Category: Payments

Payments

Where’s the Vision for Banks in Payments? (still missing the point …)

Colin Henderson

Payments is being narrowly defined by US Bankers in particular as “electronification of cheques”, and this article confirms that view.  In the US cheques are still prevalent, so there is a need to automate cheque’s but I believe to narrowly define payments and payment strategy in this way is to miss an opportunity, and strategic threat.  The narrow view will “pave the cowpath”, and be driven by regulation, specifically Check 21.  Current processes will be replaced by electronic ones.  Whereas the broader view will accomplish Check 21, yet ensure that processes, and methods are re-engineered. Banking Strategies Blog : Where’s … Continue reading Where’s the Vision for Banks in Payments? (still missing the point …)

Payments1 Comment

Payments as a business – well, kind of …

Colin Henderson

I got quite excited when saw this article and thought I was going to get a well articulated view from a Central Banker on the role of payments as a business.  Wrong! Turns out, he thinks payments means to automate paper processes.  Huh … thats obviously important and his views on Check 21 and ACH are valid, certainly for the US market, where those rules apply. Bank Systems & Technology : Pay It Forward The financial services industry is slowly beginning to realize that the payments business, once relegated to the back office, instead should have a place front and … Continue reading Payments as a business – well, kind of …

Payments

Google Payments

Colin Henderson

Here is the latest official information from Google on their payments capabilities. They will use the Google Account as the base for your information. Official Google Blog: An update on payments As the number of Google services has increased, we’ve continued to build on our core payment features and migrate to a standard process for people to buy our services with a Google Account. Examples of this migration include enabling users to buy Google Video content, Google Earth licenses, and Google Store items with their Google Accounts. We also just began offering similar functionality on Google Base. Continue reading Google Payments

Payments

Mobile payments – the promise that never happened, until Paypal

Colin Henderson

Excellent piece here reminds us of the pre dot-com promise of mobile payments, when the banks and others figured they had it figured out, with P2P and P2B paments. MobileRadicals Blog » Mobile Payment – Six years after WAP One of the appealing things to me in the early days of WAP was how it was going to change the way we paid for goods and services. No more queuing for cinema tickets, I’d just fire up my WAP browser and buy them online, and they’d be ready for me to collect when I got there. Similar kinds of things … Continue reading Mobile payments – the promise that never happened, until Paypal

Payments

Skype payment summary

Colin Henderson

Nice summary of payment options in different jurisdictions from Skype.

Payments — going global and staying local – Skype Blogs

Here’s a summary of what we’ve been working on in the payments area over the past months. Did you know that Skype supports natively no less than 14 currencies?Customers wanting to top up their Skype Credit to pay for Skype’s offerings can now take advantage of online payment methods, special vouchers and scratch cards bought from high street stores. As well as giving people more payment options, Skype has made it easier for people on most continents – including Europe, the Americas, Asia and Oceania – to buy and keep track of their Skype Credit in 14 local currencies, including Euros, US Dollars, Polish Zloty, Brazilian Real, Canadian Dollar, British Pound, New Taiwanese Dollar, Swedish Krona, Danish Krona, Norwegian Krone, Japanese Yen, Hong Kong Dollar, Australian Dollar and Swiss Francs.

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Paypal join Giropay in Germany

Colin Henderson

Significant event, with Paypal now integrating with “traditional”  payment carriers, in this case Giropay, which is supported by German Banks.  At first its only for ebay payments, but indications are for more merchants, and FI’s to join.

They are using the PIN/ TAN (personal identification number / valid transaction number) method which is not common in North America.  It allows the customer to access their bank and pay separately from the merchant site, but is also fraught with phishing issues too.
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Paypal stagnated, while gbuy waits in the wings

Colin Henderson

As well as Paypal have done, its becoming clear that they are vulnerable. They have only accumulated $2Bn in customer deposits which given their marketspace is pitifully small. Geek News Central Revealing Technical News and useful links The folks over at Paypal are concerned of course but you would think the product would have evolved over the past couple of years instead of stagnating with not real enhancements to the service. The rumours of a Google wallet and payment service have been circulating for well over a year, and now seem to have basis in fact, based on the WSJ … Continue reading Paypal stagnated, while gbuy waits in the wings

Payments

Microsoft have a micropayment strategy

Colin Henderson

This little snippet in the midst of an article about Xbox360 and online gaming. This from Chris Early, studio manager for Microsoft Casual Games Group. Can Microsoft Score in Mobile Gaming? Today, Microsoft makes money on games through sponsorships, advertising, and subscriptions. How do you see the business model evolving? The biggest change that I think we’ll see in the next year is in microtransactions becoming a viable method of purchasing games and new game levels. You’ll be able to use micropayments to pay for downloads within Marketplace and Xbox Live Arcade. You’ll be able to purchase points at a … Continue reading Microsoft have a micropayment strategy