMV compliance, when liability for counterfeit card transactions at the POS shifts to parties that haven’t adopted the chip card standard, is less than six months away and many financial institutions are finding the effort daunting, according to a study by Fiserv Inc.
Apple Bumps Up Capitol Hill Lobbying Expenses (April 27, 2015)
Apple Inc. is spending more time on Capitol Hill meeting with lawmakers on topics that include mobile payments, new lobbying expense data suggest. During the first three months of this year, Apple’s expenses for lobbying rose 16 percent compared with the same period a year ago.
OMG addresses data sovereignty issues in the cloud
The Object Management Group has formed a new working group to study issues of documenting and controlling data across distributed cloud environments, a big inhibitor of cloud for those with strict data sovereignty requirements such as banks and financial services firms.
U.S. Networks Stocks Rise with Access to $6.8 Trillion Chinese Market (April 23, 2015)
Stocks for all four major U.S.-based payments networks were up yesterday, following news that they’re finally gaining full access to one of the largest payments economies in the world.
PayPal Fuels eBay’s Engine in Q1; M-Payments up 40 Percent (April 23, 2015)
Electronic payments were a driving force behind eBay’s first quarter, ended March 31, 2015, which saw the online auction site total $4.45 billion in revenue compared with $4.26 billion in the same quarter a year ago, according to the company’s latest earnings report.
House Bill Likely D.O.A. Because of Proposed Funding Cap on CFPB (April 23, 2015)
Spoiler alert: A bill approved yesterday by the U.S. House of Representatives basically will be dead on arrival as President Barack Obama has vowed to veto any legislation that tries to touch the purse strings of the CFPB.
Cerutti steps down at Euronext
Euronext has announced that its chief executive Dominique Cerutti will step down in July to become chairman and chief executive at advanced engineering group Altran.
Expert: Apple Watch Likely to Be Apple’s Most Profitable Product Ever (April 21, 2015)
The Apple Watch will be Apple’s most profitable product line ever, with gross margins exceeding 60 percent, according to some observers.
Cachet Targets Millennials with Apple Watch (April 21, 2015)
Attracting millennials requires a better banking experience and Apple Watch may hold the key, according to Minneapolis-based mobile money technology provider Cachet Financial Solutions, which today announced its prepaid mobile platform supports Apple Watch.
Samsung’s Biometrics Plans Go beyond Samsung Pay (April 21, 2015)
Samsung has even larger plans for biometrics beyond including fingerprint-based authentication as part of its Samsung Pay mobile payments service.
ICICI Bank Introduces Contactless Payments at Large Corporate Campuses (April 21, 2015)
India’s largest private bank is exploring contactless payments in a limited rollout to corporate campuses that enables employees to use a mobile prepaid account to make NFC payments at corporate canteens and shops.
US EMV roll-up will see migration of fraud to other channels
The growing use of chip cards – EMV for the cognoscenti – will spur criminals to try new directions in fraud, Al Pascual, practice leader at Javelin Strategy, told delegates at the Nacha Payments 2015 conference in New Orleans. But it will take a little time because criminals have established modus operandi and it takes them time to move from one practice to another.
Report: Apple Pay Coming to Canada (April 20, 2015)
Apple Inc. is negotiating with Canadian banks to bring Apple Pay to Canada as early as November, with details about fees and security protocols at the center of discussions.
PayPal on Security: Thinking Outside the Box, Inside the Body (April 20, 2015)
Jonathan LeBlanc, global head of developer advocacy at PayPal, says the future for mobile payments and other sensitive transactions could lay with embeddable, injectable and ingestible devices.
CFPB Consumer Finance Research Conference May 7-8 (April 20, 2015)
The CFPB is holding a conference next month that it says will focus on high-quality consumer finance research, with academic and government experts presenting data.
Viewpoint: Canada’s Regulation of Mobile Payments: Merchant Protection at the Cost of Innovation?
Some of the most significant changes to Canada’s Code of Conduct for the Credit and Debit Card Industry affect the rights of merchants regarding mobile and contactless payments. Will the updated Code have the unintended consequence of disincenting investment in and adoption of innovative payment technologies in Canada?
Volante lays Foundation for faster payment systems integration
Financial messaging and data integration specialist Volante Technologies has taken a step into the world of packaged products with the launch of VolPay Foundation, a development platform “designed to ease the challenges of payment integration and payment processing projects”.
Senate’s Tax Refund Fraud Bill Takes Aim at Prepaid (April 16, 2015)
Several U.S. senators used income tax season to promote new legislation that takes aim at program providers that enable consumers to receive their tax refunds on prepaid cards.
InstaMed Integrates Apple Pay for Consumer Health Care Payments (April 16, 2015)
Apple Pay is expanding its reach to the health care sector, where InstaMed has integrated the mobile payments service as an option for consumers making payments to hospitals, clinics, doctors’ offices and insurance companies.
Discover Adds ‘On/Off’ Switch to its Cards (April 16, 2015)
Discover cardholders who have temporarily misplaced their cards or suspect fraudulent activity on their accounts now can shut off their credit cards with Discover’s Freeze It security feature.
World Bank Reports 20 Percent Drop in Unbanked Since 2011 (April 16, 2015)
The world’s unbanked population plummeted by 20 percent between 2011 and 2014, as 700 million adults became account holders, according to a new report from the World Bank.
Target Reaches Data Breach Deal with MasterCard (April 16, 2015)
Target will pay $19 million to MasterCard issuers to cover costs stemming from the retail giant’s 2013 data breach.
CounterpartyLink adds hierarchy profiles to legal identity service
CounterpartyLink, a provider of legal entity intelligence for buy- and sell-side institutions and law enforcement agencies, has announced CPL Hierarchy Profile, a new product designed to provide a single view of the client across complex client groups.
NCR offers cloud control for Android-based ATMs
NCR has announced a radical new approach to ATM network deployment, with cloud-based enterprise application allowing banks to control and manage thin-client devices running a locked-down version of the Android operating system.
Study shows 60% of banks’ digital assets on wrong side of firewalls
Security specialist RiskIQ says the growth in digital business is producing an increasing threat to banks across the world, with the largest banks owning an average of 7,500 public facing digital assets – 60% of which are outside the company firewall.
Beware of cyber-complacency warns ex-MI5 director
A former head of the UK Security Service better known as MI5 says banks need to beware the danger of state agencies and others stealing or destroying confidential information.
Report: American Express, Jawbone to Launch NFC Fitness Band (April 15, 2015)
American Express Co. is getting in on the expanding niche of wearable technology.
Canada’s Code of Conduct Expands to Include Mobile (April 15, 2015)
Canada’s Financial Consumer Agency this week has released amendments to Canada’s code of conduct for credit and debit card transactions that extend to mobile payments.
Bento Goes Outside the Box with SMB Prepaid Solution (April 15, 2015)
A new startup headed by longtime payments veteran Farhan Ahmad is seeing big opportunity in small businesses.
People on the Move: Stephen Grice, i2c Inc.
i2c Inc., a provider of payment processing and emerging commerce solutions, announced that Stephen Grice has joined the company as general manager, Europe.
People on the Move: Neil Erlick, Fantasy Sports Trade Association Board
Optimal Payments Plc, an online payment solutions provider, announced that Neil Erlick, executive vice president of business development, has been elected to serve on the board of directors of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association.
People on the Move: Emily Baum, Declan Byrne and Dr. Hartwig Gerhartinger, PIF Board
Prepaid International Forum, the not-for-profit body representing the prepaid industry, has elected three new members to serve on the board.
