All articles by Verdict Staff
Verdict Staff
MasterCard eyes up SIA-SSB bid
In a move that could have long-lasting ramifications for Europes card processing industry, MasterCard is believed to be linking up with Telecom Italia to bid for Italian payment processor SIA-SSB, which was put up for sale by its consortium of Italian bank owners in mid-2008 After a drawn-out tender process, which attracted around 30 separate bids, SIA-SSB is believed to have narrowed the shortlist down to two, Telecom Italia, which already holds a 4.1 percent stake in SIA-SSB, and European IT company Atos Origin. Telecom Italia, looking to increase its stake in the payment processor to 63 percent, is rumoured to be the front-runner, according to payment industry insiders speaking to CI, firstly because SIA-SSB may give preference to another Italian organisation, and secondly because Atos Origin has been weakened by in-fighting between its shareholders and board of directors over the companys direction.
RBS WorldPay suffers fraud attack
The US payment processing arm of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), RBS WorldPay, announced a data breach on 23 December 2008 which sent jitters across the banking world The bank revealed that a co-ordinated attack had occurred on 130 of its ATM machines in 49 cities across the world, which netted a criminal gang a staggering $9 million.
US credit spending on the slide
The stand-out figure from MasterCard Incorporateds fourth-quarter 2008 results, for the period ending 30 December 2008, was US credit and charge card gross dollar volume (GDV), including POS spending and cash withdrawals, actually falling by 11.4 percent to $152 billion in the fourth quarter, compared to $171 billion in the year-ago period.
Cards continue to climb in Brazil
Double-digit growth in various forms of payment cards mark out Brazil as one of the most dynamic cards markets in the world
The contrast between the UK and Brazil
In addition to the Brazil country survey, Charles Marc Abbey and Joel Van Arsdale of US payment consultancy First Annapolis outline the unique situation regarding the acquiring market in Brazil.
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Cash remains an indomitable foe
One consequence of slowing consumer spending is that while credit card usage has fallen, debit usage has enjoyed an upsurge But so too has cash, for some surprising reasons
Massive data breach at payment processor
As if the card industry did not have enough to contend with, a major data breach at one of the biggest payment processors in the US has called into question the strength of existing anti-fraud safeguards, which were toughened up following the infamous TJX breach of 2006 Millions of cardholders in the US could have had their card data compromised after a gigantic security breach hit payment processor Heartland Payment Systems, which serves more than 250,000 businesses across the US, and processes more than 4 billion transactions annually.
US cards landscape swamped by bad news
As recession deepens, unemployment rises and losses deteriorate, no one was expecting a miraculous turnaround in the fortunes of the US credit card industry
Australian ATM reform in place for major shake-up of the market
The ATM market in Australia is set for a major shake-up in March 2009, when reforms by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will take effect. The reform will see customers pay differently for ATM transactions, and ban interchange charges between financial institutions
Cash makes a big comeback
Visa Europe will have been relieved to see that despite the most difficult economic conditions for generations, its 2008 fiscal year results showed continued growth in the usage of its bank members payment cards across Europe But one surprising indicator, and a growth rise Visa Europe will be less pleased about, is that European consumers have actually increased the amount of cash withdrawals they make using Visa cards.