February 2013 VeriFone Systems Inc., a San Jose, Calif.-based payment solutions provider, has appointed Marc E. Rothman to executive vice president and chief financial officer, and Jay Parsons to senior vice president, digital media and taxi operations. Rothman joined Motorola Inc. through the acquisition of General Instrument in 2000, and eventually rose to become worldwide […]
February 2013 TSYS has promoted Tony Hodge to executive vice president of application systems for its North America segment. A 30-year TSYS veteran, Hodge has held numerous IT leadership positions, and currently is responsible for more than 1,000 IT professionals. During his tenure at TSYS, he has received numerous leadership awards, including the James H. […]
February 2013 North American Bancard, a Troy, Mich.-based provider of the PayAnywhere mobile POS payment solution, announced that Robert Seward has joined the company as vice president of product management. He oversees the company’s product strategy, planning, management and the delivery technology solutions to merchant customers. Seward joins NAB after leading ACI Worldwide’s merchant retail […]
February 2013 GiftCards.com, a subsidiary of Pittsburgh-based Wolfe LLC, has hired Dana Vento, aka “Pittsburgh Frugal Mom” and founder of PittsburghFrugalMom.com, as social media manager. She will be part of a growing team responsible for broadening the company’s social media platform. Vento spent the last several years creating a successful consumer education blog, focusing on […]
February 2013 Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz stepped down Feb. 15, 2013, to pursue work in the private sector. He has served as chairman since March 2009, and as a commissioner since September 2004. While the FTC regulates anticompetitive, deceptive and unfair practices in general, Leibowitz’s tenure has been recognized for aggressive consumer and […]
February 2013 The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently announced that Steve Antonakes will serve as acting deputy director while the agency searches for a replacement for Raj Date. As Antonakes assumes this temporary role, he will maintain responsibility for his current duties as associate director for supervision, enforcement and fair lending, which he began […]
Market data and technology company Activ Financial has expanded its risk gateway tool to cover all Canadian exchanges, ahead of new rules that will require market participants in Canada to have pre-trade risk controls in place across all asset classes from next month.
February 2013 By Adam Perrotta, Assistant Editor Recent months have seen the release of a spate of payment products targeted for use by Brazilians, whose country is rapidly emerging as a hotbed of financial services development. More than half of the country’s population of more than 200 million is underbanked, according to a MasterCard […]
February 2013 By Krish Mantripragada, First Data The busy holiday season may be over, but the work is just beginning for many merchants. The first few months of the year are a critical time for retailers to reflect on lessons learned and plan for 2013—and beyond. According to First Data’s SpendTrend holiday reports, consumer […]
February 2013 By Kate Fitzgerald, Emerging Payments Editor The retailer-led mobile payment venture Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) has disclosed little about the shape of its developing payment platform since it formed six months ago, but the few details emerging so far are fueling fresh waves of industry buzz. At a panel during the National […]
February 2013 Visa Inc. recently announced that the company’s board of directors has elected Robert W. Matschullat as Visa’s nonexecutive, independent chair. The appointment is effective April 1, following the retirement of executive chair Joseph W. Saunders. Matschullat has been a Visa director since October 2007. He has served as chairman and interim CEO of […]
February 2013 SelectCore Ltd., a Toronto-based prepaid solutions provider, recently announced a strategic restructuring of its executive management team to better position the company to fully capitalize on new contracts and significant growth opportunities that are expected to develop in the near term. Kevin Taylor, director of the corporation, assumes the role of CEO. Keith […]
February 2013 Prosper, a San Francisco-based peer-to-peer financing platform to invest and borrow money, has appointed Stephan Vermut CEO and member of the board of directors. The former founder and managing partner of Merlin Securities, Vermut also has more than 25 years of experience in financial services with Wells Fargo, where he led the bank’s […]
February 2013 First Data Corp., an Atlanta-based payments processor, announced that its board of directors has named Ed Labry interim CEO while it conducts a selection process. In early January, the company announced that Jon Judge planned to retire as CEO for health reasons and would serve until a transition was effected. Labry has spent […]
February 2013 Citi recently appointed Andy Nicholas head of commercial and prepaid card sales and account management EMEA to lead an experienced team charged with ensuring success and client satisfaction. Nicholas, who is based in the U.K., has been with Citi for 20 years, and has been responsible for commercial card sales and account management […]
February 2013 Retail ATM network Cardtronics Inc. has announced that Jerry Garcia is transitioning from his role as chief information officer to the newly created position of chief information security officer. Garcia, who spent the last 10 years designing and developing the information technology systems Cardtronics uses to run its business, now will focus exclusively […]
January 2013 By Adam Perrotta, Assistant Editor Putting together a deal in the gift card business during the thick of the holiday shopping season is no easy feat—just ask Giftango Corp. CEO David Nelsen, who spent the final weeks of 2012 negotiating the sale of his company to Atlanta-based prepaid distribution and technology […]
January 2013 By Kate Fitzgerald, Emerging Payments Editor Coinstar Inc. is grabbing attention in the secondary gift card market with Alula, a kiosk service it’s piloting that enables consumers to immediately convert unused gift cards into cash at supermarkets. The service adds a fresh twist to the process of selling unused gift cards to […]
Jan. 14, 2013 First Data Corp.’s CEO Jonathan J. Judge plans to step down from the company for health reasons, the company said. First Data will conduct a search for a new CEO and Judge will maintain his positions as CEO and board member until a replacement is found, but no later than March 31, […]
January 2013 By Bill Grabarek, Senior Editor Financial institutions must combat persistent consumer indifference toward mobile banking in the United States if they want to see consumers move toward mobile commerce, according to a recent report by Javelin Strategy & Research. The research, which outlines financial services trends in 2013 as well as how […]
January 2013 By Jeremy T. Rosenblum and Stefanie H. Jackman, Ballard Spahr LLP The sky is not falling—at least yet. The ability of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to supervise smaller banks (less than $10 billion in assets) and other companies providing prepaid cards to consumers is currently limited. For participants in the […]
Canada’s CIBC bank has launched a novel promotion aimed at increasing uptake of NFC technology for mobile payments.
January 2013 We wanted to start the year off with some perspective from industry thought leaders across the globe to find out what will shape prepaid and emerging payments in the new year. We asked several executives from a variety of companies as well as a few analysts to share their thoughts about what the […]
San Francisco-based startup Cardfree is taking a merchant-centric approach to mobile wallets, leveraging a leadership team that has worked on mobile programs for some big-name retailers.
M-Payments in 2013 to Bring More New Startups, Intensified Competition January 2013 By Kate Fitzgerald, Emerging Payments Editor The pace of mobile payments entrepreneurial development is likely to remain brisk this year, with venture capital flowing into the sector and likely to drive a number of new concepts from new POS approaches to mobile […]
December 2012 By Bill Grabarek, Senior Editor Crossing the pond and moving its headquarters from the U.K. to New York City, Waspit Inc. is creating a buzz on college campuses with a unique marketing style for its mobile banking product that’s heavily steeped in social media. Waspit users can make purchases with a Waspit […]
December 2012 Virtual Piggy Inc., a Hermosa Beach, Calif.-based provider of e-commerce solutions enabling children to manage and spend money within a parent-controlled environment, has appointed Joseph Dwyer chief financial officer. He has more than 20 years of experience at the executive level for public and private companies, including OpenLink Financial, Energy Solutions International, Capstone […]
December 2012 Shawn Creedon, a corporate finance lawyer with nearly 20 years of experience in principal investing, bankruptcy and restructuring, has joined Washington, D.C.-based law firm Patton Boggs LLP as a partner in the firm’s corporate finance practice group in its New York City office. He joins Patton Boggs from Silver Point Capital L.P., where […]
December 2012 Mercator Advisory Group has hired Jeffrey Green to lead the company’s emerging technologies service. Green, who has 16 years of payments industry editorial experience, most recently served as editorial director of the payments group at SourceMedia, where he managed the payments group and coordinated coverage with multiple publications and departments. Send Us […]
December 2012 Fiserv Inc., a Brookfield, Wis.-based financial system and service provider, has appointed Chris Flink to its board of directors. He is a partner at IDEO, an innovation and design firm, and a consulting associate professor at Stanford University. At IDEO, Flink has held a variety of roles, from heading the firm’s consumer experience […]
OpenGamma, a provider of analytics and risk management software, has appointed Mas Nakachi as global COO and chief executive, North America.
An avid but long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan, Rick Fletcher knows the meaning of passion and persistence—two qualities that have served him well on his path to professional success.
