Data Insights
Discover rolls out contactless to select customers
Discover is targeting early adopters of mobile technology as it begins to roll out Discover Zip contactless credit cards and stickers.
MasterCard develops payment solution for Aadaar
MasterCard has announced the development of a bespoke payment solution for Aadaar holders in India with biometric authentication.The Aadaar government initiative provides Indian residents with a 12-digit Unique Identification Number (UID), which is captured on a Multipurpose National Identity Card (MNIC). The project aims to collate residents basic demographic and biometric information thus enabling them to gain acceptance to Indias formal banking system.
Buenos Aires cash shortage crisis deepens
Bank notes and coins continue to dry up in Argentinas capital as its cash problems show no signs of slowing.
Visa speeds up its fraud detection
Visa Inc has updated its global processing platform, VisaNet, which has quickened the speed in which it can detect attempted payment card fraud.Following an analysis of past global transactions it is believed that such enhancements could lead to the identification of $1.5bn in fraud, which would represent a 29% increase on figures recorded in 2009.
WorldPay partners CellPoint Mobile
Payment service provider WorldPay has developed a mobile payments service for merchants in partnership with CellPoint Mobile, a provider of mobile infrastructure.The solution combines WorldPays global processing and acquiring engine and CellPoint Mobiles payment platform mPoint.
Digicel gets $2.5m grant from Gates
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced that it will award mobile operator Digicel and its partner Scotia Bank $2.5 million to fund a mobile money scheme in Haiti.Digicel, the first firm to launch mobile money services on the Island have been awarded the money as part of a $10 million incentive fund set up to jumpstart the introduction of mobile money into the currently crippled Haitian economy.
Micropayments: Is there a silver bullet?
The payments industry is awaiting a silver bullet universal solution to capitalise on the growing interest in micropayments. Who would have thought 1 transactions would generate so much interest? Louise Naughton looks at a new report that analyses the different approaches to low-value payment processing.The movement to digital content has been a gradual process and one that has given way to a strikingly different business model for many organisations, especially that of the media.Dwindling advertising sales has forced many publications to introduce a paywall on their online content offerings. In 2009, Rupert Murdochs News Corporation was the first to try to monetise their publications digital content by announcing online content would no longer be free.
Making mobile easy
A mobile payments vendor has launched what it says is the answer to the most bedeviling issue confronting retailers: transactions abandoned due to the frustrations of having to input card details via a phone handset. Charles Davies looks at Billing Revolutions solution.A Seattle-based company Billing Revolution is rolling out a service that lets consumers make purchases with a mobile phone without having to enter their payment card details every time.In what Billing Revolution claims to be the first app-to-app connection for payments, an m-payments app can "call" the Billing Revolution app and retrieve stored payment information instantly to complete the transaction.
CardNET brings VeriShield to LatAm
Payment processing firm CardNET has enlisted VeriFones VeriShield Total Protect to secure its data processing.The Dominican firm will become the first in Latin America and the Caribbean to implement the product into its systems. VeriShield Total Protect, released by e-payments solutions provider VeriFone and RSA - the security division of technology provider EMC in 2010, is an integrated payment security solution that uses end-to-end data encryption to secure transactions.
eWise launches payo mobile app
The launch of the mobile app from online financial management solutions provider eWise is touted to be the biggest positive technological advancement since the introduction of the ATM.Hot-on-the-heels of the launch of eWise payo, Finnovate 2011 has provided the platform for the arrival of its mobile application.
VeriFone integrates UK taxi card payments
Gone are the days when customers searched frantically for change as London's black cab drivers looked impatiently on as e-payments solutions provider is set to install its card payment and digital media systems in all cabs across the capital. Initially available during a pilot programme in December 2010, the system integrates with existing taxi meters to enable the acceptance of credit, debit and contactless payments.
IberiaBank selects Fiserv's debit solutions
US-based IberiaBank is set to implement a full suite of debit solutions from technology provider Fiserv in a bid to reduce processing and network costs.
Indian consumers more aware of fraud - Visa
Indian consumers are significantly more proactive in combating card fraud than any other market in Asia-Pacific, according to the Visa Payment Card Security Study.Payment card fraud was ranked as the fourth biggest financial security concern among consumers in India, with 46% of respondents revealing they are extremely or very concerned about the threat of fraud. The study also showed that Indians have the highest levels of perceived vulnerability to card fraud with 29% feeling extremely vulnerable
Debit cards to disappear?
Major US banks and credit unions have formed an alliance to push US consumers into lobbying against the governments proposed restrictions to interchange fees under the Dodd Frank Act.The Electronic Payments Coalition has launched an aggressive advertising campaign, implying that banks will eliminate debit cards if the Act is passed and consumers continue to use their cards for purchases.
Call for contactless clarity
Contactless and mobile payments technology promised to change the way we pay, but a lack of point of sale terminals, low retailer acceptance levels and the thorny issue of transaction fees means the tipping point for adoption seems a very long way away. Louise Naughton investigates.
Country Survey: Russia
The Russian cards market is one of the fastest growing in the world, with consumers becoming increasingly comfortable with credit card products and online card payments. Despite this, card payments represent a small opportunity in Russia, with cash withdrawals at ATMs estimated at making up 90% of all card transactions.
MasterCard's five-year plan Down Under
All MasterCard payment cards in Australia will be PayPass-enabled by October 2012 as part of the networks five-year roadmap to grow the countrys payment system. More than 5.3 million MasterCard PayPass contactless cards have been issued in Australia and are currently accepted at 35,000 merchant locations, according to MasterCards divisional president Eddie Grobler. The growth of PayPass transactions grew 235% between June and December 2010 and this figure is set to grow even further under MasterCards new plans.
Amazon and Google talk m-payments
Amazon is considering plans to strengthen its presence in the bricks-and-mortar space by launching mobile wallets equipped with near-field communication (NFC), according to a report by Bloomberg.The online retailer is the latest company to express interest in m-commerce and this move will place it in direct competition with other major players such as Google, Apple and Microsoft.
Contactless is confusing - survey
A recent survey of 1,000 British customers has revealed that cash is still the most popular method of payment.Secure card payments specialist, The Logic Group conducted a consumer survey looking into the payment preferences of consumers in the UK, however their findings reveal that there are still a number of challenges facing contactless payments.The survey indicates that the UK payments industry is ripe for the widespread implementation of contactless payments, but says that the biggest hurdle is educating the general public as to what contactless payments actually are.
la Caixa launches contactless ATMs
Spains la Caixa bank has deployed the worlds first contactless-enabled ATMs, claiming the technology allows the fastest ATM cash withdrawal in existence.The ATMs are currently located in the 22@ district of Barcelona, Sitges and central Palma with various locations in the Balearic Islands and Catalonia expected to be added in the future, although no specific time period has been revealed.