Xoom Corporation announced it has acquired BlueKite for approximately $15 million in cash and equity. BlueKite has built a robust technology platform for cross-border bill payments and mobile phone top ups. This acquisition will allow Xoom to offer adjacent services to their burgeoning money transfer offerings, with the ability to pay bills for their loved ones, as well as top-up mobile phones.
Purchase volume, per average active account, for Bank of America’s U.S and international consumer credit cards increased 6% year-on-year in the fourth quarter. Charge-offs for U.S. cards fell to its lowest level in eight years. However, for the full-year 2013 BofA’s U.S. consumer credit card portfolio average yield fell 29 basis points to 9.73%. On a quarterly basis the U.S. card yield fell 65 basis points. The international consumer credit card portfolio average yield rose 10 basis points to 11.70% on a full-year basis. Comparing Q4/2013 to Q4/2012, the international card yield also fell 65 basis points. Overall card yield was down sharply from the third quarter. The risk adjusted margin for the U.S. card portfolio rose 114 basis points on a full-year basis to 8.68%.
Heartland Payment announced Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Earnings per share from continuing operations of $20.5 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2013. Adjusted Net Income from continuing operations were $17.7 million while GAAP net income was $17.4 million for the three months ended December 31, 2013. Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Earnings per…
MasterCard appointed Tim Murphy to general counsel and chief franchise officer and will sit on the Executive Committee. Murphy, 46, joined MasterCard’s Law department in 2000 and became senior vice president and associate general counsel in 2003. In 2006, Murphy was named group executive, Customer Business Planning and Analysis, and was president of MasterCard’s U.S. Region from 2007 to 2009. Murphy then became chief product officer, responsible for leading the management, development and commercialization of MasterCard’s core payment solutions. Also, Craig Vosburg will assume the role of chief product officer after holding the role of group executive, U.S. Market Development. Mike Cyr, group executive, U.S. Markets Customer Delivery, will now become responsible for U.S. Market Development; and Jennifer Rademaker, group head, Core Products, Europe, will become group executive, U.S. Markets Customer Delivery, and now joins the company’s Operating Committee.
PAYe Network is introducing the PAYe USA Network at the ATMIA U.S. Conference 2014: Reinventing the ATM, Loews Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Studios, Orlando, FL February 11th through the 13th. The ground-breaking patent pending PAYeCASH solution bridges the gap in the digital divide between online and mobile payment channels, and bricks-and-mortar payment systems. Historically ATM and POS network operators have been locked into card based payments acquiring relationships that offer few options for generating additional revenue streams. And emerging new payment methods (NPM) have for the most part evolved as alternative payment closed-loop systems with little or no interoperability with traditional legacy payment channels. PAYe Network provides ATM and POS network operators with a universal Omni-channel payments solution that is simple, safe, and convenient and provides ATM and POS network operators with a complete compliance program.
MasterCard’s Asia-Pacific-Middle East-Africa region (APMEA) is expanding rapidly with gross dollar volume rising more than 21% year-on-year and the number of cards issued growing nearly 15% year-on-year in 2013. Quarterly gross dollar volume runs about $300 billion and the number of cards issued is over 400 million. MasterCard will release fourth quarter and annual results on January 31 before the market opens.
On Track Innovations Ltd. announced this morning its OTI WAVE technology has been certified for inclusion in Visa’s Compliant Products List. The OTI WAVE is an NFC add-on for smartphones, tablets and PCs. The OTI WAVE is the industry’s first audio jack plug-in NFC payment solution and the only one to receive certification from major payment companies including Visa and MasterCard. Based on OTI’s patented NFC technology, the compact OTI WAVE is device agnostic, easily plugging into any smartphone, tablet or PC. Users pay with their device while enjoying real-time benefits from loyalty programs and other incentives as delivered by the corresponding application. It opens up a whole new world of mobile device applications, while alleviating the burden of a wallet full of credit cards.
Gemalto is enabling United Nations Federal Credit Union (UNFCU) members around the globe to quickly and securely obtain their new Europay-MasterCard-VISA (EMV1) cards. Through a worldwide network of service centers, Gemalto’s Allynis Global Issuance services works seamlessly to issue EMV cards from regional centers that are located closest to the cardholder. Previously, UNFCU’s cards had been deployed from just one location in North America. Gemalto, having already delivered more than one billion EMV payment cards to clients worldwide, is making the card issuance service easier and more efficient for UNFCU and all its globally located cardholders.
Phongsavanh Bank Limited (PSVB), a major and the first private Lao commercial bank in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos), and JCB International (JCBI) today announced that PSVB has launched the first JCB credit card in Laos. PSVB now issues JCB credit card to the Lao people who can enjoy JCB’s global merchant network with over 24 million locations globally. Laos is the 3rd country in the Mekong region for JCBI to issue JCB cards following Thailand and Vietnam.
Pay.on web-based payment infrastructure systems and Kount SaaS provider of innovative fraud and chargeback prevention solutions agreed on a strategic cooperation. PAY.ON is also integrating the services of the Kount Complete platform and fraud control technology Kount SMB into its infrastructure platforms, thus making solutions from Kount available to all clients around the world – from PSPs and ISOs to acquirers and other financial institutions. At the same time, PAY.ON and Kount are combining their global distribution network to promote the mutual expansion of their client base. Kount offers its customers highly efficient solutions to tackle both sources of loss. In this context, PAY.ON is taking strategic action to further expand its existing fraud management system.
First Atlantic Commerce (FAC) and Bookeo announced their integration. FAC is a Bermuda-based, feature-rich payment gateway that was established in 1998 to deliver customized and flexible online credit and debit card processing to international corporations across the globe. The company also provides card storage functionality and risk mitigation solutions to its merchants. Bookeo is a software tool that allows businesses and institutions to take online reservations 24/7 from their Facebook and web page, directly from their clients’ mobile device, laptop or computer. Ideal for all businesses that need to schedule their appointments, Bookeo is easy to set up, has no software to install, and supports 25 languages.
Ingenico is bringing together its European business (“Europe-Sepa”) and its Transactions business under the management of Pierre-Antoine Vacheron, EVP Sepa to build a leading payment service provider in Europe. Over the last twelve months, the Group has accelerated the implementation of its Transaction Services strategy, focusing on the combination of off-line (Axis, easycash) and on-line processing. Ogone has continued to grow significantly within the Transaction business unit, building on the common DNA shared by the various transactions activities within the region. With the integration of Ogone now well under way, Peter de Caluwe has decided to start a new professional project outside the group.