With credit card defaults registering the second largest monthly decline since 2005 in July, on par with historical averages, the prime card monthly payment rate (MPR) and late stage delinquencies improved 36 bps to 21.76% and dropped 96 bps to below 6.33% in July, respectively. Meanwhile, core credit card interest rates have remained pretty consistent…
DFC Global unbanked and under-banked consumer services posted its 3Q/11 total revenue up 24.5% to $788.4 million by $155.1 million from the year ago period. With this, total consumer lending revenue increased to $429.2 million for a $109.7 million increase by 34.3%. Revenue from internet-based loans grew to $86.8 million for fiscal year 2011 compared…
Citibank announced has appointed Jerome Byers as Regional President of Consumer Banking for its Central Region to implement Citi’s service and sales strategy for all Citibank branches from Illinois to Texas. Byers previously served as Atlanta Regional President for Wells Fargo where he was responsible overseeing 200 banking locations and 5,000 team members. Byers played a major role in the largest bank merger in U.S. history, successfully leading the Atlanta area through Wachovia’s transition to Wells Fargo. Byers has served on the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and is a past Chairman of the Board for Teach for America.
ROAM Data mCommerce platform, which extends both physical POS and eCommerce to the mobile environment, announced its “ROAMpay” swipe product will be distributed by its partner Intuit through Verizon Wireless’s 2,300 retail stores. ROAM Data encrypted mobile card readers in the world and supplies solutions for companies like Intuit, North American Bankcard, Sage Payments, NPC, Total Merchant Services, and others. ROAM also provides a full turnkey mobile card acceptance solution from peripheral to app to provisioning and support portal that can be white labeled for its partners. It also has a set of tools for developers to build secure POS apps and mobile checkout apps of their own.
MoneyGram International has made a $50,000 donation to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF to support life-saving programs for children in Africa and the Middle East. MoneyGram is providing $25,000 each to two UNICEF child survival and development initiatives in the Middle East and North Africa and emergency relief efforts in the drought and famine-affected countries of Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti in the Horn of Africa. MoneyGram has seen a strong flow of funds recently to many countries in Africa, typically representing non-resident families helping families in the region during this time of extreme need.
Kevin Kearns has been appointed to Viewpointe check image exchange and archive services’ executive leadership team. Currently the Company’s chief technology officer, Kearns is responsible for the strategic direction of all Viewpointe systems and technology. He previously managed the technical delivery of all systems, including architecture, development and implementation. He was also responsible for establishing the core services team that developed and implemented Viewpointe’s check image sharing and exchange, and high performance archive services that are currently in operation. Kearns also managed the development of automation and high availability systems for large-scale services companies and start-ups in the telecom industry for operations and revenue assurance solutions.
Global eTelecom electronic check processor and gift/loyalty card provider partnered with Alliance Payment Systems. GETI will provide processing for POS check conversion and Check 21 remote deposit capture transactions while Alliance Payment Systems will provide its own funding guarantee to merchants, while utilizing GETI’s transaction processing technology. GETI provides proprietary electronic Check processing and Gift/Loyalty services to over 55,000 merchants nationwide while Alliance Payment Systems (APS) transaction processing services offers cost-effective solutions to merchants who need to accept credit cards, debit cards, and checks.
Rapid Investments niche payment solutions has implemented the ControlCase fully managed PCI Compliance service. Rapid chose ControlCase because it offered an industry leading automation service that would ensure that the business remained continually compliant. Rapid recognized that it needed a managed solution that could intelligently control threats and streamline its business processes, not only saving time but enabling key staff to be allocated to other parts of the business. The entire implementation was completed within a month. This provides reduced costs; reduced time for compliance; and reduces the need for employing staff to manage various aspects of compliance and security.
Grant Victor and its ATMequipment.com division were ranked in Inc. Magazine’s 2011 Inc. 500|5000, a 2011 ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies. Grant Victor was ranked No. 1497 with a 3-year growth rate of 186%. The company was also ranked No. 75 among the Financial Services industry. Grant Victor is a family of companies facilitating the convenient access to cash in the consumer marketplace. ATMequipment.com was ranked No. 2234 with a 3-year growth rate of 111%. The company was also ranked No. 106 among the Financial Services industry. ATMequipment.com is a leading wholesale supplier of retail ATM Machines, Parts, and Supplies. www.ATMequipment.com.
The WaferSense Airborne Particle Sensor from CyberOptics Semiconductor was chosen as a finalist in The Best of the West 2011 Awards sponsored by Solid State Technology and SEMI at Semicon West in recognizing important product and technology developments in the microelectronics industries. Best of West finalists and award recipients were selected based on the submission’s financial impact on the industry, engineering or scientific achievement, or societal impact and benefits, according to Semicon West. A listing of award recipients can be found at: http://www.semiconwest.org/Participate/BestofWest/.
Amazon.com announced the arrival in New York City of AmazonLocal, a new local deals marketplace offering savings of at least 50 percent off products and services at restaurants, spas, fun events and more. The company also announced that AmazonLocal will provide unique deals from Amazon-affiliated websites, including Amazon.com, MYHABIT.com and endless.com. New Yorkers get 50% off tickets to Cirque du Soleil’s newest show, Zarkana, in Midtown; $50 for $100 at Uskudar Turkish Restaurant in Uptown; $13 for $27 worth of cupcakes at Brooklyn Cupcake; 74% off one month of unlimited hot yoga classes at Bikram Yoga Harlem; and $15 for $30 worth of groceries at any Upper East Side Gristedes. In the coming months, AmazonLocal is also introducing customers to unique deals from Amazon-affiliated websites, including $25 for $50 to spend on jewelry and watches at Amazon.com; $40 for $80 to spend at MYHABIT.com; and $25 for $50 to spend at 6pm.com.
A new functionality within the Cash Passport will reduce travellers’ exposure to fraud and ensure greater compatibility with a wide range of overseas merchants. The latest chip & PIN technology is now built into all new Cash Passport cards, changing the way travellers pay and providing freedom to use the Cash Passport for every point of sale and ATM transaction. Travelling with a non-chip & PIN card is extremely difficult, especially in Europe where merchants have come to rely heavily on this technology in the seven years since it was first rolled out. So the new Cash Passport now requires a PIN authorisation to complete a transaction and still includes the traditional magnetic strip for those merchants not using the technology.