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Voice Pay, calling itself the "world's first voice-verified payment processing system," has launched today. The company says its system uses the customer's own voice as a means of digitally signing and authorizing payments. It incorporates VoiceVault voice biometric authentication technology which is already in use by global banks, insurers and public sector organisations." » Continue Reading
CFSI has announced the publication of a new paper titled "Mobile Financial Services and the Underbanked: Opportunities and Challenges for Mbanking and Mpayments" (PDF) by Katy Jacob and Caroline Boyd. » Continue Reading
oDesk, an online marketplace that allows companies to hire, manage and pay remote technical workers around the world, has announced that oDesk providers can now sign up to receive an oDesk prepaid Debit MasterCard to access their earnings from anywhere in the world. The oDesk prepaid Debit MasterCard, powered by Payoneer, will be available to freelance providers and affiliate managers on oDesk in May 2007. oDesk says it is the only remote work marketplace to offer its providers a prepaid debit card as a payment option. » Continue Reading
Emma Smith writes for the London Sunday Times about mobile payments - writing mostly about mobile phones equipped for contactless payments at POS - saying that "the ability for mobile phones to be used as payment devices has long been seen as the holy grail for both phone companies and banks."
Wesabe's Marc Hedlund blogs about a post from a Wesabe member who describes his recent experience with overdraft fee policies at Wachovia Bank - they so irritated him that he's closed his checking account there. He says: "Wachovia was able to use these three methods (a) to create an "overdraft" where one didn't exist from a cash flow perspective by playing with timing; (b) manipulating the order of posting transactions to make those fees apply to four transactions instead of the two that may have been otherwise been overdrafts, assuming Wachovia's initial calculating based on transaction timing is proper; and (c) turning those four overdraft charges into seven by paying themselves overdraft fees before covering any other transaction, including those that come before there is any overdraft."
KDDI Corporation and Mitsubishi-Tokyo-UFJ Bank have announce they've jointly established the "Mobile Net Bank Development Corporation in preparation for the two companies to launch a mobile 'New Bank'. The Development Corporation has since been formalizing the business plan, finalizing products and services, and building the required core systems for the New Bank. Subject to approval from the appropriate authorities, KDDI, Mitsubishi-Tokyo-UFJ, and the Development Corporation have now agreed on the line-up of products and services and the commercial time frame for the New Bank, which is scheduled to open midway through this financial year." » Continue Reading
The US Department of Justice has announced that a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C. has indicted two companies operating a digital currency business and their owners on charges of money laundering, conspiracy, and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. » Continue Reading
mFoundry has announced an agreement with Sprint to bring mobile banking and financial services to Sprint customers with Vision or Power Vision phones, enabling them to check their bank balances, transfer funds between their accounts, make bill payments and more, with participating banks. » Continue Reading
Mark Chediak writes for the Orlando Sentinel about legislation pending in Florida that would "do away with most gift-card and gift-certificate expiration dates and fees for cards sold in Florida."
John Blau of IDG News Service writes for PC World about efforts by the GSM Association that are "pushing for the Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) to become the standardized component for storing sensitive data in NFC-equipped mobile phones."
Jonathan Birchall writes for the Financial Times about comments made yesterday by Safeway that it "expects to expand its Blackhawk gift card subsidiary this year to Germany, France and Australia, as it seeks to capitalise internationally on a retail concept that has thrived in the US."
Massimo Arrigoni blogs for Practical Commerce about the range of merchant payment options available from PayPal - including the new PayPal Checkout.
Michael Flaherty reports for Reuters about "a chill on relations between JPMorgan and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co." related to KKR's plan to acquire First Data Corp.
Péralte C. Paul writes for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about remote deposit capture. The article includes a nifty graphic explaining the process.
Cerner Corp. has announced the launch of combined health plan ID and payment cards that include a fully integrated line of credit for healthcare consumers. Cerner has selected First Data Healthcare Services, part of First Data Corp., and UMB Healthcare Services, a division of UMB Financial Corporation to provide support for the program. » Continue Reading
Wells Fargo has announced it will begin providing advice and solutions to small business owners through a new small business webcast series. "Airing May 1, 2007, the Protecting Your Business webcast kicks off the company's Small Business Appreciation Month. The interactive webcast will feature leading industry experts who will offer relevant and practical advice for small business owners on protecting the physical and virtual assets of their businesses." » Continue Reading
The House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit is holding a hearing today titled "Credit Card Practices: Current Consumer and Regulatory Issues". Witnesses at today's hearing include: Ms. Cindy Zeldin, Federal Affairs Coordinator, Economic Opportunity Programs, Demos: A Network for Ideas & Action; Mr. Arthur E. Wilmarth, Jr., Professor of Law, George Washington University Law School; Mr. Edward L. Yingling, President and CEO, American Bankers Association; Mr. Todd J. Zywicki, Professor of Law, George Mason University Law School; Mr. Oliver I. Ireland, Morrison and Foerster LLP; Ms. Linda Sherry, Director, National Priorities, Consumer Action.
Janet Forgrieve writes for the Rocky Mountain News about debit card authorization holds, saying that "the details surrounding them can be confusing - even for the retailers and bankers who control them. First of all, retailers set the amount, but the card-issuing banks determine how long a hold stays on. Second, the rules seem to vary between retailers, bankers, types of cards and even types of transactions."
In preparation for its annual meeting on June 7, MasterCard has filed a proxy statement with the SEC containing details about its executive and director compensation, board members, etc. The statement shows that MasterCard's President and CEO Robert W. Selander received total compensation in 2006 of $15,328,763.
Sarah D. Scalet writes for CSO Magazine about the Payment Card Industry - Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) standard - calling it "corporate America's most ambitious effort yet to prove that it can self-regulate."
CyberSource has announced enhanced "global payment capabilities, expanding the international payment reach of its eCommerce merchants and simultaneously adding anti-fraud and security measures." According to the company, a single connection with CyberSource now provides access to payment processing services for cards, direct debits, and bank transfers in over 190 countries - including new fraud screening capabilities to manage online payment risk across different international markets and secure payment data storage allowing merchants to transact globally without storing sensitive payment data on their networks. » Continue Reading
Pay By Touch has announced the availability of a new Reward and Gift Card Kiosk that "enables retail customers to design, print and purchase personalized gift cards, and obtain loyalty program cards, without merchant personnel assistance." » Continue Reading
Ross Kerber reports for the Boston Globe that a group of New England banks is preparing to sue TJX Companies over the recent payment card data security breach at the retailer. According to Kerber, they intend to "seek tens of millions of dollars in damages from TJX."
Evan Schuman reports for eWeek about what he calls a "surge in active support [by merchants] of alternative payment methods" and suggests that perhaps the credit card companies should be worried about the trend.
American Express has announced the launch of "three new special occasion Gift Cards: The American Express Gift Cards Especially for Dining, Especially for the Bride and Groom, and Especially for Movie Lovers." » Continue Reading
I4 Commerce has announced that Zappos.com has begun using its Bill Me Later payment service that includes flexible financing opportunities for customers such as no payments for 90 days. » Continue Reading
MasterCard Worldwide and USA Technologies have announced that "six of America's most prominent vending companies are installing e-Port(r) cashless payment technology on their vending machines to accept MasterCard PayPass cards and devices." » Continue Reading
Lightbridge and Payment Services Interactive Gateway Corp. have jointly announced a non-binding letter of intent whereby Lightbridge plans to acquire all of the outstanding shares of PSiGate of Mississauga, Ontario. » Continue Reading
We have received news of the following recent management changes:
In a press release today, Visa announced what it termed "significant milestones for its innovative, new payment technologies, adding a major issuer (WaMu) and merchant (BP) to the list of organizations adopting Visa payment innovations, while preparing to launch an integrated marketing campaign to increase consumer awareness for Visa innovations." Visa also announced it has "developed a global name for its contactless payment feature: Visa payWave." » Continue Reading
WaMu has announced it will "begin testing contactless payment cards that provide increased convenience and speed for cardholders during the merchant checkout process. The contactless test will be conducted across both credit and debit card platforms in partnership with Visa payWave and MasterCard PayPass contactless programs."
MasterCard Advisors has announced several enhancements to its "Segmented Loyalty Programs, which enable issuers to design customized promotions to reach highly targeted groups of cardholders and thereby encourage card usage." » Continue Reading
JupiterResearch says it "has found that despite renewed efforts on the part of financial institutions, overall interest in mobile banking services is limited. Just eight percent of online consumers who own a cell phone are interested in using mobile browsing to check account balances." » Continue Reading
In a report titled "Report to the Congress on the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act of 2003" (PDF), the Federal Reserve reports "on the effect of the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act on the nation's check-collection system. Assesses the need for modifications to the funds-availability requirements established in and pursuant to the Expedited Funds Availability Act (EFAA). Based on the Board's extensive survey of the banking industry and supplemented with other information from official and industry sources."
RSA has announced "an expanded Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) Solution portfolio, a suite of products and services that help enable customers to answer the most challenging IT security technology challenges associated with the PCI DSS. As part of the RSA PCI Solution, RSA also announced a new blueprint for promoting compliance by discovering data and infrastructure, assessing risk, enacting remediation and ensuring sustained controls." » Continue Reading
TransUnion and Edgar, Dunn & Company have announced initial findings from the PaymentDynamics 2007 Preferred Payments Study on consumer payment preferences, attitudes and behavior - concluding "that more consumers prefer debit cards than any other type of payment for point of sale purchases." » Continue Reading
Bank of America Corporation has announced a definitive agreement to purchase ABN AMRO North America Holding Company, parent of LaSalle Bank Corporation and its subsidiaries, from ABN AMRO Holding NV. According to the bank, "the combination of LaSalle and Bank of America creates a leading banking franchise in metropolitan Chicago, the No. 3 banking market in the United States, and in Michigan." » Continue Reading
Robert Westervelt reports for SearchSecurity.com on comments made by First Data's Chief Information Security Officer Phil Mellinger regarding the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) in which he calls for "an overhaul to eliminate subjectivity and ease restrictions to get more merchants to meet the standard."
In an article titled '13 indicted in NYC for $3 million credit card fraud", Samuel Maull of the Associated Press reports on a group of people indicted for credit card fraud perpetrated by paying restaurant staffers to skim credit card magnetic stripe details.
In an article titled 'Verified by Visa scheme confuses thousands of internet shoppers", Miles Brignall reports for the Guardian about the migration of many ecommerce sites to using Verified by Visa or MasterCard SecureCode - and the confusion that some consumers experience when asked to enroll in those services in the middle of their shopping experience.
Glenbrook's Linda Elliott has years of experience in designing, building and operating some of the largest payment processing platforms in the industry. She filed the following commentary - after reflecting upon some the cluster of news stories over the last week about difficulties with several significant transaction systems. Read on for Linda's commentary. » Continue Reading
Fintura has announced that it has secured Series A funding from Battery Ventures. Fintura says it "provides financial institutions with customized solutions to accelerate new account growth, expand franchise presence and increase profitability through the delivery and management of credit cards, student loans and home equity products. Fintura’s solutions are particularly suited to institutions such as regional and community banks, credit unions and brand owners, who typically do not have the luxury of building the in-house marketing, operations and risk management expertise these products require." » Continue Reading
Cyndia Zwahlen reports for the Los Angeles Times about how credit card companies are focusing on increasing the payment card usage of small businesses - saying that "Although small-business owners spent $4.9 trillion in 2006, less than 5% of that was with the aid of a credit or debit card, according to Visa USA research."
Vivian Wai-yin Kwok writes from Hong Kong for Forbes.com about the growth in debit and credit card usage in China - reporting that "30% of consumer purchases were made with debit and credit cards last year in China’s biggest cities, according to the People’s Bank of China."
American Express reported first quarter financial results - including a 15 percent growth in worldwide billed business to $146.2B, a 10 percent increase in total cards in force to 79.9MM, worldwide average spending per proprietary basic card in force increased 8%, worldwide lending balances of $42.3B on an owned basis increased 29%; on a managed basis, and worldwide lending balances of $63.2B were up 18%. American Express reported its average merchant discount rate was 2.58% in 1Q ’07 and in 1Q ‘06 compared to 2.55% in 4Q ’06 - saying it reflects the seasonally higher retail spend levels during the fourth quarter
The National Retail Federation has announced it is urging state legislators to "continue efforts to control $36 billion in credit card interchange fees paid by consumers each year, saying state legislation will help focus public attention on the little-known charges." » Continue Reading
Forrester's Michelle de Lussanet has written a new report titled "Person-To-Person Payment Goes Mobile - But P2P Mobile Payment Is A Technology In Search Of A Market". From the abstract: "A number of firms in Western Europe have recently launched payment systems that allow consumers to make person-to-person payments using their mobile phones. Executives at other payment system operators, mobile operators, and banks need not rush to follow suit. We are not convinced that there is a large market for these new systems: Currently P2P supports only well-defined, narrow payment scenarios like mobile airtime prepay top-up of another person's prepay account. Instead, P2P payments are likely to become just one feature within broader mobile banking and mobile payment services."
The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago has published a new working paper by Eugene Amromin and Sujit Chakravorti titled "Debit Card and Cash Usage: A Cross-Country Analysis" (PDF). From the abstract: "During the last decade, debit card transactions grew rapidly in most advanced countries. While check usage declined and has almost disappeared in some countries, the stock of currency in circulation has not declined as fast. We use panel estimation techniques to analyze the change in transactional demand for cash resulting from greater usage of debit cards in 13 countries from 1988 to 2003."
Wells Fargo has announced that it is "the first U.S. financial institution to make clean, renewable energy reward options available to its cardholders. Through Wells Fargo Rewards programs, consumer and business credit card and check card customers can now redeem reward points to support renewable energy projects and receive certificates for their donations." » Continue Reading
Glenbrook's Jim Salters was at NACHA's Payments 2007 conference earlier this week. Jim filed the following report from the conference. » Continue Reading
Postilion, a division of S1 Corporation, has announced an alliance naming Metavante Corporation a strategic provider of electronic presentment and payment (EPP) services. Under the agreement, Postilion and Metavante will deliver an integrated self-service banking solution featuring expanded bill payment capabilities and an e-banking customer experience for financial institutions and their customers in the Americas. » Continue Reading
Glenbrook's Allen Weinberg is at the annual Electronic Transactions Association's Annual Meeting & Expo being held this week in Las Vegas. Allen filed the following report from the Expo. » Continue Reading
eBay reported first quarter 2007 financial results today - saying that "PayPal had a excellent quarter, with robust Total Payment Volume (TPV) growth, driven by increased eBay penetration around the world and another outstanding performance from its Merchant Services business." » Continue Reading
JPMorgan Chase Bank and Xign Corporation have announced that "they have signed an Agreement and Plan of Merger whereby Xign, a leading provider of business-to-business on-demand financial settlement solutions, will be acquired and combined with the Commercial Card and Procurement businesses of JPMorgan Chase’s Treasury Services unit. Under the Agreement and Plan of Merger, JPMorgan Chase will acquire all of the capital stock of Xign, as well as the company’s technology, services and Order-to-Pay domain expertise. The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2007, subject to regulatory approval. Terms have not been disclosed." » Continue Reading
The Merchants Payments Coalition says that "increases in credit card interchange rates announced by Visa last week average only 0.6 percent, but the $36 billion in total interchange fees consumers paid in 2006 will probably increase close to 20 percent this year" because of the movement of cardholders to premium credit cards that have higher interchange fees associated with them. » Continue Reading
Infonox has announced a partnership with PayMate, a mobile-commerce solutions provider in India, to develop a suite of mobile payment products for the US market. According to the company, "the existing businesses on Infonox platform, which include major merchant acquirers, financial service aggregators and banks, will have the instant ability to offer their branded transaction services on cell phones." » Continue Reading
Welcome Real-time founder and chairman Aneace Haddad blogs about the contactless card launch in London - now about six months away. He asks why merchants aren't announcing their plans to accept contactless card payments - concluding that, for merchants, the contactless "benefits are [far] from irresistible"
Visa Money Transfer, Visa’s card-to-card payment service, has been launched by Visa International and Maybank in Singapore. Visa's Money Transfer service allows customers to send funds from their Visa cards to other Visa cardholders around the world. » Continue Reading
Discover Financial Services has announced the launch a new Discover Business Miles Card, which the company says "gives small business owners a way to earn miles faster and the ability to travel with no restrictions. Discover Card is introducing the new Business Miles Card following last year’s successful debut of Discover Business Card as another way to provide more flexibility and control to America’s small business owners." » Continue Reading
Endpoint Exchange LLC, a Metavante company, and SVPCO – Electronic Clearing Services, the electronic check and check image exchange business of The Clearing House Payments Company LLC, have announced that member financial institutions of both systems can now exchange check data and images. » Continue Reading
Gemalto has announced that it is providing Barclays Bank with a tailor-made product supporting Barclays project to offer stronger authentication for online banking customers. According to the company, its solution "includes the authentication devices and a full service encompassing design of the readers, fulfillment and distribution to the Barclays customer. In addition, Gemalto produced a unique looking device, customised with the bank’s visual corporate identity. The contract calls for the delivery of over half a million units by the end of this year and includes options for additional deliveries into 2008." More information, including photos of the device, are available at the Barclays web site. » Continue Reading
AuctionBytes Ina Steiner takes a deeper look at yesterday's launch by Yahoo! of Yahoo! PayPal Checkout - noting that merchants are being offered free processing through 12/31/2007 along with $100 to spend on Yahoo! advertising if they sign up for the program.
Tash Shifrin reports for Computerworld UK that "Barclays bank is sending out handheld chip and PIN card readers to more than half a million online banking customers in a bid to prevent fraud."
We have received news of the following recent management changes:
Yahoo! has announced on its Search Blog that it will be providing an indication in its search results of merchants that accept PayPal - similar to what Google has been doing with Google Checkout merchants. Yahoo! says "beginning today, when you search for a product on Yahoo! Search you will see little blue shopping cart icons next to some of our merchant listings. Those shopping carts identify merchants that accept PayPal." More information here and here.
NACHA's credit push initiative has a new name - Secure Vault Payments - and web site. "This model allows the consumer to select an online payment option that will "redirect" them to their trusted bank site that will authenticate them in a multi-factor environment and allow their information to remain private while sending a real-time authorization and a confirmation of payment (ACH credit) to the business." And for banks, "it allows financial institutions to generate additional direct revenue from the online banking channel, offsetting the costs of supporting the channel, which continue to increase – particularly in the areas of authentication and security." For financial institutions, a comprehensive set of technical information is available for download along with a series of FAQs and focus group results from consumers and merchants.
mFoundry has announced the formal release of its Spotlight Mobile Financial Platform - calling it "a “single click” financial services solution that serves the needs of financial institutions, wireless operators and their customers." » Continue Reading
The FDIC last week issued its "Supervisory Policy on Identity Theft" describing the characteristics of identity theft and setting forth the FDIC's expectations that institutions under its supervision take steps to detect and prevent identity theft and mitigate its effects in order to protect consumers and help ensure institutions' safe and sound operations. "The FDIC treats the theft of personal financial information as a significant risk area due to its potential to impact the safety and soundness of an institution, harm consumers, and undermine confidence in the banking system and economy. The FDIC believes that its collaborative efforts with the industry, the public and its fellow regulators will significantly minimize threats to data security and consumers."
Bank of America says that its solution for NACHA's Back Office Conversion (BOC) rule has been "gaining market interest in the retail industry, fueled by its ease of use, flexibility and low implementation cost." BOC, which came into effect March 16, 2007, allows businesses to collect a check written at the checkout counter and convert it in the back office into an electronic form for deposit. » Continue Reading
Shriya Bubna reports for India's Business Standard about IndiaPay, a new domestic card payment settlement company that would rival global payment systems Visa and MasterCard. “India Pay would provide national infrastructure to be used with a minimum of cost and allow a wider reach. If we look at it from the perspective of benefits, the costs would be justifiable,” said Sanjay Sharma, chief technology officer, IDBI Bank.
Online Resources has announced piloting of an expedited payments service that enables financial institutions to offer their consumers and small businesses online bill payments that are posted by billers on the same day. » Continue Reading
Visa International's Latin American and Caribbean Region (LAC) has announced reaching US$110 billion in point-of-sale purchase volume for the four quarters ending December 2006, a year-over-year increase of 33 percent on all Visa-branded products in the region. Visa’s debit and prepaid product volume grew 34 percent versus 2005 with a volume of US$37 billion. Purchases made with Visa credit cards grew 32 percent to US$73 billion. » Continue Reading
Salem Five Bank has introduced mobile banking services - called "Wireless Mobile Banking". An FAQ says that the bank is using MShift technology to enable the services.
A new study from ForeSee Results and Forbes.com has found that "customers who pay bills through their bank’s website are more satisfied with the bank and the online banking experience than those who don’t, and are significantly more likely to purchase additional services from the bank. The data suggests that converting online bankers to online bill paying customers represents the best opportunity for banks and credit unions to increase share of wallet while driving customers toward the most cost-efficient channel for services." » Continue Reading
MonVia, a specialty firm that helps accelerate the growth of early stage start-ups, has announced the launch of MobiBucks, a new mobile payment solution. According to MobiBucks, "with just a cell phone number and four-digit Personal Identification Number (PIN), consumers can now easily make free and secure cashless transactions on everyday purchases." MobiBucks was founded by Jorge Fernandes, founder and former CEO of ViVOtech, and Dave Barram, a Senior Silicon Valley Executive at Apple, Silicon Graphics and Hewlett-Packard. » Continue Reading
comScore has released the results of its annual online banking study - finding that "the U.S. online banking population grew 9.5 percent in 2006 versus the previous year, compared to double-digit increases in 2005 (27 percent) and 2004 (47 percent). While aggregate growth has dropped into the single-digits, several individual banks experienced substantial gains in 2006, with both Citibank and Washington Mutual increasing their number of online banking customers by more than 20 percent" - due in part to Citibank's aggressive 'e-savings' campaign and Washington Mutual's continued free checking and 5-percent statement savings accounts. » Continue Reading
Mark Jewell, Business Writer for AP, looks at the same store sales figures reported by data breach victim TJX Companies that "reported sales at stores open at least a year rose 6 percent in March." Jewell reported that "customers leaving a T.J. Maxx store Thursday in Boston's Downtown Crossing shopping hub said the retailer's cut-rate prices on clothing and home goods are a big enough draw to offset any worries about lax data security. They said they didn't see TJX as any more susceptible to such theft than any other retailer." One recent consumer survey concluded that data breaches would matter to consumers and affect their decisions as to where they shop.