Clear and effective legislation could result in a beneficial change for business. An unclear and ineffective one would result in another obstacle to a “further integrated and efficient European payments market,” which the commission has set as the first objective the Payments Package should achieve.
China’s miraculous economic catch up since reform and opening up has created an unprecedented generation of consumers. The way this generation has adopted the on-line world in China is very different from that in the West.
Firms like JP Morgan and HSBC have taken major measures to improve internal controls so that they can comply with new and changing regulations. It won’t end there.
Russian telecoms carrier MegaFon has announced the commercial launch of an 8,700 kilometre long terrestrial fibre optic trunk connecting Europe and Asia. The DREAM – Diverse Route for European and Asian Markets – link extends from Frankfurt-am-Main to the Kazakhstan-China border, through Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine, Slovakia, Austria, Germany, and was created by MegaFon in cooperation […]
Although retailers traditionally had balked at offering discounted gift cards, many are shifting strategies to keep up with consumer demand and are increasing overall sales.
An ex-Coca Cola chief executive was once quoted talking to staff about the work-life balance – juggling careers, family, health, friends and spirit. In the financial services industry today, work life itself is quite a balancing act.
Online commerce has begun to approach saturation in Western markets, while fraud, competition and a more demanding consumer base are squeezing online payments providers.
The second annual Money2020 in Las Vegas earlier this month had a vibe unlike payment conferences of the past, and not just because of the acrobats roaming around during networking sessions.
Please let me use your camera. Do you mind if I browse through your contacts so I know all your family and friends, and can call or text each at my discretion? To the uninitiated, these eerie questions read like a disturbed love note from a stalker. But these are common permissions requests for many mobile apps. Could they scare off users?
One may speculate that with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic party having secured a quite remarkable third term in office, the last in a long line of potential hurdles for the advocates of a Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) in Europe has been overcome
There comes a tipping point when market readiness, social behaviour and technology combine to create a sudden, ubiquitous change of behaviour. For mobile payments the tipping point may have arrived – but will there be a dominant solution?
A group of like-minded companies came together this summer to address the recent melee in payroll cards. The work is far from over, but their activity points to the power of pooling resources and relationships for real progress and impact.
Understanding and embracing cross-channel communication behaviours will become increasingly critical to success in the banking industry, writes Steve Dille, SVP of global marketing at Maryland USA based communications firm Message Systems.
What do Monty Python star Michael Palin, a municipal cemetery, the rock band Def Leppard and a long-running debate in the press room at Sibos have in common? The answer is Sheffield, Palin’s home town, which has for some years now been an also ran in the choice of the next venue for Swift’s annual travelling circus.
Slowly but steadily, financial institutions and their corporate clients are beginning to talk about growth again. Markets are gradually shifting from a purely defensive position; the Fed has spoken about tapering its quantitative easing programme; and many companies are putting expansion back on the agenda in response, writes Greg Murray.
Following yet another revelation that UK banks have been mis-selling financial products to their customers, this time for identity theft and credit card protection insurance, the need for high street lenders to prove that they are changing their lending behaviour has never been so great.
A new survey suggests most consumers don’t want mobile wallets, but many were skeptical about the Internet, at first.
Once again, NFC is in the news for more of what didn’t happen than for what did. Despite the rumors that Apple would put NFC in its new security-minded iPhone 5S, the annual iPhone new model release announcement came and went without a mention of NFC.
Loyalty is key to business success – and banks that can bring data and technology to bear to achieve it stand to gain the most, writes Sameet Gupte, senior vice president and managing director for Europe at IT consulting and outsourcing company Virtusa Corporation.
With customers expecting consistent service across all channels, banks must step up to the plate and streamline their processes when it comes to customer interaction. Using the omnichannel approach, they’ll also reap the rewards of better customer intelligence and a clear idea of how best to spend precious budgets.
The challenging ongoing economic climate and the resulting shrinking markets have created an environment of greatly increased competition. In order to deal with the pressures of recession, retail banks are increasingly being forced into a strategic transformation of business structure, culture and practice. How they interact with customers is a prime focus during these transformations, writes Mike Davies, Regional Vice President Sales EMEA North at GMC Software Technology.
The payment industry has never seen so much change or opportunity. It continues to be reshaped by shifts in the economic landscape, new technologies and customer needs and this is set to continue.
The scoop on the hottest jobs in prepaid. Plus, how to attract (and keep) the best talent.
By Shoney Yuan, Ceridian Stored Value Solutions (SVS) Take a stroll down any street in one of China’s big cities and it’s hard not to feel excited about the business potential this vast nation offers. Sophisticated marketing and innovative advertising compete for your attention as a consumer. There is much to buy—from groceries, to household […]
A fragmented data architecture can threaten a financial institution’s ability to keep track of its assets. All too often, front office systems are separated into individual asset classes and lines of business, making the integration of the transaction flows from these systems very difficult.
Regulation is a key driver of change on IT strategies across the wealth management sector, and brings huge challenges, especially for smaller players: predictions are that the cost of compliance may rise by a further 16% by 2015.
It’s time for the prepaid industry to once again innovate by embracing next-generation processing technology and creating new tools that help people improve their financial behavior.
Adding a savings tool to GPR cards drives usage and retention and helps cardholders get ahead.
The way we pay is evolving, with changing consumer attitudes and new technologies combining to usher in a new era of payments and banking.
One common thread unites developed and emerging economies across the globe – the ubiquity of mobile devices are changing the way people interact with businesses and each other. In many countries, the number of mobile phones in use surpasses the number of consumer bank accounts. This shift in consumer behaviour is changing the face of payments as we know it.
Payments made via mobile devices are fast becoming de rigueur as tablet sales are expected to overtake personal computers by 2017. Shane Fitzpatrick addresses five common myths about m-commerce and how to capture online revenues. Smartphones are already more popular globally than desktop PCs and of the 1.875 billion phones to be sold in 2013, […]
As the high-frequency trading arms race continues, some firms are exploring the idea of using lighter-than-air balloons as a faster way of transmitting data.
An Edgar, Dunn & Company study compares the existing state and prospects for corporate and government prepaid programs in Europe in 2010 and 2013. We assessed seven European countries— France, Italy, Germany, the U.K., Spain, Poland and Turkey—and rated the attractiveness of each market, based on the legal and regulatory environment and prepaid market receptiveness, against the prepaid market opportunity.
Why are banks and insurers struggling to operate as true customer-centric organisations when they know great customer service is a crucial differentiator? The answer lies in the enterprise operating model, which can create a structural barrier to achieving customer-centricity, writes Sean Tomlinson. head of consulting, private sector, Steria (right). The problem with the enterprise operating […]
Although the network EMV liability shift is about two years out, card manufacturers already are consulting with their U.S. issuing clients to help them make decisions now about how they will approach the transition to EMV.
Following the news that Polish banks will work together on establishing a common mobile payment infrastructure, Philippe Eschenmoser, head of business consulting at SIX Payment Services, explains why other European banks should learn from the Polish market.
Is there anything to fear about the new FCA? Well, possibly quite a lot, it would seem. A hundred or so days into the new era of the FCA and it would be hard for anyone in the wealth management or private banking sector to have missed the message that the regulation of the sector is going to be different from now on.
New research shows that large businesses are continuing to identify risk management and corporate governance as pressing financial priorities. To achieve true visibility into these areas, corporate treasurers need detailed insight and accurate forecasting capabilities.
Authentication, risk management, transaction integrity and cardholder verification, are the four features that define the EMV standard, specified by EMVCo, the organisation that manages the EMV standards and associated compliance processes. These are designed to protect merchants, acquirers and cardholders from fraudulent transactions. However, closing the loop on fraud altogether will be almost impossible without […]
Employers looking at consumer-directed health care plans with HSAs tend to pick providers based on one or two administrative details, but they really need to dig into what kind of benefit experience employees will get. The quality of that interaction can make all the difference, and yield happy, engaged employees.
