Cards


Top ten fintech events in 2016

Look back at some of the major fintech events in 2016, with Banking Technology’s top ten! Sibos 2016: markets still in “Dante’s circles of hell” It’s the big one. And this is just one snippet from our extensive coverage of Sibos in Geneva. We also produced videos, published Daily News at Sibos, had fun with […]

US chip and PIN card roll-out – let’s shorten the time to process; where do I sign!

From a technology perspective, the family home has decided to rush headlong into the 21st century. When our home was built we thought we were being extremely progressive in having a Panasonic “4 lines, 10 extensions, PBX” installed with separate lines for my wife and myself and then a line for business and yes, one dedicated line for the fax machine. Cool… but fast forward a decade and a half and with the home up for sale, we were politely advised to take out all those handsets and close the door on the PBX.

Citi and FIS get pally with PayPal

Citi and FIS have formed separate agreements with PayPal for Citi cardmembers and FIS linking payment cards. For Citi, its customers will be able to use their Citi Cards with PayPal – online, in-app and in store – in 2017. Terms of the agreement are not being disclosed. With this agreement, Citi says it is […]

Monitise and MasterCard launch Finkit partner programme

UK-based payments vendor Monitise has launched its Finkit partner programme with founding partner MasterCard to speed up collaboration in banking and payments. For the “first time”, the founding partners – which also include BehavioSec, Currencycloud, Envestnet | Yodlee, Experian, Fastacash, FICO, HID, iGeolise, LivePerson, Mypinpad, Syniverse and WorldFirst – have agreed to make their capabilities […]

Debit and Prepaid Card Bases Set to Gain Market Share

The global prepaid card base will increase to 921 million in 2021, up 46 percent from 624 million as of Dec. 31, 2015, according to a new forecast from U.K.-based Retail Banking Research, or RBR. Despite the prepaid surge, debit will continue its dominance of the overall cards market. RBR’s “Global Payment Cards Data and Forecasts to 2021,” which does not cover closed-looped prepaid cards, found that debit cards in 2021 will account for 72 percent of all payment cards worldwide, up from 70 percent in 2015.

MasterCard unveils new blockchain

MasterCard has unveiled its own blockchain as it reacts to arch-rival Visa’s partnership with Chain and seeks to use the technology in payments and trade finance. Its version is currently at the testing stage and offers the usual things in this corner of the fintech world. These include smart contracts – scriptable transactions that automate […]

Misys in five-year Deutsche Bank deal

Misys has signed a five-year enterprise license agreement with Deutsche Bank giving it “unrestricted access” to deploy Misys FusionBanking Lending and Misys FusionCapital solutions across the business. Misys’ FusionBanking Lending offering includes the Loan IQ back office platform for syndicated lending and the front-end that originates from Custom Credit Systems (CCS), a US-based provider of […]

Top fintech stories this week – 28 October 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! HSBC Private Bank live with Avaloq Banking Suite EXCLUSIVE. It’s on in Switzerland and Luxembourg. European Association for Biometrics conference Eyes down for our event review. New challenger bank to launch in UK Hampshire Community Bank wants a […]

The changing co-branded credit card landscape

As retailers across the country need to bring innovative customisation and convenience factors to their customers, credit cards are becoming an essential part of delivering value. Co-branded cards continue to play an important role in the retail landscape and can offer a unique point of distinction for retailers in today’s competitive environment.

Payments round-up: 21 October 2016

Jargon defeated. Unnecessary words deleted. A brief payments round-up. LeFinance, a division of Beijing-based tech firm LeEco, has partnered with the Stellar Development Foundation for cross-border payments on the latter’s blockchain network. The deal means Stellar expands into China. LeFinance will also use Stellar’s network to monitor credits for usage across their various devices and […]

Interview: Kyle Ferguson, Fraedom’s CEO – on the road to Fraedom

Payments technology and expense management specialist Fraedom is on the journey to tap into the $110 trillion B2B market opportunity that remains untapped today. “If the technology is both powerful and intuitive, people will use it,” states Kyle Ferguson, Fraedom’s CEO.

Top fintech stories this week – 14 October 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! MasterCard to buy French payment firm Stet? EXCLUSIVE. Payments processor could be a target. Brooks Macdonald puts IT revamp with Third Financial on hold EXCLUSIVE. All freeze for wealth management firm. Banks behaving badly in Singapore Monetary Authority […]

MasterCard and SolarisBank partner for digital banking push

MasterCard and Berlin-based SolarisBank have teamed up to bolster their digital banking ambitions. SolarisBank has got principal membership status, and will now operate at MasterCard’s “highest issuer level”, with access to its entire product portfolio. Dr. Andreas Spengel, vice-president at MasterCard, says it is “excited by the outlook of working together with a young, visionary […]

Ericsson rolls out mobile remittance in emerging markets

Ericsson has joined forces with HomeSend, a joint venture between Mastercard, eServGlobal and Bics that focuses on mobile money remittances in emerging markets. Ericsson’s digital wallet, Ericsson Wallet Platform, is now HomeSend Certified. The product has access to HomeSend’s network of money transfer operators, cash agents and banks in more than 200 countries. Peter Heuman, […]

The future of money: humans need to keep the robots in check

Udayan Goyal’s vision for the future of money revolves around seamless, instant micropayments being made continuously between autonomous apps and services all triggered by thoughts and actions of humans as they go about their daily lives.

Top fintech stories this week – 23 September 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Harrods Bank in search of new core banking system EXCLUSIVE. The FIS Profile project is dead. Long live a new project! Deutsche Bank GTB builds new payments platform EXCLUSIVE. Dovetail to deliver? Misys unveils Platform-as-a-Service strategy Opens up […]

Payments round-up: 2 September 2016

Time flies, so we’ve devised a quick fix. Here’s a round-up of key events in the payments space. In China, Qilong and Shenzhen Qianhai Exce-card Technology (SQEC) have formed a strategic agreement to co-ordinate with banks to issue China Union Pay audio bank cards. The latter make sounds when the buttons on the cards are […]

Payments round-up: 1 September 2016

Brevity is the goal of this. Here’s a round-up of events in the payments space to save you time. Let’s start off small… as in Small World FS. The London-based payment service provider reached a milestone with 50 million transactions processed on behalf of its customers. The firm’s been around for ten tears and says […]

Misys appoints advisers for £5.5 billion IPO

Banking technology vendor Misys – currently residing in the hands of US-based Vista Equity Partners – is understood to be gearing up for an IPO on the London Stock Exchange. According to City AM, Misys is planning a £5.5 billion float and has appointed investment advisory firm Moelis to oversee it. In its current form, […]

Misys’ FusionBanking Essence core system live at Yoma Bank

Myanmar-based Yoma Bank has gone live with Misys’ core banking system, FusionBanking Essence. Yoma Bank, one of the country’s largest commercial banks, has been in tech modernisation mode since 2014. In-mid 2014, it issued an RFI for new core banking software, with the financial support from International Finance Corporation (IFC; a subsidiary of the World […]

Payments round-up: 11 August 2016

They said it. We read it. We edit. Here’s a round-up of events in the payments space to save you time. Payments platform Payza has expanded the availability of its Payza Prepaid Card to the majority of its account holders worldwide. It was initially launched to a “limited group” in December 2015, but Firoz Patel, […]

ING Bank Romania launches new mPOS service with GoSwiff and MasterCard

ING Bank Romania has launched a new mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) service, underpinned by MasterCard and specialist vendor GoSwiff. ING mPOS is aimed at local merchants of all sizes. It enables them to accept card payments through mobile devices, smartphones and tablets, connected to a card reader. It also supports other added-value services, such as consumer […]

MasterCard and PayPal mull strategic alliance

Years of friction could be over as PayPal is talking to MasterCard on a potential strategic alliance, according to the Financial Times. PayPal, with its network of 188 million active users, has been expanding at MasterCard’s and Visa’s expense. One example was its recent partnership with Mexican telecommunications giant América Móvil for growth in Latin […]

Top fintech stories this week – 22 July 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! BBA records dramatic increase in mobile banking usage Digital banking is in a “consumer-led revolution”. MasterCard buys VocaLink for $920 million Current owners Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and RBS will receive a handy windfall. Cidel Bank implementing ERI’S Olympic […]

Visa says Europe open to biometrics for payments

According to new research from Visa, consumers across Europe are interested in using biometrics when making a payment – especially when integrated with other security measures. About 73% of the 14,000 European consumers surveyed see two-factor authentication, where a biometric is used in conjunction with a payment device, as a secure way to confirm an […]

Virtual cards 2.0 set to boost commercial card uptake

Why are the next generation of virtual cards the key to commercial card adoption? Alex Mifsud, CEO of Ixaris, explores the issue. Commercial cards are relatively commonplace in the business world, with companies using these cards to buy a raft of business related items, including client lunches, airline tickets & office supplies. Commercial cards come in […]

Wirecard moves into North America with Citi Prepaid Card Services acquisition

Wirecard has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Citi Prepaid Card Services – giving it an expansion into North America. The firm says Citi Prepaid card services have launched over 2,500 client programmes, associated with global companies and brands, but primarily in North America. Subject to the usual regulatory approvals, the deal is expected to […]

Amex teams with Facebook for Messenger bot

American Express is partnering with Facebook to provide an Amex bot for its card members in Messenger. The concept will allow Amex card members to sign up to receive real-time notifications about their purchases, and information about card benefits and services related to those purchases. For example, if a member purchases an airline ticket, the […]

Novabase builds customer onboarding platform for Banco CTT

Banco CTT, a new bank recently launched by CTT Correios de Portugal, the Portuguese post office, has developed a new customer onboarding platform. The platform promises to complete the opening of a new account at Banco CTT in just 20 minutes online. It has been developed together with a local software specialist, Novabase. It is […]

Top fintech stories this week – 24 June 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Visa Inc completes acquisition of Visa Europe Together again. Virgin Money UK in new banking software search Another one of Branson’s ventures. BIL embarks on major technology overhaul with Temenos Second time lucky? MoneyConf 2016: Woe to the […]

Visa Inc completes acquisition of Visa Europe, appoints new board member    

Visa Inc and Visa Europe are united again. The combined company provides digital payment products, services and processing to about 17,100 financial institution clients and partners, 40+ million merchant outlets, and three billion Visa accounts worldwide. The company says its branded cards and payment products amount to approximately $6.8 trillion in global payments volume annually. […]

Travelex partners with Wirecard to launch new card and mobile product, Supercard

Travelex has launched Supercard, a MasterCard and mobile app combo for UK travellers to avoid debit/credit card roaming fees and charges when spending abroad. Supercard will be chip and PIN protected. The security aspect will be taken care of by a payments firm Wirecard. Following a successful pilot, Supercard is now offered to the UK […]

Neema and MasterCard team up for debit card for migrant workers in Asia

Fintech start-up Neema has issued the MasterCard debit card for migrant workers from the Philippines, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka – which promises to drastically reduce the cost migrant workers pay to send money home. Neema says there are no transfer or foreign currency exchange fees. “One of the biggest expenses for migrant workers is […]

Visa Inc gets green light to take over Visa Europe

The European Commission has approved the proposed acquisition of Visa Europe by Visa Inc. This concludes all regulatory approvals required for this deal to go ahead, as the Jersey and the Turkish competition authorities have already given their stamps of approval. The transaction is expected to close in Visa Inc’s fiscal Q3 2016. The takeover […]

Misys, First Horizon and Al Rajhi Bank join BIAN

The Banking Industry Architecture Network (BIAN), a not-for-profit fintech industry body, has added three new members to its global network. These are Misys, First Horizon and Al Rajhi Bank, the world’s largest Islamic bank. The total count of BIAN members now stands at 64, comprising banks, software and service providers, and academic partners. Hans Tesselaar, […]