PayEx continuosly monitors the financial services and payments industries to stay abreast of the latest news and events for our clients.
Payments News - from Glenbrook Partners
Payments News ISSN 1556-4487. Compilation Copyright © Glenbrook Partners LLC, 2002-2010. All Rights Reserved.
03/11/2010 02:14 PM
Visa Updates Volume, Growth Statistics
In an 8-K filing with the SEC this morning, Visa updated some selected volume data: February, U.S. aggregate payments volume growth was positive 12% versus the prior year period. Further broken down, U.S. credit payments volume growth was positive 2% and debit payments volume growth was positive 20%. February cross border payments volume on a constant dollar basis was positive 11% over the prior year period. February processed transactions grew positive 13% globally. 2011 free cash flow is expected to exceed $2 billion.
03/11/2010 02:02 PM
Joe Forehand Named Chairman, Interim CEO of First Data Corp.
First Data's board of directors has announced the appointment of board member Joe Forehand, former chairman and CEO of Accenture, as chairman and interim chief executive officer (CEO). Forehand will succeed Michael Capellas on March 31, 2010. Capellas, after serving as CEO for three years, has accepted a new role as senior advisor at KKR focusing on technology. He will continue to support First Data in an advisory capacity. Henry Kravis, co-founder of KKR and a member of First Data’s board of directors, said: "I would like to express my deep appreciation to Michael Capellas for his leadership and significant...
03/11/2010 01:58 PM
Headline News - March 11, 2010
Wells Fargo Customers Save 100,000 Trees Through Online Statements and Envelope-Free ATMs TIO Launches Mobile Payment Platform Devices Connected to USA Technologies Network Increases to Approximately 71,000 Lights, Camera, Action: Vesdia Goes to the Movies First Data Reports Fourth Quarter 2009 Revenue of $2.6 Billion, Full-Year 2009 Revenue of $9.3 Billion Note: Throughout the day, as Payments News happens, this post is updated. For job opportunities available for payments professionals, visit PaymentsJobs.com. Employers looking to hire payments professionals can post their job openings there as well.
03/11/2010 01:53 AM
Visa Holding Investor Day Thursday, March 11
Visa is holding an Investor Day on Thursday, March 11, beginning at 8 AM Pacific time. Here are the links for the webcasts of the morning session and the afternoon session.
03/11/2010 12:42 AM
Glenbrook at the Merchant Risk Council's Annual Conference Next Week
Glenbrook's Allen Weinberg and Carol Coye Benson will be attending next week's annual conference of the Merchant Risk Council. Together, they'll be teaching the MRC Payments Workshop on the afternoon of Tuesday, March 18th. On Tuesday mornng, Allen will be joining a panel discussion about Universal Identity - Trust in e-Commerce Transactions as part of the MRC Platinum Meeting. If you're going to this year's MRC annual conference, be sure to say hello to Allen and Carol!
03/10/2010 02:08 PM
Bank of America Plans to Change Debit Card Overdraft Practices
Bank of America has announced that "beginning this summer it will only authorize single debit card transactions at the point of sale if a customer has enough money in their account at the time. This change will help customers by reducing the likelihood they may inadvertently overdraw their account and thus eliminate unexpected overdraft fees on these transactions. Customers will still have the choice to link their checking account to another account through Overdraft Protection to cover these types of transactions." "Our customers have been clear that they want to know if a purchase is going to overdraw their account,"...
03/10/2010 01:47 PM
Headline News - March 10, 2010
AP: Credit card users not making big dent in debt - Financial Post (Canada) - The Wealthy Boomer: Why debit card criminals may soon migrate from Canada to the USA Reuters: Geithner urges U.S. banks to cut fees MoneyBuilder - Forbes.com: How The End Of Overdraft Fees Could Wind Up Costing Cardholders Digital Transactions: In Prepaid, Issuers And Networks Will See Fastest Revenue Growth ABC News: Credit Card Users: Not So Responsible After All? eMarketer: Gen Y Goes for Online Banking Cardlytics CEO Scott Grimes Addresses 2010 Montgomery Technology Conference Secure Remote Payment Council: Webinar: The State of Secure Remote...
03/10/2010 03:28 AM
Merchant Risk Council's Annual Merchant Fraud Survey
The Merchant Risk Council (MRC), a merchant-led trade association focused on electronic commerce risk and payment strategies, has announced the results of its Annual Merchant Fraud Survey, sponsored by CyberSource Corporation. According to the MRC, "this year’s survey again confirms that MRC Platinum Members are best in class at reducing revenue losses due to cyber theft, while also leading the way in reviewer productivity for both domestic and international orders." Key Survey Findings: MRC Platinum Members reported an average of just 0.9% of their total revenue lost to online fraud, compared to 1.2% for the overall sample, and 1.1% for...
03/10/2010 02:45 AM
UK Card and Banking Fraud Losses Down 28% in 2009 to £440.3MM
The UK Payments Council has released new data on fraud losses for the full year 2009 that show that "total fraud losses on UK cards fell by 28 per cent between 2008 and 2009 to £440.3 million – a decrease of £170 million on the previous year’s total." According to the Council, "the combined force of industry initiatives such as: chip and PIN; the increasing use of sophisticated fraud detection tools by banks and retailers; and the work of the DCPCU , the banking-sponsored special police unit, have all helped contribute to this fall. It is the first time that...
03/10/2010 02:22 AM
NFC Forum Announces 19 New Members
The NFC Forum has announced 19 new members from 14 countries. "The new NFC Forum members are from several sectors of the NFC ecosystem, the numerous industries that are stakeholders and contributors to NFC technology. Industries represented include semiconductor and terminal manufacturers, higher education, service providers, compliance and testing organizations and systems integrators." "The increasingly diverse and global composition of our membership demonstrates the growing support for NFC adoption worldwide," said Koichi Tagawa, chairman of the NFC Forum. "The NFC Forum applauds the leadership of these member organizations, all of which are working actively to ensure that NFC provides greater...
03/09/2010 04:25 PM
Vindicia Adds Two Game Publishers - HitGrab, Arbopals
Vindicia has announced the addition of two game publishers, HitGrab and Arbopals, to its customer portfolio providing on-demand billing solutions in the online gaming industry. According to the company, "with these additions, Vindicia's CashBox continues to expand its reach into a wide variety of game genres, such as MMOs, casual games, social games and virtual worlds. With the online game market expected to reach $24.8 billion in 2013, according to Strategy Analytics, publishers who seek to stand out from the pack must establish a business model that is fine-tuned to monetize their games, regardless of genre or style." HitGrab is...
03/09/2010 02:19 PM
First Data Releases February 2010 SpendTrend™ Results
First Data Corporation has released its First Data SpendTrendâ„¢ analysis for February 2010 - finding that "same-store dollar volume was up 8.4% (7.4% excluding gasoline stations) with employment showing signs of stabilization. Average tickets were up 1.4%, the first year-over-year increase since July 2008." SpendTrend tracks same-store consumer spending via credit, signature debit, PIN debit and EBT cards at U.S. merchant locations. As consumers spent more and saved less during the month, their discretionary purchases increased at general merchandise stores including value retailers. Same-store dollar volume growth for retail merchants overall increased to 8.0% in February, up from 5.4% in...
03/09/2010 01:34 PM
Headline News - March 9, 2010
Official Google Blog: Open for business: the Google Apps Marketplace AsiaPay Launches PesoPay Online Payment Service with Globe GCASH USATODAY.com: Bank of America to deny debit card overdrafts USATODAY.com: Lower credit card debt traced mainly to charge-offs Huffington Post: Patrice Peyret: Green Dot vs. Kwedit: Innovation vs. Exploitation YellowPepper Meets Growing Demand for Mobile Financial Solutions in Latin America Carlson Restaurants Worldwide Taps Merchant Links TransactionVault to Secure T.G.I. Fridays(R) Restaurants Credit Card Data Guardian Analytics: Independent Study Reveals Banks Have a New Troubled Asset: Their Customers hyperWALLET Launches Global Mobile Airtime Top-Ups for Canada ContactlessNews: Miami-Dade makes launching a...
03/08/2010 01:36 PM
Vesta Launches Prepaid.com Payment Portal for Prepaid Mobile Operators
Vesta Corporation has announced the launch of Prepaid.com, a recharge portal that allows mobile customers to send airtime to friends and family worldwide. According to Vesta, "the portal features immediate, no-fee recharging for prepaid mobile phone accounts and allows expatriates and immigrants to maintain strong family ties, regardless of distance and borders." Prepaid.com provides mobile operators with a plug and play solution that supports in-country and cross-border recharge for mobile services such as prepaid airtime, subscriptions, and mobile broadband. The new portal helps mobile operators capitalize on the billions of cross-border payments sent annually, and includes a variety of consumer-friendly...
03/08/2010 01:25 PM
Mobey Forum Publishes White Paper on Secure Mobile Payments
The Mobey Forum has released a new white paper titled "Alternatives for Banks to Offer Secure Mobile Payments" that "examines the important role of the secure element in delivering mobile payment services to end users." (Both the white paper itself and accompanying slides are available for download). It provides an analysis of the mobile financial ecosystem, the stakeholders, and the value chain positions that can be achieved by banks though different business models. According to the Forum, "the paper’s key focus is on the role of the secure element, a tamper-resistant hardware element located within a mobile device, which is...
