Gideon Samid • Gideon@AGSgo.com       Protests against the so-called tyranny of the 1% can take several forms. One such form is the Occupy Wall Street movement, with its deep-seated distrust of banks and corporate bailouts. But while OWS may get the headlines, cyber-enthusiasts have found their own …

  By Lauri Giesen   Now that the Durbin rates are in place for debit cards, questions are swirling about debit’s growth prospects, the fate of PIN debit and of the small-ticket market, and the implications for prepaid cards.       Imagine a world where banks try to get …

  By Peter Lucas   As check volume dwindles, processors and banks are scrambling to find new ways to leverage the fixed costs of their check-image archives.       It’s no secret that paper-check volume is in steady decline. Thanks to the growing popularity of electronic payments, the number …

  By Steve Mott   Scratch most of the proposed or existing wallets, and you’ll find the same payments infrastructure everyone is trying to move beyond. What’s needed is an alternative that benefits consumers and merchants as much as it does banks, networks, and carriers.       The rising …

  Discover can point to some major triumphs since it was launched by Sears a quarter-century ago, not least its success in taking on Visa and MasterCard. But a fast-changing payments landscape offers no assurance of future success. Discover’s plan: It pays to network.   By Jim Daly     …

  By Karen Epper Hoffman   Disbursing government benefits via prepaid cards has become an increasingly popular outlet for public agencies seeking operational efficiency and banks hoping to find new avenues to revenue and client retention.       For the beneficiaries of government benefits, “getting carded” is arguably a …

  By Debbie Smart   Banks have struggled with finding ways to offer mobile services to business owners profitably. But if offered the right mix of payment services, small businesses will pay for value.       According to Forrester Research, since 2007, the use of mobile banking applications has …

  n Online sales for the year will reach $309 billion, up 16% from $266 billion in 2010, according to the report. That volume will grow to $346 billion next year and $444 billion 2016, the report forecasts. General-purpose credit cards will capture 40% of online spending in 2011 and …

  Only a handful of the nation’s 13,000 financial institutions today offer remote deposit capture to consumers, but, riding the wave of smart-phone popularity, the number is poised to mushroom, according to new research findings from Celent LLC, Boston. Some 66% of 187 banks and credit unions Celent surveyed in …

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