Worldwide


SVS: 92% of Shoppers to Spend Same or More on Gift Cards (Dec. 23, 2014)

Seven of every 10 shoppers plan to buy gift cards this holiday season and, among them, 92 percent of shoppers plan to spend either the same amount or more on gift cards than they spent last year, according to an interim holiday spending report by Stored Value Solutions (SVS).

Alibaba, SoftBank Discuss Collaboration in India (Dec. 23, 2014)

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group and Japanese telecom and Internet firm Softbank are in the midst of preliminary talks to work together, instead of compete, to capture a sizable chunk of India’s consumer Internet market, according to a report.

Biometrics – novel solution, or novelty?

One of the trends of 2014 was its delivery of technology that we had been promised for years but had fallen short until now. Siri, Cortana and Google Now all make good on the sci-fi staple of the voice-activated computer. Virtual reality has been attempted many times, but it seems that the Oculus Rift may have finally cracked it. And biometric authentication, while often included in devices but rarely used, is now commonly used by owners of new iPhones to unlock their devices thanks to Touch ID.

Data analytics do drive financial growth finds EY study

Firms that excel at data analytics also achieve better financial results according a study by EY. High-growth companies are twice as likely to focus on data and analytics in revenue-generating areas such as marketing and sales,

EU Officials Agree to Cap Interchange Fees (Dec. 18, 2014)

Members of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee and European Union Council negotiators yesterday agreed to cap the interchange fees on cross-border and domestic card-based payments, ensuring uniform rules across the EU.

Fingerprint authentication for mobile finance moves closer with FIDO

Widespread use of fingerprint authentication for financial transactions on mobile devices could start taking off from early next year as Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Google, Samsung, Lenovo, Microsoft, Alipay and others adopt a new authentication standard through their joint project, the FIDO Alliance, which has just published its specifications and launched its first server.

Fiserv: Millions of Consumers Want Mobile Bill Pay, Options (Dec. 15, 2014)

The growth in consumer popularity of mobile bill pay features continues unabated as 27 million U.S. households with access to the Internet are paying at least one bill from their phones, an increase of nearly 70 percent compared with 2013, according to The Seventh Annual Billing Household Survey from Fiserv.

People on the Move: Anabel Perez, NovoPayment

Anabel Perez, CEO of prepaid processor and program manager NovoPayment, has been selected as one of this year’s Endeavor Entrepreneurs, which recognizes entrepreneurs who have become role models and give back to their communities as mentors and investors for the next generation of innovators.

Financial services disruption – why I’m backing the banks

For banks, a race to remain relevant is on. In the past few weeks, Lloyds Banking Group has announced its intention to double-down on digital banking, closing branches and cutting costs. In the US, BBVA Compass announced that its agreement with startup Dwolla to offer real-time payment facilities to customers makes it the first mainstream bank to open its technology platform to digital developers like Dwolla