All articles by Verdict Staff
Verdict Staff
Brazil a bright spot for Visa
Brazil is the stand-out star of the Latin American region when it comes to card payments, and although it is not immune to economic wobbles, card growth prospects remain buoyant Visa has invested heavily in Brazil and spoke to CI regarding its recent initiatives and Brazils payment prospects going forward. Cash may still be king in many parts of the world, particularly in emerging market economies which are only now getting a taste for credit and debit payment products
News Digest
Paymo extends reach to 45 countries… Chinas e-commerce door opens wider… Cross-border opportunity for UKs Ivobank…
Europe enters a new era
Much has changed in the financial world since VRLs Cards & Payments Europe event was staged in Brussels in 2008, with the global economic slump fundamentally altering the payment landscape This year, Cards & Payments Europe will focus on how to maintain profitability in a difficult economic climate
Credit where it is due
Loyalty programmes on payment cards are a staple nowadays, offered to secure customer retention and promote card usage but are marketers doing enough And is the economic downturn forcing loyalty programme providers to scale back the level of rewards on offer
Finnish banks look to the future
Two of the leading Finnish banks, Nordea and OP-Pohjola, speak to CI about the development of the card market to date and the importance of combination cards.In a previous edition of Cards International (issue 415), the country survey focused on Finlands payment card market, which is regarded as one of the most advanced in Europe in terms of technological developments and consumer usage According to Jussi Mekkonen, head of the household division at Nordea in Finland, the Finnish payment card market can attribute its strong development to the entrenched usage of debit cards among Finnish consumers, which has in turn led to these products becoming more functionally advanced.
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Prepaid may get the edge on US banks
A new study from the Aite Group warns that American banks are in danger of losing billions of dollars in fees by relying too heavily on current account relationships as a tool to acquire underbanked consumers, when those consumers can use prepaid cards at a much lower cost US banks risk losing up to $20.3 billion in fees if they rely too heavily on current account relationships as a tool to acquire underbanked consumers, according to a new report by US payment consultancy Aite Group.
Canadian authorities pledge probe into interchange fees
Decisions by Canadian politicians in early March to launch probes into credit card interchange fees and the debit payment system have been welcomed by merchant groups, which are becoming increasingly vocal in their opposition to the payment networks Visa and MasterCard.
PayPal is eBay’s great white hope
Online auction house and e-commerce company eBay is aiming to talk up its portfolio of businesses, having suffered a decline in its share price over the last few months eBay executives will place particular emphasis on its payment platform PayPal, which allows consumers to make purchases without divulging their payment card details to e-commerce merchants.
Barclaycard and Orange become m-payment partners
UK card issuer Barclaycard has teamed up with French mobile telecom operator Orange to form a strategic partnership aimed at developing new co-branded products and services in the mobile, financial and payment fields. With a combined customer base of 28 million, Barclaycard and Orange are hoping to accelerate the development and adoption of mobile payment services in Europe, which have yet to gain significant traction in the region
Region Round-up
MasterCard Worldwide is urging the government of Taiwan to adopt prepaid cards to replace government consumer vouchers, after figures released by MasterCard revealed that the countrys electronic payments sector suffered a 20.85 percent drop in sales for the month of January. Figures from the Financial Supervisory Commission of Taiwan showed that the countrys total spending on credit cards fell by 16.46 percent to NT$102.5 billion ($2.93 billion) in January from the previous months NT122.5 billion, far below the monthly average in 2008 of NT$120 billion