Mobile


CARTES Paris Showcases Payments Industry’s Diversification (Nov. 6, 2014)

Attendees at the 29th gathering of CARTES concluding today in Paris noticed the event’s growing emphasis on mobile payments, as well as another striking feature of the show—drawing 20,000 attendees from 140 countries—is the diversity of products and business models mobile payments support.

Banks should go digital says Monitise

The time is right for a new breed of digital-only banks to enter the market and steal away share from the established players, according to a new report by Monitise.

Customer Not Present threat prompts response from US providers

As the US moves to adopt EMV chip and PIN cards and mobile payments, authentication is becoming a serious concern, particularly for customer not present transactions – evidenced by the number of Money20/20 exhibitors focusing on the topic in contrast to the blockchain focus of much of last year’s event.

Don’t neglect social media and tablets, banks warned

Banks will be judged on how well they provide mobile services and social media interaction in the coming years. Instead of being just another channel, these forms will be the first point of contact for customers, according to a new report by analyst firm Celent.

Brett King preaches the “good news” of mobile banking

Banks need to stop trying to exploit customers and start actually helping people, according to Brett King, chief executive at Moven. Instead of getting people to max out their credit card, a progressive bank should use smartphones and Big Data to help the consumer with the little things.

The death of the branch? Or is mobile over-hyped?

Do banks still need branches, or does the smartphone make a physical presence obsolete? Panellists disagreed during a spirited debate hosted by ATM maker Wincor Nixdorf in Istanbul last week.

“Mobile is the future” says Garanti Bank

Banks are pioneering advanced technologies in Turkey, giving the country a headstart over many of its European counterparts. In Istanbul, Garanti Bank explained how it pays for its customers to get mobile internet access – and how it is using social media to attract and keep customers.

Connect with customers or face extinction, banks told

Banks in Italy and beyond must find new ways to connect with consumers, or risk going out of business. But how to achieve a successful transformation exercised the minds of senior bank representatives at the SIA Expo in Milan this week.

SIA to shake up “fossilised” P2P payments in a Jiffy

Italian payment processing specialist SIA has released a new P2P payments service that allows users to send and receive funds on their smartphone using their phone contacts. Called Jiffy, the app has been welcomed by Italian retail banks – but SIA’s ambitious plan calls for the service to be rolled out to 400 million European current account holders.

Starting over: Lloyds Banking Group’s transaction banking ambitions

While a great deal of attention has been given to Lloyds Banking Group’s retail operations as its various elements are split up, less has been given to its activities in transaction banking, where it is “one year into a three-year journey” to transform itself and its customer offerings to create“the best global transaction bank in this region”.

Financial institutions ramp up IT innovation

Banks and other financial institutions are finally spending more on growing new products in areas such as mobile and data analytics rather than maintaining legacy systems, according to a new report by Capgemini.

Boku Provides Leading MNOs with Direct Carrier Billing in U.K.

A trio of major U.K. mobile network operators—including O2, EE and Vodafone—has partnered with carrier billing specialist Boku Inc. to enable mobile phone customers in the U.K. to charge the purchase of physical goods and services up to £30 (US$48) to their phone bills.

Square Raises $150MM, Yodlee IPO Yields $75MM

Mobile payment provider Square has landed $150 million in new venture capital in a funding round valuing the company at around $6 billion, and financial app developer Yodlee Inc. raised $75 million in its initial public offering last week.

InComm Joins MCX Fold (Sept. 30, 2014)

Prepaid product and technology provider InComm has partnered with Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX), the retailer-led consortium that recently unveiled its new mobile payments network, CurrentC.

EU Lawmakers Propose Tighter Regulations for Mobile Wallets (Sept. 29, 2014)

The Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the European Union law-making body, has recommended tightening regulations regarding customer authentication and protection of sensitive payment data related to mobile wallets, according to its recently released proposal of the revised Payment Services Directive.