HomeSend, a joint venture between MasterCard, eServGlobal and BICS inked a deal with Dialog Axiata to make international remittance services available to millions of consumers across Sri Lanka. HomeSend and Azimo also announced the launch of new mobile wallet services in ten countries throughout Africa and Asia-Pacific – reaching millions of mobile money subscribers.
HomeSend and Dialog Axiata inked a deal to make international remittance services available to millions of consumers across Sri Lanka. HomeSend is a joint venture between MasterCard, eServGlobal and BICS.
The Payments Council (15 July 2014) announces the appointment of three new independent directors to its Board. Sarah Chambers, Christine Farnish CBE and Robert Lerwill bring a wide range of experience in consumer policy, financial services and regulation to the Board. They join Clare Spottiswoode CBE as one of the Board’s four independent directors. Sarah is an expert in regulation, competition and consumer policy. Christine has wide experience of financial services, public policy and regulation. Robert Lerwill is a chartered accountant. The Payments Council Board is made up of 15 voting directors, a voting independent chairman and an observer from the Bank of England. In addition to the independents, 11 directors are appointed by the industry to represent a cross section of the Payments Council membership.
Wincor Nixdorf is now a GS1 Germany solution provider to take the GS1 standards into account in its software solutions, its ATMs and cash recyclers as well as in the overarching project plan for Managed Services that is still to be adopted. Wincor Nixdorf intends to make a contribution toward evolution of the GS1 standards together with other partners in the market. The group of GS1 Germany solution providers comprises almost 100 companies from the fields of hardware and software, communications, logistics and category management. They provide solutions that enable companies to optimize their interfaces with partners in the value chain.
Western Union announced a new service that will make it easier for universities and higher education institutions around the world to accept tuition payments in Indian Rupee. Over 200,000 Indian students study abroad each year, whom are typically invoiced in the currency of their university (e.g. US or Canadian Dollar), which often makes the payment process cumbersome and expensive. In many cases, intermediary fees impact the final amount received by the university so the students still owe money before commencing their studies. Western Union’s new service will enable participating schools and universities to offer Indian students the option to pay tuition fees in their home currency. It will be offered by Weizmann Forex and Paul Merchants Limited, the two largest Western Union Agents in India.
Acculynk “PaySecure” PIN authentication for online debit transactions and National Payments Corporation India (NPCI) partnered. With this, Acculynk will be the premiere provider of authentication for all online RuPay debit card transactions, bringing RuPay debit card consumers in India the ability to use their PIN-only debit cards for e-commerce. The RuPay card is a PIN-only based debit card used at ATMs and POS and can now be used to make online purchases. NPCI, promoted by 10 Banks under the aegis of Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), introduced RuPay enabled ATM cards in June, 2011. RuPay debit card was launched on 26th March 2012 with 4 Banks.
FireHost secure cloud hosting has appointed Jim Ciampaglio SVP, global sales and marketing. Having joined FireHost in late 2011 after holding many successful sales and executive roles in related high-tech and hosting companies, Ciampaglio will further expand FireHost’s global distribution channels, including the implementation of a FireHost partner program, while overseeing business development activities for the company. Ciampaglio was previously the COO at NeoSpire Managed Hosting, overseeing all operational departments and helped guide the company through its acquisition by Hosting.com.
Direct mail credit card offers declined 67% year-on-year during the
second quarter, but only 6% sequentially. The Q2 drop follows a 67%
decline in the prior quarter, a 55% decrease in the fourth quarter and a
20% decline in the third quarter. For the full year of 2008 there were
3.8 billion solicitations mailed, compared to 5.2 billion in 2007.
According to Synovate’s “Mail Monitor,” U.S. households received 349.1
million offers during the second quarter, compared to 1060.0 million
offers received during 2Q/08. The market tracker found that some top 25
card mailers ramped up their mail volumes in the second quarter. The
biggest increases were seen by Bank of America (up 77% over 1Q/09) and
Citibank (up 65% over 1Q/09). Synovate noted that every single offer
mailed during the second quarter had a variable APR associated with it,
compared to 60% of the offers in the year ago quarter.
CREDIT CARD SOLICITATIONS
2Q/07: 1275 million
3Q/07: 1290 million
4Q/07: 1286 million
1Q/08: 1132 million
2Q/08: 1060 million
3Q/08: 1032 million
4Q/08: 576 million
1Q/09: 372 million
2Q/09: 349 million
Source: Synovate Mail Monitor
Synovate Customer Service Index (CSI) quarterly tracking survey of over
36,000 Canadians has concluded most are happy with the service provided
at their primary personal bank, with only 8% having reported any type of
problem over the past six months. Of those having reported service
problems, 24% disclosed account/statement errors, 20% felt staff lacked
knowledge and 17% cited poor quality of investment advice. Additional
research shows 36% of unhappy customers will first contact someone other
than the manager at the branch, 28% will use a toll-free telephone
banking number and 13% will approach the branch manager directly. Nearly
50% were satisfied with how their bank solved the problem, 25% were
somewhat satisfied and less than 25% were either somewhat dissatisfied
or completely dissatisfied. Customer Service Index (CSI) is Synovate’s
retail banking survey to measure customer performance in Canada’s retail
banking industry and are generated quarterly while Synovate is the
market research arm of the Aegis Group, employing over 6,700 staff in 62
countries.
Direct mail credit card offers declined 67% year-on-year during the
first quarter. The Q1 sharp drop follows a 55% decrease in the fourth
quarter and a 20% decline in the third quarter. For the full year of
2008 there were 3.8 billion solicitations mailed, compared to 5.2
billion in 2007. According to Synovate’s “Mail Monitor,” U.S. households
received 372.4 million offers during the first quarter, compared to
1131.6 million offers received during 1Q/08. The market tracker found
that direct mail offers carrying an annual fee rose from 18% in 1Q/08 to
27% in 1Q/09. Also, fee based cards now reflect an increasing proportion
of both reward/rebate and non-reward/rebate card solicitations. In the
first quarter, 24% of reward/rebate offers carried an annual fee versus
18% in the first quarter of 2008. At the same time, 42% of
non-reward/rebate offers carried an annual fee versus 19% in the prior year.
CREDIT CARD SOLICITATIONS
1Q/07: 1372 million
2Q/07: 1275 million
3Q/07: 1290 million
4Q/07: 1286 million
1Q/08: 1132 million
2Q/08: 1060 million
3Q/08: 1032 million
4Q/08: 576 million
1Q/09: 372 million
Source: Synovate Mail Monitor
Citibank N.A. has
launched “Citi Online Remit”, a new online money transfer service to
India. “Citi Online Remit” provides Non Resident Indians the ability to
transfer funds to India from any US checking/savings account
or using a US credit/debit card as a direct transfer into the
beneficiary’s bank account or as a draft couriered to the beneficiary’s
mailing address in India. “Citi Online Remit” has a wide range of security features built into the
platform such as Online Identity Verification, Multi-Factor
Authentication, Global IP tracking and Account authentication. The
platform also offers an online tracking system that allows NRIs to
follow their transaction at every stage of the transfer process and
facilitates the scheduling of dates for future transfers by setting up
recurring transfer instructions. It is powered by the “QuikRemit” platform from Citi’s Global Transaction
Services which offers integrated cash management, trade,
and securities and fund services to multinational corporations,
financial institutions and public sector organizations around the world.
With a network that spans more than 140 countries, Citi’s Global
Transaction Services supports over 65,000 clients. As of the 4th quarter
of 2008, it held on average $292 billion in liability balances and $10.7
trillion in assets under custody.
A credit card direct mail tracking service confirms the extent of the
reduction in card mail last year, as reported by CardWatch.com last
week. Synovate’s “Mail Monitor” service estimates that U.S. households
received 3.8 billion offers for new cards during 2008, a 27%
decrease, or 1.4 billion fewer offers mailed in 2008. CardWatch.com
reported a 30% decline to 3.8 billion pieces. Synovate found that out of
the top 25 mailers of card solicitations the only banks to increase
their mail volumes in 2008 were U.S. Bank (+29%) and Barclays
(+27%). U.S. Bank broke into the top 10 for the first time last year
replacing Credit One, a subprime issuer (Barclays is ranked 9th). The
card issuers that cut back solicitations the most in 2008 versus one
year ago were HSBC (-61%), Citibank (-44%), Chase (-32%) and Bank of
America (-30%).