All articles by Verdict Staff
Verdict Staff
Country Survey: Brazil
The carnival could be over for Brazils cards industry, as the government introduces regulations for issuers and acquirers. However, the purpose of the reforms is to spur competition, which analysts predict will lead to an expansion in cards acceptance, issuing and transaction volumes Robin Arnfield reports.In November 2010, Brazils Conselho Monetrio Nacional (National Monetary CouncilCMN) specified a maximum number of different types of credit card usage fees that issuers can charge.The three-member council, comprising Brazils Planning Minister, the Finance Minister and the President of the Banco Central do Brasil (Brazils Central Bank), also mandated the creation of basic credit cards.
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.
From the editor
This months Cards International looks very much to the future. In the US, the Feds new interchange rules are fundamentally changing the relationship between retail banks and their customers.
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.
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All change in the US
The Federal Reserve Boards new interchange rules promise to reshape the US payments landscape. Charles Davies looks at the wide-ranging impact of the decision, the winners and the losers, and considers the new restrictions and opportunities that are opening up as a result.
The chicken and egg dilemma
The cards industry has long been excited about it but consumers are barely aware the technology exists. Contactless the tap-and-go that aims to replace small cash payments is gaining momentum, but significant hurdles remain before it becomes part of everyday life, writes Jane Cooper.
Here be dragons
China is a payments market with vast untapped potential. But, after a period of welcoming co-operation with western banks and processors, the market is proving difficult to penetrate. Chinese banks and China UnionPay have been unwelcoming to foreign investment. Jane Cooper asks whether this could damage the market.
Making the contactless future real
The payment revolution is here according to Barclaycard as it announces the UKs first commercial launch of contactless mobile payments.Barclaycard, together with Everything Everywhere, a UK-based communications company that represents wireless phone network Orange, have partnered with an array of mobile manufacturers, a move which has led to the introduction of the first handset that will enable consumers to utilise the contactless technology that promises so much yet has so far failed to make an impact on consumers spending behaviours.
Clear2Pay selected for public transport trials
Payment solutions provider Clear2Pay has signed a deal to develop testing equipment for public transport-specific EMV contactless cards and payment terminals in South Africa.As the reliance on public transport in South Africa grows, the government is seeking to modernise its infrastructure. In doing so, it proposes to transform the transaction process by integrating an Automatic Fare Collection system.