All articles by Verdict Staff
Verdict Staff
SEPA in great need of a firm end-date
In a development viewed by many observers as make-or-break for the European Unions ambitious Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), the European Payments Council (EPC) has just put into force the SEPA direct debit (SDD) scheme.
GSMA accelerates development grant initiative
Furthering its Mobile Money for the Unbanked (MMU) project, mobile network operator body the GSM Association (GSMA) has awarded six grants from a $12.5 million fund financed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
CPG Deploys Oracle’s Agile PLM Release 9.3 At Avema
To enhance portfolio visibility, process and schedule management, as well as content and resource management
Tailored pricing is key for success
A recent study from management advisory firm Bretton Woods examines the pricing structures of various prepaid verticals, concluding that propositions which have tailored pricing and fee structures are far more popular with consumers and end users Despite claims from some pro-consumer groups that prepaid cards come with predatory pricing, advocates have always championed prepaid cards as being far more cost-effective for consumers when compared to traditional banking propositions such as bank accounts and cheques.
Region Round-Up
Visa Australia has said it is to move to chip and PIN technology for all of its credit cards, with signature transactions to be outlawed by April 2013. The overhaul would see more than 14 million Visa cards upgraded along with half a million POS terminals and thousands of ATMs by April 2013.
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Smaller players step up
CIs dealwatch keeps track of the mergers and acquisitions taking place in the global payment industry, and this month, smaller payment players are stepping into the spotlight
France sees strong credit growth
Despite French banks being particularly careful when it comes to lending and profits being hit hard, the past couple of years have seen credit cards experience a rise in popularity and an increasingly sophisticated range of card products are now making their debuts in the market, as John Hill reports.
ATM outsourcing under spotlight
ATMs are an essential touch point between banks and their customers, but banks have found it difficult to maintain profitability As banks look to cut costs and improve efficiencies, the spotlight is being turned on ATM outsourcing, as Alan Scutt, UK managing director of VocaLink, explains.
Post Offices pay a pivotal role
Postal services play a key role in many nations, providing access to basic communication and transaction services Public postal operators are among the largest employers and most trusted retail network operators in each country, generating hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue. While postal operators are usually expected to maintain financial self-sufficiency, these universal services are usually loss-making, and face major challenges, including:
Prepaid in the public sector
In his final guest article for this year, Matthew Lanford, head of prepaid at MasterCard Europe, explores the potential of prepaid to cut costs and improve efficiency in the government and public sectors, particularly in areas such as social benefit distribution and payroll distribution. In this, my final contribution to CI during 2009, I am going to complete my assessment of the relationship between prepaid and its key stakeholder groups, by placing a spotlight on the industrys workings with government and public sector organisations across Europe.