Payment Networks Propose Tokenization Standard to Secure Online, Mobile Payments (Oct. 1, 2013)
The time has come to agree on a simpler way to use and store digital payment credentials, a trio of payment networks said today.
Worldwide
CFPB, Lawmakers Continue Campus Card Examination (Oct. 1, 2013)
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau yesterday hosted a Banking on Campus Forum in Washington, D.C., as part of its ongoing investigation into campus cards. Some college students said they feel pressured into using specific financial products—which can include student ID cards that double as debit or prepaid cards and are used to access scholarships and […]
SpendSmart Expands into Gov’t Segment, Eyes More Verticals (Oct. 1, 2013)
San Diego-based prepaid provider The SpendSmart Payments Co. has set its sights on expanding beyond the teen card market, and the company is kicking off that expansion with a government-focused business line. SpendSmart’s new program management platform will focus on prepaid cards for distribution by municipal, county and state governments. The company already has inked […]
MobiKwik Unveils New Mobile Wallet in India (Oct. 1, 2013)
Indian payment startup MobiKwik is launching what the company is calling the country’s first consumer-focused mobile wallet. The MobiKwik wallet is available as an app for iOS and Android devices, and enables users to make online purchases from about 500 merchants. The wallet can be loaded via bank account transfer or credit card and a […]
Amex Debuts New Travel Card in Sri Lanka (Sept. 30, 2013)
American Express is partnering with Sri Lanka’s Sampath Bank to launch a new prepaid travel card aimed at the growing number of Sri Lankans traveling abroad for business, education or leisure. The new Travel Life Prepaid Card, American Express’ first prepaid travel card in Sri Lanka, enables travelers to lock in a particular currency exchange […]
FIS Unveils ‘Active Analytics’ Suite to Refine Product Marketing (Sept. 30, 2013)
Technology companies are continuing to focus on Big Data, specifically analyzing transaction data to help clients improve the profitability of their portfolios. The latest to do so is payments technology provider FIS, which recently unveiled the FIS Active Analytics suite to help clients create segmented marketing campaigns and merchant offers, and price products more effectively. […]
Global Payout Offers Health Discounts to GPR Cardholders (Sept. 30, 2013)
Global Payout Inc., an electronic payment and prepaid solutions provider, is offering a newly enhanced health discount plan for all holders of the company’s MoneyTrac Prepaid Discover card, a GPR card that features a health care and pharmacy discount program. The WellCard Health Discount Plan now offers cardholders pre-negotiated health services with more than 410,000 […]
National Australia Bank App Streamlines P2P Process (Sept. 30, 2013)
National Australia Bank has launched NAB Flik, a P2P payments app that enables customers to send and receive money using a mobile phone number, email or Facebook account.
New Age of Bank-Technology Partnerships (September 2013)
The partnerships banks are forming with financial technology suppliers today look very different than routine client-vendor relationships of past decades, and one of the most interesting aspects of the trend is how both sides are transforming each other.
Blog: Not Your Father’s Distribution Strategy
By Charnsin Tulyasathien, epay
The mobile space has changed—from the early, “Wild West” days where subscribers represented land, and service providers represented pioneers grabbing as much as they could.
Blog: ‘All in’… ‘Double Down’… ‘Jackpot’…
Why prepaid is a winning play for casinos and their customers
By Alpesh Shah, FIS
PayPal, Braintree Reach $800 Million Purchase Agreement (Sept. 26, 2013)
It’s official; eBay Inc. has announced it will acquire e-commerce processor Braintree Payment Solutions in an $800 million deal that will bring Chicago-based Braintree under eBay’s PayPal business unit. The two companies were reported to be in negotiations for a sale earlier this week. With the purchase agreement in place, PayPal gains Braintree’s more than […]
MasterCard, Bank of Egypt Unveil Mobile Payments App (Sept. 26, 2013)
The National Bank of Egypt (NBE) has partnered with MasterCard to launch a new mobile app that enables users to send money, pay bills and soon make purchases at selected merchants in Egypt and electronic retailers across the globe. Dubbed Phone Cash, the service was developed in conjunction with electronic bill payment provider Fawry and […]
m-POS Rivals Intuit and Square Announce QuickBooks Integration (Sept. 26, 2013)
Capitalizing on explosive growth in the m-POS arena, Square this week announced an integration with Intuit Inc.’s popular QuickBooks business and financial management software, enabling users of Square’s m-POS solutions to automatically import transactions directly into QuickBooks to streamline their operations.
Zagat, i2c Launch Virtual Gift Card (Sept. 26, 2013)
Zagat, known for its ratings guide for restaurants and nightlife, has launched the Zagat Dining Card, an electronic gift card currently accepted at nearly 230 restaurants in New York City.
Doing reference data right: cheaper, better, faster … or else
What do hundreds-of-thousands of counterparties, dozens of regulations and your many regulators all want from you? Better counterparty classification …
Payment Networks to Slash Interchange Fees in France (Sept. 24, 2013)
MasterCard and Visa have agreed to cut interchange fees by nearly half in France, striking a deal with the French Competition Authority, the country’s anti-trust regulator. Under the agreement, the payment card networks will lower interchange fees on purchases to 0.28 percent of a transaction’s value starting on Nov. 1. Currently, MasterCard charges .055 percent […]
Facebook Rolls Out ‘Autofill’ Test with PayPal, Braintree and Stripe (Sept. 24, 2013)
Sept. 24, 2013 Will Facebook opt to become an e-commerce payments hub, rather than dive directly into payments? It’s beginning to look that way for now, as Facebook this week rolls out a new “Autofill with Facebook” payments feature for mobile apps, taking care not to step on the toes of merchants’ existing payment processors. […]
Saudi-U.K. Partners Ready for Prepaid Rollout (Sept. 24, 2013)
Today in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, at the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, U.K.-based payments technology company Ixaris and Middle East technology provider 3omlti e-Commerce have announced a significant partnership to bring prepaid cards to Saudi consumers and companies. Together the companies plan to use Ixaris’ prepaid platform, known for its virtual prepaid cards, and […]
Report: Greater Input Helps CFPB Avoid Missteps (Sept. 24, 2013)
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is most successful when it solicits wide-ranging input before issuing guidance; when the agency doesn’t is when it could falter, according to a new report by the nonprofit organization Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC).
ACI Gains another Foothold in Bill Pay with $109 Million Acquisition (Sept. 24, 2013)
Sept. 24, 2013 Payment systems provider ACI Worldwide has bolstered its position in the bill payment business with the $109 million acquisition of Official Payments Holdings Inc., which provides bill payment solutions to federal, state and local governments, utilities, higher education institutions and charitable organizations throughout the U.S. Based in Norcross, Ga., Official Payments has […]
ACI Gains another Foothold in Bill Pay with $109 Million Acquisition (Sept. 24, 2013)
Sept. 24, 2013 Payment systems provider ACI Worldwide has bolstered its position in the bill payment business with the $109 million acquisition of Official Payments Holdings Inc., which provides bill payment solutions to federal, state and local governments, utilities, higher education institutions and charitable organizations throughout the U.S. Based in Norcross, Ga., Official Payments has […]
Visa Europe adopts BT’s managed network
Visa Europe’s decision to place its internal and external communications networks into the hands of BT will help the firm to realise economies of scale and offer a more efficient service to customers, according to Chris Pickles, Head of industry initiatives at BT.
PayPal Reportedly Close to Purchasing E-Commerce Processor Braintree (Sept. 23, 2013)
Sept. 23, 2013 PayPal Inc. reportedly is nearing a deal to acquire e-commerce payments processor Braintree Payment Solutions, which processes nearly $10 billion in annual payments for popular startups, including Uber Technologies, Rovio and Airbnb. Sources familiar with the discussions did not disclose financial terms of the potential deal, and cautioned that the talks could […]
Italian Bank to Offer payleven mPOS System (Sept. 23, 2013)
Europe-headquartered mobile payments provider payleven has inked a deal to make the company’s mobile payment card reader system available to clients of Italian bank BancoPosta.
TransCard Buys PayPartners, Forms Acquisition Division (Sept. 23, 2013)
Sept. 23, 2013 TransCard is continuing its acquisition spree with the announcement last week that it’s acquiring PayPartners Inc., a provider of payroll and other corporate prepaid cards. PayPartners’ platform and cloud-based back-office portal complement TransCard’s services, making it easy to on-board, issue and manage payroll card portfolios, according to the Tenn.-based prepaid processor and […]
Occupy Wall Street Movement Seeks Donations to Launch Prepaid Card (Sept. 23, 2013)
Sept. 23, 2013 Occupy Wall Street’s second anniversary last week did not draw large crowds, but organizers are pushing forward with plans to launch a reloadable prepaid card backed by a nonprofit cooperative, a spokesperson tells Paybefore. The Occupy Card, envisioned as an FDIC-insured Visa prepaid card, is designed so that anyone—including millions excluded by banks—may qualify […]
Global regulation emerges as Sibos key theme
Dissatisfaction with global regulators has been expressed during the entire Sibos week, with the topic being raised in sessions across the board.
Basel has triggered “infrastructure reset”
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s April 2013 report, Monitoring tools for intraday liquidity management, has provided banks with the “trigger to reset their current infrastructures”, said Detlef Braun, senior consultant at vendor SmartStream.
NDAB-Deutsche Bank deal will ease dollar flow
The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) has signed a deal with Deutsche Bank to use its Guaranteed US Plus payment solution, which it promises will improve price transparency for clients with individual US dollar flows into the US.
Google Wallet Connects to iPhone (Sept. 19, 2013)
Google Wallet has cracked the iPhone barrier, proving, some would say, there’s no reason to wait for NFC to advance mobile payments.
Study: Young Consumers Ready for Mobile Payments (Sept. 19, 2013)
Younger consumers likely will lead the charge toward mobile payments ubiquity over the coming years, but they have certain expectations that must be met by providers who seek to harness that demand, according to a new report from payments processor Vantiv Inc.
State Bank of India Taps Yalamanchili for Money Transfer Card (Sept. 19, 2013)
Sept. 19, 2013 The State Bank of India has selected international payments solutions provider Yalamanchili to provide the processing platform for the bank’s new State Bank Xpress Money Card, which enables cardholders to receive instant money transfers from the United Arab Emirates. The prepaid Visa card is co-branded by the State Bank of India and […]
Foundation Seeks Green Light for Bitcoin Campaign Contributions (Sept. 19, 2013)
Sept. 19, 2013 The Bitcoin Foundation is pushing for permission to allow bitcoins as a source of federal political contributions. The trade group this week made its pitch to the U.S. Federal Election Commission in a letter announcing its support for the concept, which the Conservative Action Fund PAC (CAF) proposed earlier this month. The […]
Infosys aims to help banks modernise ops
Infosys has launched Finacle 11E, a banking solution it said will help banks to modernise their operations, reduce cost and time to market and minimise risk. The product has a modular structure: banks can choose which parts they need and replace their existing systems one step at a time, depending on how far or fast they want to proceed.
“Become an intelligent bank” for the cyber age
In a time when information is king, the battle for data is not so much where to get it as how to get it and what to do with it. For many generation Y savers and spenders, the vast majority of their transactions are carried out online and their relationships with traditional banks are practically non-existent.
Clear2Pay extends hub to run virtual institutions
Clear2Pay has launched Business-in-a-Box, based on the company’s existing corporate payments hub (CPH) and open payments framework (OPF). The two products are aligned with the company’s new Virtual Vault Account Solution (Vivas) in a package that can be used to establish a virtual financial institution.
Trade: adjusting to a new direction of travel
As trade flows shift across regions and economic headwinds blow, the trade finance business is facing challenges. Anne Queree examines how correspondent banking networks are adapting
