All articles by Verdict Staff
Verdict Staff
Still scope for more growth in India
GDP grew at a rate of 7.5 percent in 2005 and 9 percent in 2006, and is expected to show growth of around 9.4 percent in 2007, indicating a significant growth over the 5.2 percent annualised growth the Indian economy achieved over the course of the 1990s.
Cambodia catches the card wave
While neighbouring Vietnam has been attracting the attention of foreign issuers lately, with several card-related initiatives underway, perhaps Cambodia could represent the next bandwagon to jump on for those banks with the confidence to become early movers in the market.
Citi unveils integrated corporate solution
In order to meet a growing call from the business and public sectors for increased operational efficiency and transparency, Citibank has announced the launch of its electronic payments solution, Citibank Paylink for Cards.Developed in conjunction with MasterCard, the solution integrates a purchasing card into the clients accounts payable system.
Cutting the cost of bill payments
Although online bill payment is growing in popularity, financial institutions offering the service are finding revenues are not offsetting the costs. A new report from the Aite Group points out that banks will need to look at new approaches if they are to maximise the potential and profitability on offer.
Card losses lead to more pain in US
The continuing economic slump in the US is leading to rising unemployment and slowing consumer spending, which is having a massive knock-on effect for card issuers The credit crunch has spread from mortgages to commercial banking to investment banking to consumer lending, and now its icy hands are on the credit card market.
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Canadian banks get go-ahead to issue both Visa, MasterCard
A new phase of competition in Canadas credit card sector looks to be underway after the countrys Competition Bureau gave the go-ahead to Canadian banks to issue both Visa and MasterCard-branded credit cards, reversing a policy of Canadian banks only being able to offer one or the other Sheridan Scott, Commissioner of the Bureau, said in a letter to the countrys major financial institutions that allowing banks to issue both brands would usher in greater choice for consumers and increased competition in the marketplace In her letter, she stated that the recent transitions of Visa and MasterCard from member-owned associations to publicly-held entities was a major factor in the decision to reverse the policy, along with other recent developments in the credit card industry.
Payroll and prepaid
One of the major success stories of the prepaid sector is the uptake of payroll prepaid solutions In this months guest article, Paul Bartholomew-Keen, business leader of Prepaid Europe at MasterCard, examines the potential of this payment product and where the future opportunities may lie.
News Digest
JPMorgan and First Data to part company…ING DIRECT beefs up online security…INSIDE Contactless shines in Canada…CSC drive MasterCard flagship service…An OSCA for Oberthur.
News Briefs
ACI and IBM forge ties… PayPal acts to counter online fraud… Mobile wallet from Telecom Italia…
News Briefs
Deutsche Bank seals Chinese remittance dealChinas fifth-largest bank, Postal Savings Bank of China (PSBC), has selected German bank Deutsche Banks Money Transfer New Architecture global payment platform to process its US dollar and local remittances PSBC has more than 36,000 retail locations across China, of which two-thirds are in rural areas. CHEQUESUS cheque imaging surgesThe volume of cheques being converted into electronic format in the US continues to surge, reveals data supplied by SVPCO Image Payments Network, the countrys largest private-sector cheque image exchange system Of particular note in October was that the value of transactions exceeded half a trillion dollars for the first time in any month, increasing 122.9 percent compared with October 2006 to reach $535.7 billion