All articles by EPI editorial
EPI editorial
EU money laundering rules in tatters
The enquiry will be conducted by the houses EU Home Affairs Sub-Committee which will evaluate what impact a ruling of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in the so-called Kadi case will have on EU efforts to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing. In essence, the Kadi case had its origins in the EUs freezing of funds of Saudi Arabian businessman Yassin Kadi in the immediate aftermath of the 11 September terror attacks in the US
American Express muscles in on US online bill payments market
In a move to strengthen its leadership of the small-business market, American Express OPEN has unveiled an online invoicing and payments solution to help US business owners maximise cash flow.
PerSay and Bank Leumi in voice identification world-first
US voice biometric specialist PerSay has installed a voice identification system to reset passwords for Israels largest bank, Bank Leumi
Cheques get death sentence in the UK
The death knell has sounded for the cheque in the UK, with the Payments Councils (PC) decision to set 31 October 2018 as the date for closure of central cheque clearing. The payment industry bodys decision followed 18 months of consultation and research into the current use of cheques and where alternatives must be developed.
M-Pesa success story continues
Having overcome attacks on its non-bank business model, Kenyan mobile phone payments service M-Pesa continues to forge ahead at an impressive pace With its long-delayed UK-Kenya remittance now in place, M-Pesa appears set to achieve more significant user and transaction growth in 2010. Despite harsh criticism levelled at its non-bank business model, Kenyan mobile phone-based money transfer service M-Pesa continued to go from strength to strength in 2009, ending the year with some 8 million users, or about 21 percent of the countrys population.
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Citi provides a major boost for e-government in California
Paying taxes and bills to Californian state departments has become easier thanks to an electronic funds transfer solution provided by US banking group Citis Global Transaction Services (GTS) unit. GTS was awarded a multi-year contract by the California State Treasurers Office to operate what constitutes the largest electronic state tax collection platform in the US. To address what Citi described as the diverse and complex needs of state agencies participating in the initiative, Citi partnered with US payments processing systems vendor Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) to develop a customised end-to-end payments solution.
Smart Voucher fast-tracks global expansion
Smart Voucher better known by its trading name Ukash has formed its fifth new distribution alliance in six months, reinforcing its claim of having the worlds largest and fastest-growing prepaid-cash estate. The latest alliance is with French-issuing network la SAF, which provides the UK-based prepaid specialist with distribution points for Ukash vouchers at 15,000 POS terminals, primarily in tobacconists and newsagents across France. Targeting consumers reluctant to use payment cards or divulge personal details when shopping online, each Ukash voucher carries a unique, randomly generated 19-digit number which can be delivered in many ways including paper, email, mobile text message and plastic card.
News Digest 25.01.10
Opening the door to significant outsourcing revenue, NCR Corporation has formed an alliance with Co-op Financial Services (CFS), the US largest credit union payments services organisation, to offer a comprehensive managed ATM service to US credit unions. Indicative of the potential the alliance represents for the US financial services hardware vendor, CFS has 3,000 credit union members encompassing around 26 million cardholders, 28,000 surcharge-free ATMs and 3,700 shared branch locations.
A decade of remarkable progress
Electronic payment in China has come of age over the past decade, with huge strides made in the large value and retail payments sectors Much credit goes to China UnionPay which has revolutionised inter-bank payments and facilitated a spectacular increase in the use of cards in the consumer market. Chinas economic growth sparked by economic reforms initiated two years after the death of Communist Party leader Mao Zedong in 1976 has astounded the world.
Mobile security threat looms large
Banks are offering mobile banking in their droves, a service made increasingly attractive to customers by web-enabled smartphones such the iPhone But, as 41st Parameters Ori Eisen explains to EPI, history has shown that fraud follows payments innovations