Customers of HSBC in Wales may soon be able to ask for a loan in their native language after the global bank announced that it was offering Welsh lessons to branch staff in the country. More than 50 branch staff have volunteered to take lessons in the language, including online instruction and live tutorials with fluent Welsh-speakers. The 45 surviving HSBC branches […]
In this September round up of retail payments, as restrictions continue to ease, we see the impact on the volume and value of payments processed in the UK. Note: All data is publicly sourced and is the latest available: Pay.UK August 2021, Link September 2021 and UK Finance June 2021. Source: Pay.UK Limited Bacs Direct Debit and Direct Credit In […]
An insightful and timely Point of View on the challenges of renewing the UK’s payments infrastructure by Phil Kenworthy, Director of Payment Systems Consultancy Ltd, and previously a CEO of CHAPS Scheme and a member of the Access to Cash Review. In July 2016, the U.K. Payment Strategy Forum (under the umbrella of the Payment Systems Regulator) published its draft […]
Weekly ATM value and volume figures 19 September 2021. Key observations for the week ending 19 September 2021: Last week the volume of ATM transactions decreased by 1% when compared to the previous week in 2021. Last week the volume of ATM transactions decreased by 3% when compared to the equivalent week in 2020. Last week the volume of ATM […]
Direct Debits were created in 1964 to make collecting payments from ice cream vendors easier. Given the state of technology and UK roads (there was only one motorway!), considerable time was required to shuttle paper between processing centres, hence the 3-day processing cycle, which over 50 years later still persists. A guest blog by Lee McNabb, Head of Strategy and Research, […]
LINK is the UK’s cash machine (ATM) network and the busiest ATM transaction switch in the world. Effectively every cash machine in the UK is connected to LINK, and LINK is the only way banks and building societies can offer their customers access to cash across the whole of the UK. All the UK’s main debit and ATM card issuers […]
Weekly ATM value and volume figures 12 September 2021. Key observations for the week ending 12 September 2021: Last week the volume of ATM transactions decreased by 2% when compared to the previous week in 2021. Last week the volume of ATM transactions decreased by 2% when compared to the equivalent week in 2020. Last week the volume of ATM […]
The PSR has been consulting on a new proposed five year strategy – views were required to be submitted by the 10 September 2021 and the PSR propose to use the feedback received to finalise their strategic approach and ensure that they focus on the right outcomes and, ultimately, publish a strategy that is balanced and credible in the eyes […]
Ex-Ripple and Visa executives unveil global retail micropayments network for Web 3.0 pingNpay, a global micropayment network backed by blockchain technology, has announced that it will make its network operational next year. The start-up plans to create a new category of high frequency, low value payments (below $20 per transaction) aimed at unlocking new digital retail services which will be at […]
Before exiting the house, most of us today reach of our wallet, keys, and mobile phone. Strange to think there was life without mobile phones in the 1980’s. Stranger still, that Britain’s first mobile phone call was allegedly made across the Vodafone network on 1 January 1985 by veteran comedian Ernie Wise. A guest blog by Ian Tomlin at Answer Pay. […]
Weekly ATM value and volume figures 5 September 2021. Key observations for the week ending 5 September 2021: Last week the volume of ATM transactions decreased by 3% when compared to the previous week in 2021. Last week the volume of ATM transactions decreased by 1% when compared to the equivalent week in 2020. Last week the volume of ATM […]
Bank accounts for kids has come up, time and time again over the years. Nigel Walsh has looked at them with interest in the past, but never had the need to make a decison – until now…. We are pleased to feature this Guest Blog by Nigel Walsh Long gone are piggy banks, the regular race around the house over […]
Variable Recurring Payments (VRPs) are one of the latest ideas in open banking, some say that they might rival Direct Debits. Open Future World, Ozone and UK Finance have decided to host the world’s first open banking Hackathon, with sponsorship from Accenture, Mastercard, VOLT and Worldpay from FIS. The hackathon will focus on financial institutions can use open banking to implement variable […]
In issue 5 of our New Payments Architecture Unpacked newsletter we shared nine takeaways from the Payment Systems Regulator’s (PSR) decision on lowering the risks to delivery of the New Payments Architecture but have you ever thought about how the PSR compels the scheme operators to act? Regulatory Tools The PSR has a number of regulatory tools including legislation, rules issued by […]
In this thought piece Nick Raper at Nuapay asks how can Open Banking make Direct Debits more secure? As well told in a previous blog by Mike here, Direct Debits first emerged back in 1968, when a Unilever employee invented a solution to the problem of collecting variable payments from thousands of ice-cream sellers. The employee, Alastair Hanton, did this by obtaining […]
Weekly ATM value and volume figures 29 August 2021. Key observations for the week ending 29 August 2021: Last week the volume of ATM transactions increased by 7% when compared to the previous week in 2021. Last week the volume of ATM transactions decreased by 1% when compared to the equivalent week in 2020. Last week the volume of ATM […]
