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Blog outages – apologies

Colin Henderson

I have to apologise for the outages of this blog. I wasn't around for the last couple of days, but I now there were big problems at wordpress. I am hosted at wordpress.com, and I will continue with them. I am so impressed with Matt and the team, and even though there have been downtimes recently I remain satisfied with them and have confidence in them. They are small but significant and growing in the blogging community. As a blogger the system one uses is important, and though I use MovableType on my own ISP for the other blogs, I … Continue reading Blog outages – apologies

Payments

ebay: their potential is great but their investor positioning is not

Colin Henderson

eBay are understating their potential, and it remains to be seen whether their Executive are doing this deliberately. FT.com / Companies – Why eBay’s health lies in the balance

While declining to talk about keyword advertising directly, Ms Whiman said of the opportunity to take advertising in eBay: “This is something we’ve thought about a lot.”

Paypal is doing well and is a world player now.

PayPal The promise from PayPal: more of the same. The online payment system’s revenues topped $1bn last year, lifting eBay’s overall growth rate. A year ago, with 64m accountholders, PayPal was almost neck-and-neck with American Express, which had 65m: since then, its user base has jumped to 105m, compared to 73m at Amex.

Continue reading “ebay: their potential is great but their investor positioning is not”

Business Models, Payments

Special Issue Call for Papers: Electronic Commerce Research and Applications (ECRA) Journal

Colin Henderson

Interesting topics in this call for papers, with September 06 deadline.  Worth following up on, so we’ll watch for results. Mobile Payments Topics. The special issue will be devoted to exploring strategic, managerial, technical, security and policy challenges in the domain of mobile payments. We seek high-quality, unpublished contributions on the following and other related topics: Current and future technologies and service platforms for real-time m-payments Economic and other theoretical perspectives on m-payments P2P m-payments and m-payment-enabled business processes Case studies of successful and failed trials with m-payments Business models and revenue generation approaches for m-payment services Security, biometrics, trust, … Continue reading Special Issue Call for Papers: Electronic Commerce Research and Applications (ECRA) Journal

Security

Apparent lack of enthusiasm that Gen X and Y have today for mobile payment technologies

Colin Henderson

Payments News notes this new survey from Market Platform Dynamics, indicating some interesting preferences amongst the group one would have expected more adoption propensity.  Some scepticism is necessary here, knowing that consumers generally are not good at predicting their own willingness to adopt. Payments News: Consumers Say Mobile Phone As Payment Device “Unnecessary” – May 05, 2006 Key among MPD’s findings is the apparent lack of enthusiasm that Gen X and Y have today for mobile payment technologies. Other highlights noted: Other notable highlights just show that there are many considerations involved in individuals payment choices, and there isn’t much … Continue reading Apparent lack of enthusiasm that Gen X and Y have today for mobile payment technologies

Business Models

Perhaps internet specific banking accounts will work this time?

Colin Henderson

Straightforward article in the NY Times, suggests that the current wave of high rate savings accounts from online only banks may work this time around, because they are not tied to the core banking relationship chequing account which was the play in the first wave, circa 1997-99. This time around basically everyone is copying ING with their terribly successful play at attracting high rates savings balances, which brings low transaction costs, and high balances. Going Online for Savings – New York Times Banks have trod a similar path before. In the late 1990’s, they introduced stand-alone Internet banks that paid … Continue reading Perhaps internet specific banking accounts will work this time?

Payments

Overseas Foreign Workers (OFW) remittances jump 14% to $1.8B

Colin Henderson

Sympomatic of many foreign workers, money remittance is becoming a staple of their needs, and this occurs outside of traditional banking.  Many cultural specific groups orchestrate these money remittances.  OFW remittances jump 14% to $1.8B MONEY remittances of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) totaled $1.8 billion in January and February, sustaining a double-digit growth rate of 14 percent from the same period last year despite a slowdown in the number of workes going abroad, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP, the central bank) said Wednesday. Technorati Tags: payments Continue reading Overseas Foreign Workers (OFW) remittances jump 14% to $1.8B

Payments

Value of Annual U.S. Debit Card Transactions to Reach $2 Trillion by 2010

Colin Henderson

US debit card growth continues to climb.  Value of Annual U.S. Debit Card Transactions to Reach $2 Trillion by 2010: Financial News – Yahoo! Finance Packaged Facts projects that debit cards will continue to enjoy strong growth, with annual debit transactions exceeding $2 trillion by 2010. More and more debit cards are part of US life. With nearly half (48.2%) of U.S. adults carrying a debit card, it’s not surprising that debit is quickly catching up to credit cards and cash as a primary means of point-of-service and online transactions. According to Debit Cards in the U.S., a new report … Continue reading Value of Annual U.S. Debit Card Transactions to Reach $2 Trillion by 2010

Business Models, US

US finance sector puts Web pricing in crosshairs

Colin Henderson

American banks get serious about the net neutrality bill. Its good to see this move, because the telco's have had a free ride on this highly consequential issue. Its been largely invisible to the public to date.

US finance sector puts Web pricing in crosshairs | Technology | Reuters.co.uk

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. financial sector, a powerful force in Washington, may be gearing up to jump into a Capitol Hill fight over the future of the Internet and stop an effort it says could add billions in costs just to maintain current offerings.
…..For the financial services sector, which is expected to spend $117 billion on information technology this year, tiered pricing could add billions more in expenses to maintain online banking services and other Web offerings, according to a memo circulating among financial services lobbyists. Those costs could hit the bottom line or be passed on to customers.

We noted the bill passage in April, and its good to see the American Banks get serious about this issue.

But it's a fight the financial sector almost missed.

"Net neutrality is an issue that (financial services) firms ignore at their peril," Philip Corwin, a partner at Washington law firm Butera & Andrews, wrote in the memo.

"If the industry does not engage quickly, it may find that the matter has been decided without its input and that the fallout will affect the industry's cost structure and customer relations for years to come," he added.

Relevance to Bankwatch: Online banking is fundamental to banks cost structure now.  Changes to the internet access model  which is today based on a  flat rate,  would have significant consequences.

Update:  Additional background from  the inventor of internet – Tim Berners-Lee Continue reading “US finance sector puts Web pricing in crosshairs”

Canada, Middle East, Payments, US

Global electronic payment volumes to double by 2010

Colin Henderson

In a study, designed to provide banks, payment processors and retailers with a road map for the next decade to help plan their payments business strategies, its indicated payments will double worldwide by 2010, but the details are more interesting. Finextra: Global electronic payment volumes to double by 2010 The annual number of electronic payment transactions, currently at approximately 210 billion worldwide, are expected to double by the end of the decade, according to research released by ACI Worldwide. The individual markets of different growth profiles: The Eastern Europe and Asia/Pacific regions are forecast to lead the world in electronic … Continue reading Global electronic payment volumes to double by 2010

Web/Tech1 Comment

Experience Based Differentiation is critical to successful channels ( Forrester Research )

Colin Henderson

Lightbulbs are beginning to appear in traditional business, and William Bland's latest piece at Forrester (subscription) captures the thought well.  You cannot build business strategy (for banks) in a vacuum, and simply implement that in the technology later.  Technology is an implicit part of the strategy creation. Forrester Research: Using Technology To Improve Your Customer Experience Integrate the online experience with other channels. Online interactions are not viewed as a separate part of the customer experience. Vanguard service associates use the company Web site as their desktop. When a retail client or plan participant phones in with a question, the … Continue reading Experience Based Differentiation is critical to successful channels ( Forrester Research )