Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
Michael D. Capellas, the former Compaq Computer Corp. and MCI chief executive who became chairman and chief executive at First Data Corp. in September 2007 when private-equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. took the huge processor private, is taking a new position at KKR. Replacing him as chairman and …
Read More »In Prepaid, Issuers And Networks Will See Fastest Revenue Growth
The continuing boom in general-purpose prepaid cards will lift all providers' boats, but some industry players will see revenues grow faster than others, according to new report from Aite Group LLC. The Boston-based research firm estimates that the total revenue pie of the so-called network-branded prepaid card industry will grow …
Read More »Reload Capability Eludes Consumers Despite Prepaid’s Popularity
The concept of the reloadable general-purpose prepaid card is a familiar one to those who work in the prepaid card industry, but it hasn't caught on with the general public, according to findings from Mercator Advisory Group Inc. A Mercator survey of 1,012 adults last May and June found that …
Read More »Prepaid Card Mall Pioneer Blackhawk Moves into Online, B2B
Less than a decade after launching its first gift card mall, the Blackhawk Network Inc. is looking for new frontiers of prepaid card growth in the online world and the business-to-business market. “I think we've learned a few things on how to serve the customer better,” Teri Llach, chief marketing …
Read More »Opportunity Comes With Risk for Public-Sector Prepaid Cards
Government represents one of the biggest opportunities out there for prepaid card issuers and processors, but the market is fraught with pricing, operational, and other hurdles, according to executives who work with the public sector. About $65 billion currently is loaded onto prepaid card programs for federal and state benefits …
Read More »Consumers Favor Debit Cards, But Prepaid Cards Lag Far Behind
While electronic payment methods continue to gain ground against paper-based payments, consumers show widely varying attitudes toward specific types of electronic methods, according to a recently released report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. The paper, which the Boston Fed published last month and is based on a representative …
Read More »Eye on Prepaid: Facebook, Western Union, And Green Dot
Prepaid card processors paired up with partners ranging from Facebook to Western Union to the MoneyPass surcharge-free ATM network in deals this week that expand the processors' distribution channels and transaction sources. In a cutting-edge deal that further opens up an Internet parallel to gift card giving, grocery chain Safeway …
Read More »The Latest Forecast Is Especially Sunny for Prepaid Cards
Credit card charge volumes have fallen this year and debit card volumes, while still in positive territory, are running far below the growth rates they enjoyed before the recession hit. But prepaid cards remain the one bright spot, according to a new market analysis from Mercator Advisory Group Inc. Maynard, …
Read More »RBS WorldPay Indictment Outlines Sophisticated Hacker Coordination
An indictment handed down on Tuesday against a gang of hackers in the RBS WorldPay Inc. case sheds more light on the sophistication and intricate coordination with which criminal groups worldwide are attacking payment processors, particularly those in the U.S. More than a year after cybercriminals broke into the computer …
Read More »Seeking to Boost Transactions, Star Debuts Prepaid Reloads
Just three weeks after its parent company struck a novel deal with PayPal Inc., The Star Network pushed the boundaries of PIN-debit a bit further by unveiling a prepaid card reload service for ATMs and point-of-sale locations. Star, a unit of Atlanta-based processor First Data Corp., claims its load and …
Read More »