February, 2020

• 1 February

  Options for EMV at the Pump

  

  The deadline for converting gas stations to EMV is fast approaching, and this time there won’t be an extension. What to do? EMV payments are coming to a pump near you, and gas stations need to get ready to accept them or face financial consequences. A majority of the world …

January, 2020

• 1 January

  What’s in Your Wallet?

  

  Are digital wallets prepaid accounts? A federal regulator says yes. PayPal just said no. Much is riding on who’s right. Time was, it was pretty clear how to tell a prepaid account. Almost always, it consisted of an account held by a bank or merchant and funded by somebody who …

November, 2019

• 1 November

  Europe’s All-Embracing Data Regulations

  

  Payments companies that handle consumer data in Europe are becoming quite familiar with the General Data Protection Regulation and the Secure Customer Authentication rules. Think you’re immune because you’re a U.S. company? Think again. If you’re one of the 500-million-plus consumers in the European Union, you might be proud that …

October, 2019

• 1 October

  The Digital Revolution Comes to Remittances

  

  Western Union, MoneyGram, and Ria have ruled the money-transfer landscape for decades. Now they are challenged by a slew of digital-first upstarts. Does the old guard have what it takes to stay ahead of the competition? From mobile wallets and person-to-person payments to cryptocurrencies and blockchain ledgers, digital disrupters are …

July, 2019

• 1 July

  How the Twitter Guy Changed Payments

  

  It’s been almost a decade since Square piled into the merchant-acquiring industry. How much disruption did this upstart cause? It’s late April of 2010 at automated clearing house governing body NACHA’s annual conference in the Seattle convention center. On stage before an audience of 2,000 bankers and other mostly buttoned-down …

March, 2019

• 1 March

  So Many Irons in the Fire

  

  PayPal’s octopus-like strategy covers everything from P2P payments, bill pay, and the point of sale to parting ways with eBay. Can Schulman and Co. keep all the balls in the air? PayPal Holdings Inc. president and chief executive Dan Schulman can’t be accused of making small plans. “We aspire to …

September, 2018

• 30 September

  How to Tell Which Next-Great-Thing Will Be the Next Great Thing

  

  Separating probable success from probable failure, in four handy rules. Every October, the payments hype machine goes wild. A variety of next-great-things are about to dominate headlines and conference agendas. Most will die off quickly, so here are four rules you can use to focus in the right places: Talk …

June, 2018

• 29 June

  Cross Currents in Loyalty

  

  Merchants are asserting more control over their rewards programs, and everyone in the loyalty chain is trying to figure out what works best in a fast-changing market. If you’re in the market for mixed signals, rewards programs are sending out plenty of them. Some big merchants such as Target Corp. …

April, 2018

• 2 April

  Universal Cards 2.0

  

  Will additional embedded features in the new universal cards move them ahead in the age of digital wallets? People may have to forget the failures of the earlier generation first. Getting consumers to carry more than one credit or debit card has been the goal of most issuers for the …
• 2 April

  Who’s Afraid of Cryptocurrencies?

  

  Can any of the largest crypto coins evolve into an everyday payment instrument? Here’s what it will take to make that happen. One year ago, there were two digital currencies whose total coins in circulation were worth more than $1 billion. They were Bitcoin, at $19 billion, and Ethereum, at …