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The Community Financial Services Association of America (CFSA), a national trade group of responsible payday advance companies, has issued a press release "dismissing a report by the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) as misleading and lacking perspective." » Continue Reading
In an article titled 'ATM System Called Unsafe", MSNBC's Bob Sullivan takes a look at issues involving the security of ATM PINs in transit between ATM machines and card issuers that were earlier outlined in a white paper published by an Israeli security firm.
Ted Griffith reports for The Wilmington News Journal about ING Direct's "audacious" expansion plans - including its plans to introduce checking accounts dubbed "Electric Orange" on Feb. 1 of next year following a limited introduction to existing customers next month. Griffith reports the ING Direct plans to pay about 3 percent in interest on funds in the accounts - significantly higher than the average interest rates currently paid by other retail banks. Customers won't get checkbooks but will get an ING Direct debit card as well as be able to print checks as required on their home computers.
NACHA has announced it is accepting nominations for the 2007 George Mitchell Payments System Excellence Award and the 2007 Kevin O'Brien ACH Quality Award. The Call for Nominations with instructions and additional information is available on NACHA's web site. Nominations are due February 2, 2007. » Continue Reading
Wal-Mart Stores has announced it has experienced nearly a 60 percent increase in traffic this holiday season over last year on its Web site, Walmart.com. » Continue Reading
Gemma Simpson reports for the UK's Silicon.com about a mobile payments trial recently conducted by the London club Minstry of Sound using PayPal Mobile to provide end-to-end mobile ticketing with "clubbers able to buy, receive and redeem tickets on their [mobile] phones."
Cards&Payments, SourceMedia's monthly publication covering credit cards, debit cards, electronic and mobile commerce, and other forms of electronic payment, has announced it is launching a new industry awards initiative in 2007. » Continue Reading
Interfax has posted an interview with Guan Guoguang, CEO and founder of 99Bill (www.99bill.com), an online payment platform for e-commerce operators, Internet content providers and individual users. "With an email address or a mobile phone number in China, registered users can send and receive money through the Internet or via mobile phone."
Intuit and Digital Insight have announced signing a definitive agreement for Intuit to acquire Digital Insight. According to the two companies, "the acquisition will bring together Digital Insight, a leading provider of online banking services, and Intuit, the leading provider of financial management software, to millions of small businesses and consumers." » Continue Reading
SVPCO - Electronic Clearing Services, the electronic check and check image exchange business of The Clearing House Payments Company L.L.C., has announced that U.S. Bank is now exchanging check images via the SVPCO Image Payments Network. » Continue Reading
InComm says that, while many companies can provide gift cards for incentive programs, it "enables its partners to differentiate their offerings with exclusive features that have proven extremely popular among consumers." » Continue Reading
ING DIRECT President and CEO Arkadi Kuhlmann will be honored by the editors of American Banker with the Innovator Award on November 30th at the Pierre Hotel in New York. According to ING DIRECT, Kuhlmann has been the face behind ING DIRECT since its inception. Unlike most banks that had high overhead costs, high balance requirements and monthly fees, ING DIRECT’s business model enabled it to pass savings to customers in the form of consumer-friendly, simple products. “This award is a tribute to the energy, creativity and innovation of our employees,” Kuhlmann said. “Most financial companies are telling consumers to spend more. We’re showing Americans how to save more. Our innovation comes from finding new ways to empower everyday people to improve their lives.”
Visa USA has announced that consumer spending in electronics, home furnishings, grocery and drug stores helped boost overall sales during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend supporting Visa’s original projection of 7.5 percent growth (including gas and restaurant purchases) in overall retail sales for the 2006 holiday season. » Continue Reading
comScore Networks has released data on consumer online non-travel (retail) spending at U.S. sites for Cyber Monday and the 2006 holiday season to date. Cyber Monday, which marks the first major spike in online holiday spending as people returned to work after the Thanksgiving weekend, saw slightly higher than expected gains. Cyber Monday sales totaled $608 million, up 26 percent versus the same day last year. During the first 27 days of November this year, total online retail spending reached $9.48 billion, marking a 24-percent increase versus the corresponding days in 2005. » Continue Reading
The Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce has announced that the estimate of U.S. retail e-commerce sales for the third quarter of 2006, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, was $27.5 billion, an increase of 4.5 percent (±1.5%) from the second quarter of 2006. Total retail sales for the third quarter of 2006 were estimated at $991.7 billion, an increase of 0.7 percent (±0.3%) from the second quarter of 2006. The third quarter 2006 e commerce estimate increased 20.9 percent (±5.3%) from the third quarter of 2005 while total retail sales increased 5.1 percent (±0.3%) in the same period. E-commerce sales in the third quarter of 2006 accounted for 2.8 percent of total sales.
David Wethe reports for the Star-Telegram on airline-issued gift cards. According to Wethe, "America West, now owned by U.S. Airways, was the first airline to offer gift cards." Now every major airline seems to be selling them.
The Washington Post reports on a decision yesterday by U.S. District Judge James Robertson who said that "by keeping all U.S. currency the same size and texture, the government has denied blind people meaningful access to money." He ordered the government to develop ways for the blind to tell bills apart - saying that many other countries "vary their bills in size according to denomination, and every other issuer includes at least some features that help the visually impaired." The text of the judge's order is available online (PDF).
The Financial Times reports that yesterday Bank of America passed Citigroup as the world's largest financial services company as measured by market capitalization.
Elena Malykhina writes for InformationWeek via Bank Systems & Technology about mobile banking - and suggests that 2007 is shaping up as the year that it just might finally maybe get started. She notes Firethorn's recent announcements (CheckFree, Cingular, Synovus), PayPal Mobile's announcement earlier this year, and another service called ClairMail. She suggests banks shouldn't take too long to figure this all out - suggesting that consumers will expect their banks to support their increasingly mobile lifestyles sooner rather than later.
The New Zealand Retailers Association has announced that seven New Zealand retailers have "launched legal action against a number of credit card institutions, seeking damages from breaches of the Commerce Act. The move follows the recent decision by the Commerce Commission to bring its own court proceedings over the alleged price fixing of interchange fees by these institutions." » Continue Reading
JupiterResearch - in a new research report titled "US Contactless Payments; Primed for Supply, But Industry Must Coordinate to Reach Non-Users" - has announced that it is forecasting the total value of transactions conducted using contactless payment tokens will grow from $500 million in 2006 to $79 billion in 2010 - even though only 12 percent of US online consumers have tried contactless payments to date. » Continue Reading
Boulder, Colorado-based FEED Tribes has announced that "Noodles & Company has become the first national chain to adopt a new mobile commerce and marketing system that allows customers to pay with their cell phones." » Continue Reading
We have received news of the following recent management changes:
If yesterday was Cyber Monday, today must be Gift Card Tuesday - based on all of the news about them issued today. In the latest, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has issued a reminder to consumers "that it is important to check carefully the terms and conditions that apply to gift cards they buy or receive. As we enter the holiday season, it is especially important that consumers be alert to the wide variety of terms and conditions available in the gift card market,” said Comptroller John C. Dugan. “By asking a few questions based on the information provided in our Advisory, holiday shoppers will be able to select the gift card that best meets their requirements for this popular product.”
More than 67 million Americans have used a credit or debit card for a purchase of less than $5 in the past 30 days according to the fourth annual comprehensive, quantitative survey on the small payments market released today at the 2006 Micro and Small Payments Conference in New York City. » Continue Reading
Peppercoin has announced a strategic alliance with Heartland Payment Systems, Inc. that "extends Peppercoin's reach in the merchant community and makes its solutions available to the more than 130,000 businesses that rely on Heartland for payment processing." » Continue Reading
NOVA Information Systems has announced that it has enhanced its Electronic Check Service (ECS) product to meet the needs of multi-lane retailers by eliminating the investment in check imaging technology at the point of sale (POS). ECS now combines the benefits of real-time check authorization and risk mitigation services with back-office image uploads, resulting in improved cash flow and reduced risk. » Continue Reading
According to a recent study commissioned by First Data Corp., today's diverse gift card products are fitting nicely into the wallets, gift boxes and lifestyles of most American consumers. The survey examines both the purchase and use of single-merchant gift cards, those that can only be used at one retailer, as well as multi-merchant gift cards, those that can be used at multiple retailers. » Continue Reading
Jay Loomis writes for the Westchester County Journal News about MasterCard at 40. "Because of the increasing payrolls, MasterCard's space needs have expanded beyond the stately headquarters in Purchase, whose lobby features stone floors, trendy art displays and sweeping window views. MasterCard now occupies two additional buildings in Purchase." A sidebar explores some of Art Kranley's new technology efforts - "wristwatches, cell phones and key chains are some of the gadgets that Kranzley and other executives at MasterCard Inc. are evaluating as potential tools for consumers to load credit or debit card information."
Sandra Block writes for USA Today in her Your Money column about gift cards - recommending that gift givers avoid bank-issued "open loop" gift cards and thereby avoid the "expiration dates, inactivity fees and other restrictions" typically found on those cards. She cites the fourth annual report on gift cards issued last week by the Office of Consumer Protection in Montgomery County, Maryland titled "Gift Cards 2006: Retail Cards Continue to Improve (with Prodding); Bank Cards Still Have Problems" (PDF). The study reviewed "gift cards, packaging and inserts, websites, and policies of 40 major retailers and restaurant chains and ten bank card issuers" - concluding that "some major retailers and restaurants have made substantial improvements in their cards" while finding no such improvements in bank-issued gift cards saying "they continue to impose a slew of fees."
In an article titled 'Google Checkout Should Capture Small-to-Midsize Market", Jeff Molander blogs for Seeking Alpha about his views on why Google Checkout is likely being underestimated and could turn out to be "a killer application for Google." He figures consumer adoption is all about privacy (trust) and convenience of using Google Checkout as your online wallet. He concludes by saying that Google Checkout is much less about disrupting PayPal as it is about Google comprehensively serving the needs of the small to midsize marketplace.
Michael Crawford reports for Computerworld Australia on MasterCard's rollout of "a global dual-interface (contact and contactless) smartcard for the Asia Pacific, Middle Eastern and African (APEMA) markets named the MasterCard PayPass M/Chip 4 Combi Card."
Debitman Card is announcing Tuesday that it's got a new company name - Tempo Payments, Inc. - and will also be announcing a new agreement with Fiserv EFT to provide access to the Tempo Payment Network in Q1 2007. A new Tempo web site carries these announcements tonight. » Continue Reading
The Federal Reserve Board has announced its approval of a final rule regarding consumer authorization requirements when a person, such as a merchant, seeks to electronically collect a fee for checks or other items that are returned unpaid. The final rule clarifies that the requirement to obtain the consumer's authorization applies to the person seeking to electronically collect the returned item fee. The rule contains additional provisions related to the consumer's authorization and the content of notices that must be given to the consumer.
In a separate action, the Board requested public comment on a proposed rule to exempt transactions of $15 or less from Regulation E's requirement that receipts be made available to consumers for transactions initiated at an electronic terminal. The proposed exception is intended to facilitate the ability of consumers to use debit cards in retail environments where the receipt requirement may not be practical or cost-effective.
Somebody had to do it - and John Battelle has - posting on his blog a deep dive into the Google Checkout Terms of Service (and associated Privacy Policies, etc.) In particular, Battelle notes that Google Checkout collects information about each transaction "including ... a description provided by the seller of the goods or services being purchased..."
The latest Nilson Report has arrived featuring a mid-year look at global general purpose cards (subscription only). The issue also has articles discussing Citibank's card rewards, a look at smart card suppliers worldwide, and private label, non-bank money transfers.
The latest issue of the Online Banking Report has arrived featuring an in-depth look at what bankers should be taking away all of the "communications techniques, design guidelines, and attitudes" of successful Web 2.0 companies. Included is a list of the top tactics that OBR believes banks should consider to evolve their online banking efforts from Bank 1.0 to Bank 2.0.
Mobile Payments World Magazine and Edgar, Dunn & Company have announced the Fall 2006 Mobile Financial Services Study to be based upon the results of an online survey. According to the companies, "the objective of the survey is to garner insights from thought leaders in mobile technology and financial services."
Earlier this month, Firethorn announced a partnership with CheckFree to deliver mobile banking and bill payment services to financial institutions. Subsequently, Firethorn announced it was teaming with Cingular Wireless for its service and announced Synovus as its initial financial institution customer. In this article, we take a quick look at Firethorn's new mobile banking service based on the information on the company's web site and from its press releases. » Continue Reading
West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania-based Sapphire Mobile Systems has posted some information on its web site about its SMS-based mobile payment solution - called "Phire". In this article, we take a quick look at some of its features based upon the information the company has posted about this new service. » Continue Reading
TowerGroup reports that, "in 2007 and beyond, the global financial services industry will increasingly grapple with three major strategic shifts: reinventing financial services at its core; repurposing financial services relative to the global diversity of a changing customer base; and helping restore confidence in an uncertain world." » Continue Reading
Erika Brown reports for Forbes on Bill Me Later - saying that I4 Commerce CEO Gary Marino certainly knows "how to pick a fight." Brown reports on one of the basic tenets of payments innovation - the amount of capital and time required for success - as experienced by Bill Me Later saying "so far it has taken him five years and $100 million in venture backing to persuade 2 million shoppers and 300 online retailers to try him out." Brown points out one important advantage that Bill Me Later brings to merchants - the ability to provide promotional financing combined with payment.
Bruce Mohl reported last week for the Boston Globe that the City of Boston has discontinued the acceptance of Visa and MasterCard cards at newly installed multispace parking meters - because they were requiring card users to purchase a minimum of 2 hours of parking time for $2, in violation of credit card rules prohibiting card accepting merchants from requiring minimum payments on card transactions.
Bruce Schneier blogs about why the focus in fighting online banking fraud needs to be on the transactions themselves, not solely on authenticating the user's logon.
It's Cyber Monday today - when everybody supposedly does their holiday shopping while at the office. Google Checkout has launched its Cyber Monday page of holiday offers where you can receive "$10 off purchases of $30 or more, or $20 off purchases of $50 or more, depending on the merchant." PayPal is offering free shipping and more from its holiday shopping page. Wal-Mart.com is also offering 5 days of super specials available only online - beginning today.
Jeana Wong reports from Singapore for Channel NewsAsia about Near Field Communication - saying "it can allow consumers, for example, to receive discount coupons via mobile phones in real-time when they pass by their favourite retail store. However, market watchers say coming up with a feasible business model remains a key challenge."
The Financial Action Task Force of the OECD has issued a 40-page report studying "new payment methods" (PDF) - defined as including "prepaid cards, Internet payment systems, mobile payments, and digital precious metals." The FATF is an inter-governmental body whose purpose is the development and promotion of national and international policies to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. The study summary says that it "found there is a legitimate market demand served by each of the payment methods analysed, yet potential money laundering and terrorist financing vulnerabilities do exist. Specifically, offshore providers of new payment methods may pose additional money laundering and terrorist financing risks compared with service providers operating within a jurisdiction."
Gartner reports that, while ecommerce sales have experienced consistent growth, "recent security breaches (online and offline) are having a significant impact on buying patterns of U.S. adults. Due to consumer’s concerns about the security of the Internet, nearly $2 billion in U.S. e-commerce sales will be lost in 2006," according to Gartner. » Continue Reading
Jim Fuquay writes for the Star-Telegram about the rapid growth in remote deposit capture of paper checks by businesses. According to one banker, he "thinks remote deposit will allow him to pitch his bank to a customer outside his principal market."
[Editor's note: Twenty years ago, it was the availability of the POS electronic draft capture terminal that turned merchant card acquiring from being a local, paper-based business to a national, scale-driven business. This growth in remote deposit capture feels like the beginning of a similar shift - except that it'll likely be offset by the ongoing reduction in the sheer number of checks being written for business payments.]
Experian and First Manhattan Consulting Group have announced the launch of Financial Personalities, a segmentation and scoring system for specific types of financial services, including credit card, home equity and mortgage. According to the companies, "Financial Personalities provides marketers of lending products with a unique set of tools to improve customer and prospect targeting, better align products and offers and tailor messaging to appeal to prospects. » Continue Reading
comScore Networks has released its most recent data on consumer online non-travel (retail) spending at U.S. sites during the 2006 holiday season, which began November 1, 2006. According to comScore, "during the first 24 days of November this year, total online retail spending reached $8.31 billion, marking a 23 percent increase versus the corresponding days in 2005. Black Friday, known for being one of the busier offline consumer shopping days of the year, saw particularly high online sales with $434 million spent, up 42 percent versus last year." » Continue Reading
David Lazarus writes for the San Francisco Chronicle about consumer debt levels in the US - with $12.3 trillion in total consumer debt outstanding or $2.4 trillion if mortgages aren't included, according to the Federal Reserve which reports this data on a monthly basis. Lazarus goes on to remind consumers to be careful using their credit cards this holiday season - which he says "are the only consumer product for which the terms of sale can change after you sign a contract."
The Inquirier's Chip Mulligan reports on plans to deploy contactless card technologies in the UK, beginning in London in September 2007 with the deployment of 4,000 new contactless/chip and PIN-capable POS readers to merchants and the issuance of over a half a million cards. In the UK, contactless payments will be limited to payments less than £10 (vs. $25 in the US) and the cards themselves will include "built-in counters that will only allow a certain number of contactless payments to be made before a PIN must be entered." According to Mulligan, "APACS expect that by 2011, 70% of debit cards and 45% of credit cards will have been converted to support contactless payments."
Mark Schwanhausser writes for the San Jose Mercury News about mobile payments - saying that "eventually Americans will be able to choose among high-tech alternatives that will transform how they shop, pay for goods, borrow money, dole out allowances, transfer cash around the globe and manage their finances." Schwanhausser reports that San Francisco "Bay Area companies are playing influential roles mapping the way, from old-school titans such as Wells Fargo and Visa USA to New Economy ventures such as PayPal, Obopay and Yodlee." In a sidebar, Schwanhausser takes a look at some of the experiments underway.
Jon Newberry reports for the Cincinnati Enquirer on the recent management team changes at Fifth Third Bank as it tries to adjust to changes in the interest rate environment.
Retail Decisions reports that online volumes surged 109% on a like for like basis on Black Friday. According to ReD, most online shoppers waited until the afternoon to begin their shopping. The peak shopping hour was between 3:00PM - 4:00PM and the peak shopping minute was 2:53PM. » Continue Reading
Ron Lieber writes for the Wall St. Journal about gift cards - and some of the problems (including various fees) associated with open loop gift cards in particular. An attached chart lists the attributes of over 50 different gift cards - both open loop and retailer-issued, closed loop cards. Interestingly, most retailer-issued cards no longer have maintenance or inactivity fees associated with them.
Visa USA has announced that US sales volume on Visa-branded credit, debit, prepaid and commercial cards increased 11.1 percent over the same period last year to $350.3 billion during the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2006. » Continue Reading
Erica Sagon writes for The Arizona Republic that "gift cards are shedding their reputation as impersonal presents given by lazy shoppers in buyers' eyes, at least, with the help of some clever marketing techniques that make a gift card seem more exciting than a piece of plastic."
Dave Birch reports on news that "Visa's UK Board of Directors has announced the nationwide roll out of contactless payment cards across the UK, starting in London, by the end of 2007."
Reuters is reporting that "MasterCard drew a rebuke at a closed European Commission antitrust hearing last week after claiming incorrectly that Britain had dropped an investigation into its fees."
Mercator Advisory Group has released a new report, "EMV Beyond Payments: The Bonus Card Case Study". Mercator says "loyalty on EMV is frequently quoted as the magic application for profiting from EMV The liability shift was still many years away when Garanti Bank started its EMV migration project in November of 2000, shortly after its launch of a Bonus Program in April of the same year. Over the past six years Bonus Card program became a huge success for the Garanti Bank and carried it to a leadership position in the Turkish card market. From 2000 to 2005, Garanti Bank gained over 6% market share on the acquiring side and more than 14% on the issuing side." » Continue Reading
Tomorrow is our favorite holiday of the year - Thanksgiving Day - here in the US. We've got a lot to be thankful for this year. Our best wishes to you for a wonderful holiday with your family and loved ones.
Mercator Advisory Group has published a new report titled "A True Test For Contactless Payments: The Market For Open-Network Transit Solutions" that "identifies the potential market size for transit payments in the US and looks internationally at the deployment of closed loop contactless cards. The report explores the potential market across different modes of transportation and the benefits of integrating open payment solutions into presently closed loop transit payment systems. The report considers the challenges to integrating closed transit systems."
PodTech has posted a great LunchMeet video interviewing Jason Knight and Marc Hedlund, the two founders of Berkeley, CA-based Wesabe, a new web site focused on personal financial management. A core idea behind Wesabe is the great notion that where you spend money represents an implicit recommendation by you of a merchant - sort of like how Google interprets links to a web site as representing a recommendation of that web site. The video includes a demo that shows how Wesabe works to bring together recommendations and experiences to help you better manage your money. Think of Quicken enhanced with the spending experiences of lots of your neighbors. What might be even more interesting would be to get below the level of the "purchase at a merchant" data itself - into the shopping cart and then mining that data for product specific recommendations.
James Van Dyke of Javelin Strategy and Research blogs about his hectic week on the road last week - and about the launch of a new "all-purpose template for developing payments strategies". Javelin subscribers can request a copy of the template and the banker’s payments strategy slide deck.
Sarah Scalet reports for CSO Magazine about the steps banks are taking to implement stronger authentication in response to FFIEC guidelines for year-end compliance. Included in the article is a useful chart - titled "Beyond the PIN" - of many of the stronger authentication techniques.
Coinstar has announced that its subsidiary Coinstar Limited has signed U.K. retailer WHSmith to its Gift Card Mall program - the first major retailer in the United Kingdom to deliver a Gift Card Mall program. » Continue Reading
The FDIC has just published its latest Quarterly Banking Profile with lots of statistics on the overall health of the US banking system.
Matt Kranz, USA Today's financial markets reporter, compares the stocks of American Express vs. MasterCard (which closed over $100 yesterday!). Bottom line: he's concerned about MasterCard's current PE ratio and its limited history as a public company.
Jaikumar Vijayan writes for Computerworld that some industry experts are recommending that financial institutions do more than just comply with the FFIEC guideliness regarding stronger authentication of online banking customers.
comScore Networks has released the first in a series of reports that measure consumers' online non-travel (retail) spending during the 2006 holiday season, which began November 1, 2006. During the first 19 days of November this year, total online retail spending reached $6.35 billion, marking a 23-percent increase versus the corresponding days in 2005. » Continue Reading
Retailers and charities aren't the only ones expecting to benefit from the upcoming holiday shopping season. With the average shopper expected to spend nearly $800 this year on holiday merchandise, according to the National Retail Federation, thieves are also looking to cash in on the season. Besides stealing money and objects, identity theft is gaining popularity among criminals. » Continue Reading
ADT reports that the holidays mean more shopping, and more shopping means more concerns for retailers about shoplifting. This year, retailers have added reason for concern -- for the first time in four years the rate of retail loss has increased, according to a new University of Florida retail study. » Continue Reading
Kate Norton reports for Business Week Europe on contactless forms of mobile commerce around the world. "Consultancy Strategy Analytics, in Milton Keynes, England, forecasts that mobile-phone-based contactless payments will account for more than $36 billion in consumer spending by 2011, up from $900 million now. The bulk of that should be in Asia."
In two commentary articles yesterday and today, the Motley Fool's Emil Lee has been exploring Wal-Mart's banking plans - its request to form an industrial loan corporation in Utah. In the second article, he challenges the banking industry - most of whom are opposing Wal-Mart's plans - saying that if banks "can't fend off a company that makes its living selling underwear and soap at cheap prices, then perhaps those banks aren't providing customers with enough value."
The Bank for International Settlements has published its 2005 summary of Statistics On Payment And Settlement Systems In Selected Countries (PDF).
Visa USA reports on a holiday spending survey that concludes "men actually report spending more on gifts and entertaining over the holiday season" - with men saying they plan to spend an average of $1,288 for the holidays which is over a hundred dollars more than women who report spending $1,186. » Continue Reading
The BBC reports on how mobile operators are working to make mobile phones equipped with NFC become smart wallets. "A mobile equipped with NFC technology could, for example, buy a concert ticket over the phone which would then hold those details, together with the details of the phone user, on the tag inside the handset."
Esther Dyson posts a photo of a fruit juice vending machine in Poland that accepts mobile payments provided by MPay. She describes the process - including how the system responds with an offer for a quick discount on chips from the other vending machine to your left.
According to The Conference Board, U.S. households are expected to spend an average of $449 on gifts during the holiday season, down moderately from last year's estimate of $466. » Continue Reading
Google Checkout has announced that it will be launching a holiday site on Monday, November 27, 2006. According to a new survey conducted by Harris Interactive and commissioned by Google Checkout, 40% of employed U.S. adults say they'll be doing at least some of their online holiday shopping from work this year, with 1 in 4 of those shoppers logging on to track down that perfect gift on Monday, November 27. (57% plan to shop during coffee and lunch breaks, while 34% will wait until the end of the workday.) » Continue Reading
Boston Main Streets, a public-private initiative established by the City of Boston, has announced a new card-based social commerce initiative designed to reward customers and the community when consumers shop at participating local Boston merchants. » Continue Reading
Bruce Schneier blogs about a recent paper by Omer Berkman and Odelia Moshe Ostrovsky titled "The Unbearable Lightness of PIN Cracking" (PDF) saying "basically, the paper describes an inherent flaw with the way ATM PINs are encrypted and transmitted on the international financial networks, making them vulnerable to attack from malicious insiders in a bank."
US Bank has announced that it is beginning a pilot of contactless cards in Denver - saying that "a group of U.S. Bank customers in the Denver area will soon be able to use a new “contactless” feature with their U.S. Bank Visa Credit Cards that allows them to quickly pay for purchases by holding their card in very close proximity to a secure reader at checkout instead of swiping it or handing it to a cashier." » Continue Reading
According to a new survey conducted by Braun Research and Bank of America, consumers spend an average of four hours and 35 minutes shopping at retail stores during the holiday season. Nearly one-third (one hour and 22 minutes) of that time is reportedly spent waiting in checkout lines. One way to "lose wait" this year is to shop online. Another way is to bank online. In fact, nine out of ten (88%) Internet bankers surveyed said doing so helps them save time during the holidays. » Continue Reading
The two creators of Near Field Communication technology, NXP Semiconductors and Sony Corporation, have announced plans to establish by mid-year 2007 a new joint venture (JV) that will drive global adoption of contactless smart card applications in mobile phones. According to the two companies, "the anticipated JV will plan, develop, produce and market a secure chip that will include both MIFARE and FeliCa operating systems and applications, as well as other contactless card operating systems and applications." » Continue Reading
Every once and a while, an opportunity comes along to learn some really interesting things about the credit card business. Last Friday Target held a two hour meeting with the financial community reviewing its credit card operations. A webcast of the event is available online. The management presentations last about 40 minutes - listening is highly recommended if you're interested in how this major retailer has integrated its credit card business into its overall relationship strategy. At one point while discussing a slide showing the evolution of tender types at Target over the last ten years, Target's CFO Doug Scovanner describes what he calls "corrosive" economics related to the impact credit card fees have had on retailers.