Billable transactions for Visa’s payment management company, CyberSource, grew 16% year-on-year (Y/Y) in the first quarter (Q1/14) to 1.85 billion, according to CardData. While the growth rate is solid, it has been edging down sequentially since peaking at 27% in the second quarter (Q2/13) of last year. Over 400,000 businesses worldwide use CyberSource and Authorize.Net…
MasterCard’s (MC) Asia Pacific – Middle East – Africa (APMEA) region Purchase Dollar Volume (PDV) rose year-on-year (Y/Y) 18.6% on a local currency basis in the first quarter (Q1/14) to US$202 billion. The average purchase ticket in MC APMEA region has declined 5.1% Y/Y. One-year ago it stood at US$96.79, compared to US$93.74 in Q4/13 and US$91.86 in Q1/14, according to CardData. The decline is presumably related to the growth of lower tickets in the MEA portion of the region. MC has 423 million cards-in-force (CIF) currently in the APMEA region.
Internationally-known payments industry advisor, R.K. Hammer, has reached its quarter century mark, providing value-added card solutions to financial institutions in the U.S. and in 50 countries abroad. Company Founder and CEO, Bob Hammer, noted, “To have provided essential card advisory solutions to so many successful organizations along the way is very gratifying and humbling to us. Equally important is to have worked for decades with such talented global card executives and their teams on best practices helping them achieve higher levels of card member satisfaction and financial performance.”
The MoneyGram Command Center is the first of its kind in the industry, offering insight into customer needs and market dynamics by monitoring and analyzing online comments in real time. The command center is an important step toward achieving MoneyGram’s vision of providing consumers with innovative options for moving money. Earlier this year, MoneyGram announced its goal to generate 15% to 20% of money transfer revenue from self-service channels in 2017. To reach this objective, the company will expand self-service to more markets, implement user enhancements, improve back-end processes and market more aggressively in self-service channels. The new command center will support these initiatives as more consumers turn to online, kiosk, and other self-service options.
Gretchen H. Garrigues has joined First Data as chief marketing officer to lead the company’s global marketing efforts. Garrigues comes to First Data with a deep financial services background and leadership skills developed over a long career with GE Capital. She served as senior managing director of global strategic marketing, responsible for strategic planning, new product development, market intelligence and customer insights. SHe also served as a foreign trade officer for the U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service based in Paris, after running a successful startup venture providing language training and translation services across Europe.
A global fraud study of more than 6,100 consumers across 20 countries revealed that one in four consumers is a victim of card fraud in the last five years. The consumer survey found the U.A.E. has the highest rate of fraud overall at 44% and Sweden has the lowest at 10%. The study, conducted by ACI Worldwide and Aite Group, also highlighted that 23% of consumers changed financial institutions due to dissatisfaction after experiencing fraud.
Western Union has been recognized by Sears Holdings Corp. with a prestigious Partner in Transformation Award for 2014. Western Union received the award for creating a customer destination at Kmart stores, driving significant foot traffic. Many of the customers sending Western Union Money Transfer® transactions have also become valuable Kmart shoppers, creating a win-win for both brands. The award was recently presented at Sears Holdings’ 2014 Vendor Summit. Sears Holdings presents its prestigious Partners in Transformation award to a select group of companies that excel in supporting the transformation of Sears Holdings through innovation around integrated retail and the Shop Your WayTM program. Of the more than 30,000 companies that work with Sears Holdings, fewer than one half of one percent (.5%) receive the award.
American Express completed its previously announced plans to establish a joint venture for its business travel operations. The joint venture will operate under the American Express Global Business Travel brand. American Express and an investor group led by Certares each have a 50 percent ownership stake in the joint venture. As previously reported, the complexity of the closing process for this transaction will affect the timing of American Express Company’s second quarter earnings announcement. The Company’s financial results are now scheduled to be announced shortly after the market closes on Tuesday, July 29, 2014. American Express plans to host a live audio webcast of its investor conference call at 5:00 p.m. (ET) that day to discuss second quarter 2014 financial results.
Easy Solutions and Q2 secure virtual banking solutions for regional announced a partnership to provide omni-channel fraud prevention solutions to Q2’s roster of more than 340 financial institutions. Easy Solutions’ award-winning platform is designed to protect organizations against the most sophisticated forms of electronic fraud. Q2’s platform architecture enables an unparalleled integration of technology solutions for a compelling unified user experience from virtually anywhere and from any device. By integrating with Total Fraud Protection from Easy Solutions, Q2 is seamlessly providing multi-channel, layered anti-fraud solutions to community banks and credit unions.
Banco Ficohsa completed the purchase of Banco Citibank de Honduras, S.A and Cititarjetas de Honduras, S.A., after receiving the required regulatory approvals. The acquisition is the largest transaction of its kind undertaken by a Honduran bank. Ficohsa now becomes the largest bank in Honduras and one of the top 10 banks in Central America. The deal included an US$ 80-million capital contribution, which brings Ficohsa’s total net worth to approximately US$ 350 million, which represents 21% of Honduras’ total financial system’s net worth. The contribution is comprised of tier 1 and tier 2 capital. The combined entity will have a loan portfolio of US$2 billion, a deposit base of over US$1.6 billion and US$ 2.7 billion in assets, which represent 20% of the total assets of the Honduran financial system (using pro forma figures of the companies combined as of March 31, 2014.)