Two important new books about security - and payments security in particular - arrived on my desk this week.
The first book - the second edition of Ross Anderson's Security Engineering
The second book - Zero Day Threat
Both of these books have just been added to the first page of the Payments News Bookstore on Amazon.com.
The Bancorp Payment Solutions Group, a division of The Bancorp Bank, has announced it will be teaming with Deluxe Corporation, to offer the DeluxeCard agent bank program providing a turnkey prepaid card service to financial institutions. » Continue Reading
Robin Sidel writes for the Wall St. Journal about Thursday's House Judiciary Committee hearing on the Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2008. Sidel writes that one effect of the legislation, if passed and signed into law, would reduce interchange fees paid to banks and, therefore, force issuing banks to cut back on their card reward programs. While merchants are saying that any interchange fee reductions would be passed along to consumers through lower prices, many in the industry say that is unlikely to be the case - and point to the lack of price reductions following action taken by the Reserve Bank of Australia that cut interchange fees significantly in that country.
SWIFT's 2007 Annual Report is available for download 
.
"SWIFT is a community-inspired co-operative, founded by and for the financial services industry. We work globally with more than 8,300 organisations including banks, market infrastructures, securities institutions, corporations, network providers, business partners and technology companies to ensure the financial world can carry out its business operations with certainty."
[Hat tip: Chris Skinner]
Nortel has released results of a new study of the 'Culture of Connectivity' saying we're entering a period of hyperconnectivity. One of the findings: when asked which item people would take if they had to leave the house for 24 hours, more than 38 percent of global respondents chose their mobile phone over their wallet, keys, laptop and MP3 player. Less than 30 percent chose their wallet first. In Latin America, more than 50 percent chose their mobile phone over any other item. The hyperconnecteds preferred leaving with their laptops. The study is available online with registration. They also have a blog on hyperconnectivity.
Launched two and a half years ago, Bank of America's Keep the Change savings program has helped its customers save more than one billion dollars in customer round-ups and bank-matching funds, the bank announced today. » Continue Reading
The Federal Reserve Banks (FRBs) and The Clearing House Payments Company (TCH) have announced plans to implement enhanced message formats to accommodate both cover payments and payments containing business remittance information on their respective U.S. dollar wire transfer systems, the Fedwire® Funds Service and CHIPS. » Continue Reading
The Smart Card Alliance has announced the 2008 award winners for "Outstanding Smart Card Achievement" (OSCA) in the North American and Latin American smart card industry during its annual conference, taking place at the CTST 2008 The Americas Conference and Exhibition in Orlando this week. » Continue Reading
In an economic environment where many workers are feeling the pinch of the rising cost of living, Nursefinders Inc., one of the nation’s largest healthcare staffing providers, has announced that it is offering daily salary payments to temporary employees who have registered at no cost for a Chase Payroll Card. Upon completion of a daily work shift, an employee’s payroll card account is credited with salary payment as quickly as two hours after an approved time card is submitted. » Continue Reading
Blackhawk Network has announced the winners of its Hawk Awards, honoring four companies’ and one industry leader’s excellence in the gift card industry. Winners were chosen in several areas; Card Design, Product Innovation, Industry Achievement and Industry Pioneer. » Continue Reading
A new Online Banking Report has been published titled 'Online Investing Communities: Will social networking revolutionize saving & investing?'. From the announcement: 'We believe social networking will eventually play a large role in online investing, and evidently we are not alone. We found 54 companies involved in investment information exchange and only six of those have monthly traffic of 100,000 or more.'
The NACHA Board of Directors has selected Janet O. Estep, most recently an executive vice president with U.S. Bank, to succeed Elliott McEntee, who will retire as president and chief executive officer at the end of 2008. During the transition period, Estep will serve as president and chief operating officer and McEntee will continue as chief executive officer. » Continue Reading
In an article titled 'Welch pushes bill to trim back credit card fees on businesses' in the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus, Peter Hirschfeld reports from Vermont about Rep. Peter Welch's news conference yesterday where he attacked 'rising credit card fees' and announced plans to introduce new legislation concerning them later this week. "It's a near monopoly they have," Welch said of VISA and MasterCard. "And, as is often the case with monopoly power, it's abused." More information is available on Welch's web site.
INSIDE Contactless has announced that shipments of its MicroPass intelligent payment platform for contactless payment cards has surpassed 50 million units. According to the company, 'MicroPass is used to power more certified card products than any other contactless technology, providing issuers with broad choices for card manufacturing. Its low power and high performance, combined with the industry's fastest transaction time and outstanding read distance, enables MicroPass to deliver a superior cardholder experience for a broad range of innovative uses.' » Continue Reading
The US House Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing this Thursday, May 15th, on H.R. 5546, the “Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2008”. That bill was introduced by committee chairman Rep. John Conyers, Jr. In an article titled "Old foes unite to keep charging credit card fees to merchants", The Hill reports that the "heated battle over the credit card fees charged to merchants has united two eternal foes" - namely, banks and credit unions. As of tonight, the witness list for Thursday's hearing hasn't been announced.
Glenbrook's next roundtable on the Structure of the Merchant Marketplace will be held June 10th in Santa Clara, California. Registration is now open. Allen Weinberg and Carol Coye Benson will be taking a special look "under the covers" – focusing on the key industry verticals within the U.S. merchant marketplace. » Continue Reading
Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Benton J. Campbell have announced that 'three defendants have been charged in a federal grand jury indictment and complaint with illegally accessing the computer systems of a national restaurant chain and stealing credit and debit card numbers from that system.' » Continue Reading
The Federal Trade Commission and the Technology Law and Public Policy clinic at the University of Washington Law School have announced they will be holding a one-day Town Hall meeting entitled “Pay on the Go: Consumers and Contactless Payment" to be held July 24 in Seattle to explore emerging uses of contactless payment devices and their implications for consumer protection policy. According to FTC, the Town Hall follows up on its November 2006 forum, “Protecting Consumers in the Next Tech-ade,” which examined the key technological and business developments that will shape consumers’ experiences in the coming decade. » Continue Reading
PRBC, a bill payment credit bureau, has announced that its credit verification, reporting and scoring procedures meet or exceed new guidance provided by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) for verifying "bill payment" histories and establishing credit scores for borrowers with little or no traditional credit files or FICO scores. » Continue Reading
Reminder: eBillme has announced a webinar this Wednesday, May 14, where Russ Jones of Glenbrook Partners will provide an in-depth look at the retailer integration process for several alternative payment options including: Bill Me Later, eBillme, Google Checkout, and PayPal. Registration for the webinar is available online.
The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment has partnered with Chase to change the way benefit payments are issued by the state’s Unemployment Insurance Program. Recipients will be issued a Visa debit card called a Colorado Automated Payment (CAP) Card and benefits will automatically be deposited into their CAP Card account. The CAP Card can be used for purchases anywhere Visa is accepted. An FAQ on the CAP Card is available on the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment's web site. » Continue Reading
Universal Studios has announced it has entered into a multi-year marketing and financial services alliance with GE Money and American Express. Under the arrangement, American Express becomes the official payment of choice at Universal Studios Theme Parks Resorts; GE Money becomes the Parks' official financial services sponsor; and the companies launch the new Universal American Express Card issued by GE Money. » Continue Reading
Cards&Payments has released the results of its Annual Bankcard Profitability Study finding that credit card issuers in 2007 generated a sizeable profit, though down slightly from the previous year. According to the study, the industry posted a collective after-tax return on assets of $18.08 billion, or 2.79% of average outstandings - down 1.58% from $18.37 billion and 2.97% in 2006. » Continue Reading
AuctionByte's Ina Steiner interviews Prem Ramaswami, Associate Product Manager for Google Checkout, for an update on Google's payment service. Both a podcast and a transcript of the interview are available. Ramaswami says: "We want to create the fastest, safest and most convenient shopping method for our buyers to use, and we want to increase ecommerce, because we strongly believe that increasing ecommerce increases the size of the pie for everybody out there."
EPN, the ACH business of The Clearing House Payments Company, is urging financial institutions to start planning now to meet OFAC requirements for new international ACH transactions (IAT) in March 2009 and has created an IAT Readiness Checklist to help financial institutions prepare. » Continue Reading
Shanghai SmartPay Jieyin, in partnership with China Unicom, China Unionpay and Huishang Bank, has launched its mobile wallet service for paying utility bills in Anhui Province. This service allows users to pay bills any time, any where, without having to go to banks or toll stations. SmartPay says" 'all they have to do is to send a SMS and bills are paid, saving time and cost.' » Continue Reading
The Washington Post carries a Kiplinger.com story in today's personal finance section about Sam Sweet and how he's been effective at negotiating lower credit card interest rates from his card issuers. His strategy: he simply doesn't take "no" for an answer - typically escalating all the way to the president's office for each issuer.
In a column titled 'No surprise: First Data nearly led to last of Frontier', business columnist Al Lewis writes for the Denver Post about First Data CEO Michael Capellas and his comments about the recent bankruptcy filing by Frontier Airlines that resulted from First Data requiring an increase in reserves from Frontier.
Here's a review of this week's top stories on Payments News. If you missed it, last week's Weekly Wrap is here. Back to the future!: for fun, click for this week's activity here on Payments News last year!
You can find all of our Weekly Wrap summaries in the Payments News Weekly Wrap Archive. They're published every Saturday and look back at the highlights of the week's news. Please send us on how we can improve the Weekly Wrap!
Ina Steiner writes for AuctionBytes.com about new developments as eBay moves forward with plans to mandate PayPal on sellers in Australia. She cites several submissions to the inquiry into the practice being conducted by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
Lisa Scherzer writes for the Wall St. Journal that more credit card issuers are closing inactive accounts. She writes: 'As credit-card delinquencies rise, closing inactive accounts helps companies reduce their exposure to risky credit holders.'
Jupiter's Ed Kountz blogs about alternative online payments ((PayPal, BillMeLater, Google Checkout and eBillMe).
He writes: "A new JupiterResearch report indicates that consumers who are turning to alternative online payments are doing so for two primary reasons. The first is security -- in the form of not having to enter card information online. The second, convenience, is related—as anyone who has ever wanted to make a purchase on a PC upstairs, using a credit card located in a wallet or purse a floor or two away has found." Which do you think is most important for consumer adoption: convenience or security?
Ed's new blog is one of many payments and banking blogs that we've recently collected onto our "Other Blogs" page. On one page there you can see the titles of the latest posts on over 30 blogs.
Celent has published a new report titled 'Disruption in the Payments World' saying that 'the current euphoric era for many issuers will be disrupted and quite possibly eliminated over the next three years.' Why? Celent's reasons include a forecast that interchange rates will begin to decline, that a large payments company will launch an alternative network to MasterCard and Visa, and that credit card issuers will need to diversify their payments mix by adding decoupled debit payment options. » Continue Reading
APACS, the UK payments association, has released figures showing that the debit card retains its popularity at retailers, with spending on debit cards increasing by 11% last year. According to APACS, this increase stands in stark contrast to paper cheque spending which declined by 7.5% in terms of value and 13% by volume over the same period. Credit card spending at retailers in the UK has not grown over the last three years. » Continue Reading
Visa Inc. has announced that it will for the first time make its Visa International and Regional Operating Regulations available publicly, effective May 15, 2008. According to Visa, the Operating Regulations, which will be available on Visa's corporate website at http://www.corporate.visa.com, are 'the set of rules which govern the participation of issuing and acquiring financial institutions in the Visa system.' Visa also said that 'to protect cardholder and merchant safety and the Visa system, Visa has omitted proprietary and competitive information, as well as certain details from the rules relating to the security of the network. For example, in the merchant rules, Visa has omitted authorization limits by country and processing codes which could aid fraudsters.' » Continue Reading
For the last two days, the Federal Trade Commission held a Town Hall meeting in Washington to explore the evolving mobile commerce (M-commerce) marketplace and its implications for consumer protection policy. The FTC has posted the agenda for the meeting along with webcasts of the sessions along with transcripts (to be available soon).
In the UK, Monitise and Metavante have announced that they are working with Carphone Warehouse to launch a “mobile money” scheme that includes the introduction of a Carphone Warehouse prepay card managed directly from the mobile phone that can be used to shop in millions of outlets worldwide. » Continue Reading
The Reserve Bank of Australia has made comments to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's inquiry into eBay's recent announcement that it would mandate the use of PayPal for payments on eBay's Australian site. The RBA comments: 'The proposed conduct by eBay is to mandate the use of PayPal for almost all transactions on the eBay site. This raises three potential issues in relation to the payments system. The first is that it could limit the ability of new on-line payment systems to become established and for alternative systems to compete in the on-line payments space. The second is that it could restrict merchants' ability to negotiate lower fees. And the third is that it restricts choice for consumers.' More in the RBA's full submission. Also, CNN reports on eBay's move.
Citigroup is holding an investor and analyst day today in New York. A presentation is available online along with a webcast. Included in the presentation discussing Citi's innovation efforts are mentions of its mobile banking and mobile payments efforts with Obopay, SK Telecom, AT&T and Firethorn (slide 17). In an article titled "Blue-Light Specials at Citigroup as Its New Chief Plans a Revival", Eric Dash reports for the New York Times on efforts by Citi over the last several months to dispose of some of its weaker business assets.
New jobs have recently been listed on PaymentsJobs.com:
Are you actively recruiting payments professionals? Post your job openings on PaymentsJobs.com!
The April 2008 edition of the First Annapolis Navigator is now available. This month's feature article is "Cross-Selling Commercial Cards." Other articles include: "Soft Economy Delivers Hard Hit to Retail Sector", "Mid-Size Internet Retailers Payment Acceptance Methods", "Marketplace Feature: Stock Market Performance", "Q1 2008 Credit Card Issuer Scorecard", and "Market Scan of European Bank - Issued Prepaid Cards."
The U.S. Department of the Commerce (DOC) has selected JPMorgan as its provider for charge card services. The order is part of the U.S. General Services Administration’s (GSA) SmartPay 2 program, the largest government charge card program in the world. » Continue Reading
Discover Financial Services has announced that its Discover Card was ranked No. 1 in customer loyalty among leading credit card brands, according to the 2008 Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index report. Brand Keys identifies the four most important drivers of brand loyalty in the credit card category as Rewards and Services; Fees and Flexibility; Ease and Speed of Interactions; and Protection and Precision. Discover Card has won the credit card category in the index 11 years in a row. » Continue Reading
Ina Steiner of AuctionBytes.com writes about her interview with Scott Thompson, PayPal CEO. A podcast of the interview is available. She writes: 'Thompson talked about the competitive landscape in online payments and PayPal's focus in the next 12 - 24 months. He also shares his thoughts on eBay's Safe Payments policy, including what the PayPal-only policy on eBay Australia means for the rest of the world.'
James Charles reports for Times Online (UK) that several of the largest UK banks are increasing monthly fees on current accounts by up to 20 percent in advance of a ruling by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) capping overdraft fees.
In her Thursday column titled 'Your Losing Hand', Michele Singletary reports for the Washington Post on last week's proposed rule changes by the US financial regulators re: credit cards. She writes: 'Although regulators are proposing to eliminate some of the more unsavory practices of the industry, many cardholders -- regardless of class, education or income -- can only win by not playing the credit card game.'
The PCI Security Standards Council has announced a complimentary educational webinar, “Understanding the Payment Application Data Security Standard” on Thursday May 22, 2008 at 11:30 a.m. EDT with a second session scheduled the same day at 7:30 p.m. EDT. » Continue Reading
Jim Bruene's Netbanker reports on person-to-person lender Prosper.com's new marketing initiatives including its new slogan: "Let's bank on each other." More on the Prosper Blog.
Wireless operator Orange is testing in the Ivory Coast a new money transfer system: Orange Money. Strategies Telecom & Media interviews Marc Rennard, executive director in charge of Orange’s operations in Africa, Middle-East and Asia. about Orange Money. As we've seen previously with M-PESA in Kenya, the mobile operators are focusing much of their mobile payments initiatives on markets where a large majority of the population is unbanked.
That's the title of a Dallas Morning News editorial this morning commenting on last week's proposed rules changes that says 'enough is enough.' The editorial continues: 'New regulation is overdue. Creditors have been free to hike interest rates at any time and for any reason – and then apply the new rate to purchases the consumer has already made.'
The Federal Reserve reported today that consumer credit increased at a 7.2 percent overall rate in March 2008 - with revolving credit increasing at 7.9 percent for the month.
Sony Electronics has announced the establishment of an integrator and developer channel program for its FeliCa contactless integrated circuit (IC) chip technology. The FeliCa microchip provides a fast, convenient and secure all-in-one solution platform for multiple applications, including electronic pre-paid transactions, access, interactive signage and membership or loyalty rewards systems. The chip combines processing, storage and communication functions, and can be implemented in a variety of form factors including cards, key chains and mobile phones. » Continue Reading
Clearwire and Sprint Nextel have announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement to combine their next-generation wireless broadband businesses to form a new wireless communications company. In addition, Intel Capital, Google, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks – have collectively agreed to invest $3.2 billion into the new company to be named Clearwire.
Google's Larry Adler comments on the Official Google Blog about Google's participation in the new company. It will be fascinating to watch how this affects mobile Internet usage for financial services applications. Wikipedia has a comprehensive article about the WiMax technology that is the basis for this new network. » Continue Reading
The Pew Charitable Trusts have announced a new project aimed at 'helping America's workers underserved by mainstream financial institutions secure access to safe, affordable, fair, and empowering bank accounts. The Pew Safe Banking Opportunities Project, a two-year $2.1 million initiative, will develop and promote standards for bank accounts so that moderate- and low-income households that are new to or have been left out of the mainstream banking system are less likely to have to rely on overly expensive, income-stripping financial products.' » Continue Reading
MasterCard Worldwide says it is 'the first payments company to offer small businesses automatic savings on fuel and maintenance through the addition of the Fuelman Network to the MasterCard Easy Savings program.' MasterCard says its BusinessCard credit and signature debit cardholders enrolled in the program will now receive a 1% automatic rebate on fuel and a 5% automatic rebate on maintenance purchases at more than 16,800 participating locations in the Fuelman Network nationwide. » Continue Reading
ACI Worldwide has announced that MasterCard Worldwide has selected ACI's electronic payment solutions as key elements of the new MasterCard Integrated Processing Solutions (IPS) announced in early April. MasterCard IPS provides banks a suite of branded debit network and card issuer processing services including PIN and signature debit and prepaid processing, and ATM driving. » Continue Reading
The MasterCard Foundation has announced it has awarded a 'two-year, $740,000 grant today to Microfinance Information eXchange (MIX) to launch MIX Market 2.0, a next-generation Web platform for sharing reliable, comparable and publicly available information on the financial strength and performance of microfinance institutions.' According to the foundation, 'MIX, a not-for-profit private company, has received industry-wide recognition for its efforts to increase the transparency of the microfinance sector.' » Continue Reading
The April Discover U.S. Spending Monitor reflects a 'continuing pattern of economic concern from consumers in the face of rising expenses. For the last four months including April, the Monitor has remained in the 85-86 range. The April index rose a scant .3 from March when the index hit its lowest point ever. The up-tick to 85.4 was primarily the result of higher spending expectations.' » Continue Reading
In a column titled 'Banks' credit card bluster rings hollow', Los Angeles Times consumer reporter David Lazarus writes: 'I just love it when the credit card industry threatens to take its toys and go home.'
Yodlee and Postilion have announced a 'partnership to integrate Yodlee PersonalFinance and Yodlee DirectPay into Postilion's Retail and Business Internet Banking solutions to enable Postilion's' financial institution customers to deliver stronger online banking solutions and develop new revenue-generating opportunities via card-based online bill payment.' » Continue Reading
On The FinanSer, Chris Skinner blogs about today's world of what he calls 'disconnected banking' - noting that bankers have 'managed to get customers out of branches and transform them into data entry clerks, who serve themselves through ATMs and the Internet.' Who's he watching instead? The social finance sites like Zopa, Prosper and more - typically dismissed by bankers as 'folly, unpractical, unregulated and untenable.'
The New York Times Dealbook takes a look at yesterday's announcement that JP Morgan Chase is acquiring a 47 percent interest in Target's credit card portfolio.