May 23, 2013 GiftCards.com, a subsidiary of Pittsburgh-based Wolfe LLC, is deepening its digital offerings with the acquisition this week of Giftly, a mobile app-based digital gift card service. Giftly, a San Francisco-based startup launched in 2011, enables consumers to purchase digital gift cards that may be designated for specific purchases at any U.S. merchant […]
By Joseph DeSetto, Emerging Payments Blogger In every technology shift, users are confronted with interfaces that were designed for the previous generation. For example, early PCs rendered graphics of Rolodexes, clocks and other analog desk accoutrements. In this tradition, users of today’s smartphones often are presented with a shopping experience that was designed for the […]
By Ginger Schmeltzer, Fiserv For years we’ve been debating why mobile payments haven’t taken off faster. Debaters point out issues with the number of players in the value chain, business model challenges, competing technologies, lack of a compelling value proposition, security concerns and more. All of these points are valid: Business models are all over […]
Commerzbank is to deploy Clear2Pay’s Open Payment Framework as a central platform for end-to-end XML-processing and to interface with new technology and products. Commerzbank will implement OPF as part of a longer term strategic payments renewal project for its clients in and outside Germany. The project will be implemented in phases, with the first go-live […]
The $400 billion global remittances market is moving from cash to account-based transfer, but costs, regulations and new competitors are still the key issues.
Traditional finance is not as we once knew it. The internet has completely disrupted the financial services value chain. The banks are struggling to keep up with advancing technology. Understanding mobile, cloud computing, social media, big data and how to utilise each capability are key challenges for the banks to overcome.
LevelUp, a promotion-based mobile payment and loyalty network from Boston-based SCVNGR, has reached an agreement with NCR Corp. to integrate its mobile payment and loyalty solution into NCR’s restaurant POS systems, giving restaurants another way to accept mobile payments and market to their customers.
CFPB Invites ‘Innovative’ Companies to Share Consumer Data, Ideas to Help Shape Policies By Kate Fitzgerald, Emerging Payments Editor The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) since its formation in 2011 has generated great interest and, at times, controversy over its mission and leadership in its role of creating and enforcing federal financial services regulations. While […]
Earthport, the cross-border payments service provider, has launched a fully automated payment service into Morocco. The route is the first low value payment service for the company in North Africa and will allow it to expand its network infrastructure into the region.
The themes of security, identity and mobility ran strongly through the Cards and Payments Middle East conference in Dubai this week – and not just because the event itself is sandwiched between related and interlinked events focusing on Mobile and Identity.
Mark Buitenhek, global head of payments and cash management at ING, describes how simplification, SEPA, security and service are the principal issues facing transaction banks, along with regulation.
By Joseph DeSetto, Full Sail University Near field communication, or NFC, is a technology that, on the surface, has tremendous potential. The Japanese vending machine experience of paying for your favorite flavor of sugar water without taking coins from your wallet has been an image of the future for several years now. But for […]
By Joe DeSetto, Emerging Payments Blogger Great design is often highly subjective and can be maddening for executive decision makers. Steve Jobs’ well-known response to his engineers trying to find a solution he would accept was: “I’ll know it when I see it.” Design, and the delightful products and experiences that result, is an art […]
By John Grund, First Annapolis Consulting Safeway’s decision to IPO a minority stake of Blackhawk Network is yet another milestone in the evolution of the prepaid industry, given Blackhawk’s unique distribution role in the broader value chain. Green Dot and NetSpend serve as bell weathers for the market value of program managers in the prepaid […]
By David Parker, Polymath Consulting Recently we saw the announcement by Nakumatt in Kenya—think Tesco in the U.K., Walmart in the United States—that it will convert all of its 1 million loyalty cards to prepaid MasterCard cards. Polymath Consulting worked with Diamond Trust Bank (DTB), one of the two issuing banks selected by Nakumatt, and […]
The developed world, especially here in the United States, has a very specific idea of what mobile means, and mobile payments in particular. There are certain technologies that spring to mind as acceptably cutting edge and worth attention, such as apps, QR codes, Square, Apple Passbook and Google Wallet. These technologies are now and ahead […]
By Cynthia Merritt, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta It’s no secret that cross-border travel has involved a lot more restrictions since 9-11. Declaration of assets and physical inspection of luggage and other items are expected, as well as tedious and unpleasant, aspects of a vacation or business trip. That could change soon and not for […]
By Joe DeSetto, Emerging Payments Blogger In the acclaimed television series Mad Men, an average copywriter named Harry Crane invents a role as his agency’s new Head of Television. In this fictional retro world, the old guard that runs the agency in the early 1960s has no idea of the importance of this new broadcast […]
By David Parker, Polymath Consulting The last several months have seen two very interesting pieces of M&A activity in Europe. First, we saw Wright Express’ take over CorporatePay. CorporatePay was a “pure play” program manager specializing in the corporate-loaded sector and, in particular, virtual prepaid cards used by the travel sector for supplier payments. For […]
By Joe DeSetto, Emerging Payments Blogger Siri, Apple’s voice assist for iOS devices, already is a steering wheel button on some newer model cars. BMW has an option listed next to the premium leather seating called BMW Apps. Fords now include Sync, a Microsoft technology, and released the Ford Developer Program and a new open […]
By David Parker, Polymath Consulting Are we reaching market saturation for consumer-loaded prepaid programs in the U.K.? Our latest industry research suggests the answer may be “yes.” Polymath has published The Prepaid Report since 2007, tracking the number and types of consumer-loaded prepaid cards programs in the U.K. Our latest report makes interesting reading because […]
By Joseph DeSetto, Emerging Payments Blogger It wasn’t long ago that mobile payments apps for the current generation of smartphones were difficult and time consuming for even experienced programmers to create. Much like the early days of e-commerce, standard ways of protecting user data, providing a consistent interface and user experience that would be trusted, […]
By Joseph DeSetto, Emerging Payments Blogger A continuous stream of posts with witty comments or pop culture references is nothing new online after years of Facebook, Twitter and various other social services. But when the same type of feed appears in social commerce app Venmo—available online and on a mobile device near you—the effect is […]
By Hunny Huria, Visa At times I’m amazed how social media has changed our lives and continues to have potential to impact it more. There are innumerable people who start the day by checking their Facebook accounts. As of December 2012, Facebook had more than half a billion daily active users, and 9 million apps […]
By Nick Holland, Javelin Strategy & Research I bought a new laptop the other day. I won’t bore you with the details of its specifications, but suffice to say, as a professional nerd, I get pretty excited about these things. In fact, I got so excited that I actually bought it as an impulse purchase […]
South Africa’s Standard Bank has introduced a new mobile banking tool called AccessBanking, which aims to reach unbanked customers in the country.
Prepaid: The Global Phenomenon; MCX Perspective on Mobile Payments; Special Section: Countdown to U.S. EMV; 2013 Paybefore Awards: Top 30 Winners, 12+ Countries; The NFC Debate: Yes, No or Maybe
A new payments service aims to change the way banks, merchants and payments providers interact with each other by using cloud technology.
Google is launching a trio of new services that leverage the tech giant’s ubiquitous online presence to spur usage of its mobile wallet. Announced at Google’s I/O Conference in San Francisco this week, the new initiatives include a one-click payments function for Google Wallet, an instant buy feature for Android and the ability to send […]
