All articles by Verdict Staff
Verdict Staff
Citi pushes prepaid in Australia
Global banking giant Citi has made a name for itself in the prepaid segment, having secured strong footholds in markets like Poland, the Czech Republic and in the emerging Middle East market Citi is planning a major push into Australia by offering corporate incentive prepaid cards to businesses who will then issue them to customers the cards will be branded with the companys logo.
Country Survey: Chile
Chiles consumer finance and payment card market has undergone a transformation in recent years, helped by the entrance of multinational banks already present in other parts of Latin America, and infrastructure modernisation As cheque usage has declined, debit and credit cards have benefited, as Victoria Conroy reports With a population of 17m as of 2009, and an emerging middle class, Chile represents an increasingly important growth spot for payment cards
Visa positions prepaid in Middle East
With many Western European markets now approaching or already past the point of saturation in terms of cards issued, attention is turning to the promising markets of Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, where issuance efforts have rapidly gathered pace in the last couple of years An estimated 65 percent of the Middle East regions population is under the age of 30 and real GDP per capita increased by about 4 percent per year from 2004 to 2006 In markets such as Qatar and Bahrain, real GDP growth per year is in the double-digit range, far outstripping GDP growth in developed card markets
US CARD Act comes into force
The US Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act, one of the most restrictive pieces of card-related reform in recent years, came into effect on 22 February, with President Barack Obama hailing it as helping to shift the balance of power back to consumers. The CARD Act was signed into law by Obama in May 2009, and its main components include protecting credit cardholders from certain fee and rate increases The new rules restrict credit card issuers from raising rates on late payments from cardholders and prevent them from charging over-limit fees unless cardholders have previously given permission to authorise transactions that would take them over their credit limit.
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Canada’s Interac to remain non-profit entity as competition body turns down status request
The Canadian debit scheme Interac has had its bid to change its status from a not-for-profit to a for-profit entity turned down by Canadas Bureau of Competition Policy Interac had wanted to change its status in order to compete against its publicly-traded payment network rivals Visa and MasterCard which are aiming to enter Canadas C$163 million-a-year debit market. The denial of Interacs bid means it now has to find other ways of preserving its position in Canadas debit market at a time when Visa and MasterCard are making concerted efforts to persuade Canadian banks and merchants to use their network-branded debit propositions.
Country Survey: the UAE
The UAE was once seen as the shining economic star in the Middle East region, but lately its lustre has worn off due to an unprecedented economic crisis that pushed the emirate of Dubai to the verge of bankruptcy However, card issuers, while cautious over rising levels of credit losses, remain optimistic about the future
Bridging the divide
John Yeomans, general manager of prepaid and debit at payment processor Fidelity Information Services, describes how pioneering online payments company Moneybookers has integrated prepaid card functionality with its e-wallet to attract a mainstream audience. Once considered the new kids on the financial service providers block, e-wallet companies epitomised by Moneybookers are certainly making their mark in the highly competitive online payments sector. The first e-money issuer in the UK to be authorised by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), Moneybookers offers a range of online payment options and an email person-to-person (P2P) money transfer service, and recently has been named by global business consultancy Deloitte to be the UKs fastest-growing private equity-backed company
Providing a rich proposition
A recent report issued by European financial researcher Finalta and the European Financial Management and Marketing Association (EFMA), entitled Affluent Segment in Europe February 2010, highlights many of the issues currently facing the premium banking market, including the erosion of consumer confidence and a significant shift in consumer strategy.
Is the EU payments market converging?
The question of whether the fragmented European payments market, with distinct and disparate payment habits across countries and regions, is finally at the point of converging is one that is becoming a hot topic With several countries, each with their own cultural and economic factors driving different payment habits and methods, is there such a thing as a European payments market