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Gift cards sales in 2014 will top $124 billion in the United States, but that comes amid slowing growth, says a new report from CEB TowerGroup. The Arlington, Va.-based advisory firm predicts that gift card sales will see annual growth rates from 5% to 6% through 2017, an indication …
Read More »Digital River’s Stock Craters on Fears of the Company Losing Microsoft’s Online Store
Gateway and e-commerce services provider Digital River Inc. on Monday joined some other payments companies that have experienced the wrath, or panic, of investors on news that their relationship with their largest customer was threatened. Shares of Minnetonka, Minn.-based Digital River plunged 22.7%, falling $5.80 to close at $19.71, after …
Read More »CFPB Rules May Aid Larger Prepaid Card Issuers: Report
The 870-page tome of proposed rules issued Nov. 13 by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to govern prepaid cards may end up benefitting the top prepaid card issuers, says securities-rating agency Fitch Ratings. The regulations would require so-called “Know Before You Owe” disclosures and aim to improve consumers’ access to account …
Read More »Gift Cards Top Holiday Wish Lists, With Total Spending Estimated at $31.74 Billion
Consumers want gift cards this holiday season, but are reluctant to ask for them, finds a survey from CashStar Inc., a Portland, Maine-based company that specializes in e-coupons and digital gift cards. Meanwhile the National Retail Federation forecasts that consumers will spend $31.74 billion on gift cards this holiday …
Read More »Major Prepaid Card Providers Give a Polite Response to the CFPB’s Proposed Regs
Some of the nation’s largest prepaid card companies are either giving a public thumbs up to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposed regulations for prepaid card accounts or at least not saying they’re spoiling for a fight with the federal government. Steve Streit, chairman and chief executive of Pasadena, Calif.-based …
Read More »PayPal Turns to InComm To Boost Digital Gift Card Presence
PayPal Inc. will use electronic gift card services from InComm Holdings Inc., a move that will enable PayPal to expand the number of retailers’ gift cards that it sells on the PayPal Digital Gifts store and in the eBay marketplace. PayPal, a unit of San Jose, Calif.-based eBay Inc., …
Read More »The CFPB Proposes Strong Federal Protections for Prepaid Card Accounts
By Jim Daly The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday unveiled proposed regulations for prepaid accounts that for the first time would bring to prepaid cards many of the federal protections that currently apply only to credit and debit cards. The CFPB’s plan would limit consumers’ losses when funds are …
Read More »Settle Into the Easy Chair To Read the CFPB’s 870 Pages of Prepaid Card Rules
If you want to print out the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposed prepaid card regulations, think again. They run 870 pages in PDF form, so you’ll need almost two reams of paper and plenty of ink. The regulations unveiled Thursday would require so-called “Know Before You Owe” disclosures and aim to …
Read More »MCX’s InComm Deal Might Give Currency To the Idea That Its Network Is Building Momentum
Prepaid card services provider InComm Holdings Inc. announced today that it has struck a “strategic partnership” with Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX), parent firm of the fledgling mobile-payments network owned by merchants and recently branded as CurrentC. But exactly what the partnership will do for the long-aborning MCX is not clear. …
Read More »Capital Prepaid Looks to Extend Prepaid Program Management to Scores of Small Issuers
The general-purpose prepaid card market is hot, but most smaller financial institutions find it a daunting task to start and run a prepaid program. To fill that gap, Capital Prepaid Services on Monday launched a prepaid Visa card with two small banks as part of a campaign to make prepaid …
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