All articles by Verdict Staff
Verdict Staff
Banking the unbanked: who pays?
Prepaid can be an excellent tool to engage those who are excluded, or have avoided, the banking system and is one step on the road to financial inclusion. Yet, while the industry continues to endeavour to improve the prepaid business model, consumers are still feeling the pain of high fees, writes Jane Cooper.
Visa bullish on Latin America
Visa has identified Latin Americas emerging cards markets as a major opportunity for driving transactions onto its network. Marketing efforts in the region include helping banks penetrate unbanked segments, migrating remittance traffic from cash to prepaid cards and tapping affluent customers. Robin Arnfield reports.
Supporting Brazil’s flourishing SME sector
In Brazil, micro, small and medium-sized businesses have more clout than most people would think and Visa is putting a lot of energy into tapping into the market. Sheena Rossiter talks to Karen Ferriera, Visas director of commercial products in Brazil, about how it is building relationships in this fragmented market.
Country Survey: Australia
A contactless limit of more than A$100, a concentrated sector of top-tier retailers and a primarily urban population means Australia is in prime position to become a leading market for contactless cards. Will Cain looks at the prospects for contactless in the country and its wider payments landscape.
There is an alternative
BB&Ts new prepaid offering costs a little more upfront but a lot less at point of sale. The company sees the product as a real opportunity to capture an emerging underbanked segment being squeezed out, as banks are forced to place restrictions on current accounts and their debit cards. Charles Davies reports.
Subscribe to our Newsletter
Get industry leading news, data and analysis delivered to your inbox
Serverside files patent lawsuit
Digital card design technology provider Serverside Group has issued a patent infringement lawsuit accusing its competitors of offering copy-cat services.In its filing to the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, Serverside claims 15 parties are infringing Serversides US patent right as to financial transaction card customisation technology.
PayPal ups m-payments projection
PayPal is expecting to process $3bn in m-payments by the end of 2011, a sharp rise of $1bn from previous estimates.The increase in mobile transactions is down to the adoption of more smartphones and a growing familiarity with PayPal said Laura Chambers, PayPals head of mobile.
Amex and foursquare commence national roll-out
American Express and location-based social networking website foursquare have begun the national roll-out of their collaborative efforts in enabling consumers to link social profiles to payment cards.Powered by the Amex Smart Offer APIs, cardholders can take advantage of merchant Specials offered through foursquare without the need to show any coupons, special codes or mobile devices to cashiers. The nationwide launch follows a successful pilot at the annual music, film, and interactive festival South by Southwest in March.
v2 of Digital Receipts standard announced by ARTS
The release of Version 2 of the Digital Receipts standard has been announced by the National Retail Federations Association for Retail Technology Standards (ARTS).Version 2 presents improvements to the schema including a full alignment with retail transaction log standard, support for multiple recipients, delivery types and receipt formats and the introduction of a receipt identifier to address data integrity across multiple applications, including mobile devices.
Optimism about Euro credit performance grows
The supply and demand of credit has become more balanced across Europe as credit risk management professionals indicate a growing optimism for credit performance in the region.The second European Credit Risk Survey conducted in May by FICO, analytics and decision management technology provider, and Efma, promoters of innovation in retail finance in Europe, surveyed credit risk management professionals for their predications over the next six months.