While profits among the world’s largest payment card networks rose 4.4% in the third quarter (Q3/14), the figure for the fourth quarter will be relatively flat in the fourth quarter (Q4/14), compared to one year ago. During 2015, profits will near $5.0 billion in Q2/15 or Q3/15.
The number of payment cards-in-force (CIF) in Eqypt hit 17.0 million in 2014, compared to 10.0 million five years ago, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.2%. The Egyptian economy is the second-largest in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia.
China UnionPay ATMs topped the 600,000 milestone in 2014 and now growing 20.6% per year. CUP added nearly 100,000 ATMs last year. The construction of small outlets such as “community banks” and “financial convenience stores” in China will likely spur the demand for ATMs in 2015.
Consumer debt in the UK hit a seven-year high during the fourth quarter topping £1.25 billion. Borrowing on credit cards, loans and overdrafts by Brits is now growing at an annual rate of 6.9%.
This year approximately 10% of the base of smartphones worldwide will be used to make an in-store payment at least once a month, compared to less than half a percent (led by early adopters in Japan) of about 450 million smartphones in mid-2014.
Boston-based peerTransfer, a provider of global payment solutions for the education industry, has raised more funding. Bain Capital Ventures led the latest round.
Chicago-based Arroweye Solutions has ankled Reiner Vanooteghem as vice president of market development for the financial services industry.
Arroweye is a single-source provider of innovative card marketing and production solutions for the financial service, prepaid and retail industries.
The new PayPal Credit, f/k/a Bill Me Later, is beefing up its credit service to give retailers the ability to decide on the number of months and interest rates best suited for their customers. Additionally, retailers will also be able to choose among interest-free credit options for the first time, for their online customers.
Global Payments has unveiled an advanced security services bundle designed to protect credit card data, prevent counterfeit fraud and enhance payment processing security. The bundle is delivered through the GPN’s OpenEdge integrated payments.
Capital One is gobbling up Level Money, however it will continue as a free, separate app. Since October 2013, more than 700,000 people have downloaded the Level Money app.
Omaha-based Prairie Cloudware nailed two funding rounds last year. The omnichannel digital payments services company also expanded its executive team as well as integral support and the beta availability of its Digital Payments Guardian.
Apriva has inked a new strategic technology partnership with POS on Cloud, a provider of cloud-based POS software-as-a-service (SaaS) supporting the restaurant, retail, and service industry verticals.