As those unemployed dropped very marginally to 13.7 million, with a February rate of 8.9% from 9.0% in January, having fallen 0.9% since November 2010, consumer bankruptcy filings exploded 11% between January and February to stand at 102,686 for the month, an 8% decrease from the year ago figure of 111,693 bankruptcies. During this time,…
Despite revolving credit having dropped 6.4% in January since the year ago period from $891.0 billion to sit at $795.5 billion, and average credit card debt having decreased 15% to $7,168 nationally, consumer credit scores are still hurting. With consumer credit debt having dropped consistently for nearly 2 and half years from its peak of…
Citi, the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) and NBC Olympics announced Citi has become an official sponsor of the 2012 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Teams and the U.S. Olympic Committee. Citi is the official bank sponsor of the USOC through 2012. This is part of an innovative, new collaboration between NBC Olympics and the USOC, through which the organizations have brought forth an integrated marketing and media package to the Olympic Games. Citi’s agreement includes television and digital advertising, events and promotional opportunities.
Tom Quinn has been appointed to the Credit.com consumer education expert team, bringing with him more than 20 years’ experience with the likes of FICO, Experian and Citibank. He spent the last 15 years at FICO creating and delivering scoring educational initiatives and was later appointed to develop, launch and grow myFICO.com to give consumers direct access to their FICO scores. He was subsequently appointed VP of the division. For what is now FICO, he acted as Product Manager of the MDS Bankruptcy Scores and spent several years in Citibank’s Credit Card division.
Fiserv financial services technology solutions has announced “Focus 2011,” its largest-ever client conference, to take place April 17-20 in Las Vegas. It will feature the nearly 2,000 Fiserv clients with new online and mobile banking and payments, customer loyalty and retention, risk and compliance, and the latest developments regarding the Durbin amendment. The “Focus 2011” conference unites Bank Solutions, Card Payments, Lending Solutions, Global Payments Solutions and the Connex Electronic Banking Services under one roof.
Misys global application software has made a significant acquisition with Gandacar Consulting Limited (GCL) to enhance its Transaction Banking offering in the United States. Including the intellectual property, software and expertise behind the “ST-Pymnts,” “TradeWatch,” “OFAC” and “FinCEN” products, this development will provide a great opportunity for banks looking to improve their global footprint. GCL’s experience of US domestic payments, including FED and CHIPS (the Federal Reserve’s Fedwire funds transfer service and the Clearing House Interbank Payment Systems) complements Misys’ deep global knowledge of payments hubs and connectivity to SWIFT to significantly open up the US market to Misys.
Datamonitor’s S1 Corporation – SWOT Analysis company profile examines the company’s key business structure and operations, history and products, and provides summary analysis of its key revenue lines and strategy. A global provider of payments and financial services software solutions, S1 offers payments solutions for ATM and POS driving, card management, and merchant acquiring, as well as financial services solutions for consumer, small business and corporate online banking, trade finance, mobile banking, voice banking, branch and call center banking. The report provides all the crucial information on S1 Corporation required for business and competitor intelligence needs; contains a study of the major internal and external factors affecting S1 Corporation in the form of a SWOT analysis as well as a breakdown and examination of leading product revenue streams of S1 Corporation; and data is supplemented with details on S1 Corporation history, key executives, business description, locations and subsidiaries as well as a list of products and services and the latest available statement from S1 Corporation.
Heartland Bank has enhanced its “Bill Payment” platform to ‘Bill Presentment’ and ‘P2P Payments.’ Bill Presentment allows clients to sign up for, and receive, various bills through the bank’s website while its person to person payment system lets clients pay anyone electronically no matter where they bank. Online service enhancements include a Streamlined Payment Center; Faster Payment Processing; a Payment Calendar; Automatic Bill Reminders; and Express Payment.
Alternative payment networks are establishing themselves as a permanent part of the market landscape. They are one of the forces of change taking place in the modern electronic payments industry. Mercator Advisory Group’s “Alternative Payment Networks: A Matrix Model” report subsequently addresses the question of whether alternative networks are new networks at all, but examines whether new matrices have emerged out of a combination of new technology, new delivery channels, and existing payment networks. The report examines the forces that are shaping this segment of the market as exemplified by three companies: PayPal, Bling Nation, and Cimbal, which we profile in depth. In addition, we discuss the potential impact of these organizations being defined (or not) as a payment network by the Durbin Amendment statute.
The State of Florida is projected to save over $6 million annually and add convenience by distributing unemployment compensation benefits on a reloadable debit card using Xerox’ Affiliated Computer Services. Issued four days sooner than with paper checks, the Visa-branded debit card can be used free of charge at thousands of retailers and ATMs across Florida. ACS electronic payment card solutions manages 28 programs for state and federal government clients.
The ABA Education Foundation is challenging the banking industry to teach savings education to more children than ever before and open 15,000 new children’s savings accounts, in honor of the 15th anniversary of ‘Teach Children to Save Day’ on April 12. In addition to teaching classroom lessons, the Foundation is encouraging banks to promote and incentivize children’s savings accounts. So far, more than 30 banks have accepted the challenge and joined the Race to Save campaign. The campaign aims to give children an opportunity to practice savings behavior and reap the side effects of having an account. New research has shown that a child with a savings account in their name is seven times more likely to go to college. Also included it a ‘Teach Children to Save’ resource kit, including scripted lesson plans, worksheets, PowerPoint presentations and promotional materials and is correlated to national teaching standards.
Home Loan Investment Bank, a Fiserv client since 2004, is now using “LoanServ” from Fiserv to support its mortgage loan servicing operation thanks to its workflow capabilities, real-time functionality, the ability to fully integrate with account processing solutions from Fiserv. The “LoanServ” platform will ultimately give the bank the ability to manage its investor activities without having to wait for overnight data updates. This functionality will give the bank and its investors the ability to access data about portfolio position any time and immediately see the impact of every borrower transaction.