Payments volume for Diners Club International declined 2% year-on-year and 4% sequentially in the first quarter. After peaking at $7.2 billion in Q4/2012, the international card issued by Discover Financial Services, has experienced a softening in quarterly purchase volume by 9%. Acquired by Discover Financial Services in July 2008, the international payment card has consistently hovered between $6.5 billion and $7.0 billion in quarterly payments volume.
Visa announced financial results for the Company’s fiscal second quarter 2014. Net income for the quarter was $1.6 billion, an increase of 26% over the prior year, or $2.52 per share, an increase of 31% over the prior year. These results include a tax benefit of $218 million of which $201 million relates to prior…
WEX Inc. today announced that WEX Europe Limited has entered into an international agreement with Conferma, an expert provider of Virtual Card Number (VCN) technology for corporate travel and expense. The agreement builds on the virtual card technology and expertise of WEX Europe and will provide Conferma and its clients with business benefits internationally, building on WEX’s strengths in Virtual Credit, Debit and Prepaid payment solutions. The relationship brings a unique prepaid virtual product into Conferma’s suite of payment options for the first time, enabling Conferma’s partners to optimize payments by selecting the payment method that is most appropriate for each transaction type.
IndiSoft and Bluefin Payment Systems partnered to offer a fully integrated payment and security solution for IndiSoft clients. IndiSoft clients using the company’s RxOffice platform will have access to Bluefin’s PayConexTM payment processing platform which includes tokenization and transparent redirect security features, as well as Bluefin’s PayConexTM point-to-point encryption (P2PE) solution. Bluefin specializes in integrated cloud-based payment and security solutions for independent software vendors (ISVs) and SaaS providers. Bluefin recently introduced the first, and to date only, PCI-validated solution for P2PE in North America. PayConex P2PE encrypts credit and debit card data in a secure point of entry device, ensuring that clear-text cardholder data does not reach the merchant’s POS systems and networks where it could be exposed to malware.
Swift launched launched Bankers World Online directory online query tool which has been significantly upgraded to provide more data coverage, a wider breadth of financial information (including data from Reuters, Dun & Bradstreet, and Moody’s), and new intuitive features and functionalities. The service is part of the SWIFTRef portfolio, an industry-wide platform for global payments reference data. The new Bankers World Online service includes essential reference data, such as Business Identification Codes (BIC), International Bank Account Numbers (IBAN), Legal Entity Identifiers (LEI), national bank codes and more that are used to facilitate international payments and to fulfil new reporting requirements. It also includes important financial information from market data vendors and credit rating agencies, including credit ratings, shareholder information, balance sheet information, cash flows, and many more data sets about customers, suppliers and service providers.
Thuraya Telecommunications Company and The Western Union Company announced their agreement to offer top-up services for Thuraya prepaid SIMs for voice and data services using the Western Union® Quick PaySM service. The service is available at participating Western Union agent locations in the majority of the 200+ countries and territories in which the company provides services. This new and convenient method of payment enables Thuraya customers to recharge their pre-paid SIMS with no extra fee.
Checkprint secure paper and payment solutions was awarded a five-year contract extension by Nationwide Group to provide branch cheques and credit books. Having delivered almost 2.3 million checks, Checkprint checks can be issued to customers who do not have a chequebook facility as part of their account, for instance a savings account. Nationwide will continue to use Checkprint’s Customer Auto Replenishment Service (CARS), which automatically manages stock levels to ensure branches do not run out of cheques.
Union First Market Bankshares Corporation announced that it has officially changed its name to Union Bankshares Corporation. The name change does not affect Union First Market Bank or StellarOne Bank and does not affect any of the other non-bank affiliates of the company. In May 2014, StellarOne Bank will merge into Union First Market Bank. The combined bank will continue to operate under the name Union First Market Bank until the second half of the year.
ProfPay has deployed Ukash online cash payment provider to help Ghanaians and Nigerians play online games, pay and shop on the web. The new agreement offers access to easy, international, online payments from Ukash, without the need for traditional banking information – a key step for Africans keen to embrace the online world. ProfPay operates a multi-method payment gateway and an Online Mall, designed to remove the barriers African consumers face when transacting online – whether it’s playing games or shopping or paying for services. Figures suggest that the ecommerce market in Africa will grow to $75 billion by 2025, making it 10% of all retail sales*. However, today Africans encounter huge issues participating in the online world due to concerns about security and a lack of bank accounts and postal addresses.
Imperial College London has become the UK’s first university to allow people to pay for goods on campus without cash and receive rewards – just by using an app on their mobile phones, eliminating the need to carry cash and loyalty stamp cards. Yoyo, a London-based mobile payment and loyalty app, is accepted across the university’s entire South Kensington campus, following a partnership with Imperial College London and nationwide EPoS company, pointOne. The app serves over 20,000 students and staff within 32 retail outlets and counting, including cafes, bars and shops. Announcing a partnership with Yoyo, pointOne EPoS is a nationwide EPoS company that develops its own solutions and offers support and installation services.
Banks and building societies have put in place standard central processes and defined maximum timescales to help customers recover money. When a customer notifies their bank or building society that they have made an electronic payment to the wrong account, action will commence on the customer’s behalf within a maximum of two working days. If a bank is unable to reclaim funds immediately – for instance if the recipient disputes its return – the customer will be notified of the outcome of their bank’s investigation in a maximum of twenty working days from the point of enquiry and in many cases much sooner. If funds cannot be recovered through the standard central process customers will be given clear and accurate information on the options they have available to them – such as court action against the recipient. Banks and building societies will ensure the design of online, mobile and telephone payment channels reduce the risk of a customer making a mistake. This might involve: customers being asked to input account details twice; extra warnings about using the correct account details; or prompting customers to check payment details that have not been used for some time so that they can be updated or deleted as necessary.