All articles by Verdict Staff
Verdict Staff
Rival predicted for Maestro and V PAY in Europe
With over 287 million Maestro cards in circulation in Europe, MasterCard is easily the dominant debit scheme within the region Over the last couple of years, Visa Europes V PAY debit scheme has begun to nip at Maestros heels, having recently secured issuance deals in Germany and Italy If recent reports are to be believed, there may be a new debit scheme in the offing
Visa and MasterCard set European contactless in motion
London is to be the launch pad in autumn 2007, followed by a UK-wide roll-out in early 2008 The news follows last years preliminary plans from both companies to bring contactless payment to the UKs small-value cash payment market, which is estimated to be worth around £250 billion ($494 billion).
Growth potential in Brazil
Brazils card market is poised to continue its recent rapid growth as cards rapidly replace other payment instruments, particularly cheques
The back office steps forward
As consumer payments continue to shift from cash and cheques to cards and electronic payments, processors have become increasingly powerful players and are ever more attractive assets to would-be buyers, as investors look to capture unrealised value
Making sales work
Outsourcing a business-critical function such as sales may be the right decision or the wrong one, depending on circumstances, argues Charles Dalton in the new outsourcing manual in VRL KnowledgeBanks Credit Card Toolkit series. Organisations choose to outsource for a number of reasons, including perceived cost savings; lack of infrastructure, including equipment and application capabilities; lack of particular expertise or resources; or simply overall business policy
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Debit rewards compete for attention
The meteoric growth of debit card transaction volumes in the US has reshaped the payments landscape, as issuers seek to persuade new cardholders into joining comprehensive programmes aimed at retention and loyalty; however, uptake of rewards programmes by issuers is slowing Improving retention, driving greater transaction frequency and building cross-sell relationships are all goals of debit issuers, all seeking the magic combination of rewards and pricing that will maximise loyalty while ensuring profitability.
Visa strikes second V PAY issuance deal in Europe
Visa Europe has struck its second issuance agreement for V PAY, its Single Euro Payment Area (SEPA)-compliant pan-European debit card scheme The issuing banks are Capitalia, ICCREA Banca, Banca Sella, Banca Carige and Gruppo Banca Popolare Emilia Romagna, all in Italy They will start issuing cards to cardhaolders before the end of 2007.
ANZ reports stellar profits from personal banking
ANZ has always been a contender for pole position in the Australian issuing market, and it has certainly been the most innovative among its Big Four peers (Westpac, National Bank of Australia and Commonwealth Bank of Australia)
Lloyds TSB secures Airmiles and MasterCard deals
UK card issuer Lloyds TSB has clinched a lucrative new partnership with Airmiles, the UK travel loyalty scheme, and has also signed a new agreement with MasterCard under which Lloyds TSB will issue the bulk of its credit card portfolio on the MasterCard network
Diversifying fails to pay off for Capital One, as earnings fall
The company surprised investment analysts and shareholders with a large decline in earnings, mainly from the fallout of the slump in the US sub-prime mortgage industry, which followed Capital Ones acquisition of the GreenPoint mortgage business, as part of the North Fork acquisition in late 2006.