| 28/04/08 |
CREDIT CARD ISSUES IN FINLAND – Comments by ECRC’s Finnish partner Kuluttajavirasto (The Consumer Agency). |
Extract from The Finnish Consumer Agency's Newsletter 3/2008 PAYMENT CHANGES SHAKING UP CONSUMER ROUTINES As the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) takes form, consumers will be encountering changes in their everyday payment tasks. Smart cards with embedded microprocessors will be used for making payments, PIN codes will replace signatures, and account numbers will get... [more...]
| 15/09/07 |
EUROBAROMETERS - European Commission surveys on financial services and consumer protection. |
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| 14/09/07 |
BRUSSELS 2007! Workshop 2: "Credit Card Credit: American Overindebtedness a European Future?" - OUTLINE |
W2: CREDIT CARD CREDIT - AMERICAN OVER-INDEBTEDNESS A EUROPEAN FUTURE? Achim Tiffe (iff, Chair); Matthew Lee (Fair Finance Watch, USA); Damon Gibbons (DOOD, UK); Paolo Landi (Adiconsum, Italy); Manfred Westphal (vzbv, Germany) Held on Friday Sept14th at 2pm, concurrent workshop is W1 on Overindebtedness and Bankruptcy. Credit cards allow purchases, cash advances, and... [more...]
| 13/12/06 |
PRE-PAID CASH CARDS `SET FOR BOOM' / GB |
source: Press Association Newsfile Pre-paid cash cards will see 1,000% growth in 2007 on the back of strong demand from immigrants and the "un-banked", a card provider has claimed. The payment cards - which can be loaded with money direct from employers or topped up in a similar way to mobile phones - have already seen an increase of 500% over the last year, Advance... [more...]
| 29/11/06 |
BIOTMETRIC PAYMENTS: Pay By Touch heads up biometric charge / US |
source: Electronic Payments International Over the past year, biometric payments have caught the attention of financial institutions and retailers across the world, and the technology is set to become more widespread in the near future. US provider Pay By Touch is leading the way, Victoria Conroy reports US biometric authentication solution provider Pay By Touch is... [more...]
| 26/11/06 |
THE FUTURE IS NOW For a glimpse of how managing your money is likely to evolve, just peek at experiments under way. Here's a sampling of recent pilot programs and ventures -- many of... |
source: San Jose Mercury News Charge it with your cell phone Rather than swipe a debit or credit card, Atlanta Hawks season ticket-holders waved Nokia cell phones equipped with near-field communication (NFC) chips an inch from a reader to pay for hot dogs, soda and other concessions in a 2005 test by Visa USA of Redwood City. In October, MasterCard Worldwide and... [more...]
| 09/11/06 |
Halifax takes swipe at new pre-pay cards UK bank Halifax has criticized new pre-pay cards aimed at consumers without bank accounts, suggesting that consumers would be better off... |
Pre-pay cards are marketed as an answer to the issue of financial exclusion by providing a means of payment in shops and online to those without bank accounts. However, the HBOS subsidiary says, these cards have limited functionality and charge their holders regular fees that they can avoid by taking out a basic bank account. Pre-pay cards can carry a variety of fees and... [more...]
| 07/11/06 |
MIDDLE EAST - Visa Encourages Banks To Partner With Microfinance Institutions |
Microfinance can provide tangible commercial opportunities for banks in the region notably if they partner with a microfinance institution, said Debbie Arnold, VP of Emerging Markets at Visa International, the world's leading provider of electronic payments. Speaking at the two-day "2006 Dubai Microfinance Conference" that started yesterday and was inaugurated by Her... [more...]
| 26/10/06 |
AFRICA - CREDIT CARD 'FIRST' TO BENEFIT NAMIBIA POOR |
NAMIBIA'S cellular phone company, Mobile Telecommunications Ltd (MTC), made a first in Africa by joining forces with a commercial bank to launch a credit card, mainly targeting the poor. The new co-branded MTC Visa credit card - which can be used anywhere in the world - was a collaboration between the cellular company and Standard Bank Namibia in association with Visa... [more...]
| 07/10/06 |
Load 'em up and take hold of the readies PRE-PAID PLASTIC: Cards that can be charged up with cash are increasingly used by insurers and payroll staff as well as consumers |
If you make a claim on your home insurance policy or step off a flight to find your luggage has not arrived with you, you may now find that you are reimbursed with a pre-paid card rather than cash or a cheque. Pre-paid cards - cards loaded with money that can then be withdrawn or used to pay for goods or services - have been in the UK for around five years. But over the... [more...]
| 31/08/06 |
INDUSTRY FOCUS - TECHNOLOGY: Consumers flock to 'bank in a box' |
Multi-function kiosks and ATMs are rapidly becoming a widespread feature of the global banking and retail landscape, offering consumers a whole range of banking services and functionality. Victoria Conroy reports on recent innovations in these areas Self-service kiosks and multi-function ATMs are revolutionising the way financial institutions and retailers interact with... [more...]
| 19/07/06 |
Consumer Spending Trends of Banked and Unbanked Cardholders Released; Ecount Explores How Prepaid Cards are Being Used by Key Demographics |
Ecount (www.ecount.com), the prepaid experts, today released figures on Banked vs. Unbanked Cardholders: Understanding the Use of Prepaid Cards in Today's Marketplace. The data, based on the Ecount Prepaid Index(TM), outlines baseline spending habits of both groups, as well as provides insight into the role that prepaid cards play in the lives of consumers. These days,... [more...]
| 10/07/06 |
WEALTH MANAGER; Increasing commerce via mobile payments |
Digital payments are especially challenging in developing countries where poor credit and low income prevent many from becoming part of the banking system. In the Philippines, 60% do not transact with banks and less than 5% of consumer expenditure is paid through credit, debit or prepaid cards. Why are digital payments important? Digital payments speed up the use of money... [more...]
| 21/06/06 |
Money-service firms seek to rebuild ties with banks |
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Representatives of companies that perform banking services for customers without bank accounts told House lawmakers Wednesday they need help rebuilding ties with traditional banks in the wake of some business relationships that have been terminated. Some banks have ended their ties with money-service businesses due to concern about perceived... [more...]
| 15/05/06 |
`TOP-UP' PAYMENT CARD LAUNCHED |
A new-style payment card aimed at children and people who do not have a bank account was launched today. The SNAP card works in a similar way to pre-paid mobile phone cards, with people charging their card up with cash before using it to make payments. The cards are available from thousands of shops across the UK including newsagents, supermarkets and petrol stations,... [more...]
| 08/05/06 |
Breaking free; A guide to New Age banking |
They're made out to be greedy and expensive but can we really live without banks? Jason Bryce and Ian Rogers explore the alternatives. CAN you live without a bank account? It's possible but may not be for everyone. Some readers may remember when a bank account was an option not a basic necessity. But during the past thirty years employers and our social security system... [more...]
| 06/05/06 |
Stored-value cards take off |
FOR the millions of Americans without bank accounts, prepaid cardsalso called stored-value cardscould be the next-best thing. Prepaid cards can be loaded with money and used as a debit card, but without a bank account. While credit-card growth has stagnated in recent years, the prepaid market is booming. The PELORUS Group, a research firm, reckons that the dollar volume of... [more...]
| 30/04/06 |
The new flexible friend -- paid by your parents |
Cash-strapped students are to be offered a new kind of lifeline -- pay-as-you-go plastic. It looks just like a credit or debit card and uses the MasterCard payments system, but is pre-paid and good only for the amount loaded on to it. Like pay-as-you-go phone cards, they can be topped up, with or without the card, at shops and post offices. Advanced Payment Solutions,... [more...]
| 28/04/06 |
Latin American banks shift their atention towards EMV smart cards; Getting Smart |
As the process of consolidation and acquisition among Latin American banks has matured, key players have shifted their attention to new technologies, seeking to boost card penetration and to reinforce their competitive positions. The new EMV smart cards are on the leading edge of this trend. Delayed Innovation Card penetration grew substantially during the consolidation of... [more...]
| 25/01/06 |
MASTERCARD SETS UP PREPAY CARDS |
MasterCard is targeting the youth sector and consumers without bank accounts with prepaid debit cards distributed and marketed by specialist PrePay Technologies. The cards are the latest to be supported by MasterCard, which launched three cards last year aimed at business travellers, people who are unable to open bank accounts and the gift card market. MasterCard Europe... [more...]
| 09/01/06 |
Mobile payments: going west? |
Will 2006 see Western Europe following examples from Eastern Europe and the Middle East in mobile payments?, asks Upaid's CEO. The mobile payments industry witnessed unprecedented acceleration and change in 2005. It took a significant step forward in the maturation process. As Simpay collapsed in Western Europe, other models emerged proving that card associations,... [more...]
| 06/01/06 |
CONFERENCE REPORT: Prepaid issuers examine options |
Banks and payment organisations from around the world recently attended Cards International's Prepaid Cards in Europe 2005 Conference to discuss the major opportunities in this growing sector. Victoria Conroy reports The success of prepaid cards in the US has been phenomenal and is expected to continue at its current rapid rate. The value of prepaid transactions is... [more...]
| 01/01/06 |
A Payroll Card of a Different Stripe -- Affinity Card Systems' ethos payroll card offers more than just fast money. |
The latest plan to enable consumers to bypass their banks for their financial needs involves a debit-based payroll card issued by Vancouver, Wash.-based Affinity Card Systems (ACS). ACS' ethos-branded Visa debit card account is designed to offer people more flexibility than a traditional bank account, according to ACS CEO Terry Lock. Payroll cards have been catching on... [more...]
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