A coffee shop in Vancouver, British Columbia, will be home this week to what some are hailing as the world’s first Bitcoin ATM, which can exchange cash for the controversial digital currency.
A law prohibiting surcharges on certain types of payments should apply to mobile carriers, an adviser to the EU’s Court of Justice told the Austrian Supreme Court, which is currently deliberating an appeal by T-Mobile after the carrier’s surcharges were ruled illegal by lower Austrian courts. The case stems from a lawsuit filed by a […]
Clear2Pay, the Brussels-based payments systems company, says that selling the company “is not part” of its current plans.
A pair of payments industry heavy-hitters is banding together, with prepaid provider Blackhawk Network announcing that its electronic gift cards will be accessible within the PayPal mobile app. Meanwhile, the partnership gives PayPal yet another foothold in the physical payments space, bringing PayPal’s reloadable GPR prepaid card to Blackhawk’s extensive retail distribution network. “Our collaboration […]
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Payment Cards Center this week unveiled a white paper analyzing the effects of sweepstakes-based financial literacy programs New York-based PayPerks developed to help educate unbanked and underbanked consumers using prepaid government benefits cards. The 26-page paper, “Driving Positive Behavior Change Through Education and Motivation: Summary of a PayPerks Workshop,” […]
Oct. 24, 2013 Mobile deposit capture took a big step toward mainstream adoption in the prepaid industry with the announcement this week that Ingo Money Inc.’s mobile deposit capture pilot with Visa, which began last year, is officially out of beta. Ingo Money’s service enables consumers to deposit checks into their Visa Prepaid card accounts by […]
With new regulations on remittance transfers set to take effect next week, the CFPB laid out its standards for examining companies covered by the rules. In Jan. 2012, the CFPB issued its final rule outlining remittance regulations as set by the Dodd-Frank Act. The rule was revised in May 2013 after complaints from industry participants […]
The European Central Bank (ECB) is calling the next three months critical for stakeholders still needing to migrate to the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) for electronic payments transactions. The deadline for migration to SEPA credit transfer (SCT) and SEPA direct debit (SDD) schemes is Feb. 1, 2014. “Everybody has to be ready . . […]
Amid big transit rollouts in Chicago and Salt Lake City, Las Vegas is getting in on the action with a new pilot program enabling transit riders to pay bus fares with a tap.
Pharmacy giant will soon find out if its suite of financial services is just what the doctor ordered for the millions of unbanked and underbanked consumers in the U.S.
Money2020 highlighted financial services technology innovation, as the biggest names from major payment companies, startups and investors convened to glimpse the future of payments.
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.
Blackhawk Network late Monday announced it plans to acquire InteliSpend Prepaid Solutions, a leader in corporate incentive cards and promotions, in an all-cash deal expected to close no later than next month. Blackhawk sought InteliSpend, a 2013 Paybefore Award winner, because of the “great synergies” that exist between Blackhawk’s own retail gift card partners and […]
Financial services technology provider Fiserv has launched a new platform that enables small- and medium-size billers to send electronic bills and accept payments through multiple channels. Dubbed Biller Advantage, the platform targets companies that send between 2,000 and 500,000 bills a month, according to Brookfield, Wis.-based Fiserv. “Biller Advantage provides the functionality small- to mid-sized […]
Payments startup Clinkle Corp. already has landed some big name investors—and now the San Francisco-based company is filling out its executive team, announcing that former Netflix CFO Barry McCarthy will join Clinkle as COO. Established in 2011 by 22-year old Stanford grad Lucas Duplan, the company has been developing a payment app that reportedly will […]
FEXCO, a provider of financial transaction processing, foreign exchange and outsourcing services based in Ireland, has acquired mobile payments and loyalty startup FLASHiZ, with BNP Paribas Personal Finance taking a minority shareholder stake in the Luxembourg-based company.
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.
Chattanooga, Tenn.-based prepaid processor and program manager TransCard announced that CEO Craig Fuller has been named CEO of the Year in the North America division by Finance Monthly.
Transaction Network Services has hired Lisa Shipley as head of global strategy for the Reston, Va.-based company’s payments division.
Telefónica Digital has hired Pilar Aurrecoechea as digital financial services director, reporting to Vivek Dev, CEO of digital services.
Ned Horsted has been awarded the U.S. Recruiting Network, South Dakota Top Producer for Q3 2013.
Austria-based paysafecard.com Wertkarten AG, provider of digital prepaid online payment solutions, has appointed Michael Pirker to the newly created position head of business development, and Michaela Unger has been appointed public relations and communication manager.
Mercator Advisory Group recently announced several company appointments.
Green Dot Corp. has named Grace Wang chief financial officer. She will report to CEO Steve Streit, and will assume her new role Nov. 18, 2013.
Fiserv Inc., a Brookfield, Wis.-based financial services technology provider, has hired Matt Wilcox as managing director, marketing strategy and innovation, digital payments.
CO-OP Financial Services, a Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.-based credit union service organization, has named Lois Hansen vice president, product development.
CashStar Inc., a Portland, Maine-based provider of digital gifting technology and Paybefore Award-winner, recently announced that Ben Kaplan has been named president and CEO.
Bitcoin Foundation, a nonprofit institution founded last year to promote Bitcoin use, has elected Meyer (Micky) Malka and Elizabeth T. Ploshay to its board.
Program manager Access Prepaid Worldwide, a MasterCard company, has appointed Rajeev Kumar regional director and general manager for the Middle East and Africa.
MasterCard’s MasterPass digital wallet service will become available to thousands of e-commerce merchants across 17 countries in Europe and Asia beginning next month, through a partnership with Paris-based payments provider Worldline.
The global push toward NFC-based transit payments continues—this time in Rio de Janeiro, the site of a new pilot program enabling transit riders to tap mobile smartphones to pay on trains, buses and ferries.
U.K.-based e-loan provider Wonga Group has struck a deal to acquire German online payments provider BillPay. The deal, financial terms of which were not disclosed, will create what Wonga called “one of Europe’s leading digital finance and payment systems businesses.” In addition to its home country of Germany, BillPay also operates its PayPal-like service in […]
American Express cardholders traveling by taxi in New York City now are able to pay their fares using membership reward points. The technology enabling this payment method began rolling out today to the more than 7,000 VeriFone Systems in-taxi devices. When customers reach their destination and choose to pay with credit, they will be prompted […]
Payments processor and program manager TransCard will release a new prepaid travel card branded by Pan Am Brands, a division of Pan American World Airways. The card will feature the iconic name and logo of Pan Am, one of the largest international air carriers in the U.S. between 1927 and 1991. “We are excited to […]
Large retail banks sometimes find it hard to change because they have assimilated many smaller banks through acquisition, each of which is running on a payments engine that has different features and may be very old. That can make it difficult to offer new services, but there is a solution according to Paul Thomalla, head of EMEA at US-based payments and technology firm ACI Worldwide.
Geopolitical shifts and increasing protectionism among nations will mean that the universal banking model is no longer sustainable – and there is little that anyone can do, according to Bill Michael, EMA head of financial services at KPMG. “The future shape of banking is beyond the control of boards, individual regulators or countries alone,” Michael […]
China’s giant retail payments operator Alibaba Group this week announced plans to expand its Alipay online payment service to Taiwan and simultaneously unveiled key upgrades to Alipay’s digital wallet, significantly increasing customers’ options for online and offline purchases.
Commuters in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area starting this week have a new way to pay for fares on buses, trains and streetcars serviced by the Utah Transit Authority. The UTA, in partnership with Atlanta-based InComm, have launched the FAREPAY card, a contactless, closed-loop card that can be loaded with funds from $5 to […]
U.S.-based digital currency exchange Kraken is set to be released into Europe. San Francisco’s Payward—the company behind Kraken, which exited beta last month—has inked a deal with Fidor Bank, a German financial services provider that combines traditional banking with Internet-based payments. Under terms of the deal, Kraken will become Fidor’s “exclusive digital currency trading platform” […]
Western Union is set to launch a new reloadable prepaid card in Italy in partnership with Lottomatica, a gaming technology solutions company that provides payment, reload and e-money services. The deal brings Western Union’s Paybefore Award-winning MyWU Prepaid Card to Italy, where it is targeted to serve more than 4 million migrant workers who can […]
