By Bill Grabarek, Senior Editor Reading between the lines of announcements from Apple Inc. to anticipate the technology titan’s next moves not only keeps analysts busy and consumers guessing, it has spawned entire Websites devoted to scrutinizing everything the company says and does. This isn’t to imply Apple doesn’t excel at effective self-promotion, but the company […]
Plastyc Inc., a New York City-based prepaid debit card provider, recently announced it is doing business as Banking Up. The name change was in conjunction with the launch of Banking Up, a personal finance platform enabling banks and businesses to provide customers with an alternative to traditional checking accounts. Plastyc, which announced last year that […]
Best use of a consumer-funded gift card/voucher or line of gift cards/vouchers. Best in Category: £5 for a £10 Starbucks Card eGift LivingSocial Deal Delivered nearly 65,000 Starbucks Card eGifts from Nov. 29-Dec. 1, 2012, powered by CashStar’s eGifting platform and LivingSocial’s local marketing engine. Starbucks LivingSocial CashStar CashStar, LivingSocial and coffee giant […]
By Thomas Cornelius, SVP, InComm Today’s consumers are constantly on the go—they’re busier, they multitask more and they have less time to get everything done. As a result, their shopping habits have changed. In fact, according to Forrester, more than 50 percent of in-store retail sales (approximately $1.2 trillion) are now Web-influenced. To meet the […]
Strong customer authentication and account monitoring are keys to preventing tax refund/benefits fraud on prepaid cards. By Loraine DeBonis, Editor-in-Chief As identity theft increases in the digital age, fraud perpetrated with stolen identities has risen dramatically. And, tax refunds have become a target for fraudsters. Tax-related identity theft jumped more than 650 percent between 2008 and […]
The organization that stood out from the crowd in 2012 to make a positive, game-changing difference in the prepaid/emerging payments environment in a geographic region or globally. Best in Category: Rêv Worldwide Launched low-cost mobile card reader targeting 400 million SMEs in 12 countries, along with Brazil’s first GPR card and Mexico’s first mobile banking/prepaid […]
The retailer that has used prepaid most effectively to increase sales, promote its brand and/or extend convenience to customers. Best in Category: Walmart Prepaid Card Program Jason Marshall and Sabrina Chin, Walmart Aggressively promotes broadest assortment of innovative prepaid products at everyday low prices through extensive merchandising in the most valuable space in the […]
In our final installment of winners coverage for the 2013 Paybefore Awards, you’ll find out how companies are innovating and expanding the boundaries of prepaid to solve problems, reach more consumers and change the industry for the better. Most Innovative Program Best Retail-Based Prepaid Card Program Expanding the Boundaries of Prepaid Outstanding Newcomer Breakout Company of […]
In business more than 60 years, Minneapolis firm demonstrates the wisdom of smart growth and leveraging core competency to become a leader in innovative card printing.
An Interview with John Walsh, CEO, SightSpan Serving on a corporate board is a great honor and a great responsibility, especially for those involved in financial services organizations. Gone are the days when directors were management’s rubberstamp. And particularly since the global financial crisis of 2008, significantly more is expected of non-management corporate directors. Today’s […]
Swift’s Innotribe innovation project has chosen the 15 US semi-finalists for its start-up challenge, which aims to bring together innovative ideas in financial services and turn them into functioning businesses.
CFPB Invites ‘Innovative’ Companies to Share Consumer Data, Ideas to Help Shape Policies By Kate Fitzgerald, Emerging Payments Editor The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) since its formation in 2011 has generated great interest and, at times, controversy over its mission and leadership in its role of creating and enforcing federal financial services regulations. While […]
Best prepaid or emerging payments program launched and operated by a non-U.S. company outside the U.S. Best in Category: Power to Pay Program Power to Pay NFC tags for mobile phones were developed exclusively for IIT Bombay students and faculty and can be used at select campus outlets for day-to-day purchases via the RuPay payments […]
The prepaid or emerging payments program that delivers the best consumer value proposition for the combination of features, functionality, service and price. Best-in-Category: BlackboardPay An open-loop, FDIC-insured prepaid account that can be integrated with a student ID card to facilitate disbursement of financial aid and student payroll, and providing access to 50,000-plus surcharge-free ATMs, free […]
Best use of in-store merchandising to promote the sale, use and acceptance of prepaid cards and/or emerging payments products. Best-in-Category: Green Dot Retail Marketing Comprehensive program of permanent and promotional merchandising that enabled smaller chains to participate, drove significant ROI and addressed cardholder behavior, such as usage and retention. Green Dot Corporation Left […]
By Jai Holtz, Sears Financial Services (Member of MCX) There’s no denying that years of hype around mobile payments is beginning to translate into real interest and action from retailers, but the trend has a lot less to do with the actual act of paying than is widely assumed. There are numerous benefits to being […]
Think Finance, a Fort Worth, Texas-based developer of financial products for underbanked consumers, has named Martin Wong as the company’s first chief integrity officer. He will oversee the company’s compliance with all state and federal laws and will be responsible for ensuring Think Finance offers clear, transparent and fair products in the industry. Wong joins […]
Square Inc., a San Francisco-based mobile payments company, has hired Alex Petrov as vice president of partnerships. His extensive background in retail, consumer products and payments will help drive strategic business development and customer acquisition, according to the company. He has served as vice president of consumer brands at Safeway, and as vice president of […]
Paybefore Award-winning SpendSmart (formerly BillMyParents), a San Diego-based provider of payment solutions targeted to teens, young adults and their parents, has appointed Kim Petry chief financial officer. Previously, Petry was vice president and chief financial officer, global corporate/commercial card, at American Express. Prior to American Express, she served as a vice president at TIAA-CREF Life […]
R&P Group, a Sioux Falls, S.D.-based payments industry recruiting firm, has announced that Ian Horsted, vice president of recruiting, has earned the U.S. Recruiting Network Top Producer Award for Q1 2013. In the past three years, Horsted has received this distinction more times than any other recruiter in the region, according to the company. He leads the […]
Alan Safahi, founder and CEO of ZipZap Inc., a San Francisco-based cash payment network for online financial services and e-commerce transactions, has been named to the advisory board of OpenCoin, creator of the open-source currency platform Ripple. With nearly 30 years of hands-on experience in the IT, telecommunications and financial services industries, Safahi has created […]
MasterCard has appointed Andrew Buckley head of commercial products for Europe. Based in London, he will be responsible for leading the commercial team in Europe and delivering advanced commercial payments solutions to small businesses and large corporations and their employees. Prior to joining MasterCard, Buckley served as vice president for global corporate card product management at American Express, […]
The board of directors of First Data Corp., an Atlanta-based payments processor, has named Frank Bisignano CEO. He also joins the First Data board of directors. Bisignano most recently served as co-chief operating officer of JPMorgan Chase, where his responsibilities included overseeing global technology, real estate, operations, procurement, compliance, regulatory control and oversight, resiliency, security […]
Social and mobile gifting company eGifter, has hired Andrew Dodge as vice president of sales. He will focus on driving demand among retailers and payment channel partners for the eGifter platform, which enables retailers to add social gifting, group gifting and mobile delivery of e-gift cards to their own Websites, fan pages and mobile apps. Dodge […]
Braintree Inc., a Chicago-based e-commerce payments processor, has announced that Rob von Behren has joined the company as lead engineer for its San Francisco office. He will help to advance Braintree’s position in mobile commerce, including its one-touch mobile payment solution Venmo. A long-time systems engineer, von Behren has deep experience in distributed computation, high-performance […]
MTS, the European electronic fixed income marketplace majority owned by the London Stock Exchange, plans to open a platform for US institutional investors, allowing them direct access for the first time.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently published a final determination regarding whether the unclaimed property laws of Maine and Tennessee relating to unredeemed gift cards are inconsistent with and preempted by the gift card provisions of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act and Regulation E. In its ruling, the CFPB determined that Maine’s unclaimed property […]
The US Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has appointed Carlo di Florio as executive vice president, risk and strategy. In his new role, di Florio will lead FINRA’s office of risk, emerging regulatory issues, enterprise risk management and strategy.
Banks can breathe a sigh of relief following the publication of amendments to US Dodd-Frank Rule 1073 today, which should allay fears that draconian regulation was about to stifle cross-border payments.
UMB Financial Corp., a Kansas City, Mo.-based financial services holding company, has announced that Hugh Meadows has joined UMB as vice president, debit/prepaid card product manager for health care services. He is responsible for executing strategy and driving growth to UMB prepaid and debit card portfolios through new sales and expanding existing business. He also […]
