All articles by Verdict Staff
Verdict Staff
Region Round-up
Visa Europe members have started to introduce dynamic passcode authentication technology in Switzerland to enhance security levels of e-commerce and e-banking transactions and to further reduce fraud… Latin American retailers will increasingly look to private-label credit cards to build relationships with their customers, says Dan Alf, Latin America and Caribbean managing director at US processor Fiserv… Canadas TD Bank sees opportunities to expand its domestic credit card business, according to Tim Hockey, group head of consumer banking, speaking at an investor conference in March 2007…Asia-Pacific
Contactless goes mobile in Canada
Card-loving Canadians might soon be tempted to use their mobile phones to make payments if an upcoming test of contactless payments by RBC Royal Bank and Visa Canada proves successful. RBC and Visa will pilot a mobile payment service that uses mobile phones rather than traditional credit cards for making Visa purchases. This Ontario-based pilot is expected to be completed in 2008, and involves multiple phases including in-lab testing, an RBC staff pilot and a consumer trial, Andrew Ross, senior manager, credit payments at RBC, told EPI.
Yodlee goes for aggressive growth
Yodlee has made a name for itself in the US as an innovative company with a cutting-edge online banking account aggregation service targeted at wealthy individuals. Now Yodlee wants to make a much bigger splash in payments, and has more than doubled its work force as it seeks to capitalise on a tumultuous US market.
First Data to be acquired by private equity group for $29 billion
Global payment processor First Data has entered into an agreement to be acquired by an affiliate of private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) in a transaction with a total value of $29 billion, making it one of the largest private equity buyouts. KKRs acquisition of First Data was unanimously approved by the First Data board of directors, based upon the recommendation of its Strategic Review Committee comprised of three independent directors
Annual fees come full circle
Card issuers in the US and Europe are facing the wrath of consumers and regulators on several issues controversy over interchange fees, default and late payment fees, credit card marketing practices and rising interest rates is building to place even more pressure on issuers that are already having to contend with battling for market share in saturated credit card markets. Regulatory and political pressure has mounted in recent months, both in the US and Europe, with the result being that issuers have been forced to significantly reduce the amount that they can charge cardholders for defaulting on payments, or in the US, to improve disclosure of such fees to consumers.
Subscribe to our Newsletter
Get industry leading news, data and analysis delivered to your inbox
Final terms of EU Payment Services Directive agreed
European Union (EU) finance ministers have agreed on the final terms of the Payment Services Directive (PSD), a fundamental part of the EUs plans to create a single market for financial services and boost competition within Europes payment industry. The legislation, covering all EU nations and currencies, will remove legal barriers to the implementation of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) and will make cross-border payments by credit card, debit card, electronic bank transfers and any other means as cheap as domestic transactions
US card pricing concessions
Fresh from a contentious Senate hearing on credit card pricing, some of the largest US issuers are easing up a little on pricing and in some cases dropping the policies that have been the cause of much of the ire from consumer groups. Citi announced in late March that it would no longer maintain its universal default policy, by which the issuer has raised interest rates for customers who pay on time to Citi but late to other creditors
Belgian banks delay switch of debit card scheme to Maestro
The Belgian banking community has reversed a decision to switch its domestic debit card scheme, BancontactMister Cash, to the MasterCard Maestro payments platform at the end of 2007 The switch was originally announced by Belgian payment body Banksys in May 2006 and was scheduled for January 2008, in order to coincide with the introduction of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). An exact timetable for the revised switch was not given, although MasterCard said it intends to introduce Maestro as a local scheme in Belgium next year.
Region Round-Up
The transaction volume of debit cards for migrant workers in China has reached $250 million, according to China UnionPay… Spanish banking group BBVA increased its immigrant customer base by 160,000 in 2006 to 552,000, and expects to attract another 180,000 clients in 2007…
Italy’s card market picks up speed
Italy still has a cash-dominated economy, but the countrys cards industry is in growth mode and revolving credit is set to become a major revenue generator as Italian consumers overcome their traditional aversion to debt Although the vast majority of consumer payments are still made with cash, Italy has been the setting for some major developments in Europes card industry over the last year