All articles by EPI editorial
EPI editorial
Consumers applaud mobile NFC
Held annually in May under the auspices of industry body the Smart Card Alliance, the CTST conference is the largest event in the US dedicated to advanced payment and identification technology This year the highlight of the conference was the outstanding results achieved by pilot programmes involving mobile phones equipped with near field communication (NFC) contactless payments technology Speaking enthusiastically on one pilot programme Steve Davidson, wireless service operator Cellular Souths mobile commerce product manager, summed up the results as: Consumers loved it. He was referring to WirelessWallet, a trial conducted in the US cities of Jackson and Memphis from April to September 2007 by Cellular South
Payments revolution in the making
Now with the backing of the GSM Association, mobile carriers and major payment industry players, the mobile phone is set to become a mobile wallet for billions of users Could the global system for mobile communications, or GSM, used by more than 2.4 billion mobile phone users worldwide, take on a new role as the global system for mobile payments The GSM Association (GSMA), a body representing 924 mobile network operators (MNOs) in 218 countries and regions, believes it will
M-Banking gives US Department of State the jitters
Mobile phones hold the potential to be a major contributor to developing much-needed access to financial services However, warns the US Department of State (DoS), there are already indications that money launderers and financers of terrorism will avail themselves of mobile payment (m-payment) systems. In a study, Mobile Payments A Growing Threat, the DoS stressed that while m-payments have numerous money laundering and terrorist financing implications, digital value smurfing represents a very clear threat Digital value smurfing is a term coined by the Asian Development Bank, a multilateral development institution that has also focused much attention on the threat posed by abuse of m-payments.
Mobile phones enter the fight against card fraud
In a move aimed at combating ATM and POS fraud, Security Identity Systems (SIS), a US company specialising in identity theft protection, is to offer card issuers mobile phone location technology as an extra layer of security.
Global ACH interoperability takes a step closer to reality
The International Payments Framework (IPF), an initiative of 30 organisations in 16 countries aimed at creating interoperability between domestic and international automated clearing house (ACH) systems, has sounded a positive note following completion of 12-month feasibility study The IPF has now called for additional financial institutions, ACH operators, central banks and other payments industry participants to join its existing members in a project that would take ACH interoperability from its concept phase into an implementation phase The IPF concept aims to establish a membership organisation that will provide rules, standards, operating procedures and guidelines to improve non-urgent cross-border payments through a member service agreement binding members to the operating rules
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TSYS enters North American mobile payments race
Another electronic payments processing giant, Total System Services (TSYS), is to take the plunge into the North American mobile banking and payments market, an initiative in which it will be partnered by UK mobile technology developer Telrock Communications TSYS joins major US payment processors First Data and Metavante, which have teamed up with mobile technology specialists mFoundry and Monitise, respectively, to launch mobile banking and payment services The TelrockTSYS alliance cements a relationship by which since January 2007 Telrock has provided TSYSs European card processing clients with its textDebit service that enables customers to make bill payments to a bank account using a mobile phone short message service (SMS).
Heartland takes on big guys
In a David versus Goliath contest, US payments processor Heartland Payments Systems has filed an anti-trust (anti-competitive) and unlawful competition lawsuit against the worlds largest merchant acquirer, Chase Paymentech its POS specialist unit, Merchant Link and MICROS Systems, a vendor of restaurant industry hardware and software.
Tackling the security challenge
However, there is a real potential for biometrics, a still relatively new area of technology, to provide the answer to this demanding challenge. Massive data breaches in 2007 involving the UKs tax and excise agencys loss of confidential information including bank account details of 25 million individuals and US retailer TJX Companies loss of details of 46 million credit and debit card users sent jitters through the payments industry
Canada tops e-payments ranking
It seems that although a countrys level of economic development generally determines the sophistication of its electronic payment initiatives, this is not always the case.Canada has romped home in first place in a study that measures the extent to which governments in 43 countries provide key payment services on electronic platforms The study, Government ePayments Adoption Ranking (GEAR), was commissioned by Visa Inc and covered 43 countries accounting for a combined 83 percent of the worlds population and about 91 percent of global economic output.Canada scored an impressive 92.4, just ahead of the UK in second place with a score of 92.1
Videophones enter remittance arena in fine style
Videophones enter remittance arena in fine stylePotentially destined to become a household name, a little-known start-up, VideoKall, scooped the International Association of Money Transfer Networks (IAMTN) World Payments Award for Excellence in Innovation at a ceremony held in London on 1 November The US-based technology developer received the award, described by the payments industry body as a benchmark of excellence, for its VideoKall video payphone-based electronic funds transfer service.The service, which VideoKall said it had been working in stealth mode to develop, will target unbanked Mexican, Filipino and Indian migrant workers in the US