All articles by Verdict Staff
Verdict Staff
Iraq enters the modern payment era
Victoria Conroy reports on the challenges for payment players.The upheaval that has taken place in Iraq over the last six years has affected all aspects of its society, economy and governance, and there is not enough space in CI to chronicle just how much the country has been impacted since 2003.However, what would be fair to say is that Iraqs gradual economic transition and the resulting improvements in its payment and banking infrastructure have laid the foundations for electronic payments of all kinds to facilitate both private and public trade and commerce.Uptake of electronic payments is expected to increase considerably over the next few years thanks to its 30-million strong population being dominated by a young and highly educated demographic segment of those aged from their late teens to their early twenties.Population, payment and infrastructure trendsAs the countrys power and telecommunications infrastructure is still being rebuilt following the 2003 war, Iraqis have become enthusiastic users of mobile phones.According to the Brookings Institute, between 2003 and 2008 mobile phone subscriptions expanded over a hundredfold, with over 14 million mobile phone subscribers as of 2008
E-money leads the pack in Malaysia
Although e-money dominates the non-cash transaction landscape, Malaysia still represents one of the most profitable credit card markets in the world
The US CARD Act – handle with care
The recent slew of credit card legislation in the US is being watched eagerly by UK regulators keen to position themselves as consumer champions In this months guest article, Paul Rodford, head of policy at The UK Cards Association, puts the case that UK regulators must not rush blindly to implement similar legislation.On 22 May, President Obama signed the US Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act into law Feedback from the US so far, as issuers digest the full ramifications of the Act, is that it is certain to reduce the availability of credit card credit, reduce customer choice and put up the price of credit
Technology solves remittance quandary
As millions of migrant workers look for ways to send money home, the market for remittance payments, previously the domain of a few well-established players, is being blown wide open with the arrival of several new technologies and innovations such as prepaid and mobile payments
The changing face of loyalty in cards
In this article, Wong Wan-Ling, a loyalty and marketing expert with Insight Consultancy, outlines the evolving nature of loyalty programmes.When loyalty programmes first appeared, they were hailed as the killer application for cards
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EuroCommerce and Visa Europe
European retail and merchant association EuroCommerce is showing no sign of giving up the fight to force payment networks to review the level of interchange fees across Europe, and has lodged a new complaint against Visa Europe, alleging that the payment network is infringing European competition law over the matter The crux of EuroCommerces argument is its long-held belief that multilateral interchange fees, set by the payment networks in conjunction with their bank issuing partners, constitute an infringement of European competition law, and that merchants pay for benefits which go to others…which distorts competition between banks: the more banks compete, the higher the price, according to a statement put out by EuroCommerce
New ideas from an ancient source
As a country that has been in a state of war for around half of the last 40 years, Lebanon has not been seen as the safest bet by many financial institutions Maher Mezher, head of marketing for First National Bank, spoke to John Hill about how and why this view is rapidly changing and how FNB is innovating First National Bank (FNB) is an unusual prospect in a country that is trying its hardest to shrug off a militant past and return to its heyday as the Paris of the East
Region Round-up
ASIA-PACIFICConsumer indebtednessCredit card debt on the rise in ChinaThe amount of Chinese credit card debt that is at least six months overdue rose to CNY4.97 billion ($727.6 million) in the first quarter of 2009, a rise of 133.1 percent compared to the year-ago period, according to figures released by the Peoples Bank of China (PBoC).Debt overdue by six months or more accounted for 3 percent of the total outstanding credit card debt at the end of March, or 0.6 percentage points more than in the same period last year, the PBoC said The central bank has warned that increasing credit card debt would pose a much greater risk for financial institutions which have rapidly expanded their credit card operations over the last few years.As of 31 March, Chinese banks had issued more than 150 million credit cards, or 0.11 card per person, up 42.9 percent year-on-year
The new European consumer
In this months guest article, Matthew Lanford, head of prepaid at MasterCard Europe, gives his insight into the economic and cultural forces that are shaping and transforming the prepaid market, and how new industry dynamics are being influenced by changing consumer behaviour and attitudes.
Card growth puts Europe in the shade
Card growth puts Europe in the shade Turkeys card market stands out as one of the most forward-thinking and innovative in Europe.