How does the prepaid industry measure up? As fees decline and functionality increases, CFSI grades prepaid and anticipates its evolution. Are you ready to compete with next-generation providers?
Results of two national Blackhawk Engagement Solutions surveys show that female shoppers are connected, very well-informed and are prepared to make a thoughtful, considered purchase anytime and anywhere—all of which has some implications for the payments industry.
Consumers are ahead in digital payment adoption compared with businesses, and—despite significant prepaid program success in the B2C market—paper checks still dominate. Aside from the obvious benefits of cutting expenses and removing inefficiency, prepaid cards offer businesses an opportunity to leverage payments to drive customer loyalty and engagement.
Digital disruption has made its mark, changing how consumers interact with and consume banking services. For banks there is no way back from digital. A new landscape has been forged and they must find their place within this new operating environment. Ever evolving consumer needs, the curse of legacy systems, the relentless march of fintechs […]
Art Gillis, a seasoned banking technology consultant (working in the computer industry since 1958 – and listed as a top 25 tech consultant by the American Banker) and author, pulls no punches in this opinion piece. Digital technology evangelists, read it at your peril. The past 50 years I have known only three bank CEOs who […]
Following outages at some of the UK’s leading banks including Barclays and, most recently, HSBC which left customers unable to access funds for up to two days, means system failures are a hot topic. The amount and frequency of these damaging failures emphasises the growing issue of poor software quality management in the UK banking […]
Many will be surprised by where the biggest transformations in fintech actually come from in the next few years. A true disruption probably won’t stem from a tech start-up that gets hot and rides the wave to a new normal in banking. No, it’ll actually be those old card-issuing behemoths, Visa and MasterCard, which will […]
Over $100 billion fines were paid in US for non-compliance since 2007! More than $2.5 billion in 2015 alone was a result of incomplete and inaccurate data used for complying with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. It’s not just financial institutions, but most firms are sitting on a ticking time bomb. How? Dr Seth Rao, CEO […]
It’s time for banks to wake up. Fintech is advancing at an alarming rate, and the banking world is falling behind. And while we can all agree that fintech is revolutionising the industry, there is still plenty of disagreement as to how financial institutions should respond to the changes. Traditional establishments are cautious to implement […]
As printers and other devices start replacing supplies on their own, and giants such as Amazon make big bets on the evolution of self-sufficient retail, an expert ponders whether the Internet of Things needs its own payments infrastructure.
As MasterCard and Visa work to enable quicker EMV transactions, could new technology leapfrog EMV by providing a better experience at the POS?
Is the sky really falling for Apple, which missed its Q2 earning mark, as some analysts predict? Another view points to Apple Pay and other services from the hardware giant as growth drivers for the future.
Anti-fraud tokenization technology stands to gain more attention and use in the U.S. as the mobile wallet wars develop and new specifications are issued.
With MiFID II now confirmed and MAR just around the corner, Dave Tolladay of Alerts4 Financial Markets examines the key questions facing financial institutions having to increase trade surveillance monitoring spend while reducing costs. Between €500 and €700 million – that’s the estimated one-off compliance cost to be imposed on financial firms carrying out a […]
A search for fintech now returns nearly ten million results – astounding, when you consider the first searches were recorded in 2005. But how many of those results focus on, or indeed are sourced from fintech innovators in the truest sense of the word, asks Philippe Gelis, CEO and co-founder Kantox. The reality is that fintech is […]
In a world where prudential regulatory rules are interlinked the old temptation to explore one regulatory development at a time is damaging. Regulatory reporting, and the technological systems behind it, need to adapt if we are to avoid past mistakes, writes Selwyn Blair-Ford, head of global regulatory policy at Wolters Kluwer. Here’s a scenario that […]
Biometric security in the financial services sector has finally reached the tipping point many have been anticipating since Apple launched its fingerprint recognition technology one whole iPhone generation ago. We recently saw the first of the major banks to announce that both fingerprint and voice recognition technology will be viable account login options for millions […]
If you want to fight fraud in the corporate and government sector—or any sector—you need many tools. And, you may have to educate clients that no one tool is the solution.
Gamification is not new, but new entrants are showing that injecting the right mix of fun and rewards into financial education can reap dividends for consumers and financial services providers seeking to engage their customers.
We’re bombarded daily with reports that fintech firms are poised to eat the banks’ lunch. The drumbeat is so loud and steady, it’s hard not to fall into the trap of thinking that banks’ best days are behind them. But, I believe the proliferation of fintech solutions presents a remarkable opportunity for small and midsize financial institutions.
Cyber attacks against the banking industry have soared in the last few years. And financial institutions now face 300% more attacks than any other industry. Comparatively with other industries, the financial services industry isn’t shy where it comes to cyber security investment and generally has a superior level of protection. But this attracts a more […]
As I waited today for the barista to fill my coffee order I picked up the local newspaper; jumping right off the page was the headline, “9 Businesses that are still cash only”! (This was a reference to an article by Laura Woods on the Go Banking Rates website on 2 April 2016.) Of course, […]
Doing more with less is an important goal for any business. In the world of banking, an increasingly complex market is driving firms to uncover new ways to deliver cost efficiencies, writes Peter Gould, associate partner at Orbium. Growing competition from specialist providers continues to disrupt the traditional banking model. These firms are using new […]
Almost half (48%) of SMEs in the UK are frustrated by payments taking too long to reach their bank account, a survey conducted by YouGov on behalf of ACI has found this week. The businesses surveyed also state that these delays are negatively affecting their ability to run their business. A third of the SMEs […]
With the threat of cybercrime growing considerably, we canvassed top payments providers and data security consultants to find out what they see as the biggest cyber-risks, and what steps companies should take to help keep consumer data—and the financial system—safe.
As contactless EMV transactions become mainstream in the U.K., the trends could foreshadow what’s ahead for U.S. payments.
The financial services ecosystem is experiencing dramatic change, driven on the one hand by disruptive fintech models that are causing disintermediation of the financial incumbents, and on the other hand by rapid advances in technology that are disrupting the ancient, creaking core banking platforms. Fintechs, prepare for a wave of M&A, says FirstCapital’s CEO, Jason Purcell, as […]
Faster payments is one of the more pervasive topics in almost any global payments conversation. And if you look at key countries like Singapore, the US, and Australia, it may seem to be more than just talking. Additionally, many countries are improving their infrastructure to clear payments in the same day or already have domestic […]
One of the most talked about issues in retail banking today is the emergence of the new entrant, or “challenger”, bank. “New” banks are being spun off from existing institutions and more than twenty organisations having applied for, or received, a banking licence over the past twelve months or so. Banking is becoming an ever […]
When you think of the new era in banking — let’s call it “Banking 2.0” — what do you see? Is there something revolutionary such as totally virtual branches or no paper money at all? It’s hard to tell how Banking 2.0 will exactly look like, especially with virtual reality (VR) sets going mainstream, but […]
The world has been talking about “mobile payments” for years, but the phrase means different things to different people. So what exactly are mobile payments? And how much more mobile than cash or cards can payments actually get, asks Philipp Nieland, co-founder and CTO of PPRO Group. Some people believe that mobile payments are those […]
Traditional banking has taken quite a beating in recent years as more and more customers prefer to handle their banking needs digitally rather than be bogged down by paperwork or wait in lines at a physical bank. In a bid to meet developing customer expectations, many banks have begun offering web-related services such as e-deposits, […]
Dear Banks, how’s it going? If you’re reading this, you must be on social media, or you’re at least checking the internet. That’s great. I’ve been meaning to write this letter for a long time. The first thing you should know is that I think you’re really important. Sure, I might like to joke about […]
Technology is the most important agent of change today; hardly any industry is immune to both its value-creating and disruptive potential. However, in an April 2011 survey of corporate directors by McKinsey Quarterly, more than half said their boards had only one technology-related discussion a year, or none at all. Since then, the situation has […]
The rise of m-wallets, smartphones and online shopping could be a boon to virtual incentives.
If you’re not analyzing your cardholders’ IVR interactions, you’re missing an opportunity to improve their experiences and engender loyalty. IVR design based on insights from previous interactions is crucial, particularly in prepaid where cardholders rely heavily on customer service.
Smaller banks bent on taking market share from larger rivals can appeal to mobile consumers without going all-in on NFC, at least for now.
Mike Lobanov, partner at Target Global, takes a look at the recent fluctuations in Lending Club’s share price to assess the impact on the peer-to-peer (P2P) industries. The P2P lending platform Lending Club is proudly the largest platform of its kind in the US. Founded in 2007, it successfully raised in excess of $390 million […]
Even as I am prepping for my next industry event, observations from the last conference I attended continue to permeate my thoughts. The ATMIA US Conference that was held in New Orleans only recently and yet, three items continue to have me thinking about the durability, indeed longevity, of some of the points raised. In […]
The introduction of the Fundamental Review of the Trading Book (FRTB) requires a rethink when it comes to risk architecture and data requirements. Xavier Dubois, Wolters Kluwer’s senior risk and finance specialist for EMEA, outlines the key points. There is an area of complete agreement when it comes to examining the potential impact of FRTB – […]
