What Rihanna Can Teach Us About a Decade of UK Faster Payments

The end of this month marks 10 years since Rihanna’s single, Take a Bow, reached number 1 in the UK singles charts.

Although I know a little about Barbados, I am only an amateur student of the popular Bajan singer’s lyrics. But I cannot help feeling her song reads like a commentary of the cataclysmic world of banking in 2008; “That was quite a show, but now it’s time to go,” and “You look so dumb trying to apologize… I know you’re only sorry you got caught,” or “it’s over now, go on take a bow.”

Setting the Table for Success in the New World of Merchant Payments

Once upon a time, not so very long ago, creating a payments journey for your customers was as simple as calling your bank, choosing from one of two (maybe three) terminal types that would enable your business to accept mag stripe cards. And then perhaps deciding whether to offer your customers American Express acceptance.

How things have changed!

The Age of Consent – Who Owns “Big Data”?

The EU General Data Protection Regulation will enter in force at the end of this week, and there can be very few businesses today that are not scrabbling to meet compliance objectives.

GDPR sets out rights of citizens and consumers as owners of their own personal data, meaning that data can only be processed by a company if the data subject has given consent to the processing of his or her personal data for specific purposes, or if that data is essential to fulfil the service contracted by the data subject. So far, so good. Arguably many companies will alter existing customer agreements in search of compliance.

Slam the Brakes on Gas Pump Fraud and Rental Car Scams This Memorial Day Weekend

The process of secretly reading data off credit and debit cards (aka skimming) could be netting criminals as much as $3 billion a year in the US, according to Bankinfosecurity.com.

As we look forward to Memorial Day weekend here in the U.S., travelers are getting ready for road trips to their favorite destinations. Whether it’s a beach party in Miami, snorkeling in Catalina Island, or even a staycation, payments – and more specifically, payment fraud – is a huge consideration for travelers, especially during the holiday weekend. I sat down with one of our payments fraud experts, Seth Ruden, to talk about what travelers must look out for regarding payment fraud and how they can keep their money safe. Here’s what he told me.

Gen Z: A Day In The (Payments) Life

There has been an immense focus placed on the ‘Millennial’ generation, and for good reason, as they have become a driving force in the future of payments. This generation looks to technology to solve their payments needs—and it’s all about the factors of convenience, speed and flexibility. And as a college student, my typical daily ‘payments routines’ reflect these factors. With that, I wanted to share a snapshot, which I think demonstrates how my own demographic is influencing the payments industry.

Payments Fraud and Friction: A Delicate Dance

One of the biggest challenges for retailers, at least when it comes to payment acceptance, is the need to provide a frictionless customer experience that does not come at the cost of customer security. Additionally, retaining a competitive and distinctive edge requires flexibility across markets and segments.

Cutting the Cost and Complexity of Merchant Payments – But Not the Customer Experience

New research from ACI and Ovum, released this week, highlights that many merchants in 2018 are investing in creating operational efficiencies in their payments systems. But the question is, as they strive to simplify systems and cut costs, will customer experience suffer?

Cash... Almost As Good As Money! (The Story of Two Americans in London)

Mark, although we were both recently in London, shockingly, our paths didn’t cross—the city was bustling as the Commonwealth leaders had all descended upon the British capital, which was also readying for its annual Marathon. You were there for work (cooped up in conference rooms) while I was there for fun (and the surprisingly fantastic weather made my trip that much more enjoyable). So enjoyable in fact that I’d rate my trip a 9.7 out of 10, a rarity these days. The reason for the 0.3 demerits? A frustrating taxi experience!

Despite the Hype, Machine Learning, Models, Behavioral Profiling and the Customer Experience are Still Fundamental

Think about the last time you got a fraud decline. Where were you? In the grocery store? Buying airline tickets? On holiday? Shopping in the same place you’ve been a dozen times, but across the border? How frustrating was that, what did it do to your perspective, your mood, your confidence in your financial institution? This can be embarrassing and inconvenient, stressful and alarming for the consumer. There are few things that can be more disruptive in our day-to-day lives then the lack of access to your funds, or the care taken by your financial institution after a fraud occurs. According to ACI’s Global Consumer Fraud Survey, 20% of people may decide this is too much and move along to another financial institution.

APIs and Cash Management (Harnessing the Hammer, Part 2)

In my last blog post, we talked about the hammer and the nail; the hammer in this case being open APIs, and the nail being the market need to adapt to changes in customer behavior and expectations from our commercial market. We laid out why the US is in a different position when it comes to open APIs—it has to do entirely with the regulatory environment, which is allowing us to start with the largest revenue opportunity first. Finally, we challenged you, the reader, on how you can begin on your journey. And that is where we are going to pick things up. What steps can you take today, and what use cases can you explore as we start getting our hands dirty?