UKGCVA: Ireland’s Proposed Gift Card Expiry Ban Too Broad
UKGCVA’s reply to Ireland’s proposal to ban expiration dates on gift cards and vouchers.
Payments
Visa Sets Deadline for Issuers in Target Settlement
Visa set a deadline for its debit card issuers to request extra payment on top of the monies the issuers will receive in accordance with an earlier settlement reached with Target related to the 2013 breach.
Visa, MasterCard Urge Approval of Settlement, Despite Attorney Misconduct
Litigation involves a $7.25 billion settlement deal with retailers, after it was disclosed that a defense attorney shared information with an attorney for the plaintiffs.
Litigation: Retail Gift Card Updates
Abercrombie & Fitch and RadioShack class action decisions involving closed-loop gift cards warrant attention.
The non-bank bank?
Saxo Payments isn’t a bank, and the chief executive isn’t a banker. So how does he think he’s that’s going to help shake up international payments?
Discover’s Apple Pay Lure: 10 Percent Cash Back for 15 Weeks (Sept. 14, 2015)
When Discover Financial Services goes live this week with Apple Pay, customers who’ve been waiting to access the m-payments service with a Discover card will get a chance to reap one of the richest rewards programs available for Apple Pay users.
Global Tech Roundup: Bay Area, London Booming; Visa Eyes 2,000 Tech Pros (Sept. 14, 2015)
Startups in the San Francisco Bay Area brought in 71 percent more investment capital than those in other areas of the U.S., according to new data from FinLab. Meanwhile, London is hosting 10 of Australia’s most promising fintech startups, and Visa Inc. looks to add 2,000 new technology professionals to boost its digital financial services business area.
Mozido’s PayEase Enables Cross-Border E-Commerce Payments between China, Russia (Sept. 14, 2015)
Mozido has lofty expectations for TradeEase—what the company says is the first-ever platform enabling cross-border e-commerce payments between China and Russia.
Looking for the best of all worlds in real-time payments
Central banks need to play a greater role in the provision of infrastructure for low value payments and existing models revised to balance risk and rewards, according to new research published by the Swift Institute.
NBPCA Reveals Payroll Infographic for National Payroll Week
In honor of the celebration, NBPCA released some statistics about payroll cards, including how much businesses and employees save using them.
Android Pay Launches
The mobile payments race just kicked into high gear, with Google Inc. today announcing the immediate launch of Android Pay, joining Apple Pay with a little more than two weeks to go before Samsung Pay rolls out Sept. 28 in the U.S.
MasterCard’s Digital Enablement Express Gets Early Support (Sept. 10, 2015)
Digital wallet providers have an easier route to issuer integration with the new MasterCard Digital Enablement Express service, but one analyst suggests it may be more difficult for providers—outside of Apple Pay—to collect issuer fees.
Blockchain Startup Lands $30MM, Big-Name Partners (Sept. 10, 2015)
In another indication of blockchain technology’s potential for payments, a group of major industry players have made a $30 million equity investment in blockchain startup Chain Inc.
Simple Eliminates All Banking Fees (Sept. 10, 2015)
Paybefore Award-winning Simple, the Portland, Ore.-based branchless bank founded in 2009, this week said it’s eliminating all consumer fees and will rely exclusive on earning interest and interchange for its revenues.
The payment services market under the eye of the regulator
The UK payment services market has been under the spotlight in recent months with the introduction of a new Payment Systems Regulator created with the intention, amongst other things, of opening up the industry to new and emerging payment service providers.
Payment Systems Regulator names members of strategy forum
The Payment Systems Regulator, the new economic regulator for UK payment systems, today confirms the line-up of the Payments Strategy Forum it has set up to set the strategy for innovation in payment systems where the industry needs to work together.
Barclays launches cloud contingency payments with AccessPay
Barclays has launched a cloud-based contingency payment service for corporates, which the bank says will help corporates to make payments even if they are unable to use their primary channel, for example during an internet outage. The deal comes as financial institutions and corporates increase their focus on risk mitigation.
GPR Savings Features Could Benefit Lower-Income Cardholders (Sept. 9, 2015)
GPR cards with savings features could help lower-income cardholders set money aside for unexpected costs and learn better overall financial habits, a new Boston Fed report suggests.
M&A: MetaBank Finalizes Fort Knox Deal; Finicity Acquires Aurora Financial Systems (Sept. 9, 2015)
Consolidation in the payments industry continues as MetaBank expands its presence in the tax services space with the completion of its acquisition of Fort Knox Financial Services Corp., and Finicity Corp. continues its fintech investment by buying payment processor and program manager Aurora Financial Systems Inc.
Smart Payment Assn.: EMV, Mobile Wallets Driving Higher Payment Card Production (Sept. 9, 2015)
Global smart card production has doubled in the last 36 months, in part, because of the U.S. migration to EMV this year. And instead of displacing physical cards, new mobile wallets—including Apple Pay—are contributing to higher overall card production rates, according to Europe’s Smart Payment Association (SPA).
Elavon Exec: Beyond Bleak Chip-Prep Numbers, 20% of Some Merchants’ Transactions Already Are EMV
Most U.S. merchants won’t be ready to process chip cards by the Oct. 1 EMV liability shift, but the somewhat alarming numbers don’t tell the whole story, according to card processing industry veteran Ian Drysdale, executive vice president of sales and business development, North America, for U.S. Bank’s Elavon. EMV already accounts for as many as 20 percent of transactions for some merchants, and momentum is shifting fast.
Report: What Consumer Social Media Buzz Means for Payments (Sept. 8, 2015)
Retailers globally may be facing pressure to adopt new payment technologies, as shoppers demand simpler and more innovative ways to pay, according to MasterCard’s first Retail Social Listening Study. The first-of-its-kind study taps into what consumers are saying on social media about payments and popular retail sectors.
Report: Card-Linked Offers Key to Getting, Keeping Customers (Sept. 8, 2015)
Card-linked offers could help marketers, retailers and issuers as consumers seek more efficient ways to redeem loyalty points and coupons—especially among the coveted millennial demographic—a recent study says.
ATM cash usage continues to grow in UK
Figures from Link, the UK’s cash machine network, show that the number of ATMs in the UK reached 70,180 in July, passing 70,000 for the first time. ATM figures from July, show that the total amount withdrawn from cash machines in July 2015 was £11.3 billion, up 4% compared with July 2014.
Letter from the Editor: Change Is Good, but Slow
When I joined the company in 2007, Google was just a search engine and Apple had nothing to do with payments. It was a time many prepaid executives have compared to throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks—not everything did.
Viewpoint: Why Prepaid Expense Cards Matter
Business expense prepaid cards can fill in the gaps when credit, cash or other business payments aren’t ideal. Tapping this relatively young vertical market will require product features that make life easier for employers and employees.
Blog: Domestic Mobile Payment Schemes: Progress or Protectionism?
The creation of domestic mobile payment schemes by retail banks is good news for their customers domestically, but potentially threatens mobile payments at an international level.
On solid foundations: building on SEPA’s groundwork
As the SEPA deadline has come and gone, what will be built upon its advances towards digitisation and standardisation?
Aussie Central Bank Eyes Amex Regulation (Sept. 2, 2015)
Australia’s central bank may begin regulating American Express cards in the country, putting at risk the generous rewards points cardholders earn on so-called “companion cards”— credit card accounts linked to two different credit card networks, thus enabling cardholders to earn the benefits of whichever one they choose to use at the point of purchase.
India Resumes Development of National Prepaid Transit Card (Sept. 2, 2015)
New Delhi’s Urban Development Ministry this week announced it’s reached an agreement for a consortium of agencies to begin developing an interoperable payment card with a prepaid feature for POS purchases and public transportation that eventually could be used with different transit systems across India.
Flipkart Buys Stake in FX Mart, Gains Access to Prepaid License (Sept. 2, 2015)
Flipkart, one of India’s largest e-commerce companies, has acquired a majority stake in payment services platform FX Mart Pvt. Ltd. for Rs. 45.4 crores (roughly US$6.9 million).
PayPal.Me Links Users to New P2P Approach (Sept. 1, 2015)
PayPal more or less invented P2P payments with its core service enabling individuals to pay one another via email through various funding sources. Now it’s introduced a URL-based approach.
Samsung Pay’s Launch in Korea Drives Brisk Business (Sept. 1, 2015)
Samsung Pay is off to a brisk start in Korea after its launch there Aug. 20, about five weeks ahead of the mobile payment service’s pending debut in the U.S. on Sept. 28, but it’s nowhere near Apple Pay levels, which hit 1 million registered cards in the first 72 hours.
Second Federal Agent Pleads to Stealing Bitcoin in Silk Road Case (Sept. 1, 2015)
A former Secret Service agent involved in the investigation against the Silk Road online marketplace has pleaded guilty in federal court to pilfering nearly a million dollars’ worth of bitcoin during the investigation.
Contactless payments set to boom as limit rises to £30
More than £2.5 billion was spent in the UK using contactless cards in the first half of 2015 and this is likely to increase even more as the upper limit for contactless payments increases from £20 to £30 from today.
Company on the Move: Fiserv Inc., Aite Group Award
Fiserv Inc., a global provider of financial services technology solutions, announced that it has received a vendor award for outstanding performance of anti-money laundering (AML) solutions by Aite Group as part of its “2015 Global AML Vendor Evaluation.”
DOE Rebuffs Input from Legislators (Aug. 31, 2015)
U.S. lawmakers keep trying to influence how the U.S. Department of Education handles a proposed rule on campus cards that deliver financial aid dollars. And, the DOE continues to say, “Thanks, but no thanks.”
NAB Readies M-POS Launch at Apple Store; CurrentC Promises National Coupon Deals (Aug. 31, 2015)
Dangling $5,000 in free Apple Pay transaction processing for merchants, North American Bancard will launch a new EMV-ready m-POS card reader next month at the Apple Store, while MCX says CurrentC is on the verge of a public pilot in Ohio that will include redemption of national manufacturer coupons.
Fuel Discounts Turbocharge Loyalty Programs (Aug. 31, 2015)
Fuel savings are considered the most valuable reward by consumers enrolled in loyalty programs, beating out coupons, airline miles and even cash back, a new survey reveals.
Ingenico Reportedly a Bidder for Worldpay (Aug. 31, 2015)
Another company has entered the field of players vying to acquire Worldpay Ltd.
