All articles by Carlos Martin
Carlos Martin
O2 rides alone with its own digital wallet
O2 has launched a wallet app that is compatible with the iPhone and other smartphones and enables P2P money transfers and m-payments in more that 100 online retailers in the UK The launch of the O2 wallet comes less than two weeks after Barclays Bank made its Pingit mobile payment app accessible for all UK card holders
NACHA: payments via ACH on the rise
Automatic Clearing House payments (ACH) grew by 4.35% in 2011, according to statistics released today by NACHA, the US electronic payments association The total volume of ACH payments exceed 20.2bn, with a total value of $33.91tr over the NACHA network.
The EU authorities put UK mobile wallet project on hold
The European Commission (EC) has opened an in-depth investigation into the mobile payments joint venture proposed by the UKs four largest mobile operators The investigation is being carried out in order to safeguard competition in the nascent market. The European Commission originally had until midnight on Friday 13 April to approve, reject or further investigate Project Oscar, the joint venture between T-Mobile, Orange, O2 and Vodafone to deliver a mobile wallet product.
India implements Government e-payment gateway
India’s Ministry of Finance has passed regulation mandating that all governmental ministries to make payments above INR25,000 (USD485) electronically, replacing cash and cheques with transfers direct to recipients bank accounts. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance told Electronic Payments International that: Orders have been issued and all payments above INR25,000 to suppliers, contractors and individuals must be directly credited to their bank accounts
e-commerce: consumers feel they are playing with fire
But consumers security fears threaten to dampen the flames, as people are still frightened of getting burned A survey released today by mobile security firm Entersekt, shows that four out of ten consumers suspect they are playing with fire when making online payments and e-banking.
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MSCC: payment hub on the upgrade in West Africa
MSCC, a subsidiary of the Emerging Markets Payments Group (EMPH), is planning to build a payment network, headquartered in its Lagos office, to better serve a client base of 50 banks across West African The move reinforces EMP Group foothold in the region where it also owns EMP Middle East and ACET Processing in South Africa
eBay and PayPal expect a stronger foothold in India
Global online auctions firm eBay and its payments subsidiary PayPal have announced plans to forge closer ties with India, and invest further in e-commerce. eBay is currently tapping into Indias e-commerce markets by selling fixed-price consumer electronics such as cameras, mobile phones, laptops and TV sets, which amount for an 80% of its returns, according to figures by the company
Google revamps wallet, acquires Txvia
Google’s wallet and payments VP Osama Bedier said in a blog post that the partnership with Txvia will accelerate innovation towards our full Google Wallet vision. After a particularly hard first quarter, Google expects the acquisition to boost its wallet service, extending its reach and tapping in to the 100 million customers affiliated to TxVias technology
Prepay Nation and Globacom alliance targets Nigerian expats
Micropayments specialist Prepay Nation and Nigeria’s national telecom operator Globacom have announced a partnership to allow P2P transfers via airtime top-ups The company has developed prepaid mobile platforms in partnerships with mobile operators that enable the transfer in the form of international airtime from associated retailers The partnership with Globacom targets expat Nigerian communities in the US and Europe, which amount over 5 million people
Calpian to invest in India’s Money-on-Mobile
US payment processor Calpian has announced plans to invest in Mumbai-based mobile payment provider My Mobile Payments. The US public company aims to invest an initial $1.3 m and then continue with a series of capital injections over the next 20 months. The company intends to operate in the market under the brand Money-on-Mobile (MoM).