EU Passes Interchange Caps; Prepaid Businesses Must Look Elsewhere for Income (March 10, 2015)
The long road to interchange reform in the European Union has come to an end of sorts with passage of interchange caps today in the European Parliament.
PayTech
Experts: Cardholder Authentication Key to Stemming Apple Pay Fraud (March 9, 2015)
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that fraudsters were exploiting stolen credit card data to set up fake Apple Pay accounts and buying big-ticket items in Apple’s own stores and other retail outlets.
Despite 1 Million Cards on Apple Pay, Chase Sees ‘Need to Be Everywhere’ (March 9, 2015)
JPMorgan Chase isn’t putting all of its mobile payments eggs (or apples) in one basket.
Transfast Partners with Trio of Kenyan Banks for Same-Day Deposits, M-Pesa (March 9, 2015)
International money transfer company Transfast has announced partnerships with three of Kenya’s largest banks to speed up its services for sending and receiving funds across borders.
EBA Drawing Blueprint for SEPA-Wide Instant Payments (March 9, 2015)
EBA Clearing, a provider of European payment infrastructure solutions, is laying the groundwork for a Europe-wide instant payments processing service.
Securing the future of NFC?
Ever since the deployment of Apple’s NFC solution – ‘Apple Pay’, and the various competitors launches since, there’s been speculation around what the future holds for consumer payments and how security will impact it
SIA to connect Hungarian CSD Keler to T2S
SIA, in partnership with Colt, has been awarded the contract to connect Hungarian central securities depository Keler to T2S, the new single European platform for the settlement of transactions in domestic and cross-border securities.
Citi Mobile Challenge extends deadline
The Citi Mobile Challenge, which seeks to unearth innovation and developer talent in some of the most far flung reaches of globe in a bid to get the best talent to help change the way the world banks, has extended its registration deadline to allow more people to take part.
Schulman: PayPal’s Open Platform Is Key to Success in Digitization of Money
Explosive developments in mobile commerce and payments will drive a level of disruption in the next three to five years unlike anything the financial services industry has seen before, Dan Schulman, incoming CEO of PayPal, forecast this week.
Blackhawk Boosts Wallet App with Gift Card Exchange, Scanning (Mar. 5, 2015)
Blackhawk Network Inc. is bolstering its mobile wallet app, adding a feature that will enable users to sell and exchange gift cards as well as the ability to scan physical gift cards to add them to the wallet.
Google Shuts Down Softcard (Mar. 5, 2015)
Google wasted no time shutting down Softcard after acquiring technology and intellectual property from the telco-backed mobile wallet last week.
Study: Prepaid Satisfaction High but Image Problem Persists (Mar. 5, 2015)
With plenty of room to further penetrate the market—40 percent of respondents had not used a prepaid card—survey results around willingness (or not) to recommend prepaid to a friend, suggest the industry may be suffering from a lingering image problem.
People on the Move: Brett King, Anthemis Group
Brett King is joining digital financial services investment and advisory firm Anthemis Group as a venture partner.
People on the Move: Karen Czack, John Drechny, Sarah Hartman, Patty Walters, EMV Migration Forum
The EMV Migration Forum, a cross-industry body focused on supporting the migration to EMV payments standards in the U.S., has announced its 2015-2016 steering committee officers. The committee will be chaired by John Drechny, senior director of payment services, Walmart. Patty Walters, senior vice president of corporate EMV strategy for Vantiv Inc., will serve as […]
People on the Move: Patrick Harker, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
The board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia has announced that Patrick Harker will assume the role of president and CEO, effective July 1, 2015.
Company on the Move: New Doone Science & Technology, GlobalPlatform Membership
GlobalPlatform, a nonprofit organization that standardizes managing applications on secure chip technology, has added New Doone Science & Technology as an observer member.
People on the Move: Don Kingsborough, Raise Board
Online gift card marketplace Raise has announced that Don Kingsborough has joined the company’s board of directors.
People on the Move: Paul Bridgewater, Jim Emerick, Sage Business Solutions
Payment services provider and processor Sage Payment Solutions has appointed Paul Bridgewater as CEO and Jim Emerick as executive vice president of customer support.
People on the Move: Douglas McGann, UniRush
Prepaid program manager UniRush LLC has promoted Douglas McGann to the role of president.
People on the Move: Rob Lehman, WilmerHale
Rob Lehman has joined law firm WilmerHale as co-chair of the firm’s legislative affairs and public policy group, a government relations practice that provides strategic legislative and regulatory advocacy and solutions.
Swift adds peer assessment to sanctions service
Swift has added peer assessment to its Sanctions Testing service. An optional service it will allow financial institutions to compare the performance of their sanctions filters against those of other participating institutions.
Tungsten Bank launches e-invoicing in Germany, France, Italy
Tungsten Bank can now provide banking services in Germany, France and Italy following approval from the UK’s Prudential Regulation Authority
Meet the Jetsons? Visa and MasterCard Unveil In-Car Food Ordering, Transit Innovations (March 3, 2015)
New mobile payments and loyalty management technologies envisioned for public transportation and automobiles may spark some big changes in commuters’ daily routines, according to announcements from Visa and MasterCard this week at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
Ubiquity Expands Customer Base with Meta, Wave Crest Deals (March 3, 2015)
Ubiquity Global Services, which last fall announced the opening of a contact center in Lisbon, has recently signed deals with two major prepaid companies, Meta Payment Systems and Wave Crest.
Cardtronics Offers Surcharge-Free ATM Access Direct to Consumers (Mar. 3, 2015)
ATM owner/operator Cardtronics Inc. is launching a new surcharge-free ATM membership program called ATMpass that enables consumers to purchase monthly, quarterly or annual memberships for surcharge-free ATM access in retail locations.
Cordray’s Semi-Annual Report to Congress Focuses on Mortgages/Lending (March 3, 2015)
CFPB Director Richard Cordray today addresses the House Financial Services Committee for the bureau’s semi-annual report to Congress.
N.Y. May Put AML Onus on Bank Execs (Mar. 3, 2015)
New York is considering a plan to hold top banking executives personally responsible for the quality and effectiveness of their firms’ AML efforts.
Viewpoint: Supervisory or Enforcement Action, Deputy Director Antonakes Explains How the CFPB Decides
The CFPB’s Antonakes explained his bureau’s supervisory approach and enforcement actions and how they are different from that of the federal banking agencies.
Mobile money goes global in 2015 reports GSMA
Mobile money is expanding rapidly as global smartphone penetration grows. This year, many providers are looking to expand their range of mobile money services to areas such as credit and savings – but operators must be wary of the remaining challenges, including regulation and market sizes, according to a new report by the GSMA.
PayPal Makes In-Store Gains with Paydiant Acquisition (March 2, 2015)
PayPal took a big step forward in expanding its in-store payments presence today, announcing plans to acquire Paydiant, an Auburndale, Mass.-based mobile payments technology company.
Samsung Pay to Roll Out This Summer, Expanding Merchants’ Mobile-Payment Reach (March 2, 2015)
Samsung Electronics Co. unveiled details of Samsung Pay, its mobile payments service set to roll out in the U.S. this summer to compete with Apple Pay and Google Wallet, further expanding the potential audience—and merchants—that can participate in the tap-to-pay experience.
Visa Buys Merchant Offer Platform TrialPay (March 2, 2015)
Visa last week announced plans to buy TrialPay, an e-commerce platform that helps merchants convert free users into paying subscribers for gaming and other online and mobile services.
CFPB’s Submission Overhaul for Credit Agreements Could Streamline Prepaid Process (Mar. 2, 2015)
The CFPB is updating the system credit card issuers use to submit their card agreements to the agency’s public database, and the new automated process could be used by prepaid card issuers if submitting cardholder agreements as proposed by the agency’s NPRM on prepaid accounts becomes law.
Samsung banks on backward compatibility in payments play
Samsung has announced a new mobile payment service called Samsung Pay, that it claims will break the obstacles to mobile wallet adoption by being compatible with older point-of-sale terminals through the use of Magnetic Secure Transmission, which allows terminals using traditional magnetic stripe technology to accept payments.
SIA sees mobile future in 2015
Nearly two-thirds of Italians will be able to make real-time peer to peer payments using a mobile phone by this summer, according to Massimo Arrighetti, chief executive of Italian payment processor SIA. That’s not the end of SIA’s plans however, as the company focuses on an internationalisation agenda that targets 400 million European current account holders.
Blog: Trends in Emerging Technologies
Younger users are setting the stage for a payments future of wearables and mobile. See what the latest consumer research from FIS reveals.
Viewpoint: Citi Prepaid: Building on Success in the U.S. Corporate Prepaid Market
Success in the corporate prepaid card market requires providers to offer more than just cost savings and efficiency improvements. Successful providers must also present a compelling opportunity for corporates to enhance their offering and services.
Blog: 5 Payments Trends to Watch in 2015
The U.S. migration to EMV chip technology, developments in mobile and contactless payments in retail and transit, and a focus on layered payments security, were the headlining themes from the annual Smart Card Alliance Payments Summit.
Google Wallet Buys Softcard Tech/IP, Signs Distribution Deal with Wireless Carriers (Feb. 25, 2015)
Google Wallet is getting fresh horses in the mobile wallet race, where Apple Pay has the early lead.
Square Co-Founder: Pinpointing Shoppers’ In-Store Locations Will Transform Retail, Payments (Feb. 25, 2015)
Mobile payments technology is driving multiple types of innovations, but one of the most transformative likely will be location-based technologies that improve the shopping experience, according to Square’s co-founder Jim McKelvey.
