PayEx continuosly monitors the financial services and payments industries to stay abreast of the latest news and events for our clients.
Payments News - from Glenbrook Partners
Payments News ISSN 1556-4487. Copyright © Glenbrook Partners LLC, 2002-2006. All Rights Reserved.
11/13/2008 05:18 PM
APACS Releases 3Q2008 Payments Statistics for UK
APACS provided its latest quarterly statistical release on payments in the UK for the third quarter 2008. Among the highlights, APACS reported that debit card spending now accounts for 73.8% of all plastic card purchases in the UK by volume, up from 72 per cent in Q2.
11/13/2008 03:14 PM
Equifax Introduces Online Identity Card - I-Card
Equifax has announced the Equifax online identity card or I-Card, with a beta test of what it is calling "a first-of-its-kind digital identity management solution that is designed to make online transactions easier and more secure for both consumers and businesses."
11/13/2008 02:46 PM
Chase Paymentech Announces Gift Card Study Results
Chase Paymentech has announced the results of a survey commissioned to provide insight into consumers’ attitudes towards gift cards. "The study, which polled 850 American adults, found that gift card awareness and usage remains very high, with nine in ten respondents having received or purchased a gift card. Additionally, two-thirds of respondents have bought at least one gift card within the past 12 months."
11/13/2008 02:24 PM
Headline News - November 13, 2008
WesPay introduces ACH Audit Services Canada: HSBC MasterCard introduces new rewards program to help homeowners TransCard and Fishback Financial Corporation Join Forces VMware Takes Virtualization Discussions into Realm of PCI Compliance Capital One Bank: Student-Run Bank Branch Opens in New Jersey High School The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area: Wells CEO noncommital on Wachovia's fate in Winston Salem KGO-TV News: Gift cards are useless when stores go bankrupt InformationWeek: Visa To Test New Credit Card Security Tactic - Security Blog New Fed Survey Confirms Tightening Credit Card Practices Toronto Star: Credit card costs soar for hard-hit consumers Voiceprinting:...
11/13/2008 12:19 AM
Outlook for Remittances Flows 2008-2010
The Migration and Remittances Team at the World Bank has published a paper titled "Outlook for Remittance Flows 2008‐2010" . From the abstract: "After several years of strong growth, remittance flows to developing countries began to slow down in the third quarter of 2008. This slowdown is expected to deepen further in 2009 in response to the global financial crisis, although the exact magnitude of the growth moderation (or outright decline in some cases) is hard to predict given the uncertainties about global growth, commodity prices, and exchange rates."
11/12/2008 07:55 PM
More on Mobile Payments in Canada
Robin Arnfield, a Canadian banking industry reporter, has forwarded us a link to a recent article Robin wrote for ElectronicPaymentsInternational.com titled "Canada edges towards m-payments".
11/12/2008 07:17 PM
Shell Takes Echeck to the Gas Pump with Shell $aver Card
Shell Oil Products US has announced that it will be "the first major gasoline retailer to nationally launch an electronic check payment method when the Shell $aver Card becomes available to consumers on January 5, 2009. The Shell $aver Card will provide a convenient, new way to pay for purchases through a direct link to a consumer’s checking account, and offer a savings on each gallon of fuel pumped at participating Shell-branded stations. Shell wholesalers and retailers will benefit from the Shell $aver Card’s flat, per-transaction merchant service fee that is lower than third-party debit and credit cards." Also, according...
11/12/2008 07:11 PM
A Model Credit Card Application Form for Canada
The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) and MasterCard Canada have announced a new model credit card application form designed to help Canadian consumers better understand what they are applying for and the terminology used in the form.
11/12/2008 05:48 PM
Discover Financial Services Provides Investor Update
Yesterday, Discover Financial Services CEO David Nelms spoke at the Merrill Lynch Banking and Financial Services Conference. A webcast archive and a copy of his presentation slides are available online.
11/12/2008 05:45 PM
Paulson Says New Focus on Asset-Backed Securities Market
In a statement earlier today, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said that new efforts are going to be made to address the currently difficult funding issues facing the non-bank consumer finance sector (defined as car loans, student loans, and credit cards primarily). According to Paulson, "the illiquidity in this sector is raising the cost and reducing the availability of car loans, student loans and credit cards. This is creating a heavy burden on the American people and reducing the number of jobs in our economy. With the Federal Reserve we are exploring the development of a potential liquidity facility for highly-rated...
11/12/2008 05:20 PM
New Merchant Acquirers Group on LinkedIn
We've just started a new group on LinkedIn for payments professionals involved in the merchant acquiring business. You can find the group home page here - just click on Join Group if you qualify and want to join. The first discussion topic is: "Hidden Fees in Merchant Statements?" [Update 4 PM PST: LinkedIn seems to be running behind in adding new members to the group - please be patient!]
11/12/2008 05:06 PM
A Look at RBC's Mobex Mobile Payment Service
In late September, RBC Royal Bank in Canada announced the launch of a trial of a text message-based mobile payment service called RBC Mobex. We recently heard from a colleague in Canada who's delighted with the service.
11/12/2008 03:19 PM
DepositNow Speeds Cash Collection for Small Businesses
BankServ has announced that its DepositNow remote deposit service has added the capability for small businesses to be paid directly from emailed invoices.
11/12/2008 03:00 PM
Best Buy Lowers Guidance
In a press release this morning, Best Buy said that "falling consumer spending, driven by the recent turmoil in the financial markets and other macro economic factors, has resulted in lower-than-expected revenue for the consumer electronics retailer. The uncertainty regarding future consumer spending has limited the company’s ability to project revenue for the critical holiday shopping season and the balance of the fiscal year." “Since mid-September, rapid, seismic changes in consumer behavior have created the most difficult climate we’ve ever seen. Best Buy simply can’t adjust fast enough to maintain our earnings momentum for this year,” said Brad Anderson, vice...
11/12/2008 02:58 PM
Understanding PCI DSS Version 1.2
The PCI Security Standards Council, the standards body providing management of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), PIN Entry Device (PED) Security Requirements and the Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA-DSS), has announced it will be offering a complimentary webinar, "Understanding PCI DSS Version 1.2,” to be held on Tuesday Nov. 25, 2008 at 11:30 a.m. EST and at 7:30 p.m. EST. The session will be repeated on Wednesday Dec. 17, 2008 at 10:30 a.m. EST and 8:30 p.m. EST.
