Payments

I’m sitting in the house. It’s snowing. Look. This is big news. We don't get snow in Britain anymore. Global warming saw to that. So when it's snowing, it's major news headlines. Non-stop BBC reports saying: "it's snowing". And so it's snowing, and Britain has stopped. Literally. Everything has closed …

Just checked out Safaricom's results presentation for the first half-year 2009-2010, and found some interesting slides on M-PESA:       Fascinating results … especially as Safaricom were not the instigators of M-PESA. At the start, they could not commit to a risky project of this nature with resources and …

After various predictions yesterday, including the return of Glass-Steagall and a Chinese bank buying an American or European one, today it’s the turn of technology. There are lots of questions about technology, such as: Will Google make us stupid? Will we live in the cloud or the desktop? Will social …

With the announcement that the cheque is ending its existence in 2018, I wonder whether Gordon Brown inspired this decision. This is because one of his cheques bounced way back in 1972, during his student days.     It was sold on eBay for £3,100 yesterday (double click to enlarge). …

With the news that the cheque will end its life as a valid payments instrument in the UK on 31st October 2018, it's worth reminding all that it's not just old people who use them: But that the main usage is with businesses, who want to keep cheques. Because they …

I was just writing a paragraph about mobile for a client's report, when I realised what I had written: This year has seen dramatic innovations in mobile usage, such as those of the Bank of America in the USA. According to Doug Brown, SVP at Bank of America responsible for …

It's forty days since the introduction of the Payment Services Directive (PSD), so there has been lots of chat about the PSD this week, and how it’s working or not working. Derogations and interpretations are rife, with the hottest and most contentious issue being the fact that charges are now …

It's forty days since the introduction of the Payment Services Directive (PSD), so there has been lots of chat about the PSD this week, and how it’s working or not working. Derogations and interpretations are rife, with the hottest and most contentious issue being the fact that charges are now …

It's forty days since the introduction of the Payment Services Directive (PSD), so there has been lots of chat about the PSD this week, and how it’s working or not working. Derogations and interpretations are rife, with the hottest and most contentious issue being the fact that charges are now …

I’ve had a couple of good debates in the last week or so about the value of real-time everything. Everything is instant, immediate, no waiting, it’s real-time. We expect instant gratification in everything we do and, any waiting, it’s click and delete. Case in point: the PC gets stuck. How …

I’ve had a couple of good debates in the last week or so about the value of real-time everything. Everything is instant, immediate, no waiting, it’s real-time. We expect instant gratification in everything we do and, any waiting, it’s click and delete. Case in point: the PC gets stuck. How …

Thomas Bostrøm Jørgensen, CEO of mobile payments and financial solutions firm Luup, presented at the FSClub the other day. He spun an interesting story, particularly around the tripartite models emerging of mobile financial services, where they are either bank-led, carrier-led or a bank-carrier partnership. The latter is probably harder than …

In the final part of this discussion of risks and opportunities in CEE, I was asked to give a view (see if you can spot me).   So here’s my brief summary: What are the risks for the next year or two? First, we are still in the middle of …

Last year, I was a judge with the Card Awards. This year I couldn't make it, but they have just announced the shortlist. Here it is: Best New Credit Card Product of the Year Barclaycard – Barclaycard Goldfish Low Rate ProductEgg – Egg Money World MasterCardLeeds United and LaSer UK …

Just received a press release from the UK Payments Council that makes interesting reading.  The figures show that spending by card, cheque, cash and automated payments over the last six years has changed little, beyond the usual variance to consumers' payment habits, despite the difficult economic conditions. The latest quarterly …