Mobile, Big Data and Credit Steal Show in Vegas (November 2013)
Las Vegas hosted the 21st Annual ATM, Debit & Prepaid Forum last month, where industry stakeholders were abuzz about monetizing mobile and big data and, surprisingly, credit.
Mobile
Bank branch “not dead” says report – but banks must be more mobile
Mobile banking may be on the rise around the world but the bank branch is not dead, according to new research by IT firm GFT Technologies.
Blackboard Tests NFC Phone-based Payments at Two Campuses (Nov. 5, 2013)
Could college campuses serve as labs for U.S. NFC payment adoption? The answer may depend on the results of pilots launched last month at two midsize universities.
m-POS Options Bubbling with Square-Staples Promo, Sprint-Vantiv Venture (Nov. 5, 2013)
Square Inc. is turning up the heat in the m-POS race with a major promotion with Staples to drive sales of its Square Stand POS solution to smaller brick-and-mortar merchants.
Citibank-Backed Mobile Wallet Launches in Hong Kong (Nov. 4, 2013)
Citibank Hong Kong and 3 Hong Kong, the mobile operation of Hutchison Telecommunications Hong Kong Holdings Ltd., have launched 3 Citi Wallet for mobile subscribers of 3 Hong Kong and Citibank Visa cardholders.
Google Wallet Pulls End-Run Around Telecoms (Nov. 4, 2013)
Google’s latest Android mobile operating system includes a new feature that could enable Google Wallet to cut out telecom providers as middlemen for NFC applications.
Starbucks Chief Exits Square’s Board; Coffee Giant Tests Digital Gratuity Feature (Oct. 31, 2013)
Starbucks, arguably the largest mobile payments operator in the world with its wildly popular closed-loop mobile app, grabbed attention late Wednesday with news that Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has resigned from Square Inc.’s board after 15 months.
Mobile Payments Startup Loop Goes to School (Oct. 31, 2013)
Mobile POS payment startup LoopPay Inc. is getting out of the gate fast, inking a deal to distribute its dongle-based mobile wallet to college students through marketing and payments provider Campus Nation Network (CNN).
Report: Mobile Bill Pay Has $2.1 Trillion in Potential (Oct. 31, 2013)
More than 12.5 million Americans already are taking advantage of mobile bill payments, but the untapped potential of the market could be worth $2.1 trillion, according to a new report from Javelin Strategy & Research. That’s the total amount Javelin estimates Americans spend annually on seven essential bill types: open-loop credit cards, store-branded credit cards, […]
Global mobile money transfer to top $10 billion in 2013
The value of international money transfers made via mobile phones will exceed $10bn for the first time this year, according to Juniper Research. However, the cost and complexity of regulating cash transfer has led many service providers to focus exclusively on airtime top ups, the research firm reported.
Docomo Continues NFC Push with Global PayPass Deal (Oct. 29, 2013)
Japanese mobile telecom provider NTT Docomo is partnering with MasterCard to enable users of Docomo’s iD mobile wallet to make contactless purchases at 1.2 million MasterCard PayPass acceptance locations worldwide.
U.S. Bank to Roll Out Mobile Balance Transfer, Corporate Travel Tool (Oct. 29, 2013)
U.S. Bank next month will roll out Mobile Photo Balance Transfer, a feature from Mitek Systems enabling customers to apply for a credit card balance transfer by snapping a photo of a credit card bill with a smartphone and sending it to the bank. Standard credit card approval processes apply. The new service rounds out […]
First Bitcoin ATM to Go Live; South African Bitcoin Exchange Acquired (Oct. 28, 2013)
A coffee shop in Vancouver, British Columbia, will be home this week to what some are hailing as the world’s first Bitcoin ATM, which can exchange cash for the controversial digital currency.
Ingo Money’s MDC Service with Visa Prepaid Goes Live (Oct. 24, 2013)
Oct. 24, 2013 Mobile deposit capture took a big step toward mainstream adoption in the prepaid industry with the announcement this week that Ingo Money Inc.’s mobile deposit capture pilot with Visa, which began last year, is officially out of beta. Ingo Money’s service enables consumers to deposit checks into their Visa Prepaid card accounts by […]
Next Stop, Contactless (October 2013)
Amid big transit rollouts in Chicago and Salt Lake City, Las Vegas is getting in on the action with a new pilot program enabling transit riders to pay bus fares with a tap.
Money2020 Packs Punch with Big Numbers, Startups and Product Demos (October 2013)
Money2020 highlighted financial services technology innovation, as the biggest names from major payment companies, startups and investors convened to glimpse the future of payments.
FEXCO Acquires Mobile Payments Startup FLASHiZ (Oct. 22, 2013)
FEXCO, a provider of financial transaction processing, foreign exchange and outsourcing services based in Ireland, has acquired mobile payments and loyalty startup FLASHiZ, with BNP Paribas Personal Finance taking a minority shareholder stake in the Luxembourg-based company.
MasterCard Inks Broad MasterPass Distribution Deal with Worldline (Oct. 21, 2013)
MasterCard’s MasterPass digital wallet service will become available to thousands of e-commerce merchants across 17 countries in Europe and Asia beginning next month, through a partnership with Paris-based payments provider Worldline.
Rio Latest City to Get NFC Transit Pilot (Oct. 21, 2013)
The global push toward NFC-based transit payments continues—this time in Rio de Janeiro, the site of a new pilot program enabling transit riders to tap mobile smartphones to pay on trains, buses and ferries.
China’s Alipay Reboots Digital Wallet, Heads to Taiwan (Oct. 17, 2013)
China’s giant retail payments operator Alibaba Group this week announced plans to expand its Alipay online payment service to Taiwan and simultaneously unveiled key upgrades to Alipay’s digital wallet, significantly increasing customers’ options for online and offline purchases.
Blog: Money2020 Opens Door to Payments’ Future (October 2013)
The second annual Money2020 in Las Vegas earlier this month had a vibe unlike payment conferences of the past, and not just because of the acrobats roaming around during networking sessions.
Blog: Mobile App Permissions: Scaring Users and Haunting Developers?
Please let me use your camera. Do you mind if I browse through your contacts so I know all your family and friends, and can call or text each at my discretion? To the uninitiated, these eerie questions read like a disturbed love note from a stalker. But these are common permissions requests for many mobile apps. Could they scare off users?
‘Square Cash’ Joins Crowded P2P Field (Oct. 16, 2013)
Square Inc. is wading into the crowded U.S. P2P field this week with Square Cash, taking a somewhat unique debit card-based approach versus competitors by enabling Visa and MasterCard debit cardholders to send funds to each other free of charge via email.
Jamba Juice to Sweeten Deal for Isis Adoption (Oct. 16, 2013)
With the Isis digital wallet set to launch nationwide later this year, the companies behind the wallet are hoping a special launch promotion will sweeten the proposition for consumer adoption.
Hong Kong’s JETCO to Build M-Payment Platform Using NFC (Oct. 16, 2013)
Joint Electronic Teller Services Limited (JETCO), along with its 30 member banks, announced plans to build a mobile payment platform that uses NFC technology.
Kenyan Regulators’ Call for Interoperability Could End M-Pesa Dominance (Oct. 15, 2013)
Proposed new regulations from Kenya’s central bank could force leading telecom provider Safaricom to open its M-Pesa electronic money transfer service to other providers, possibly bringing an end to the company’s dominance of the Kenyan e-money market.
Google Wallet Revamps App, Welcoming iPhone; While NFC’s Momentum Sputters
Google Wallet’s latest makeover—a revised mobile app pushing merchant offers through more channels that’s available now for the first time to Apple Inc.’s iPhone users—means millions more consumers may give it a try.
Executive profile: One on One with Amit Parikh, Discover
New head of prepaid speaks on his multifaceted career, his view on prepaid and why living in the Bay Area gives him a unique perspective on payments.
Pay Mobile: Money2020 Edition (Oct. 11, 2013)
This week in Las Vegas more than 4,500 attendees gathered for the second annual Money2020 conference. Companies across the payments value chain took the opportunity to showcase their latest partnerships, technology or programs with a deluge of announcements charting the future of money.
Money2020: PayPal Cracks QR Codes (Oct. 10, 2013)
PayPal added another key piece to its POS strategy this week with the introduction of Payment Code, a QR code-based approach enabling consumers to pay by scanning the PayPal mobile app at checkout.
MasterCard to Acquire Turkish Processor Provus (Oct. 10, 2013)
Turkey’s large unbanked population, relatively industry-friendly regulatory environment and growing popularity of payment cards, including prepaid and contactless, has made it an attractive and expanding market.
Lessons on living in a real-time payments world
Coming to the US to tell an audience of payments specialists about how the UK has transformed its national infrastructure over the past five years with the introduction of an effectively real-time payment system might have been considered a rough assignment – what can the Brits teach the wider world, particularly the US, about payments […]
PayPal points to global reach
Don Kingsborough, vice president of retail and prepaid products at PayPal, had a clear message for Money2020 delegates in Las Vegas yesterday: “The future is actually now.”
US consumers reject mobile wallets, survey says
The overwhelming majority of US consumers would not use a mobile wallet, according to a survey carried out by consultancy Consult Hyperion during September.
Mobile payments – the tipping point
There comes a tipping point when market readiness, social behaviour and technology combine to create a sudden, ubiquitous change of behaviour. For mobile payments the tipping point may have arrived – but will there be a dominant solution?
Bitcoin is the future, Money2020 delegates told
Bitcoin is here to stay and will continue to grow, according to experts speaking on separate panels at Money2020 in Las Vegas.
Money 2020: Innovation, Mobile-Centric Money Take Center Stage (Oct. 8, 2013)
Innovative and mobile-centric financial services are taking center stage this week at Money2020, which has drawn more than 4,500 attendees to Las Vegas.
Amex Relaunches Serve with Free Cash Reloads through InComm (Oct. 8, 2013)
American Express today announced a relaunch of its Serve prepaid account, packing the card with a raft of new features and benefits, including free cash-reload services at CVS and 7-Eleven stores nationwide, plus online bill payment and money management tools, for $1 a month.
Sprint’s NFC Answer to Isis (Oct. 7, 2013)
When Isis, backed by AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile and Verizon, was announced nearly three years ago, Sprint was notably missing from the group of top U.S. telcos involved in the mobile wallet project.
Contact Solutions Unveils New Customer Service Platform (Oct. 7, 2013)
Contact Solutions LLC today announced a new mobile platform to help cardholders access customer service when they want it and easily switch between self-service and a live agent.
