Industry Views: What Does a GOP Congress Mean to Payments?
We asked a number of prominent players in emerging payments to give us their opinions on what the shift in the 114th Congress might mean to payments.
Industry Comment
Four cyber security risks not to be taken for granted in 2015
With Sony the latest victim of hacking, large organisations are witnessing yet again how data breaches cause serious damage, to the tune of millions. The prevalence of hacking in the media begs the question, what’s in store for 2015?
Blog: Why I Can’t Toss My Checkbook
P2P options abound, but I won’t be ditching my checkbook until providers make it easy and compelling enough for the local service providers I pay to make the switch.
Viewpoint: Prepaid and Financial Capability Have Grown Up; Now They Should Grow Closer
As the prepaid industry matures, program managers and other providers are looking for new ways to to drive customers toward behaviors that improve both the provider’s bottom line and the consumer’s financial health.
Orchestral manoeuvres
When first reports of an integrated communications project that had attracted a $66 million investment from a consortium of banks led by Goldman Sachs appeared last year, there was an element of cloak and dagger about the enterprise. The truth is both more prosaic and more interesting according to David Gurle, chief executive and founder of the company behind it.
The need for a resilient global network of FMIs
By facilitating payments, and clearing and settling transactions in the securities and derivatives markets, financial market infrastructures are essential nodes in a complex and ever more integrated international network of capital flows. The consequent inter-dependencies between financial market infrastructures will create new resiliency challenges
Five challenges for the banking industry in 2015
As 2015 gets under way, it is time to take stock of some of the biggest challenges facing the banking industry this year – including cybercrime, cultural change, more stress testing, ever-increasing regulatory scrutiny and a troubled economic outlook in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
PCI DSS 3.0 comes into effect
Maintaining credit and debit card information on behalf of financial services organisations demands the highest levels of security and customer confidence, and adhering to standards like PCI DSS plays a crucial role in this. Yet, though the standard is unique in that it regulates data protection across a multitude of industries, PCI DSS remains one of the most challenging regulations with which companies must comply. Its Janus-faced qualities – some say it’s too prescriptive, while others complain that the standards are confusingly vague – make achieving and managing compliance difficult and time-consuming
Biometrics – novel solution, or novelty?
One of the trends of 2014 was its delivery of technology that we had been promised for years but had fallen short until now. Siri, Cortana and Google Now all make good on the sci-fi staple of the voice-activated computer. Virtual reality has been attempted many times, but it seems that the Oculus Rift may have finally cracked it. And biometric authentication, while often included in devices but rarely used, is now commonly used by owners of new iPhones to unlock their devices thanks to Touch ID.
Viewpoint: Strategic Priorities for Success in Today’s Prepaid Environment
Changing times call for new priorities. Clients want a partner with a nimble organization and a flexible and feature-rich technology stack, but not at the expense of business and operational reliability.
Viewpoint: The Power of Push Marketing with Good Data and Analytics
Financial services providers have amassed mountains of data about customers, but what’s it worth? Real value comes from the analysis and timely application of knowledge through push marketing campaigns and ongoing product improvements.
Blog: A Soon-to-Be Must-Have: Biometrics Authentication for Customer Service
Apple Pay’s Touch ID application has pushed biometrics payments authentication into the mainstream. But biometrics authentication goes beyond fingerprint sensors, and voice biometrics authentication is one of the best ways to thwart identity fraud.
Times they are a changing – data analytics in the new era of capital markets
In 2015, organisations in the business finance solutions space are likely to spend significantly on business intelligence and analytics. This data goldmine can help organisations unlock hidden opportunities and insights
Financial services disruption – why I’m backing the banks
For banks, a race to remain relevant is on. In the past few weeks, Lloyds Banking Group has announced its intention to double-down on digital banking, closing branches and cutting costs. In the US, BBVA Compass announced that its agreement with startup Dwolla to offer real-time payment facilities to customers makes it the first mainstream bank to open its technology platform to digital developers like Dwolla
Keep it personal – supporting customer-centricity with relevant financial products and services
Since the beginning of the global economic crisis, the financial services industry has faced challenges like never before. Headlines around bankers’ bonuses, PPI miss-selling and Libor manipulation have led to a lack of trust from consumers. In response, traditional banks need to join the new generation of financial service providers and their customers in their new natural habitat – online and on mobile.
The e-invoicing play for banks
The replacement of business processes based on paper documents with the exchange of information in electronic form is a highly beneficial global trend, and the competitiveness of Europe’s economic activity will benefit from this migration.
Banking on Big Data
The volume, speed and power of technology has transformed the Financial Services industry into one the most sophisticated data driven sectors in the global economy, allowing for the execution of complex global transactions at the push of a button. From high frequency trading to eCommerce to mobile banking, the financial sector is generating a huge amounts of data – in fact, almost too much data. Like individuals, institutions are facing an information overload that is limiting the promise and opportunity of technology.
Viewpoint: The EU Payments Package Puzzle
Debate on the EU Payments Package, composed of the revised Payment Services Directive and the Regulation on Interchange Fees, recommenced in Brussels on Nov. 19. Although the two pieces of legislation are part of one “package,” they’re at different stages in the legislative process, and depending on how they progress, the transition into law could be smooth for the industry—or not.
What are bank’s requirements for next generation analytics?
Today’s consumers have high expectations − and for good reason. They have become accustomed to, and in today’s connected world, demand, anytime/anywhere access to the products, services, and information they desire and need
Middle men – the new aces in the derivatives deck
In today’s high-risk, cost-conscious world, buy-sides are demanding the next step in straight-through-processing, becoming increasingly impatient with the multiple screens and manual workarounds they’ve been presented with to date. Those FCMs that can meet this need will immediately become more competitive and create clear distance from those that lag behind.
Using technology to drive business agility in a volatile environment
As business process operations enter a new capter of accelerated transformation, technology services are not just a critical component for financial services firms – they are the business itself.
Viewpoint: CFPB Issues Prepaid Account Study
Simultaneously with the release of its 870-page prepaid account proposal last week, the CFPB issued a “Study of Prepaid Account Agreements.”
European banking industry under the competition and regulatory spotlight
It has been a busy week for the banking industry. The first big news was the publication of a comprehensive health check of 130 large European banks by the European Central Bank, which was commissioned in response to the sovereign debt crisis in the Eurozone. Brussels lauded the latest investigation as the most intense scrutiny that European banks have ever been put through.
Banking and biometrics – a whirlwind romance?
As Bob Dylan, famously sang, The Times, They Are A-Changin’. Once, the tools required to carry out a bank raid usually comprised a shotgun, old stockings and a bag labelled “swag”. Today, it’s a laptop, computer programming skills and patience. And the nature of the crime is changing too – previously, the goal was often to get away with a few thousand pounds, before lying low for a while. Now, the “prize” sought may be the theft of millions or the personal details of thousands, to be then sold on.
Viewpoint: All I Want for Christmas Is a Gift Card
Blackhawk Network research reveals the reasons consumers selected gift cards as No. 1 on their wishlists for the eighth year in a row, and why gift givers are catching up to what recipients really want.
Viewpoint: Must-Have Features to Drive M-Banking Adoption and Usage
Consumers who use digital channels for their banking conduct more transactions per month than those who don’t but are less expensive to service. Maximize your m-banking adoption and usage with features that move the needle.
Letter from the Editor: Back in Action
It’s an odd juxtaposition that the day before our nominations are due for the 2015 Paybefore Awards, the CFPB is holding a field hearing on prepaid. My hope is that the visionaries that make Paybefore Awards a remarkable annual event also make their voices—and those of their customers—heard, as the rules go from proposal to regulation.
Middle office takes centre stage as Europe moves to T+2
The introduction of T+2 has marked another milestone in the effort to reduce systemic risk for firms trading European securities. But what about other asset classes, such as derivatives? The inconvenient truth is that the world of derivatives, which some view as a much riskier investment choice, lags a long way behind equities in terms of operational efficiency.
Financial innovation in emerging markets
Earlier this month, the Ecuadorian Government announced its plans to introduce a digital currency, the first of its kind globally. In a country where 40% of citizens don’t have a bank account according to The Economist, this has the potential to transform banking and allow companies to gain access to those without a bank account for the first time
IT teams need to address the challenges facing UK banking
The challenger banks are coming of age. Aldermore, the UK’s fastest growing bank, is rumoured to be preparing for its IPO, just like OneSavings Bank, which was the first bank to list on the stock exchange since Bradford & Bingley in 2000.
IT skill shortage boost salaries as demand picks up
The fintech start-up sector and renewed spending by larger firms are combining to create a demand for IT skills that is outstripping supply in some areas. Cyber-security, big data, business intelligence and application development skills are all in demand.
Banking on a holistic approach to combating financial crime
Fraud and financial crime are growing substantially in their nature and complexity as we continue to evolve into an ever more connected world. New technologies, particularly the spread of mobile devices, have opened up different avenues of attack for technically sophisticated and well organised gangs of fraudsters and criminals. The social and economic costs of organised crime in the UK alone are estimated to be £24bn, of which £8.9bn are associated with fraud.
Financial Services for the non-wealthy
The hypothesis that seems to be gaining ground is that banks have a wider responsibility in society. If we believe that, then part of their responsibility must clearly be to provide banking products and services that serve the financial needs of the less affulent.
Blog: One Apple Pay User Takes a Bite
Those of us immersed in payments may have a unique perspective on Apple Pay, but what about other folks? I asked one self-proclaimed Apple “fan boy” to give the mobile wallet a test drive.
Blog: Unlocking the Real Value of Mobile Payments
Giving consumers what they really need and want from mobile payments will require making payments as invisible as possible.
Blog: India’s E-Commerce Boom Paves Way for Digital Money
India is on the brink of a huge economic transformation and making money digital is a crucial part of the solution.
Why bank branches are here to stay
In the rush towards digital banking, are banks in danger of abandoning one of their best ways to engage with customers – their branches?
High frequency traders under the regulatory spotlight
The regulatory spotlight is shining on high frequency traders and dark pools, but the technological changes that have driven down trading costs for everyone will not be reversed. With market making increasingly the preserve of profit maximising algorithmic traders, there is a growing responsibility on institutions to control where their trades are going and how they are being executed. Those that do not are writing checks to HFTs with clients’ money
Viewpoint: Prepaid Program Managers Must Be Exam-Ready Bank Partners
In light of the intense regulatory focus and pressure on prepaid cards, it’s time for program managers to step up and manage their own compliance to the point of being “exam-ready.”
How to fight cyber crime
The recent nomination of the British Banker’s Association as an intelligence node and source of benchmarks and practices in the UK’s financial infrastructure, via CBEST, has pushed the role of the banking sector in detecting and remediating breaches into the spotlight. So what can banks do to ensure their cyber defences are up to the task?
