ON THE WEB

• Mastercard Plots £1bn Vocalink Takeover Bid - Sky News - "Sky News has learnt that Mastercard, which is one of the world's biggest credit card issuers, has approached the board of Vocalink about a deal that could be worth more than £1bn."
• CFPB: Dwolla misled users about security practices - FintechLab - "The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Wednesday took action against online payment platform Dwolla for deceiving consumers about its data security practices and the safety of its online payment system..."
• Deloitte Highlights Israel's Rise as 'Blockchain Hotspot' - CoinDesk - "The country’s unique experience with FinTech, cyber and cryptography, has positioned Israel as a hotspot for blockchain innovation."
• Bitcoin's nightmare scenario has come to pass - "This week the dire predictions came to pass, as the network reached its capacity, causing transactions around the world to be massively delayed, and in some cases to fail completely."
• Credit Unions Feeling Pinch in Wendy’s Breach - Krebs on Security - "A number of credit unions say they have experienced an unusually high level of debit card fraud from the breach at nationwide fast food chain Wendy’s..."

ON THE WIRES

• Leading LATAM eCommerce Player Linio Selects Payoneer to Disburse Cross-Border Payments to Sellers Worldwide - "Payments to international customers should not be a barrier to growth and we're excited to partner with Linio to turn this challenge and burden into an advantage for them," said Scott Galit, Payoneer CEO. "Marketplaces continue to develop as the leading ecommerce destinations, connecting buyers in local markets with sellers from around the globe, and Linio has done an amazing job building leading marketplaces in 8 countries in Latin America."
• Wallaby and The Points Guy Launch TPG To Go, Enabling Travelers To Easily Maximize Rewards Anytime, Anywhere - "Wallaby's mission is to make it easier than ever for people to save money, earn rewards, and simplify their lives," said Wallaby founder and CEO Matthew Goldman. Brian Kelly founder and CEO of The Points Guy, shares our vision. "TPG To Go is a natural extension of what we do on the ThePointsGuy.com and I am excited to work with Wallaby on the app that will help travelers earn the most rewards from their purchase," says Kelly.
• Fiserv Survey Shows Mobile Bill Pay as Number One Activity on Biller Websites as Consumer Demand for Effortless Financial Services Rises - "Visits to biller websites from mobile devices grew 42 percent over the past year and now make up 24 percent of all website visits. During these visits, bill payment is the number one activity, followed by bill views and customer self-service."
• Daon to Work with MasterCard on Driving Greater Convenience, Security through Biometrics - "The app-based authentication solution, commonly dubbed "Selfie Pay" by the media, leverages a mobile device to secure online payments and mobile banking applications using fingerprint and facial recognition."
• Federal Reserve Says Debit-Card Reform Has Helped Small Banks, Contrary to Bank Claims - "The Philadelphia Federal Reserve has just released a report that debit card reform has helped small banks. The report analyzed debit-card swipe fees since the Federal Reserve’s debit-reform regulations took effect in October 2011."

GLENBROOK PAYMENTS EDUCATION EVENTS

Our next Glenbrook payments education events are coming up in early April - both in New York City - we hope to see you there!

• Payments Boot Camp - April 5-6
• Insight Workshop - Global Payments - April 7

Bring your colleagues along! Group discounts are available. For more information or to learn about our private workshops conducted at your location, contact Glenbrook's Russ Jones.

UPDATES FROM GLENBROOK

• We're hiring! Passionate about payments? Love solving tough client problems? If that describes you, come join us! Click here to learn more!
• Join our mailing list for updates about Glenbrook events. Follow us on Twitter: @paymentsnews and @paymentsviews

• Click here to share PaymentsNews with a friend

Note: Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners. Throughout the day, as we spot interesting developments, this post is updated. Do you have news to share? Tell us here: gotnews@paymentsnews.com!

ON THE WEB

• The Financial Lives of Undocumented Immigrants - Credit Slips - "Slips contributor Nathalie Martin gained access to this population in Albuquerque, New Mexico, interviewed 50 immigrants, and recently published a paper that provides an important glimpse into how this population handles money and finances."
• Blythe Masters: Wall Street Has Advantage Over Blockchain Startups - CoinDesk - "Hosted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the event saw Masters speaking out about what she portrayed as the risk financial incumbents face by not taking steps to investigate potential applications of blockchain technology..."
• India: Mobile payments startup JusPay gets Rs 40 crore from Accel, Bookmyshow founders - Economic Times - "The mobile payments company's technology helps companies simplify payments by aggregating different services across net banking, wallets and cards, besides also helping merchants improve success rate of payments on the platforms."
• Payments Players Move on Blockchain Tech in Industry Shake-Up - CoinDesk - "In recent months, both established companies and startups have rebranded traditional databases as "bitcoin-inspired" ledgers in an effort to take advantage of the blockchain ballyhoo and the technology's strong association with innovation."

ON THE WIRES

• CUP and Visa Sign MOU to Collaborate on Payments Security, Innovation and Financial Inclusion - "China UnionPay (CUP) and Visa Inc. today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Shanghai with both parties agreeing to collaborate on payments security, innovation and financial inclusion. The MOU was signed between Shi Wenchao, President of CUP, and Charlie Scharf, Chief Executive Officer of Visa Inc."
• Southwest Airlines® Introduces Pay With Amazon, Enhancing Customer Experience Onboard WiFi-Equipped Aircraft - "Pay with Amazon makes it easy for millions of customers around the world to pay using their Amazon account," said Patrick Gauthier, vice president, Amazon Payments. "We are thrilled to be working with Southwest to offer customers a familiar and trusted way to pay while inflight to destinations all around the United States."
• Menlo Ventures leads $20 mln Series B for Signifyd - "Signifyd today announced it has closed $20 million in Series B funding led by Menlo Ventures, with additional participation from Allegis Capital, IA Ventures, QED Investors, Bill McKiernan and Tim Eades."
• UnionPay International Works with the Top Four Banks in Thailand to Build the Local Bankcard Switching System - "TPN is one of UnionPay's successful attempts in exploring new ways of expansion in overseas markets by exporting its technical standard, taking advantage of its technology capability; UnionPay participates in payment infrastructure construction in these markets, integrating its technologies, products, services and brand influence."
• India: Promotion of Payments through cards and digital means - "For card/ digital payments to increase, they should be easy to use, readily available and accepted, should not impose any undue financial burden on the merchant and user, and should offer an appropriate level of security."
• Interac® debit card fraud losses plummet for the sixth consecutive year - "Fraud numbers released today by Interac Association ("Interac") show that Interac Debit losses, due to skimming, have continued a six year drop setting a new record low of $11.8 million in total losses to financial institutions in 2015. This reflects a 27 per cent decrease from the previous year..."
• First Tech Federal Credit Union Focuses on Member Experience with Selection of clearXchange™ from Early Warning - "First Tech is the first credit union to join Early Warning’s clearXchange network, which is open to all banks and credit unions nationwide. clearXchange enables its network members’ account holders to securely send money to any recipient with a bank account in the United States using only the recipient’s mobile number or email address."
• TSYS and Ethoca Empower Card Issuers and Merchants to Combat Fraud - "Launched through this agreement, the TSYS Transaction Recovery NetworkSM, powered by Ethoca, provides near real-time notification of confirmed fraud that empowers issuers and online merchants to quickly recover lost revenue and eliminate the need for expensive and time-consuming chargeback processes."
• Cardlytics Introduces Platform Solutions to Power Marketing and Business Decisions with Purchase Intelligence - “As marketers saw the value of the insights we were able to provide from our flagship offering, Cardlytics Direct, we recognized a significant opportunity to extend the impact of our intelligence platform beyond our native banking channel,” said Lynne Laube, COO and President, Cardlytics. “Cardlytics Platform Solutions utilize purchase intelligence from our partnerships with more than 1,500 financial institutions to make marketing more relevant and measurable.”
• Spreedly Raises $3 Million in Equity Financing - "Spreedly's Software-as-as-Service (SaaS) platform lets customers securely store credit cards and returns a universal credit card token that can be used to transact against any of the payment gateways and third-party APIs that Spreedly supports."
• LaunchKey Next-Generation Authentication Selected by MasterCard and Silicon Valley Bank - "We're pleased to welcome LaunchKey into the fourth class of Commerce.Innovated.," said Reetika Grewal, head of Silicon Valley Bank's payments strategy. "LaunchKey aims to drive important advancements to the authentication space. We are excited to work side by side with them and share our knowledge and networks to help them develop the infrastructure and operations that they need to accelerate their growth."
• In US, Gen Z Leads in Use, Trust of Mobile Payment Systems – GfK Study - "A new GfK study shows that, in the US, Generation Z (ages 18 to 24) is twice as likely to make a mobile payment as the total population; smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices account for just 3% of all transactions in the US – but 7% among Gen Z."

GLENBROOK PAYMENTS EDUCATION EVENTS

Our next Glenbrook payments education events are coming up in early April - both in New York City - we hope to see you there!

• Payments Boot Camp - April 5-6
• Insight Workshop - Global Payments - April 7

Bring your colleagues along! Group discounts are available. For more information or to learn about our private workshops conducted at your location, contact Glenbrook's Russ Jones.

UPDATES FROM GLENBROOK

• We're hiring! Passionate about payments? Love solving tough client problems? If that describes you, come join us! Click here to learn more!
• Join our mailing list for updates about Glenbrook events. Follow us on Twitter: @paymentsnews and @paymentsviews

• Click here to share PaymentsNews with a friend

Note: Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners. Throughout the day, as we spot interesting developments, this post is updated. Do you have news to share? Tell us here: gotnews@paymentsnews.com!

ON THE WEB

• ‘In the Eye of a Tornado’: Views on Innovation from China - A16Z Podcast - "No matter how one views Xiaomi — and there are many ways to view it, for better or worse — one thing is clear: It, and other such companies (like WeChat and Alibaba), indicate a broader trend around innovation coming from China."
• Africa’s big banks are betting on fintech startups and bitcoin to beat disruption - Quartz - "You have a headwind from Silicon Valley and Europe blowing into Africa now around the disruption in fintech. The banks are really nervous and they want to get ahead of this..."
• Maybe It’s Time to Look at New Credit Card Offers - New York Times - "Americans tend to be loyal to their credit cards, even as better offers emerge, a new report finds."
• Microsoft runs pilot on linking Skype and Aadhaar - ET Tech - "Technology giant Microsoft today said it has been working on a pilot to link Skype with the Aadhaar database to explore if the identification service can be used on video calls..."
• Feature Friday: Paying With Your Phone - AVC.com (Fred Wilson) - "Which leads me to a feature request for Foursquare. They should start collecting information on their venues’ payment systems. Collecting information on Apple Pay and Android Pay support would be a great start."
• Dwolla is Back, But Focused on Blockchain, Not Bitcoin - CoinDesk - "Ben Milne, Dwolla's founder and CEO, says the company is working closely with startups building solutions for tracking assets on the blockchain."
• Study: How quickly are retailers implementing EMV? - Chain Store Age - "TSG found that the three biggest hurdles slowing EMV implementation are payment processor readiness, gateway readiness, and technical staff resource availability."

ON THE WIRES

• MasterCard Activates Real-Time Intelligence to More Accurately Predict Fraud - “While the industry has relentlessly worked to reduce fraud, some of these efforts have resulted in an increase in transactions being needlessly declined,” said Ajay Bhalla, president of Enterprise Security Solutions, MasterCard. “Nobody likes being falsely accused of something. Our IQ products leverage technology and insights to deliver merchants and consumers a convenient, uninterrupted checkout experience.”
• CFPB Finalizes Policy to Facilitate Consumer-Friendly Innovation - "The new policy establishes a process for companies to apply for a statement from Bureau staff that would reduce regulatory uncertainty for a new product or service that offers the potential for significant consumer-friendly innovation."
• Global Payments Announces Support for Apple Pay in China - “Global Payments is pleased to offer merchants the ability to accept Apple Pay in the important China market,” said Frank T. Young, SVP, Global Product and Innovation. “Our continued commitment to leading payments technology across the globe allows us to be at the forefront in delivering this innovative payments solution to merchants in the markets that we serve.”
• LendingPoint Partners with Cornerstone Community Credit Union to Support Growing Demand from Fair Credit Members - "Part of LendingPoint’s growth strategy is in supporting financial institutions like credit unions with products that benefit from its proprietary scoring model, next-generation technology, quick loan approval process, and focused customer experience."
• Citi Announces Intention to Sell Consumer Businesses in Brazil, Argentina and Colombia - Citi CEO Michael Corbat said, "While our Consumer businesses in Brazil, Argentina and Colombia are of high quality, we have decided to focus our efforts on opportunities with our institutional clients in these countries and throughout the wider region."

GLENBROOK PAYMENTS EDUCATION EVENTS

Here's a quick reminder that we have two of our Glenbrook payments education events coming up later this month - both in Palo Alto, California - we hope to see you there!

• Payments Boot Camp - February 23-24
• Insight Workshop - Blockchain 2.0 - February 25

Bring your colleagues along! Group discounts are available. For more information or to learn about our private workshops conducted at your location, contact Glenbrook's Russ Jones.

EVENTS

• Glenbrook’s Carol Coye Benson will be at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona February 22-25. Let her know if you will be there!

UPDATES FROM GLENBROOK

• We're hiring! Passionate about payments? Love solving tough client problems? If that describes you, come join us! Click here to learn more!
• Join our mailing list for updates about Glenbrook events. Follow us on Twitter: @paymentsnews and @paymentsviews

• Click here to share PaymentsNews with a friend

Note: Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners. Throughout the day, as we spot interesting developments, this post is updated. Do you have news to share? Tell us here: gotnews@paymentsnews.com!

On the Web

• Target in $39.4 million settlement with banks over data breach - Reuters - "Target Corp has agreed to pay $39.4 million to resolve claims by banks and credit unions that said they lost money because of the retailer's late 2013 data breach."
• Analysts Are Mixed on Square’s Prospects - Wall St. Journal - "Analysts have started to weigh in on payments processor Square Inc., and so far, there’s no consensus on the stock’s prospects."
• FreshBooks takes on Square with $30 card reader that connects in-store payments with accountancy software - VentureBeat - "Cloud accounting software company FreshBooks has revealed that it’s entering the mobile-payments space with the launch of a new card reader that lets merchants accept credit card payments through a smartphone."
• Bitcoin versus M-Pesa: Digital payments rumble in the jungle - International Business Times - "On 14 December, a high court in Kenya will come to a preliminary decision in a battle between Bitcoin remittance and payments company BitPesa, which is suing Safaricom, the telecom company which operates M-Pesa."

On the Wires

• Smart Card Alliance White Paper Explores Contactless Payments and the Role of NFC Technology in U.S. EMV Migration - “There is a common misunderstanding across the market that NFC is a method of payment, but in fact it’s a communication technology that can be used with a variety of applications, one of which is payments,” said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance. “NFC is a great companion technology that enables merchants to accept payments from NFC-enabled mobile devices and EMV chip cards enabled for contactless payments. This white paper will help the payments community understand what NFC and EMV really mean to them, and the key considerations for adding support for contactless payments in their EMV implementation.”
• Consumer Spending Expected to Rise This Holiday Season after 2014 Dip - "Spending is expected to be on the rise this holiday season, according to Discover’s annual holiday survey. After an 11 percent drop in expected holiday spending from $1,014 in 2013 to $900 in 2014, consumers plan to spend 3 percent more in 2015. Compared to five years ago, when holiday shoppers planned on spending $730 on average, this year’s anticipated spend of $927 represents a 27 percent increase."
• NAFCU Statement In Response to Report of Proposed $39 Million Target Settlement with Financial Institutions on Data Breach - “Much more needs to be done to make credit unions whole,” Hunt continued. “Member-owned credit unions deserve to be fully compensated.”

Updates from Glenbrook:

• Join our mailing list for updates about Glenbrook events. Follow us on Twitter: @paymentsnews and @paymentsviews

• Click here to share PaymentsNews with a friend

Note: Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners. Throughout the day, as we spot interesting developments, this post is updated. Do you have news to share? Tell us here: gotnews@paymentsnews.com!

On the Web

• The Future of Personal Payments - Medium (Jeremy Allaire) - "Long considered a product and market backwater, given countless product efforts in the West that have largely failed to live up to the hype or potential, p2p payments is now emerging as potentially one of the most valuable pieces of consumer Internet real estate."
• Why Apple Wants to Get Into the Unprofitable World of Payments Between Friends - Bloomberg - "Apple isn’t likely to find a way to profit directly from the feature. Instead, the company will probably use it to increase adoption of Apple Pay in stores."
• Touch ID Is The Gift That Keeps On Giving - ReadWrite - "While some think Apple Pay requires you to open the Apple Wallet (formerly Passbook), find the card, hold it in front of the register, and then authenticate using Touch ID, you don't. All you actually have to do is hold the phone near the register with your finger on the Touch ID "home" button. That's it."
• JCPenney testing store card support for Apple Pay, full rollout due in spring 2016 - MacRumors - "Thus far, Kohl's is the only major retailer that currently allows its store cards to be added to Apple Pay, but both Kohl's and JCPenney have been touted as the two major partners for the feature."

On the Wires

• CO-OP Financial Services to Offer Visa Checkout for Easy, Secure Online Shopping - "“Visa Checkout is a simpler, more secure way for credit union members to pay online almost anywhere in the world,” said Stan Hollen, President/CEO of CO-OP. “Visa Checkout is another advanced digital product that underscores CO-OP’s commitment to helping our credit union clients keep their branded credit cards top of wallet, regardless of what payment services the member may choose.”
• CO-OP Financial Services Offers MasterPass by MasterCard - “CO-OP is committed to partnering with credit unions to help them deploy a digital e-commerce solution that fits the needs of their members,” said Stan Hollen, President/CEO of CO-OP. “MasterPass is an important piece of a comprehensive digital e-commerce strategy, and complements digital wallets such as Apple Pay, Android Pay, Samsung Pay and others.”
• BBC Worldwide Selects Vindicia to Manage Payments for BBC Store - Gene Hoffman, chief executive officer and chairman at Vindicia, said: “Vindicia’s CashBox solution enables audiences to buy BBC content quickly and easily using cash available in their e-wallet, or via other means, such as PayPal or store-bought gift cards.”
• American Express Serve® Expands Largest Free Cash Reload Network1 in U.S. - “We are thrilled to add Dollar General and Rite Aid to our Free Cash Reload network, giving Account holders even more places to add cash at convenient locations in their communities,” said Stefan Happ, Chief Commercial Officer, Enterprise Growth, American Express.

Updates from Glenbrook:

• Join our mailing list for updates about Glenbrook events. Follow us on Twitter: @paymentsnews and @paymentsviews

• Click here to share PaymentsNews with a friend

Note: Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners. Throughout the day, as we spot interesting developments, this post is updated. Do you have news to share? Tell us here: gotnews@paymentsnews.com!

On the Web:

• 5 Reasons India Will Become the World’s Next E-Commerce Giant - Wall St. Journal - "While most people in India are just starting to get online, a look at the recent history of China’s online evolution suggests India may be entering a take-off phase."
• BBVA: Blockchain Tech Could Replace Centralised Finance System - CoinDesk - "Blockchain technology could be used to bypass today's centralised financial infrastructure entirely, according to a report by BBVA Research US."

On the Wires:

• Rite Aid Stores Nationwide to Begin Accepting Mobile Payments August 15 - “Increasingly, consumers are actively seeking out and incorporating mobile technology into many facets of their life, including their shopping and purchasing decisions,” said Ken Martindale, CEO of Rite Aid stores and president of Rite Aid Corporation. “By accepting mobile payments, we’re able to offer Rite Aid customers an easy and convenient checkout process, which we know is important to them.
• Nymi, TD and MasterCard Announce World's First Biometrically Authenticated Wearable Payment Using Your Heartbeat - "The Nymi Band is a secure and continuous wearable authenticator that identifies a user based on their unique heartbeat (or electrocardiogram) through proprietary Nymi technology called HeartID™. Nymi has developed an NFC-enabled prototype of the Nymi Band for these pilots, which is linked to a user's MasterCard."
• Canadian Payments Association Launches Initiatives to Support Modernization of Canada's Payments System - "The Canadian Payments Association (CPA) announced today two key initiatives to support its multi-year project to modernize Canada's core payments infrastructure. The CPA has begun a process to create a shared industry vision for the future of payments, and at the same time, is launching a public consultation on the introduction of a new global payments messaging standard."
• Envestnet to Acquire Yodlee - "Yodlee is the preeminent name for data in financial services today. The core of every financial transaction and every financial decision is data. The Yodlee platform brings together client permissioned financial data and analytics in unique ways to power personalized and dynamic financial apps and generate business insights," said Bill Crager, President of Envestnet.
• Global Card Fraud Losses Reach $16.31 Billion — Will Exceed $35 Billion in 2020 According to The Nilson Report - “Multiple factors contributed to that gap,” said David Robertson, Publisher of The Nilson Report. “Nothing mattered more than the lack of an EMV-compliant infrastructure.”
• Moneris Launches PAYD Product Family Empowering Businesses to Accept Payments Anywhere in the U.S. - “Moneris is pleased to be one of the first to bring an EMV-enabled mPOS solution to the U.S. market,” said Chris Lee, President of North American Strategic Partnerships, Moneris. “PAYD Pro offers the latest security features and payment technology, while providing the convenience of quick and efficient mobile transactions."
• Mobile Payments Start Up PaidEasy Closes $2,000,000 Seed Round of Funding - "With seamless integration into each individual merchants Point of Sale system, PaidEasy gives its users the ability to open, view, split, tip and pay their bills in real-time. PaidEasy will be available at both restaurants and bars to start with plans for other verticals in the hospitality industry for the immediate future."
• Apple Pay™ Now Available to Bellco Members - “Our commitment to our members is to offer them the best, most convenient banking experience possible, and adding Apple Pay is just one more way we are working to live up to that commitment,” said Doug Ferraro, CEO of Bellco Credit Union. “Not only is Apple Pay simple and convenient, but it also adds a layer of privacy and security to making digital or in-store payments.”

Glenbrook's 2015 Payments Education

• Our next Payments Boot Camp session is scheduled for October 13-14 in Palo Alto, California followed by a one-day Insight Workshop on October 15 on the topic of Global Payments.

  We will also be teaching the Payments Boot Camp in New York City on October 20-21 followed by a one-day Insight Workshop on October 22 on the topic of Virtual Currencies and Bitcoin.

• If you have questions about our payments education program, please contact Carol Coye Benson for more information.

Updates from Glenbrook:

• Join our mailing list for updates about Glenbrook events. Follow us on Twitter: @paymentsnews and @paymentsviews

• Click here to share PaymentsNews with a friend

Note: Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners. Throughout the day, as we spot interesting developments, this post is updated. Do you have news to share? Tell us here: gotnews@paymentsnews.com!

On the Web:

• Cash is dying in the developing world - Wired UK - "M-Pesa in Kenya is the mobile banking service that everyone knows, but in fact these days there are 261 different services across the world and they enable in total around 480 million transactions per month."

• No One Is Winning the Battle for Digital Wallet Customers - Gallup - "Though Apple is trying to change this trend with Apple Pay, Gallup analysis shows enthusiasm for digital wallets is still low. Only 13% of U.S. adults with a smartphone have a digital wallet on their device, and 76% of those who have a digital wallet have never used it or have almost never used it to make a purchase from a retailer in the past 30 days."
  
  

On the Wires:

• MasterCard Makes Apple Pay a Priceless Player in the Lineup for the 2015 MLB All-Star Game Presented by T-Mobile in Cincinnati - "MasterCard cardholders who use Apple Pay at contactless merchandise and concession acceptance locations at the T-Mobile All-Star FanFest taking place July 10th through July 14th or in-stadium at Great American Ball Park from July 12th through July 14th could get a little something extra – from All-Star branded premiums, autographed memorabilia to prepaid cards and more."

• CU Wallet, Relevant Solutions Partner to Integrate Location-Based Retail Offers with Mobile Payments Platform - “Mobile wallets that simply position themselves as a mobile payment solution will struggle to gain user adoption and usage,” said James Peil, CEO of Relevant Solutions. “By integrating relevant, location-based promotions and offers, CU Wallet has further positioned credit unions for success in the mobile payments market. Providing content that engages members before, during and after their in-store shopping experience helps credit unions win the battle for app mindshare at the point-of-sale.”

Glenbrook's 2015 Payments Education

• Our next Payments Boot Camp session is scheduled for August 4-5 in Mountain View, California followed by a one-day Insight Workshop on August 6 on the topic of Data in Payments.

• If you have questions about our payments education program, please contact Carol Coye Benson for more information.

• Click here to share PaymentsNews with a friend

Updates from Glenbrook:

• Join our mailing list for updates about Glenbrook events.
  Follow us on Twitter: @paymentsnews and @paymentsviews

On the Web: Building a Safer Payment System - Speech by Federal Reserve Governor Jerome H. Powell - "Each of us has an important role to play in building a safer payment system. Given the payment system's complexity, it's important to keep in mind that we all need to work together when we innovate, prevent, plan, and educate." Turmoil in Payments - Filene Blog - "To paint a picture of the shifting landscape, Filene completed more than two-dozen expert interviews, conducted a survey to gauge credit unions’ challenges around payments and what they’re doing about them, and examined existing literature."...

On the Web:

• New Circle Investors, New US Dollar Account Features, China Horizons - Circle Blog - "Today we announced a major step forward in the execution of our vision and product strategy. We've closed a new $50 million strategic investment round co-led by Goldman Sachs and IDG Capital Partners."

• This Digital Wallet Could Finally Get You Into Bitcoin - "In other words, the Circle wallet will soon work just like Venmo or any other money-transfer app, except it also works seamlessly with bitcoin, so you can handle your money in the form you value the most."

• Capital One exec predicts mass shift to Apple Pay this year - Mobile Commerce Daily - “I really believe we’re going to have this mass shift over to contactless payments,” Mr. Moreton said. “What you see is this huge change over a relatively short period of time.”

• In Code We Trust - New York Times Magazine - "One way to understand this chaos is to see that power is shifting. The authority to create, move and define money — once confined to central banks and treasury departments — is being dispersed to an odd mix of entrepreneurs, libertarian hackers and old-line banking institutions."

• Financial Giants Set Up Tech Hubs in Manhattan - Wall St. Journal - "MasterCard is one of several big-name financial services firms that are opting to set up tech divisions in prime Manhattan real-estate markets outside of their headquarters because many increasingly see themselves more as technology companies."

• Online hackathon seeks to build solutions using Aadhaar app interface - Business Standard - "AngelPrime, a seed-stage venture capital fund based in Bengaluru, and Nasscom, in collaboration with UIDAI, will host the first of its kind online 'Aadhaar Application Hackathon' in June this year. The hackathon aims to encourage and promote the development of applications using the Aadhaar application programme interfaces (APIs)."

• Bitcoin Could Impact Credit Unions, Report Says - CoinDesk - "...we could see the proliferation of a host of new financial services backed by bitcoin, many of which are directly associated with the core businesses of credit unions today."

On the Wires:

• Visa Inc. Reports Fiscal Second Quarter 2015 Net Income of $1.6 billion or $0.63 per Diluted Share - “Visa reported another solid quarter of financial results against the continued backdrop of a tepid global economy. While the negative impacts from the strengthening of the U.S. dollar and lower gasoline prices continued to exert pressure on revenue growth, our results and volume trends have remained strong,” said Charlie Scharf, Chief Executive Officer of Visa Inc.

• Visa Expands Global Technology Research; Hires Senior Scientist to Lead Visa Research Labs - “Digital commerce is rapidly evolving due to the introduction of new technologies. As the world becomes more connected, every device, car, or appliance becomes a place where secure digital commerce can take place,” said Rajat Taneja, Executive Vice President, Technology, Visa Inc. “I am excited to expand our technology research efforts and have Min lead Visa Research Labs. This effort has the potential to shape the way we pay and get paid in the future, and transform the lives of millions of unbanked consumers by finally providing them with access to secure digital commerce.”

• MasterCard Named Exclusive Card Processor by Green Dot Bank - Green Dot Chief Operating Officer, Kuan Archer said, "Our processing technology team has been working closely with MasterCard for the past 15 months on the integration of our two technology platforms. While certainly this project has required a significant amount of time and effort, we believe the ultimate end-state of having the most state-of-the-art, high-scale processing platform underpinning our current and future suite of modern banking products and mobile solutions will pay off in terms of our ability to create new, innovative products and services."

• Visa: Payments Industry Moves to Help Simplify Chip Card Acceptance - "The Payments Security Task Force today joined with the PCI Security Standards Council and the EMV Migration Forum to launch a chip education curriculum and “pre-qualification” program to help streamline and simplify the EMV testing and certification process for Value Added Resellers (VARs) and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs). ... To learn more about the educational efforts, visit
  http://www.emv-connection.com/chip-education-for-vars-isvs-and-merchants/
  

• Stratos Card Begins Shipping In April - "Stratos Card combines credit, debit, membership, gift and other magnetic stripe cards in one digital Bluetooth card."

Glenbrook's 2015 Payments Education

• Our next spring Payments Boot Camp session is scheduled for May 19-20 in Menlo Park, California followed by a one-day Insight Workshop on May 21 on the topic of The New Point of Sale.

• If you have questions about our payments education program, please contact Carol Coye Benson for more information.

• Click here to share PaymentsNews with a friend

Updates from Glenbrook:

• Join our mailing list for updates about Glenbrook events.
  Follow us on Twitter: @paymentsnews and @paymentsviews

On the Web:

• PoF 13 – Lexis Nexis Risk Solutions on Mobile Fraud - PaymentsViews.com (Aaron Press) - "Aaron Press of Lexis Nexis Risk Solutions joins Glenbrook’s George Peabody for a discussion on mobile fraud trends based on the firm’s True Cost of Fraud mCommerce report."
• Surprise! Apple Pay Gets More Free Publicity — This Time From American Express and Seinfeld - Re/code.net - "Why are all these financial services companies spending millions on building awareness for an Apple service, without Apple spending a dime on those ads? Because Apple chose to play ball with the traditional payment ecosystem when it introduced Apple Pay..."
• Anthem Breach May Have Started in April 2014 - Krebs on Security - "Analysis of open source information on the cybercriminal infrastructure likely used to siphon 80 million Social Security numbers and other sensitive data from health insurance giant Anthem suggests the attackers may have first gained a foothold in April 2014..."
• The Future Of Mobile Wallets Lies Beyond Payments - Forrester (Thomas Husson) - "Offering faster or more-secure payments is not enough; wallet providers will have to solve real pain points, such as giving consumers the ability to see what’s on stored value cards at any moment in time, access loyalty points, or automatically receive digital copies of payment receipts."
• Kenya’s BitPesa Raises $1.1 Million, Expands Operations - WSJ BitBeat - "The company now has a staff of nine full-time employees, and has expanded its services beyond the remittance business."
• Cashless ecosystem: National Payment Corporation building platform for payment mechanisms - Economic Times - "The National Payment Corporation of India, an organisation for all retail payments supported by India's largest banks, is building a single interface platform for all transactions."
• Why 2015 will not be the tipping point for mobile payments - Mobile Commerce Daily - “While mobile will not displace traditional means of tender for many years, I see 2015 as the year the foundation for mobile payments begins to move into place, setting the scene for future growth.”
• How Apple’s iOS 8 changes the game for brands and retailers - Mobile Commerce Daily - "Many of these changes represent new opportunities to delight and engage your users, but others, if ignored, could disrupt a marketer’s ability to deliver pushes or power application features based on location."
• Kenya and the digital service revolution Australia is still waiting for - The Mandarin - "Pointing to the transformative impact that M-Pesa had in Kenya, Johnson says it’s an example of how when there’s an urgent need or call to action, and you don’t have legacy environments, amazing things can be done."

On the Wires:

• The J.G. Wentworth Company™ Has Joined Forces with Visa Inc. to Enter into the Prepaid Category “We are excited J.G. Wentworth has chosen to enter the prepaid category with Visa,” said Cecilia Frew, head of US Prepaid, Visa. “The J.G. Wentworth leadership team has a history of working with Visa on innovative, large prepaid programs and we look forward to leveraging the J.G. Wentworth and Visa brands to achieve excellence in the category.”
• Co-Op Relaunches Co-Op Mobile With Real-Time, P2P Payments - "Originally introduced in February 2009, CO-OP Mobile is being reintroduced to take advantage of CO-OP's new person-to-person payments network called RealPay by CO-OP, incorporating the FIS PayNet platform."
• Merchant Risk Council Elects Leading Online Retailer to Chairman of the Board - "The MRC, leading association for professionals within ecommerce payments and fraud, announced today that Pete Pouridis, vice president, loss prevention of The Neiman Marcus Group has been appointed to Chairman of MRC’s Global Board of Directors."
• TurboTax Resumes E-filing for States - "The resumption comes after the company temporarily paused transmissions upon seeing an increase in suspicious filings and attempts by criminals to use stolen identity information to file fraudulent state tax returns and claim tax refunds."

Glenbrook's 2015 Payments Education Schedule Now Available!

• Our payments education schedule for this year is now available. Our spring Payments Boot Camp sessions begin in Menlo Park, CA on March 3-4 followed by New York City on April 14-15. We're also holding two one-day Insight Workshops this spring - B2B Payments on March 5 in Menlo Park and Payments for the Unbanked on April 16 in New York City.
• If you have questions about our payments education program, please contact Carol Coye Benson for more information.
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Updates from Glenbrook:

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