All articles by Verdict Staff
Verdict Staff
Giving customers control
The 23rd Cards and Payments Europe conference and awards, organised by Cards International and VRL, brought together an array of industry experts to debate the pressing issues facing Europes cards industry, with a special focus on innovation as well as some valuable lessons learned from a tough few years.
Prepaid means business
Plenty of attention has been given to the consumer-focused prepaid market, but it is important to remember that this is dwarfed by the potential for commercial prepaid products John Hill spoke to MasterCards Matt Lanford about the advantages business can gain from prepaid. MasterCard has been working hard in Europe to promote the advantages and opportunities that prepaid card can provide over other forms of payment.
MasterCard and its data gold mine
In a sign that predictive online modelling is here to stay, MasterCard has teamed with an Internet company that specializes in personalised shopping to roll out a web shopping mall called MasterCard Marketplace which predicts what cardholders are likely to purchase and makes suggestions.
Pocketing the prepaid market
Sharjah Islamic Bank, a fully Sharia-compliant bank based in Sharjah, UAE, is planning the launch of a corporate payroll card on the back of the success of its Jeans prepaid card product Motaz Saeed, head of marketing and business development at Sharjah Islamic Bank, admits he was never a believer in the idea of prepaid cards, but the success of the business at his bank recently has made him change his mind.
Country Survey: Thailand
Both the cards industry and the economy in Thailand started to turn the corner in 2009, but the country has been plunged back into uncertainty following recent political unrest The political turmoil in Thailand has affected card spending among both foreign and local cardholders in the Kingdom.
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Travelex, Monitise launch first product since tie-up
Travelex, though its partnership with mobile payments specialist Monitise, has added an SMS service to its prepaid currency card, Travelex Cash Passport, in the UK. The new service the partners first launch since a tie-up between the two in November 2009 will alert UK cardholders when foreign currency loaded on their card falls below £100 ($144).
Looking for credit growth in Mexico
Banks in Mexico are starting to expand their credit card portfolios again after two years of deteriorating credit quality, but are wary of making the same mistakes they made in the last credit boom
Public cuts could spur prepaid
As the UKs new coalition government prepares to announce spending cuts in the public sector, the world of prepaid should prepare for these changes to act as a launch pad for prepaid cards into the public sphere.
Loyalty scheme rewards Alpha
The cards and consumer banking unit of Alpha Bank, Greeces third-largest bank by assets, has ramped up its loyalty programme to boost cross-sell metrics following a successful 2009 in which the bank witnessed a 26% upsurge in its Bonus card loyalty programme Greece-based Alpha Bank has scored a marketing hit with its loyalty based cards rewards programme, Bonus, with a 26% increase in customer usage during 2009.
Visa positions for mobile future
Signalling an ever-deeper move towards a digital payments future, and the resilience of online fraud, Visa is to pay $2bn in cash for e-commerce payment processor CyberSource, in a deal that strengthens its position in mobile commerce.