All articles by Verdict Staff
Verdict Staff
Visa sells stake in Brazilian prepaid issuer CBSS
Visa International has claimed it will focus on the issuance of benefit and prepaid cards with Brazil-based issuer CBSS after selling off its 10% stake in the company to Banco do Brasil and Bradesco. It is claimed CBSS is to continue to issue Visa Vale prepaid cards and the card scheme predicts there will be no disruption to cardholder service as a result of this transaction.
Mobile payments not yet ready for retail
A study conducted by US university students has concluded mobile payments are too costly to implement in retail. The American students presented their findings at the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) annual Convention and Expo, having won a competition sponsored by the NRF Foundation and American Express.
E-Clear ex CEO in court battle
The administrators of credit card processing firm E-Clear have taken to the High Court in attempt to retrieve £4.3m from their former chief-executive.E-Clears administrators BDO have filed a High Court claim against former chief-executive Elias Elia citing that he owed the company £4.3 million, they also stated that further legal action would be carried out.
McDonalds commits to contactless in the UK
The sale of fast-food is set to get faster as McDonalds commits to the roll-out of contactless technology across all its 1,200 UK restaurants by the end of this summer.It is one of the largest roll-outs of the technology seen in UK and may serve to bring contactless to the masses. Using Visas payWave contactless solution, customers of the fast-food chain will now be able pay for their meal by touching their card on a wireless reader.
Starbucks rolls out m-payments app in US
Consumers are now able to pay for their coffees via their smartphone, as Starbucks rolls out its mobile app across the US.The Starbucks Card Mobile App, available on BlackBerry, iPhone and iPod handsets, is set to increase loyalty and convenience among its customers throughout its 6,800 stores and more than 1,000 Starbucks in US retailer Target locations.
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GE Capital and TJX team up on credit
Retail credit provider GE Capital Retail Consumer Finance has announced a multi-year agreement to provide consumer credit card programmes for US retailer group, The TJX Companies.GE Capital, the consumer lending unit of global infrastructure, finance and media company General Electric, will oversee the TJX Rewards credit card programme, which will include private label credit cards and a co-branded MasterCard programme.
Brighton becomes UK’s card fraud hotspot
New research has named the seaside town of Brighton as the card fraud capital of the UK in 2010 but incidences of fraud continue to decline.According to life assistance company CPPs annual Card Fraud Index, over 13m people are said to have now fallen victim to card fraud in the UK, a third of which (33%) do not become aware of such an occurrence until they are informed by their bank or their card is refused at an ATM or POS.
Global Payments and Planet Payment extend partnership
Payment processing provider Global Payments and Planet Payments partnership has extended to the US and Canada where it will now offer merchants a multi-currency payment processing solution. Using the Global HomeCurrencyPay solution merchants can offer their customers the option of paying in their home currencies, while also knowing the exact purchase amounts before the statements arrive.
MasterCard strikes Oyster branding deal
In a move to raise awareness for its PayPass contactless technology, MasterCard has struck a deal with Transport for London (TfL) for the branding of the Oyster card wallet in 2011.MasterCards aim to enable open-loop payments on public transport in cities such as London looms closer as Hany Fam, president of the UK and Ireland division at MasterCard, believes its PayPass functionality could reduce the frustration some commuters feel when travelling.
Visa spending tops EUR1trn in Europe
Visa debit card spending in the UK grew by 45% to a total of £251bn in 2010 as debit continues to replace cash as the nations favourite way to pay.According to Visa’s annual results for the year ending 30th September 2010, there was a 10% increase in the average number of point-of-sale (POS) transactions per debit card last year. The number of Visa cards issued also rose 34% to 81m.