All articles by EPI editorial
EPI editorial
Carphone Warehouse puts its weight behind mobile payments
Carphone Warehouse, the UKs largest mobile phone retailer, has added its substantial marketing muscle 650 stores nationwide to what has so far been a somewhat disappointing acceptance of mobile payments in the country.
Maldives’ banking enters a new era
A series of 280 small inhabited islands scattered across the Indian Ocean southwest of India, the Republic of Maldives has long been starved of formal banking facilities which are confined primarily to the 17 branches of the countrys only national bank, the Bank of Maldives This is about to change thanks to a bold initiative, the Mobile Phone Banking Project, launched by the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA). The MMA has issued a tender for the implementation of the project that will create a single currency (Maldivian rufiyaas) payment system which offers a set of mobile telephone-based accounts.
Credit cards reign supreme
Koreans fervour for credit cards is extending to other electronic payments instruments, making the country one of the worlds leaders in the adoption of new technologies ranging from mobile phone-based banking to contactless payments.
On the road to a cashless society
Finns have grasped innovative electronic payment technology with enthusiasm, enabling Finland to today boast the highest per capita use of electronic payments in the European Union Mobile payments now appear set to provide further momentum in the drive towards creating a cashless society If countries ever attain the status of cash-free societies, the chances that Finland will be among the first must be high
goDough makes its mark
Yet another mobile banking solution to hit the US market goDough is making solid progress, claims its developer Jack Henry & Associates (JHA), a provider of integrated technology solutions and data processing services for financial institutions.
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Mobile security issues top consumer concerns
US consumers are becoming increasingly comfortable with the concept of using mobile phones for banking and purchases, reveals a new survey undertaken by market research company Harris Interactive.
Australia tries m-banking again
Australias third-largest bank, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ Bank), has launched a mobile phone banking service that it stressed in a release marks the first time a service of this kind would be available to the Australian market The service, said ANZ Groups personal division managing director, Brian Hartzer, is modelled on successful mobile phone banking platforms overseas ANZs comprehensive mobile banking service enables its customers to make payments and transfer funds from their mobile phone, as well as to check account balances
Banks out of synch with customers’ payment preferences
When it comes to payment cards, what US bank customers are being encouraged to use and what they want are two different things, according to Avivah Litan, an analyst at research and advisory company Gartner Her conclusion is based on a consumer survey of payment card preferences when buying groceries conducted in late 2007 Despite significant marketing campaigns by banks and card issuers to steer consumers towards using debit cards with a signature, ostensibly so that the banks can earn more interchange revenue, consumers prefer entering their PIN to pay for groceries with their debit card over all types of signature-based card payments, whether credit or debit, said Litan.
Payforit service gets off to a successful start
Payforit went into full service on 1 September 2007.According to Bangos analysis, 92 percent of transactions were successfully completed, 7 percent failed because users had insufficient funds to complete their purchase and only 1 percent were not completed as a result of a payment processing failure.Commenting on the data, Steve Ricketts, head of third party services at OrangeUK, said: It is great to see such clear evidence that Payforit is performing so well, Bangos numbers show that the scheme is delivering a happy end user experience and a successful payment scheme for content providers.Bango pointed out that the occurrence of insufficient subscriber funds is more noticeable where a high prepaid base exists and consumers are unaware of the money they have remaining on their phones before making a purchase
Electronic payments gather pace
For two decades electronic payments have been steadily ousting cheques and cash as the preferred means of transacting in the US, particularly amongst consumers For two decades electronic payments in the US have been steadily gaining ground as the favoured means of non-cash payments and in terms of transaction volumes have overtaken the once dominant cheque