The average purchase transaction for a Visa-branded card in Canada hit $102.38 in 2013, dwarfing the average purchase transaction of $50.98 for U.S. Visa credit and debit cards. However, Visa’s huge U.S. debit card volume skews the figures. The average U.S. purchase transaction for a Visa credit card in U.S. last year was $84.37 and for a Visa debit card it came in at $37.41.
ACI posted 4Q/13 revenue of $283 million, up $59 million by 26% from the year ago figure. This was thanks in great part to new sales bookings up 25% while operating income was $86 million for the quarter, an increase of $10 million by 14% from 2012. Net income for the quarter was $50 million compared to net income of $50 million during the same period the prior year. Operating free cash flow in Q4 was $62 million, up from $24 million in the prior-year quarter.
Visa Inc. today announced that it has completed technical development of a new service aimed at detecting and preventing fraud schemes that target the use of prepaid cards. Visa’s Prepaid Clearinghouse Service (PCS) is a centralized database that allows financial institutions, processors and prepaid program managers to share prepaid card data such as enrollments, load funding, suspected fraudulent information and previously reported fraud on existing card accounts. PCS will provide critical information sharing to better identify and stop fraudulent enrollments, funding, use and other fraud schemes involving prepaid cards.
Fiserv announced Abri Credit Union extended and expanded its relationship, selecting “XP2” from Fiserv for account processing along with value-added capabilities for mobile banking, person-to-person payments, online banking, bill pay, and product and service messaging. The “XP2” advanced technology platform with established integration across a broad range of Fiserv solutions is designed to improve efficiencies and maximize cross-selling opportunities. The credit union will leverage the enhanced XP2 lending functionality, as well as the solution’s customizable workflows, to gain efficiencies in its mortgage and small business lending processes. Cross-channel integration will enable members to get up-to-the-minute account information and help staff answer member questions with just a few key strokes. The credit union will also implement “Popmoney” to enable its members to send and receive person-to-person, or social, payments, while Mobiliti™ will introduce comprehensive mobile banking functions, including payment and deposit capabilities, to its members. Additionally, Abri Credit Union will implement Corillian Online® for online banking and CheckFree® RXP® for online bill pay.
Gemalto is delivering a comprehensive suite of banking solutions to Knab, a dynamic online-only retail bank in the Netherlands. Drawing on Gemalto’s comprehensive solution for banks, Knab can enjoy the benefits of having a single solution partner for the authentication server, the software development kit, the EMV payment cards and card readers and the related fulfillment services, all of which form an integral part of delivering secure consumer banking services online and on mobile. Gemalto provides the Ezio eBanking Server, a dedicated back-end authentication solution for protecting online banking operations, along with the Ezio Mobile Software Development Kit (SDK) to secure Knab’s mobile banking app. In addition, each new subscriber gets a Knab debit card, combined with a portable EMV smartcard reader that verifies card holder identity and protects online transactions with EMV level security. Based on Gemalto’s Clarista range, these payment cards and readers form part of the ‘connection kit’ that Knab issues to all new account holders, that is packaged and shipped by Gemalto from its personalization center direct to end users.
MasterCard and OTP Bank Hungary announced the introduction of OTPay, the first digital wallet in Europe to leverage the application programming interface (API) of MasterPass™. This application is customized to the unique needs of the OTPay customer, making the online use of payment cards easier and more comfortable for cardholders. OTPay will provide consumers a new way to pay online, as well as creating options for bill payment, prepaid top up and person to person transactions. The OTPay mobile application will be available for download not only for OTP Bank customers, but for clients of other banks too. The application will allow cardholders to shop and pay at over 30,000 MasterPass™ accepting merchants around the world. The application was developed by Cellum, the Hungarian company group known for delivering mobile payment solutions with banking-grade security, also a developer of a MasterCard® Mobile solution, which has been running for more than two years.
The National Retail Federation issued the following statement from President and CEO Matthew Shay in response to the announcement by JPMorgan Chase & Co. that the bank will issue its Europay MasterCard Visa credit cards as PIN and Chip cards. NRF retail trade association represents discount and department stores, home goods and specialty stores, Main Street merchants, grocers, wholesalers, chain restaurants and Internet retailers from the United States and more than 45 countries. Retail is the nation’s largest private sector employer, supporting one in four U.S. jobs – 42 million working Americans. NRF’s This is Retail campaign highlights the industry’s opportunities for life-long careers, how retailers strengthen communities, and the critical role that retail plays in driving innovation.
Sellers use Square to manage POS with Square Register, run loyalty programs and promotions for customers, and access important analytics that help them make better business decisions. Now they have added resources thanks to the Square acquisition of Bookfresh POS merchant solutions. The BookFresh team remains dedicated to maintaining and improving the product. For Square merchants, the Company will continue to advance easy-to-use commerce for dynamic customer experiences.
Dash, a mobile payment platform for restaurants, bars, and clubs, that allows patrons to check-in, view, split, and pay their tab from the Pay with Dash smartphone app, announces today that it has raised $1.2 million in a Seed-2 round, bringing its total seed fundraise to $1.9 million. Existing investors including New York Angels, Caerus Ventures and Jonathan Segal, Founder and CEO of The ONE Group, participated in this round, with new investment from Mike Germano, CEO of Carrot Creative. Coinciding with the new fundraise, Dash also released today a iOS 7 update for the Pay with Dash app that incorporates location-aware BLE to automatically check-in patrons as they walk into a venue. Additionally, a stored credit system allows both Pay with Dash users and venues to pay with and offer credit that can be used towards any Dash tab.
Beijing Unionpay Card Technology joined GlobalPlatform as a Participating Member. BCTC will make participation in the GlobalPlatform compliance program a priority, in order to work towards becoming a recognized GlobalPlatform testing laboratory. The program – through its approved laboratories, qualified test tools and established testing infrastructure – standardizes the management of applications on secure chip technology and seeks to ensure the advancement and maintenance of an interoperable, sustainable and trusted end-to-end environment for managing applications on secure chip technology. BCTC will have representation in GlobalPlatform’s Card Committee and will also contribute to all aspects of GlobalPlatform’s market specific task forces. The aim of the Card Committee is to define industry and technology-neutral specifications for the secure, interoperable deployment and management of multiple embedded applications on secure chip technology.
Gemalto is delivering a comprehensive suite of banking solutions to Knab online-only retail bank. Drawing on Gemalto’s comprehensive solution for banks, Knab can enjoy the benefits of having a single solution partner for the authentication server, the software development kit, the EMV payment cards and card readers and the related fulfillment services, all of which form an integral part of delivering secure consumer banking services online and on mobile. Gemalto provides the Ezio eBanking Server back-end authentication solution for protecting online banking operations, along with the Ezio Mobile Software Development Kit (SDK) to secure Knab’s mobile banking app. In addition, each new subscriber gets a Knab debit card, combined with a portable EMV smartcard reader that verifies card holder identity and protects online transactions with EMV level security. Based on Gemalto’s Clarista range, these payment cards and readers form part of the ‘connection kit’ that Knab issues to all new account holders, that is packaged and shipped by Gemalto from its personalization center direct to end users.