With European Union law now requiring merchants to tax digital goods based on which country the buyer is located in—instead of where the seller is located—the European Commission (EC) is canvassing interested parties for feedback on the system of reconciling and paying taxes to national governments.
Money laundering is a global phenomenon, evident in many parts of the world. Techniques have ranged from simple bulk cash movements across borders to more sophisticated techniques hidden in trade transactions. As trade between the Middle East and the rest of the world continues to grow, the threat of trade based money laundering becomes more […]
Sometimes the least obvious changes can have a big effect, and very often those changes are in areas that might considered outside the remit of the people best placed to make them. Bank staff remuneration, for instance …
Call it immediate, instant, fast(er) or real-time, the drive to speed up payments is being discussed in almost every country. As part of that discussion Banking Technology and ACI Worldwide brought together international participants from Australia, Europe, the UK and the US review the opportunities and challenges ahead.
For those who attend Sibos every year, it can seem as though the conference never actually ends – it simply adjourns until the following year. This year, the rise of distributed ledgers and the role of non-bank players in financial services look set to top the agenda – but there will also be a strong focus on innovation, women in finance and millennials.
While IT departments fret about BYOD and Shadow IT, a new security beast lurks on the horizon–the shadow internet of Things. A swarm of consumer devices are all connecting to the internet and beaconing out data in different forms. Because they don’t look like computers, they aren’t treated like computers, and IT departments are often not managing them to ensure that they are secure.
UKGCVA’s reply to Ireland’s proposal to ban expiration dates on gift cards and vouchers.
Visa set a deadline for its debit card issuers to request extra payment on top of the monies the issuers will receive in accordance with an earlier settlement reached with Target related to the 2013 breach.
Litigation involves a $7.25 billion settlement deal with retailers, after it was disclosed that a defense attorney shared information with an attorney for the plaintiffs.
Abercrombie & Fitch and RadioShack class action decisions involving closed-loop gift cards warrant attention.
Saxo Payments isn’t a bank, and the chief executive isn’t a banker. So how does he think he’s that’s going to help shake up international payments?
A bank cannot hope to compete in today’s retail banking market without a ‘digital executive team’ and banks need to reinvent their upper echelons’ if this is currently lacking, as Atom Bank and Apple Pay are merely the start of an avalanche of a new era of digital disrupters, looking to steal the lunch from traditional high street banks.
Pascal Augé, head of global transaction and payment services, Société Générale speaks to Daily News at Sibos about the growing importance of transaction banking for corporate customers
Last year, the ISO 20022 standard celebrated its 10th birthday, and consequently it may seem a bit odd to say that after more than a decade since its inception, the financial community really should start taking assertive action. Since 2004, the ISO 20022 standard has, thankfully, witnessed substantial adoption but it has been what could be termed an “uncontrolled adoption”. So why is action so critical now?
When I joined the company in 2007, Google was just a search engine and Apple had nothing to do with payments. It was a time many prepaid executives have compared to throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks—not everything did.
Business expense prepaid cards can fill in the gaps when credit, cash or other business payments aren’t ideal. Tapping this relatively young vertical market will require product features that make life easier for employers and employees.
The creation of domestic mobile payment schemes by retail banks is good news for their customers domestically, but potentially threatens mobile payments at an international level.
Australia’s central bank may begin regulating American Express cards in the country, putting at risk the generous rewards points cardholders earn on so-called “companion cards”— credit card accounts linked to two different credit card networks, thus enabling cardholders to earn the benefits of whichever one they choose to use at the point of purchase.
Digital gifting continues to make inroads, with more than half of consumers surveyed by Blackhawk Network reporting the purchase of an e-gift over the previous year.
A U.S. appeals court this week determined that the FTC has authority to regulate corporate cybersecurity and can pursue a lawsuit against hotel operator Wyndham Worldwide Corp. for allegedly failing to properly safeguard consumers’ information.
Even as they cement their recovery from the financial crisis, adherents to traditional banking models are facing a new storm as they grapple with the digital demands of the Facebook generation and heightened regulatory risks surrounding data. At the same time, they must match the customer service levels offered by the “challenger” banks if they are to avoid haemorrhaging business to their nimble and digital-focused rivals.
Surcharges vs. discounts.
Changing terms of an agreement.
Three-party agreements causes problems.
Rights of gift card holders.
Redeeming for dollars.
Payment opportunities in the EU come with complex requirements, which is why it’s important to understand the ever-changing legislative issues.
Let’s be clear: banks do a very difficult job – they store the value of society expressed as money. We trust them and they can’t get it wrong, but they are nothing but people and IT. Everything they own is on computer and they don’t like to take risks with this. Consequently, IT change for banks has been slow and safe. It has been incremental: bit by bit, byte by byte.
Historically, the large banks have been Lords of the Manor, between them owning every scrap of land as far as the eye can see. However, times are changing: invaders offering services the banks cannot provide as competitively have begun to disrupt the peace and take small pockets of land for themselves. Likening the march of the fintech new entrants to a land-grab by an invading force, the disruptors began with a neglected allotment here and there, then moved to take a meadow and now some are on the verge of swallowing up villages and small towns …
We recently surveyed more than 1,000 Americans about their payment preferences. The key trend that emerged: Traditional and emerging payments tools are being used together, not cannibalizing each other.
Like it or not, the bitcoin craze is here to stay. Over time, bitcoin will be a major disruptor in payments—with broad implications for governments, businesses and consumers. Burying your head in the sand is not an option.
A curious cultural shift is taking place when it comes to problem-solving in the financial services industry, writes Joe Channer The sector is not renowned as a home for co-operation: competition is intense, the stakes high, and individualism rewarded. Yet the industry has recently seen a marked increase in collaborative ventures. The post-crisis environment, with […]
There has been hype around wearable technology for some time now but only now is it reaching market maturity with the introduction and subsequent adoption by consumers of smart watches and wristbands. Just as we saw with smart phones and tablets, consumer technology, in this case wearables, has the potential to have a huge impact on the business world. The implications for the financial services industry are significant
The last lingering issue in the long-running legal dispute between merchants and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors over debit interchange fee caps took a step toward resolution this week, with the Fed detailing how it calculated a controversial aspect of the fee limit.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) this week sent a letter to the retail consortium Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX), which is readying the launch of its CurrentC mobile payments service, demanding details about its exclusivity policy requiring participants to block rival mobile wallets, along with other information.
BofI Federal Bank has received approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to acquire certain assets and liabilities from H&R Block Bank.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has released new guidance for banks issuing tax refund-related products, including prepaid cards.
Connecting Governance, Finance, Risk & Compliance allows firms to govern all important issues and risks that exist at the intersection of multiple functions. Breaking silos and adopting a forward looking, holistic view of GFRC functions will be what provides financial institutions with a competitive advantage
Another warning to check that your vendors apply appropriate security measures.
Both Google and RadioShack are engaged in legal battles with consumers holding unused balances on the respective company’s gift cards.
