All articles by EPI editorial
EPI editorial
Mobile payments giant in the making
Money transfer service provider Western Union and mobile phone operator body the GSM Association (GSMA) have teamed up to create what could potentially become the worlds most significant mobile payments service. The objective is to create an affordable service that will enable consumers to send and receive low-denomination, high-frequency money transfers using their mobile phones, opening up what GSMA CEO Rob Conway termed a potentially vast market for financial services. He continued that mobile networks now cover more than 80 percent of the worlds population and 3 billion people have a mobile phone. This creates an unprecedented opportunity to extend the benefits of financial services to the majority of the worlds families for the first time, he said.
Credit card crunch hits the UK
Credit card crunch hits the UKTightening monetary conditions hitting UK banks have resulted in a sharp rise in the number of applications for credit cards being rejected, reveals a study by financial product comparison company MoneyExpert.In the six months to September 2007, 3.27 million people 9 percent of all applicants had their request for credit cards rejected.The rejection rate was up 17 percent compared with the six months to March when about 2.7 million applications were rejected, said MoneyExpert
MasterCard launches commercial payments platform
Key features of Payment Manager include buyer-initiated purchasing card straight-through processing, a single interface for all payment processing needs and an internet portal for payment status and reporting integration.Financial service providers can adopt and rebrand Payment Gateway as a stand-alone offering or integrate it into their current product offerings; Wells Fargo opted for the latter.By integrating the MasterCard Payment Gateway, we extend the capabilities of our Payment Manager product so that it addresses the entire spectrum of needs our corporate customers face when managing their business-to-business payments life cycle, said Mary Mazzochi, senior vice-president and manager of Wells Fargos commercial card product line.Our customers can save money by breaking down the silos that traditionally exist across payments infrastructures and taking advantage of a streamlined total payables solution
Visa times accounts payable automation solution to perfection
As the threat of economic recession looms businesses have become more conscious than ever of the need to control operating costs Against this background, the launch by Visa of its Visa Accounts Payable Automation (VAPA) business-to-business (B2B) service could hardly have been better timed Already the subject of a pilot programme in conjunction with the US sixth largest commercial bank, US Bank, VAPA is designed to assist large and mid-sized businesses reduce costs associated with accounts payable processes, expense management and purchasing.
Online billpay scales new heights
Internet banking and online bill payments have enjoyed robust growth in the US in recent years with more growth to come, indicates a survey undertaken by CheckFree.
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US payments industry’s costly burden
If legislators have their way, online casino-style gambling in the US will cease on 1 December 2009 with the implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) Passed in 2006, the Act has since been subject to a study into applicable regulations by two federal bodies. Under regulations published by the US Department of the Treasury and Federal Reserve Board (Fed), implementation and enforcement of the online gambling ban will rest heavily on the payments industry
Slowly breaking the cheque habit
Though France boasts one of the worlds highest levels of non-cash payments, adoption of electronic payments in the fullest sense has been hampered by an exceptionally high use of cheques.
Visa and Yalamanchili join forces for growth plan
Visa has set itself the goal of expanding its payments processing operations in what it terms high growth geographies a strategy it will pursue in partnership with Singapore-based payments technology developer Yalamanchili Software Exports (YSE).
Turkish court sends out strong warning to cyber-criminals
What is certainly one of the harshest sentences yet imposed on a cyber-criminal 30 years in prison has been handed down by a Turkish court to Maksym Yastremskiy (alias Maksik) for hacking computer systems of 12 of the countrys banks No stranger to crime, it would appear, Yastremskiy has also been accused by US law enforcement agencies of playing a key role in the theft of customer information from US retailers including TJX, which operates retail stores TJ Maxx and Marshalls, OfficeMax, Barnes & Noble, Boston Market, Sports Authority, Forever 21, DSW, BJs and Wholesale Club. In August 2008, 11 people including Yastremskiy were charged in the US with crimes related to these thefts in which a total some 40 million credit and debit card numbers were stolen by the gang, according to the US Department of Justice.
Electronic payment system at risk
Slammed by industry body the Electronic Payments Coalition (EPC) for undermining the current electronic payment industry The Credit Card Fair Fee Act has overcome its first hurdle in the US Congress By a narrow 19-16 margin the US House Judiciary Committee has voted in favour of the bill introduced in the US Congress in March 2008 by Congressman John Conyers and Chris Cannon Slammed by industry body the Electronic Payments Coalition (EPC) for undermining the current electronic payment industry The Credit Card Fair Fee Act has overcome its first hurdle in the US Congress