All articles by Douglas Blakey
Douglas Blakey
Zapp momentum builds, Znap growth stumbles
So now we know that Zapp has signed up another payment service provider in the form of Elavon. Added to existing payment partners WorldPay, SagePay, Optimal Payments and Realex, Zapp can now claim to have thou¬sands of merchants and millions of check¬outs on board. The payment service provid¬ers will integrate Zapp into their payment systems and will assist in rolling out Zapp to UK consumers by the end of the year, writes Douglas Blakey
Zapp gets off to positive start, major challenges ahead
So far so good. As press launches go, Zapp hit the jackpot. Coverage in just about all of the UK newspapers and a slot on Radio 4’s highly influential Today Programme. It helped that Zapp was able to announce that four UK lenders (HSBC/First Direct, Santander, Nationwide and Metro Bank) were on board. With a degree of gullibility, the press dutifully cut and paste Zapp’s press release and reported that five banks had signed up, as if HSBC and First Direct were separate banks. But no matter, writes Douglas Blakey
Mobile payments see good growth but challenges remain
The latest statistics highlighting the growth in mobile payments make exciting reading: in the US, m-commerce is double figures with 10% of total online sales, while in Europe the corresponding figure is 8%. Douglas Blakey reports
Unity eyes prepaid success with ALTO
Since its foundation in 1984, UK-based Unity Trust Bank has carved out a reputation as a bank for which social responsibility and responsible lending is at the heart of its business model. As Unity Trust sales and marketing director John Brooks tells Douglas Blakey, it also makes good business sense.