Expanding your Margin in the Midst of Regulatory Chaos

Nobody can dispute that the payments and banking industry faces a mountain of regulations and initiatives.  How the industry players strategically tackle these challenges is very much open for discussion.  Financial institutions are facing increasing levels of regulation that often put 30 to 50 percent of EBITDA at stake.

How to Expand Market Share and Start Improving Margin

Despite my headline, this is not a post about a get-rich-quick scheme!  Rather, this is rallying cry for the industry to start doing some outside-in thinking. The term “outside-in thinking” sounds very much like consulting talk, but it is a simple mind set to think like your customer.

Sibos Wrap-Up…Lessons from the Middle East with Paul Thomalla

Off the heels of a Sibos panel with leading Middle Eastern banks Al Jazira Bank and Bank Al Rajhi, Paul Thomalla, ACI’s managing director of EMEA operations, discusses how the Middle East is an incubator for innovation in payments.

The Buzz On…An Enterprise Payments Approach – Part 1

Craig Ramsey, ACI's Transaction Banking Solutions Lead for EMEA, discusses the benefits of an enterprise payments approach, direct from Sibos 2013.

The Buzz On…ISO 20022/MX Regulations

ISO 20022/MX was updated in May 2013 with eight parts featuring more definitions and business models for payments providers to follow. Hear from ACI’s Tony Smith, Sr Principal Solution Consultant, direct from Sibos 2013, on the benefits and challenges of adopting this standard.

Wire Fraud: New Threats & Old

Several articles have surfaced online this past week related to payment fraud activity tied to distributed denial of service (DDOS) and wire fraud.  While the goal of DDoS attacks has primarily rested on taking down banking websites and causing customer access issues and inconvenience, a more sinister byproduct is being introduced to this method of disruption.

A Tale of Two Sides – Merchants Rejoice, Issuers Despair

Judge Leon presiding over the retailer debit interchange lawsuit continued his aggressive stance against the Federal Reserve today (August 14th).

The Biggest Opportunity for Banks May Still Be in their Customer’s Pocket

It is without question that mobile banking is quickly becoming the primary channel of interaction with banks for  a growing portion of the population.

Durbin ruling: Are Retailers Prepared to Take on Newfound Control over their Payment Routing?

Most of the industry is concerned with the interchange element of the ruling...who will or will not benefit from the interchange reduction.

The Latest Durbin Ruling: What Does it Mean for Debit Card Issuers?

Since last week, we have been discussing the recent announcements by Judge Richard Leon striking down the rules imposed by the Federal Reserve which severely impact the way debit card portfolios are managed.

Three Important Trends to Watch in Retail Payments

I don’t think I will be giving any corporate secrets away to say that we engage in strategic planning on an ongoing basis.  As part of this exercise, is a quarterly look at the trends impacting our industry.  Having been involved with trends in all of our markets in the last few years, this quarter I took a deeper dive into retail payments.  Below you will find three trends which I have noticed in the marketplace which will significantly impact the payments space.  All three indicate that the industry will continue its forward momentum.

Two Important Lessons from the ACI Exchange Customer Event: Fraud and Mobile

Surveys are intended to get a read on popular opinion, trends, and consumer or industry perspective based on local, regional or global feedback.  If you place stock in the data, you get a heightened view or perspective from a group of individuals.