Starbucks Mobile Order-Ahead Now Available Throughout U.S. (Sept. 22, 2015)
Starbucks has rolled out its mobile ordering and payment service to all 7,400 of the coffee giant’s U.S. locations.
Payments
Roundtable: a world of real-time payments
Call it immediate, instant, fast(er) or real-time, the drive to speed up payments is being discussed in almost every country. As part of that discussion Banking Technology and ACI Worldwide brought together international participants from Australia, Europe, the UK and the US review the opportunities and challenges ahead.
Worldpay Hopes to Reap $1.4 Billion in IPO
With several companies vying to acquire Worldpay Group Ltd., Advent International Corp. and Bain Capital, owners of the U.K.-based payment processor, have decided to proceed with their planned IPO of the company with the hopes of raising $1.4 billion.
Apple Pay Registers for Business in China (Sept. 21, 2015)
Apple Inc. is making good on its plan to bring Apple Pay to China, with news that it’s registered a subsidiary, Apple Technology Service (Shanghai) Ltd. in Shanghai’s free-trade zone, with permission to operate Apple Pay, but it’s already late to the m-payments party in China, say observers.
Stratos Kicks off Partnership Program with Eastern Bank (Sept. 20, 2015)
Stratos Inc. is kicking off a new partnership program with Eastern Bank, making it the first financial institution to distribute the company’s Bluetooth Connected Card, which combines multiple payment, loyalty, membership and gift cards into one.
RBC Goes Live with HCE-Based M-Payments (Sept. 17, 2015)
Royal Bank of Canada this week introduced a new—and still somewhat rare—approach to connecting its customers to its RBC Wallet mobile payments service via host card emulation (HCE), so it works with any NFC-based Android handset, regardless of its brand or the user’s wireless carrier.
Urban FT, Sprint to Launch Revamped Digital Wallet (Sept. 17, 2015)
Starting in January 2016, Sprint’s 57 million customers will have access to a revamped digital wallet, Sprint Money Express, through a joint initiative between the telecom and Urban FT, a provider of white-label digital banking apps.
Company on the Move: Prepaid Financial Services, The Sunday Times Hiscox Tech Track 100
The Sunday Times Hiscox Tech Track 100, which ranks the U.K.’s private technology, media and telecom companies with the fastest-growing sales over three years, has ranked Prepaid Financial Services, a global payment services provider and fintech company, No. 22.
PayPal Revives Online Gaming Payments (Sept. 15, 2015)
Those enabling payments for online gaming Websites have a new, rather large competitor.
Fiserv Completes Card-Free ATM Pilot, Introduces AML Compliance Solution for Gaming Industry (Sept. 15, 2015)
Fiserv Inc. will be enabling consumers to access their cash without using a payment card at participating ATMs.
Stripe Unveils Relay for One-Click Purchases within Twitter, Mobile Apps (Sept. 15, 2015)
San Francisco-based Stripe is hoping to accelerate the spread of buy buttons, this week unveiling Relay, a service enabling consumers to make a purchase from within a mobile app or a social media site like Twitter, without bouncing to a merchant’s e-commerce site.
Study: Mobile Increasingly Shaping Retail Experience in U.K. (Sept. 15, 2015)
Smartphones are becoming more integral to the shopping experience in the U.K., where consumers are increasingly using mobile devices to make in-store and online purchases and to research products, a new report found.
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.
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?
