All articles by EPI editorial
EPI editorial
PayPal rides UK online spending wave
Adding weight to its claim of providing the UKs favorite internet consumer retail payments solution, PayPal increased its market share from 17 percent in 2006 to 21 percent in 2007, a study conducted by recently formed UK industry body the Payments Council shows.PayPals market share increase came in a year when total online spending in the UK grew by 54 percent compared with 2006 to £46.6 billion ($48.8 billion), according to consultancy Capgemini and global electronic retail industry body the Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG).
Mobile bankers flock to Africa
Africa has become a magnet for European companies seeking to stake their claim in the continents mobile payments market, with three new entrants announcing plans to establish operations in nine countries in the past three months alone.Their target is Africas largely unbanked mobile phone user base which in 2007 grew by 60 million to reach a total of 281 million, according to the International Telecommunications Union.
Obopay ‘bank a billion’ promises
Providing affordable banking services to a billion of the worlds poorest people by 2018 may appear to be a wildly optimistic objective but it is one US mobile payments technology developer Obopay believes is attainable.To attain this goal, Obopay has partnered with Grameen Solutions, a Bangladesh-based diversified technology company, to launch the Grameen-Obopay Bank A Billion Initiative.Particularly significant is Obopays partnership with Grameen Solutions, part of a sprawling group of profit and non-profit companies founded by Muhammad Yunus, winner of the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2006 for his work in improving living standards of the poor.One of Yunus most notable achievements was the establishment of Grameen Bank, a micro-loan specialist with more than 2,500 branches and 7.5 million customers in Bangladesh Realini holds a masters degree in computer science and has also been closely involved in development and aid initiatives in Africa.I was inspired to found Obopay when I was volunteering in Africa and saw that while people in remote corners of the world often lacked access to the most basic financial services, they almost all had mobile phones, explained Realini.We are thrilled to embark on a partnership with Grameen Solutions, and look forward to working with them to bring truly powerful mobile banking services to people everywhere, she added.Obopay and Grameen have set a tight schedule for the project and working initially from Bangladesh and Mumbai, India, where Obopay has an operating unit, anticipate delivering the first services in October this year
Siemens takes biometrics online
Could biometrics provide the ultimate weapon in the fight against internet fraud? German technology and engineering giant Siemens believes it can and is forging ahead with a fingerprint-based solution now undergoing trials in Germany and Switzerland.The solution, which does not require any additional software or hardware and can be used on any computer, is based on an internet identification device the size of a plastic payment card.
SMARTRAC on a solid growth track
Netherlands radio frequency identification (RFID) product specialist SMARTRAC is riding high on strong demand for contactless smartcards which, according to industry body Eurosmart, saw total global shipments reach 543 million units in 2007.In its latest significant deal, SMARTRAC will supply its PRELAM smartcards to Egyptian payment card manufacturer Masria-Card which has secured a contract to supply contactless payment cards for ticketing to Cairo Metro, Africas most populous citys commuter rail service MasriaCard will convert the PRELAM smartcards which incorporate an embedded microchip and antenna into finished, branded cards for use on the system which on average carries 2 million passengers daily.Contactless cards for transport ticketing applications are only one facet of SMARTRACs operations and form part of what it terms the Standard Segment of its business In its High Security segment, SMARTRAC manufactures RFID inlays for contactless payment cards and electronic passports.Founded in 2000, SMARTRAC has grown rapidly via organic growth and a series of acquisitions and today employs 2,700 people in locations on four continents
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US insurers lag on billing services
Though North American property and casualty insurers are acutely aware of the critical importance that billing plays in their business, serious shortcomings abound. This conclusion was drawn from a survey of 61 insurers undertaken by Guidewire Software, a specialist property and casualty insurance software vendor.The majority of carriers surveyed agreed that billing plays a significant role in customer retention. Among large carriers those with annual direct written premium (DWP) of over $1 billion there was unanimous agreement.
Mobile payment boom predicted
Mobile phone-based money transfers will yield a revenue bonanza for mobile phone and payment service providers over the next five years, believes Howard Wilcox, an analyst at research firm Juniper Research.Starting as early as 2010 the market is likely to take off as the worlds under-banked population and migrant workers begin using their mobile phones extensively as mobile wallets, predicts Wilcox.
NXP card under fire
Researchers and students of the digital security department of the Radboud University Nijmegen (RUN) in the Netherlands have discovered what they term a serious flaw in the Mifare Classic contactless smartcard.This claim has brought a fierce reaction from Mifare Classics developer, Nether-lands-based NXP Semiconductors, which sought but failed to obtain court intervention to prevent the researchers from making a full public disclosure of their findings.The universitys concerns first surfaced in March this year and followed a similar claim made by German researchers Karsten Nohl en Henryk Pltz in December 2007.
Mobile payments take off in Africa
South African bank First National Bank (FNB) and domestic low-cost airline Mango have teamed up to introduce a service that enables consumers to pay for air tickets via their mobile phone.The service is available to all FNB customers including those with Mzansi accounts, a product focused on low income, first-time banking consumers.The service harnesses FNBs Cell Pay Point (CPP) service introduced in February 2007 that enables FNB mobile banking customers to pay for internet purchases via their mobile phone.
UK card spending reflects tough times
Debit cards entrenched their position as the UKs favorite payment card in the second quarter of 2008, recording a total transaction value of £60.91 billion ($115 billion), almost double the £31.68 billion spent using credit cards, data from payments industry body APACS reveals.