All articles by Verdict Staff
Verdict Staff
Growth prospects for prepaid in Europe
Prepaid cards in Europe are well on their way to becoming one of the fastest-growing payment methods, but different regional markets and different card sectors require very different approaches, as was outlined at the recent Cards & Payments Europe 2007 conference in Berlin Now in its 20th year, the Cards & Payments Europe conference, held by VRL KnowledgeBank, hosted a series of sessions dedicated to the growth of Europes prepaid market, in which issuers and industry analysts came together to explore the huge potential that awaits prepaid over the coming years.
MasterCard may yet lose World Cup sponsorship
The bitterly contested tug of war between MasterCard and Visa over the sponsorship rights to the World Cup football tournament looks set to rumble on, following the latest legal development in the case. A US appeals court has ruled that a December 2006 court ruling that granted MasterCard the World Cup sponsorship rights for the 2010 and 2014 tournaments must be revisited and clarified; this could yet lead to MasterCard losing its sponsorship rights to Visa. The two networks are locking horns with each other and with world football governance body Fdration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) over who gets the exclusive advertising and sponsorship rights to the worlds most-watched sporting event
The role of non-banks in payment cards
The growing presence of non-banks in the area of card payments is giving rise to questions about how big a role they will play A recent paper examines the areas in which non-banks are expected to grow further, and the differing approaches in the US and Europe in terms of risk and regulation.
American Express enables mortgage payments on cards
American Express (Amex) has announced that its US cardmembers will now be able to make monthly home mortgage payments on Amex cards The new facility the Express Rewards Mortgage programme is a first for the credit card industry, according to Amex.
MasterCard delays SEPA interchange rates
In the face of growing merchant and regulatory scrutiny, MasterCard Europe is delaying the introduction of Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) fallback interchange rates for Maestro POS euro transactions The network cited continued lack of clarity from competition authorities over interchange fees and opposition from some merchant associations in its decision, but stressed that it is committed to making Maestro the most attractive SEPA payment alternative for consumers, merchants and banks. MasterCard Europe said it wants to ensure that there is no business disruption for banks or merchants and that SEPA is introduced smoothly
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Region Round-Up
The UKs Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS) has revealed that the proportion of cash demands met by ATMs has almost doubled over the past ten years to reach 65 percent in 2006, compared to 34 percent in 1996…
South Korea moves from bust to boom
The Korean credit card industry is only now recovering well from the crisis that took place earlier this decade The after-effects include industry consolidation and a tighter focus on targeting the most profitable customers
Payments through the crystal ball
With just over six months until the implementation of the Single Euro Payments Area, delegates at Cards Internationals Cards & Payments Europe 2007 conference were given an insight into how the payment landscape might look over the next few years The 20th annual Cards & Payments Europe conference, held in Berlin at the end of May, fell at an auspicious time, given the whirlwind of activity that has occurred in the payment industry over the last few months
Hong Kong expects tougher market
The Hong Kong consumer banking market has always been one of the more competitive markets in Asia-Pacific and the territorys credit cards industry is no exception.
Co-branding grows in China
With the cards sector now in theory open to competition, prospects for foreign banks in China look bright But there are still hurdles to clear before entrants can issue their own cards, leaving local partnerships the most effective route to market