Another player in this field with an impressive list of countries, although its hard to tell how many actual endpoints they have set up at this point.  One to watch in this niche space, that includes, CitiBank, Paypal, & Moneygram. Finextra: Xoom raises $15m; introduces WebAgent remittance system San Francisco-based money transfer outfit Xoom has raised $15 million in a funding round led by Boston-based Fidelity Ventures and including previous investors Sequoia Capital, New Enterprise Associates and SVB Capital.…Commenting on the new service, the vendor’s newly-appointed senior vice president Gene Gutierrez – an ex-senior banker who helped build the global … Continue reading Xoom Webagent – international money transfer system

While the talk of cashless society from 10 – 20 years ago never materialised, it does seem to be on the horizon realistically now.

Quick debit card 'could replace cash' | 24dash.com – Bill Payments

A new payment system being trialled in the UK could remove the need for people to carry cash, according to a report out today.people simply pass their debit card across a sensor, in a similar way to how Oyster cards work on the London Underground, for the payment to be verified and the completed in about half a second.

Key components of the evolution, seem to be:

1. focus on small amounts (micropayments)
2. contactless
3. no PIN

These attrubutes are all interconnected, and its the combination thats driving success.

The first attribute makes the business model focussed on being cheap to implement, therefore cheap to offer. Thus it provides mass market appeal, which is the only way elimination of cash makes sense. The second is all about convenience. When you want to buy a cup of coffee its got to be as simple as sticking your hand into your pocket/ purse and grabbing some coins. Lastly, its critical there is no pin to complete the convenience cycle. Contactless becomes inconvenient if you have to wait for he POS response, then type in your PIN.

Thus the combination of these three attributes will drive cashless / micropayments success.
Continue reading “Quick debit card ‘could replace cash’”

The concept of providing portable card readers feels temporary to me. This move by three industry players in Japan, spells the future for the rest of us. Finextra: Intel teams with Microsoft, BitWallet to promote FeliCa contactless technology Intel is teaming with both Microsoft and Bitwallet – which provides the EDY contactless payment system – to triple the number of personal computers equipped with FeliCa-reading functions and double the number of Internet services compatible with the technology. This will put not just a card reader on your home PC, but a contactless one. This truly makes ecommerce and online banking … Continue reading Intel teams with Microsoft, BitWallet to promote FeliCa contactless technology on PC’s

Strong statements from RBC on the power embedded in Gbuy and how it will revolutionise online payments.  Paypal, by virtue of its parent, eBay, has been primarily for auction payments, but Gbuy will be for ecommerce. Google’s GBuy Could Be ‘Revolutionary’ – Forbes.com “If harnessed, the precision of this targeting could be revolutionary,” wrote RBC analyst Jordan Rohan in a report Friday. Googles new product is designed as being pro-merchant.  This differentiates it from all the bank based services, that are loaded with interchange.  On its core search results pages, Google will designate each merchant accepting GBuy as a “trusted … Continue reading Gbuy: “The precision of this targeting could be revolutionary”

The claim here is that certain merchant terminals (not ATM’s as earlier claimed) are not capable of recognising cloned chip cards. Millions at risk from chip and Pin | This is Money Security experts say there is a one in five chance that a terminal in a shop or garage will not spot a ‘cloned’ card. It means criminals who copy people’s cards can go on shopping sprees and spend thousands of pounds. The alarming gap in security is being blamed on the issuing banks, for choosing the cheapest version of the new cards. Banks in France and some other … Continue reading Claims that chip and pin system is flawed, and fallible

Real or not, there is an evolving thread questioning the infallibility of chip and pin.  We know that the card not present issue is a contributor, but this comment regarding ATM’s having difficulties is a new one to me, and will require further investigation. We have to understand this dynamic, and both individual banks, and industry groups need to get on top of it. MoneyExpert.com – Financial news article “Chip and pin security is fallible,” a spokesman for credit payments association Apacs, which conducted the survey, told the Times. Recent research has suggested that cash machines are not always able … Continue reading Consumer suspicions grow on Chip and Pin security – 06/06/2006

This press release suggests some imminent changes at Dexit.  Their model is, in my view, not extendible as architected.  The concept of another merchant terminal is too complicated for merchants and consumers.  The whole aspect of which I covered earlier, of merchant terminals is critical to future payments’ success. CNW Group TORONTO, June 1 /CNW/ – Dexit Inc. (TSX: DXT), the creator and operator of the Dexit(R) electronic payment facilitation service for small transactions, reported in its Management’s Discussion and Analysis for the period ended March 31, 2006 and in earlier public documents that under the Merchant Licence Agreement with … Continue reading Strange press release from Canadian micropayment provider, Dexit, suggests problems

This is a matter that North American card acquirers, such as Moneris, and Paymenttech must consider otherwise the merchant experience will be terrible, and that would translate into consumer confusion. Card Technology, The Smart Card News Source Three of Japan’s largest convenience store chains are reportedly in talks to accept multiple brands of contactless credit and electronic purses on the same card readers. Without interoperable readers, consumers would be confused about where they could use a particular brand of contactless payment and merchants would have to install multiple readers. Continue reading Japanese Stores Turn To Interoperable Contactless Readers

Check 21 in the US, and TECP in Canada is all the more critical as we watch cheque volumes decline significantly.  The US Federal Reserve has already reduced their number of processing centres by half, but processing centres should be eliminated or at least reduced to one. Finextra: Fed closes more cheque processing centres; cuts 130 jobs Since 2003 the Fed has cut the number of cheque processing centres in the US from 45 to just 18 as more consumers and businesses continue to switch from paper to electronic payments. The Fed says its most recent study shows that about … Continue reading Cheque processing centres in the US cut from 45 to 18