All articles by Verdict Staff
Verdict Staff
NBAD to launch mobile money transfer service
The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) is to become the first MENA bank to launch a mobile money transfer service after partnering with global money transfer company MoneyGram International.
Mobile transactions to reach $200bn by 2012
The increased availability of smartphones with user friendly applications is fuelling the growth in mobile transactions which is set to double in value to $200bn globally by 2012, according to analyst firm Juniper.
Citi sells Canada MasterCard unit to CIBC
Global financial services company Citi has sold its Canadian MasterCard business to the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) furthering its strategy to reduce assets within Citi Holdings in order to focus on the profitability of Citicorp. CIBC has previously only issued Visa cards and said in a statement it expects the sale to boost its earnings during the first year of operation. Through this transaction, CIBC, which had more than C$14 billion in outstanding credit card balances at April 30, 2010, will become the largest dual credit card issuer in Canada,” said a spokesperson for CIBC.
Fraudsters arrested for global scam worth £17m
A network of fraudsters spanning the US, Australia and 12 European countries have been arrested following a two year investigation into an international scam worth more than £17 million. The Telegraph reported that the investigation, which was initiated in Spain, discovered 120,000 stolen credit card numbers, 5,000 cloned cards and dismantled six cloning labs 178 arrests have been made and the detainees are also suspected of armed robbery, blackmail, sexual exploitation and money laundering according to Spanish police.
Walmart launches rewards credit card
Shoppers at Walmart Canada are now able to earn rewards on their purchases through the launch of the retailers branded MasterCard credit card The credit card, issued through Walmart Canada Bank, a subsidiary of Wal-Mart Canada Corp, offers its rewards in dollar equivalents
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Retailers concerned over ‘unjustified’ fees
Retailers are concerned “unjustifiably” high fees on credit and debit card sales will become the norm for emerging contactless and mobile phone payment methods, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC). BRC director general Stephen Robertson has argued that as payment technology develops card charges should be going down, not up.
Debit usage remains strong despite downturn
Debit card usage in the US is expected to continue to grow strongly this year with improved merchant acceptance helping to drive low value transactions.
Interac to develop contactless debit card
Canadian payment network Interac Association is to offer a contactless payment service on its debit cards after partnering with open standard contactless chip technology provider Inside Contactless. The small-ticket purchase segment in Canada, which is still dominated by cash and coin, represents green field territory for card payments, and although this market has been targeted time and again, it has been difficult to penetrate due to the lack of the right technology solution delivered at the right cost, said Shyam Krishnan, industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan.
Barclaycard launches corporate prepaid card
Barclaycard has made its first foray into the commercial prepaid market with the launch of a corporate prepaid card.
Conversion dates forecasted to push SEPA take-up
Phased end-dates are being forecasted for mandatory conversion to the new EU-wide payment instruments in a bid to combat the sluggish take-up of Sepa-compliant transactions (SCT). According to figures from the European Central Bank, the SCT scheme, which was launched in early 2008, accounted for just 7.5 percent of credit transfers in Europe Sepa direct debit (SDD) has also failed to get off the ground