Apple Pay Coming to China (Sept. 17, 2014)
Apple and China UnionPay Co. have struck a deal to bring Apple Pay, the wallet app featured on the new NFC-enabled iPhone 6 and Apple Watch, to China.
News
Kalixa, Millicom Form JV to Serve Africa and Latin America (Sept. 17, 2014)
Luxembourg-based telecom Millicom and Kalixa, a London-based payments service provider and 2014 Paybefore Awards Europe winner, have created a joint venture to develop a payments service provider to operate in Africa and Latin America.
Hong Kong to implement Swift’s infrastructure resiliency service
Hong Kong has become the second jurisdiction to sign up to use Swift’s Market Infrastructure Resiliency Service to improve operation of its real-time gross settlement system.
Report from MasterCard Europe Prepaid Conference (Sept. 16, 2014)
A white paper released today at MasterCard Europe’s Prepaid Conference in Budapest asserts that financial institutions are not keeping up with consumer demand.
SUBWAY Deploying Softcard-Branded Payment Terminals at 26,000-Plus Stores (Sept. 16, 2014)
Starting next month, Softcard users will be able to pay for food at SUBWAY using their mobile phones, as the quick service restaurant announced today it will launch Softcard-branded NFC payment terminals at its 26,000-plus locations in the U.S.
Amazon Getting Out of P2P—at Least for Now (Sept. 16, 2014)
Amazon is shutting down its WebPay P2P money transfer service next month, the online retail giant announced this week.
India Banking Push Spurs RuPay Growth (Sept. 16, 2014)
India’s RuPay national payments network is growing fast, bolstered by a government drive to expand banking services and move the country’s economy away from cash.
BATS Chi-X sets sights on Swiss ETFs through BX deal
Europe’s largest alternative trading venue BATS Chi-X Europe is set to target the Swiss equities market, following a deal with BX Swiss, an independent exchange. The deal focuses on cross-listings for exchange-traded funds, and trade reporting services – and is a direct threat to the incumbent SIX Swiss Exchange.
NBPCA, Gov’t, Consumer Groups Weigh In on Mobile Financial Services (Sept. 15, 2014)
Mobile financial services can play an important role among a large group of American consumers. That much the Network Branded Prepaid Card Association, the FTC and consumer organizations, including U.S. Public Interest Research Group and the Center for Digital Democracy, agree on.
Investors Line Up Ahead of Alibaba IPO (Sept. 15, 2014)
Chinese online shopping and payments giant Alibaba Group is finding no shortage of investor interest ahead of its upcoming U.S. IPO, which reportedly is already three times oversubscribed.
Reports: Weve Pulls Plug on Mobile Wallet (Sept. 15, 2014)
Weve, the mobile payments joint venture from mobile operators Vodafone UK, Telefónica UK’s O2 and EE, has abandoned plans to develop its own mobile wallet product after the U.K.’s three largest mobile telecom providers failed to agree on how to run the wallet.
Blackhawk Expands B2B Offerings with CardLab Buy (Sept. 15, 2014)
In a bid to build out its B2B incentives platform, Blackhawk Network has acquired CardLab Inc., a Dallas-based provider of customizable prepaid incentive and rewards cards.
ESMA puts IT on the regulatory agenda for credit ratings agencies
The European Securities and Markets Authority has set out a series of tough new proposals for how credit rating agencies should be regulated. The proposals have reignited debate over the agencies, which have been controversial for their alleged role in the financial crisis.
Comerica wins Direct Express RFP
Comerica Bank, the incumbent issuer of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Direct Express prepaid debit card program to distribute benefits to Social Security recipients, will continue in that role under a new five-year agreement, according to a blog post published today on the department’s Website.
Apple’s arrival will change the payments landscape – eventually
Apple may have lined up the chief executives of Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase to laud the launch of Apple Pay, but reaction from the wider industry was more muted – disappointed, even.
Will Apple Pay and Its Backers Ignite Mobile Wallets? (Sept. 11, 2014)
Numerous payments providers, financial institutions and merchants have thrown their support behind Apple Inc.’s new Apple Pay service—and if the tidal wave of early backing is any indication, the Apple and iPhone brands already may have overcome one of the most vexing issues hindering mobile wallet adoption—lack of widespread support by stakeholders in the value chain.
UK account switching service lures a million customers in its first year
Just over one million UK consumers have switched their current accounts using the UK Payments Council’s seven-day switching service during its first year of life, according to new figures released this week – but some observers believe more change is needed.
Visa Launches Token Service for Safer Online, Mobile Transactions (Sept. 11, 2014)
Visa Inc. has launched Visa Token Service to provide more security for e-commerce transactions, including online and mobile, by replacing payment account information with a digital account number, or token, which can be stored safely by online merchants or on mobile devices.
Amex Program to Spark Financial Inclusion Accepting Applications (Sept. 11, 2014)
Hoping to foster the next great ideas to promote financial inclusion for underserved consumers, American Express has begun accepting submissions for its Financial Innovation Lab, which provides researchers and practitioners from nonprofit organizations the opportunity to test their ideas on the American Express Serve prepaid account software platform.
MasterCard Sets Contactless Payments Deadlines for European Merchants (Sept. 11, 2014)
MasterCard has given European merchants accepting MasterCard and Maestro a deadline of no later than 2020 to update their POS systems so consumers will be able to tap to pay with their contactless cards and NFC-enabled devices at all POS terminals throughout the continent.
EU Makes Final Ruling on Cross-Border Interchange (Sept. 11, 2014)
The European Union’s Court of Justice has ruled that interchange fees charged for cross-border card payments by MasterCard were too high, bringing an end to a seven-year court battle over the fees.
Barclaycard to Fold Quick Tap, Making Room for Wearables
Quick Tap, the U.K.’s first NFC-based mobile payment app, will go down as a casualty of the speed of change in mobile payments technology when it folds next month, and it likely won’t be the last.
BNY Mellon backs London to lead European race for offshore RMB
London and Singapore are fast closing the gap on Hong Kong in the race to become centres for offshore renminbi business and capitalise on Beijing’s ambition to make the RMB a global currency.
Millicom ramps up African mobile money rush in Tanzania
Telecoms company Millicom has stepped up its push to gain ground for its mobile money service in the Tanzania as competition heats up between operators in the region
Barclays’ Harte: Alibaba and the forty fears of bank transformation
Michael Harte, chief operations and technology officer at Barclays, says the growth of Chinese online e-commerce business Alibaba is the threat that keeps him awake at night – and that major banks could be in danger of losing touch with their own customers.
Twitter Testing ‘Buy’ Button in Latest E-Commerce Play (Sept. 9, 2014)
Twitter is testing a “buy” button that merchants embed in their tweets.
New Skrill App Benefits Consumers, Retailers (Sept. 9, 2014)
Online payments and digital wallet provider Skrill USA Inc. has launched a mobile app enabling its U.S. customers to manage their digital wallets more conveniently and to send and receive payments, whether they are paying for goods and services or transacting on gaming sites.
hyperWALLET Adds Meta as Issuer (Sept. 9, 2014)
Vancouver-based payment solutions provider hyperWALLET has signed Meta Payment Systems to be its second issuing bank in the U.S.
Home Depot Confirms Breach Spans Stores in U.S., Canada (Sept. 9, 2014)
Home Depot confirmed suspicions that it is the victim of a customer data breach.
Viewpoint: Separating Fact from Fiction: Consumers Union Campus Banking Report
The NBPCA responds to the CU report on student cards.
All Aboard for Apple’s NFC Payments Launch (Sept. 8, 2014)
Apple’s new iPhone 6 to be announced tomorrow is almost certain to shake things up in the fledgling mobile wallets ecosystem, with an NFC-based mobile wallet that will debut with the support of major retailers, payments networks and banks.
Store Financial Offers Students a Safe Way Home (Sept. 8. 2014)
As another school year beings, a new prepaid card is helping ensure college students have a safe ride home after a night on the town.
Barclaycard Beefs Up Loyalty/Rewards Capabilities with Logic Group Buy (Sept. 8, 2014)
Barclaycard, the global payments business of U.K.-based Barclays, announced today it’s acquiring The Logic Group, a U.K.-based payments and loyalty company.
SBI, MasterCard Launch Multi-Currency Card for Millions of Indian Travelers (Sept. 8, 2014)
The State Bank of India and MasterCard today launched a multi-currency travel card for business professionals, tourists and students traveling abroad.
Dark pools, market manipulation and benchmark rigging top risks warns report
Regulators in the US and Europe are stepping up investigations into dark pool activity, market abuse and manipulation of financial benchmarks following a spate of damaging incidents in recent months. Tougher regulatory oversight could have a significant impact on all three areas, according to a new report by financial services technology provider SunGard.
EY seeks start-up to solve data privacy challenges
EY is inviting start-up tech companies to compete in a competition looking for solutions to the problems posed by “right to be forgotten” regulations.
Barclays makes another move into biometric security
Barclays plans to offer corporate banking users a new security services based on Hitachi’s Finger Vein Authentication Technology from early next year and is considering introducing it to branches for consumers.
Google Wallet Pact Is Blackhawk’s Latest Mobile Move (Sept. 4, 2014)
Blackhawk Network has integrated its gifting platform with Google Wallet, enabling wallet users to manage and spend gift cards on their mobile devices.
Cardtronics/Allpoint Network Sign Deals in India, U.K. (Sept. 4, 2014)
Allpoint Network, an affiliate of Cardtronics Inc., and travel services company Thomas Cook of India have announced a partnership giving users of Thomas Cook India’s multicurrency Borderless Prepaid Card surcharge-free access to Allpoint’s network of more than 55,000 ATMs in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, U.K. and Australia.
MCX Unveils Network Brand (Sept. 4, 2014)
Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX), the retailer-led mobile payments consortium formed in 2012, has unveiled the name of its new mobile payment network.
