All articles by Verdict Staff
Verdict Staff
Barclays offers to go Dutch
The takeover tussle for ABN AMRO rumbles on, in another instalment of the rapid consolidation of Europes banking industry What would a potential combination of ABN AMRO and Barclays mean for their respective card operations
ECB pushes for European debit scheme
It is no secret that the European Central Bank (ECB) would like to see the emergence of a European-owned and -controlled debit card scheme to challenge the hegemony of MasterCards Maestro and Visa Europes V PAY schemes
Turkey’s card market continues to grow
Improving economic conditions, steadily rising incomes and a young and growing population concentrated largely in the major cities are creating the right conditions for card market growth for domestic and foreign players Following years of economic turmoil, Turkey is now reaping the benefits of a more stable economy and the domestic credit card market has been experiencing a period of rapid growth
Private equity drives deals
The latest CI mergers and acquisitions round-up shows the continuing trend for consolidation as organisations pursue scale economies At the same time, private equity firms are increasingly eyeing up the potential for returns
Is outsourcing really the ‘magic bullet’?
The need for economies of scale and cost efficiency has led many card issuers to outsource their processing to third parties Francesco Burelli and Anthony Louw, principal consultants at global strategy consultancy Capco, look at the points organisations need to consider when choosing to outsource. Since the late 1990s, more and more card issuers have followed the blazing trail to India for business process outsourcing (BPO)
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US interchange wars
The seemingly endless battle between the card associations and merchants over interchange rates in the US is entering a new, potentially even nastier phase as the rhetoric over fees is organised by a pair of warring coalitions Set against the backdrop of a newly empowered Democratic majority in Congress and a high-powered and expensive lobbying effort by national merchant associations, the card associations and their bank members have a right to be more than a little nervous about all the legislative sabre-rattling of late.
Visa IPO determines special treatment for Visa Europe
Visas registration document was filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in late June, stating Visa will float 51 percent of the company in an initial public offering (IPO) scheduled for later in 2007. Visa has also outlined its intentions to combine Visa International, Visa Canada and Visa USA into a single private company, Visa Inc
JCB aims to grow beyond Japan
Regarded as one of the most technologically innovative card players in the world, Japanese giant JCB has stepped outside its domestic market in order to expand abroad, but it faces renewed competition at home JCB, Japans home-grown international credit card brand, is facing strong competition in its domestic market as Japanese mega-banks shift their focus to retail banking and credit cards after trying to shake off their legacy of problematic corporate loans.
Discover debuts on US stock market
Fresh from its spin-off from Morgan Stanley, Discover Financial Services, the fourth-largest of the US card networks, has begun trading publicly on the New York Stock Exchange Its shares rose modestly during early trading on 2 July before tailing off, but analysts are optimistic that shares will rise in the long term, and that the network will gradually increase its market share against its larger competitors Visa, MasterCard and American Express.
Citibank tracks credit card usage trends in Asia-Pacific
Global lending giant Citibank has published its Payment Evolution Report, tracking the similarities and differences in credit card trends among seven economies in the Asia-Pacific region The report looked at key usage, payment and attitudinal trends of credit card customers, showing that cultural attitudes are the major factors driving credit card consumption and behaviour.