Payments

Mar 17, 2010

Why PayPal et al REALLY matter!

So yesterday I argued that PayPal and their brethren of social monies don’t matter. It was like unleashing the sceptical banker that I know resides deep within me, and it felt good. Then I got a dose of new reality vision (maybe due to so many comments on yesterday’s piece) and it felt not so…

Mar 16, 2010

Why PayPal et al don’t matter

Many of us get excited about new and different toys in the payments world. From Jack Dorsey’s twittering Square to PayPal’s billions of payments, we think the world is changing dramatically. SMS texting payments in Africa and credit exchanges on Facebook add weight to our arguments for change in the core of bank processing. We…

Mar 8, 2010

Towards Currency Union

I've been studying developments in the Middle East lately, and particularly the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The GCC has been running since 1981 and comprises six core states of the Persia Gulf Region: the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar. The GCC is a bit like the EU, which formally…

Feb 25, 2010

Innovations and snails

According to Fast Company, only one of the Top 10 financial websites of the world comes from a traditional bank. That bank is Itaú Unibancoe in Brazil. Well done Itaú Unibancoe … what happened to the rest of you? Oh yes, banks don't innovate. I forgot. Mind you, plenty of innovation from outside banks and…

Feb 12, 2010

The Card Awards 2010

BLOG ENTRY SPONSORED BY: I've just received the magazine announcing the winners of this year's Card Awards (last year's winners can be seen here). And the envelope openings went to: Best New Credit Card Product of the YearPayPal and Santander Cards Best Credit Card Marketing Campaign of the YearBarclaycard Best New Prepaid Card Product of…

Feb 12, 2010

Chip & PIN is broken (UPDATE)

As many readers know, I've disliked Chip & PIN pretty much since it was launched, as there are better solutions out there. Here's my comment from 2006: Chris Skinner, CEO of financial services think tank Balatro told silicon.com: "I'm an anti-chip and PIN person. Sorry Apacs – I like them very much but it's not…

Feb 8, 2010

This house believes that SEPA does matter … or does it?

We had a great debate at the FSClub the other day, with the provocative title: “this house believes that SEPA (the Single Euro Payments Area) does matter”. The evening was chaired by the more than capable Bob Lyddon, who coordinates the IBOS Association secretariat, and four panel members who ‘played’ parts in being proposes and…

Feb 3, 2010

Eye, eye – the future of customer identity?

After the news of a banker’s offspring trying to blow up a flight on Christmas Eve by hiding explosive materials in his underpants, we wonder how such individuals get away with such acts. Can’t we monitor them better? Is there no way to identify the honest person from the dishonest from the outright terrorist? This…

Jan 28, 2010

More on remittances

I mentioned a dinner which I chaired about remittances the other day, and the firm that organised the dinner sent me a white paper as a follow-up. As a taster, read the previous blog entry or this paragraph gives a good indication of the content: "Remittances are no longer solely about supporting people in the…

Jan 25, 2010

Are you taking the PSD?

Interesting article on the guide to all things Europe today, Euractiv, about the Payment Services Directive. The Directive “has been transposed in all but 11 of the 31 EU/EEA countries”. Hmmm … that would be Cyprus, Estonia, Italy and Latvia (Jan); Norway (Feb); Belgium, Greece, Spain, Finland, Malta and Poland (Mar); whilst Sweden is last…