News


GPR at Retail: Details Count

Neither the costs of shepherding a card into stores nor increased competition has deterred new entrants from launching GPR prepaid cards. Providers are coming into the market with astute hooks that play to their strengths to attract and retain cardholders.

Swift Innotribe Startup Challenge names European finalists

Swift’s Innotribe Startup Challenge has named the five European finalists for its annual competition, which seeks to find the best new companies in financial services and bring them to compete in the final at Sibos Boston in October.

Barclays takes Harte from Commonwealth

In one of the highest-profile tech hire in recent years, Barclays has poached Commonwealth Bank’s Michael Harte as chief operations and technology officer, filling the gap left by the surprise departure of Shaygan Kheradpir last autumn.

Johannesburg Exchange revamps clearing and derivatives trading

South Africa’s Johannesburg Stock Exchange has begun a massive overhaul of its clearing and trading systems, which will see its siloed clearing platforms replaced by a single engine from vendor Cinnober and its derivatives market shifted onto the London Stock Exchange’s MilleniumExchange platform.

If T2S is the answer, what’s the question?

The purpose of the European Central Bank’s T2S project is ill-defined and taking so long to deliver that it is being pushed aside by other projects according to speakers at the Swift Business Forum in London.

Trade reporting uncertainty raises “multiple problems”

Nearly three months after the European Commission’s 12 February deadline for trade reporting, market participants are still not ready to report their derivative trades and serious problems remain with understanding the rules.

PicomoPay, MoneyGram Hoping to Capitalize on Facebook’s Popularity (April 29, 2014)

Just weeks after a report surfaced that Facebook was seeking an e-money license in Europe to boost its international remittance business, PicomoPay, a social networking payments platform, announced a deal with MoneyGram to enable U.S. Facebook users to send money transfers to more than 336,000 MoneyGram agent locations in more than 200 countries.

Abu Dhabi Securites Exchange gets X-stream trading engine

Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange has gone live on a new trading engine provided by US exchange group Nasdaq OMX. The upgrade project provides the Middle Eastern exchange a trading platform that will allow it to trade new asset classes and further its rivalry against Dubai and other regional exchanges.

People on the Move: Kelly Mahon Tullier and Ellen Richey, Visa Inc.

Visa Inc. has announced that Kelly Mahon Tullier will join the company as executive vice president and deputy general counsel. Ellen Richey, chief legal officer, chief risk officer and member of the executive committee, will continue in those roles through Sept. 30, 2014, when she will become vice chairman, risk and public policy.

A Square Deal? (April 24, 2014)

First the Wall Street Journal reported in November that Square Inc. was considering an IPO. Then acquisition rumors swirled after the newspaper reported this week that Square had been in M&A talks with companies including Google, Apple and PayPal.

Mobile payments push past 20% of transactions says PSP

Payment services provider Adyen has reported that one in five payments made on its network are now being made using a mobile device – a finding that reflects the rise of mobile payments worldwide, according to the firm.

DTCC pushes move to T+2 settlement for US markets

US clearing body the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation is pushing a move to shorten the settlement cycle for the US markets to T+2, claiming support from industry bodies and firms including JP Morgan.

Is Identification the Killer App for Mobile Wallets? (April 17, 2014)

The thus-far sluggish rate of mobile wallet adoption in the U.S. has been attributed to a range of factors, from security concerns, to lack of widespread merchant acceptance to the familiarity and convenience of traditional plastic payment cards. But according to a new report from TSYS, what might be holding mobile wallets back has less to do with the mobile and more to do with the wallet.