Can green Fintech’s save the planet? In the latest edition of #fincuts Tanya Thourani asks: How cool is it if your card doesn't just buy things but fights climate change? How cool is it if Fintechs could convert pounds into kilograms of carbon emitted?Can you tell which is killing more turtles: the plastic straw or your friend’s flight from... Continue Reading →
Visa report one billion additional touch-free Visa payments made as consumers embrace contactless commerce. Visa report that: Less than a year since contactless limits increased across Europe, Visa has hit one billion additional touch-free transactions, 400 million of which took place in the UK. Consumers and merchants are increasingly turning to contactless payments as a secure... Continue Reading →
As the Payment System Regulator considers the responses to the call for views on Authorised Push Payment Scams Teresa Connors from Payment Matters considers whether the proposed measures to fight fraud might have unintended consequences. We are pleased to feature this perspective guest blog from Teresa Connors from Payment Matters. Only 45% of reported Authorised... Continue Reading →
Weekly ATM value and volume figures 11 April 2021. Key observations for week ending 11 April 2021 Last week ATM transactions decreased by 2.4 million (when compared to the previous week). Last week's ATM transactions were 4.9 million more than the equivalent week in 2020. Weekly ATM use has increased by 24% compared to the... Continue Reading →
Akhil Rao has shared some insights on the adoption benefits of Real Time Payments (RTP). The ability to make payments in real-time comes with a number of capabilities and benefits. The most appealing of these to organizations is immediate access to receiving funds, transaction status, and control of cash flow. These assets created by RTP all... Continue Reading →
Mark O’Keefe at Optima Consultancy has published a German Mobile Banking App review. Three take aways from Mark’s report: The challenger banks continue to raise the bar when it comes to what can be done in a mobile banking app. New entrant C24 have launched with a proposition stronger than most in the market and challengers continue to release features... Continue Reading →
The UK's Current Account Switching Service (CASS) plays a vital role in helping consumers and businesses make the most of their money by providing a simple and stress-free way to move their current account. In these unprecedented times, the smooth working of the service is more important than ever. Source: Pay.UK Pay.UK have published the Current Account... Continue Reading →
Research by American Express reveals that one third of UK consumers (33%) feel confident trying new online payment methods. Additionally, one in five (20%) report that the pandemic has made them more open to trying new forms of payment online, with the same number (20%) stating that it has also changed the way that they think about how they pay for... Continue Reading →
Covid-19 has had an unprecedented effect on people’s lives. Analysing this through the lense of consumer payments, the lockdown measures have had a colossal impact on the majority of businesses as they were forced to shut and people remained indoors in an effort to fight the virus. These measures suppressed normal behaviour and, as a... Continue Reading →
Tanya Thourani has been thinking about how Fintech’s make money and has come up with five models: Nice & Simple : Subscriptions or Service Fees. Make it count : Brokerage Fees. Most Lucrative : Third Parties. Oldest Buddy : Advertising. The Gold Mines : Data & APIs. Read Tanya’s blog: Five ways for a Fintech to make... Continue Reading →
Weekly ATM value and volume figures 4 April 2021. Key observations for week ending 4 April 2021 Last week ATM transactions increased by 1.7 million (when compared to the previous week). Last week's ATM transactions were 7.5 million more than the equivalent week in 2020. Weekly ATM use has increased by 37% compared to the... Continue Reading →
Great to see The Times covering Ecospend’s pay-by-bank solution going live on the HMRC website, the first government department to adopt Open Banking payments. Paying your tax bill just got a whole lot easier. The 11 million people who fill out self-assessment forms online will no longer have to find credit card details, passwords or unique tax references when paying the taxman.Instead you... Continue Reading →
Fintech Rap Battle from Fintech Finance. Tom Blomfield and Monzo, take on Anne Boden and Starling in a throw down to decide who is the ultimate challenger bank. https://youtu.be/fG0JTbzMnd4
Weekly ATM value and volume figures 28 March 2021. Key observations comparing the last "Stay at Home" week under Lockdown 3.0 with the first week experienced under Lockdown 1.0 Last week ATM transactions increased by 0.6 million (when compared to the previous week). Last week's ATM transactions were 4.9 million more than the equivalent week... Continue Reading →
The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) have published their Annual Plan and Budget for 2021/22. The PSR state that their focus for the coming twelve months will be on work that will improve outcomes by encouraging competition and innovation where it is needed most and putting the interests of everyone who uses payment systems first. By doing this, the... Continue Reading →
Card Industry Professionals (CIP) have appointed Mark Westwell as a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Board. Card Industry Professionals have numerous years of experience within the card payments industry. CIP have witnessed and contributed to the evolution of how customers pay. With Debit Card payments having overtaken cash payments by 2017 (UK Finance – UK Payments... Continue Reading →
The PSR have today, 24 March 2021, published their aims, activities and expected costs for the year 2021/22. Hear Chris Hemsley, Managing Director at the Payment System Regulator introducing the regulators plan for the next 12 months: https://youtu.be/q4vuo962lC4 The PSR position the plan with the following statement: We regulate 40 billion payments worth more than... Continue Reading →
Weekly ATM value and volume figures 21 March 2021. Key observations on the anniversary of Lockdown 1.0 as we look at the statistics from last week compared to the final week leading up to the "Stay at home" announcement on 23 March 2020. Last week ATM transactions increased by 0.3 million (when compared to the... Continue Reading →
The Falkland Islands are among the most remote places on earth: an untamed expanse of boundless landscapes and wild ocean, where penguins outnumber people one hundred to one. But they’re also a place of inspiring and resilient local businesses, run by enterprising locals. And now, the Falkland Islanders are running and growing their businesses with... Continue Reading →
In this March round up of retail payments, we continue to see the impact of Lockdown 3.0 on the volume and value of payments processed in the UK. Note: All data is publicly sourced and is the latest available: Pay.UK February 2021, Link March 2021 and UK Finance December 2020. Source: Pay.UK Limited Bacs Direct... Continue Reading →
Amazon has opened its first “just walk out” grocery store in the UK where shoppers can pick up their goods and leave without having to visit a till. The Amazon Fresh store in Ealing, west London, is a “contactless” shop available to anyone signed up to Amazon and with the app on their phone. Checking out... Continue Reading →
Accenture (Amit Mallick and Sudipta Kundu) recently posted a blog about the important role Request to Pay (RtP) will play in the future of payments. Accenture argue that RtP will bring flexibility to payers, cost reduction and efficiency to billers, and a huge value opportunity to financial services providers that have an Open Banking infrastructure in... Continue Reading →
Weekly ATM value and volume figures 14 March 2021. Key observations for the week ending 14 March: Last week ATM transactions decreased by 0.4 million (when compared to the previous week). Last week's ATM transactions were 17.2 million less than the equivalent week in 2020. With the impact from Lockdown 3.0 continuing, weekly ATM use... Continue Reading →
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a profound and dramatic shift towards a digital society. All aspects of life in the UK are becoming increasingly digital, from purchasing our daily Latte, to accessing music or interacting with government. The digital shift was already happening, but it is absolutely clear that the pandemic has accelerated the transformation of how we pay for the goods and services we consume.... Continue Reading →
Many payments systems around the world are being improved or rebuilt to serve the needs of a modern, digital culture. Payments System Modernisation is a huge challenge that affects the entire payments ecosystem. XMLdation have created an Infographic that shows the breadth of the impact globally for real time, high value, and other types of payments.... Continue Reading →
This week we built a slide featuring our favourite Request to Pay words Digital | Empower | Priority | Friction Free | Flexible | Control | Ease of Use Source: Answer Pay Read, subscribe and share Request to Pay: Unpacked is published by Mike Chambers and unpacks the UK’s new service that provides the ability to request payment for... Continue Reading →
2020 catapulted payments years ahead of projections Source: Worldpay Worldpay have just published their annual global payments report. The report promises an in-depth look at how consumers are paying from Argentina to Vietnam and which methods are set to take the world by storm. Worldpay promise as insight you can’t find anywhere else! Download: Worldpay annual... Continue Reading →
Imagination: What could you do with a loan from Barclays? Earlier this week I posted an assignment from my late 1980's Chartered Institute of Bankers course - this led me to wonder how did my fictional South East Bank pamphlet compare with real bank adverts from the late 1980's? https://youtu.be/MctlwClGhGw
Weekly ATM value and volume figures 7 March 2021. Key observations for the week ending 7 March: Last week ATM transactions decreased by 0.6 million (when compared to the previous week). Last week's ATM transactions were 18.5 million less than the equivalent week in 2020. With the impact from Lockdown 3.0 continuing, weekly ATM use... Continue Reading →
Are you ready for ISO20022? Can't see the wood for the trees? Struggling to know that's important and where you should focus? Join Org's webinar and explore ISO20022. More and more information seems to come out from the regulators, timelines are confusing and seem to keep changing. Org’s ISO 20022 webinar on 18 March plans... Continue Reading →
When studying for my Chartered Institute of Banking exams as a Grade 1 Bank Clerk in the late 1980's little did I know where my banking career would take me! My roles in product management, as the CEO of systemically important payment systems, my responsibility for the live launch of the Current Account Switching Service... Continue Reading →
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) have published a consultation paper on the future governance of Open Banking. As the implementation phase of the OBIE’s work concludes, it is important to consider how open banking forward in the UK can be driven forward and help customers take more control of their finances. Your submissions to this consultation... Continue Reading →
“Customers, helped by external cash dispensers and by credit cards can get along surprising well without often visiting their bank.” D. Vander Weyer, Barclays, 1970. Thanks to innovations like the credit card, after 50 years we have an increasingly ‘cashless’ and an almost ‘chequeless’ society. Also, how often do we visit our bank branch? (If... Continue Reading →
Alice Beagley, the Bank’s Museum Officer has written about why the Bank of England was founded: Ever wondered what led to our foundation in 1694? Here's a quick explanation.In short:The Bank was founded because Charles II didn’t repay the debts he owed to goldsmiths."Hang on a minute," I hear you say. "Charles II wasn't even... Continue Reading →
With contactless payments accounting for 37 per cent of all credit card and 59 per cent of all debit card transactions it is perhaps, no wonder, that the Chancellor has announced an increase in the UK's contactless payments limit. In his speech the Chancellor announced that the single contactless transaction payment threshold limit will rise... Continue Reading →
Weekly ATM value and volume figures 28 February 2021. Key observations for the week ending 28 February: Last week ATM transactions increased by 1.9 million (when compared to the previous week). Last week's ATM transactions were 18.7 million less than the equivalent week in 2020. With the impact from Lockdown 3.0 continuing, weekly ATM use... Continue Reading →
The industry often talks about payments as if it’s one, homogeneous group. But in actual fact, that couldn’t be further from the truth. A ‘payment’ is simply the action of paying or being paid. But the method this action chooses in order to complete itself is completely variable. Today, customers are presented with a wealth of methods.... Continue Reading →
The Kalifa Review of UK FinTech - the Bangers ‘n’ Mash of reviews Fintech is one of the UK’s great success stories and will help us seize new opportunities around the world.Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer The big news of the last week is the Kalifa Review or as HMT introduce it: UK’s global fintech... Continue Reading →
Bank of England should lead the world by developing its own cryptocurrency, urges former WorldPay boss The Bank of England should steal a march on the rest of the world and develop a crypto-currency, a fintech entrepreneur has urged. Ron Kalifa, former boss of payment processing company Worldpay, urged governors at the Bank to embrace... Continue Reading →
China and UAE central banks explore CBDC for cross-border payments The central banks of China and the United Arab Emirates are joining their counterparts in Thailand and Hong Kong on a CBDC project investigating cross-border foreign currency payments. The Multiple CBDC (m-CBDC) project will see a proof-of-concept prototype developed designed to support real-time cross-border foreign... Continue Reading →
Have you read the excellent blog piece by James Stanley at Anglian Water highlighting the customer benefits of Request to Pay? Or maybe you’ve heard Sian Williams from Toynbee Hall discuss why Request to Pay is a step change in consumer empowerment? Source: Pay.UK featured guest blog by Peter Cornforth, Answer Pay Telegram to internet... Continue Reading →
Test podcast of blog: PSR Consultation on delivery and regulation of the New Payments Architecture https://anchor.fm/michael-chambers02/episodes/PSR-Consultation-on-delivery-and-regulation-of-the-New-Payments-Architecture-equ660
Weekly ATM value and volume figures 21 February 2021. Key observations for the week ending 21 February: Last week ATM transactions increased by 1.3 million (when compared to the previous week). Last week's ATM transactions were 18.3 million less than the equivalent week in 2020. With the impact from Lockdown 3.0 continuing, weekly ATM use... Continue Reading →
In brief from this week's Payments:Unpacked Barclays Pingit pulled. Treasury plan by Ron Kalifa to unleash fintech ‘big bang’ across UK. How the payments industry is coming together to quash financial crime - blog by Vocalink / Mastercard. Which? - “all eight banks respond to call from Which? on cash access – is it enough?” Monzo extends gambling block to... Continue Reading →
On Saturday the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) launched an instant payment system 'sarie' . It comes as part of a series of SAMA-led initiatives to promote the national payments' ecosystem and to enhance its infrastructure, aiming to achieve financial inclusion. Customers can send and receive low-value local transactions around the clock and for a low fee, not... Continue Reading →
Consumers will be able to use a “click and collect” service to access cash directly from shops under a scheme being piloted. The Cash in Shop service is coming to the UK after previously being trialled in Switzerland. The pilot scheme will launch in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, in March, and those behind it described it as... Continue Reading →
The European payments sector is in the midst of a transformation driven by technological innovation and evolving regulation, redefining its very potential and protagonists. A guest blog by: Marco Folcia, Sara Marcozzi, Valentina Grilli, Fabrizia Capillo, PWC Italy. In this regard, the birth and consolidation of the Open Banking framework[1] can be attributed, on the one hand,... Continue Reading →
A trial of central bank digital currency in Sweden is to be extended for another year to 2021, in a bid to better understand the benefits and implications of a wider roll-out. Sweden’s Riksbank central bank has been working on plans for a digital krona in partnership with Accenture, which the bank said was designed to address... Continue Reading →
I'm pleased to become a judge for the 2021 Emerging Payments Awards. Submissions open next Monday - check out http://emergingpaymentsawards.org for more.
In this February round up of retail payments, we see the impact of Lockdown 3.0 on the volume and value of payments processed in the UK. Note: All data is publicly sourced and is the latest available: Pay.UK January 2021, Link February 2021 and UK Finance November 2020. Source: Pay.UK Limited Bacs Direct Debit and... Continue Reading →
