Mobile Payment Magazine

Ethiopia’s Commercial Bank Signs Mobile Banking Accord With IBM

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IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced details of a $3 million (USD) deal with the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) to support the bank in a major program of modernization and business expansion.

Under the terms of the agreement, IBM will provide hardware, software and IT services to support the bank in its rapid business growth and its shift from manual financial processes to real-time financial services.

With the new IT infrastructure, the bank plans to increase its number of accounts by 25 percent per year, launch 200 new ATMs per year and open 500 new branches over the next five years. It will also enable the bank to strengthen and extend its relationship with credit card providers such as Visa and MasterCard and roll out new mobile and internet banking services. CBE’s account holders will benefit from reduced waiting times and a greater choice of banking channels and services. [Read more…]

Utah Community Credit Union Announces Mobile Banking App

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Utah Community Credit Union (UCCU) has announced the release of UCCU mobile money management applications for iPhone and Android mobile smartphones.

“UCCU continues to invest in technology to make life easier and more convenient for our members,” said Brad Norton, UCCU SVP of Marketing. “If you have a UCCU account, now you can have it in your pocket, anytime, anywhere you need it. Since a considerable percentage of UCCU members now reside outside of the immediate Utah Valley area, it’s important that they have access to their accounts at all times.” [Read more…]

Banking the Unbanked: Mobile Financial Services Could Benefit 2 Billion People, Says Report

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Mobile Financial Services: UnbankedAccording to a recent report by the Boston Consulting Group, introducing mobile financial services to the “unbanked” could have a positive effect on more than 2 billion people.

The study named “Socio-economic impact of mobile financial services” also shows that economic inequality in Malaysia could be reduced by five percent and become roughly equivalent to that of Canada today. In the developing world, more than 2.5 billion adults – or approximately 72 percent of the population – are unbanked, meaning they have no access to traditional financial services like banks. At the same time, nearly 2.5 billion people in these same emerging economies have mobile phones. This means that there could be up to 2 billion mobile phone users who are currently unbanked that could be served through mobile financial services. Overall in the five countries covered in the study, mobile financial services has the potential to reduce financial exclusion by five to 20 percent through 2020 and increase GDP by up to five percent. [Read more…]

Fraud “Waiting to Happen” with Mobile Payments, Says Report

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As the use of mobile payments grows globally, so too does the risk of mobile payments fraud. Gartner, and other eminent research companies, predict that these services will be extremely attractive to fraudsters and those seeking vehicles for money laundering. According to Gartner, mobile payment services are expected to reach US$245 billion in value worldwide by 2014.

According to Neural Technologies, an appreciation of the fraud and risk threats posed by mobile payments can be achieved through understanding the various mobile payment products and services on offer, as well as the different technologies used to deliver them. [Read more…]

Intuit Acquires Mobile Money Ventures Mobile Banking Assets

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Intuit Inc. today announced it has acquired mobile Web banking technology assets from Mobile Money Ventures, or MMV, a leading global provider of next-generation mobile financial solutions.

“Through the successful joint venture of Citigroup and SK Telecom Americas, MMV has created the next-generation mobile financial services platform, providing customers anytime, anywhere access to their financial information on any device.”
[Read more…]

Payfone Appoints Matthew Tucker as CEO

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Payfone, a mobile payment processing service backed by American Express and Verizon, announced the appointment of veteran growth-stage company executive Matthew Tucker to the position of Chief Operating Officer. Tucker will drive the company’s global expansion and mobile payments adoption worldwide.

Tucker was most recently the President of Recyclebank, the Wall Street Journal’s 2011 number four-ranked “Next Big Thing” venture-backed company. Tucker brings to Payfone significant background in leveraging global relationships to successfully build and scale growth stage companies. Prior to Recyclebank, Tucker was CEO of Rely Software, and the first head of sales and marketing at Web-based banking pioneer LendingTree. [Read more…]

At Harvard, Mobibucks Presents the Success in the MENA Region

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Mena - Ziad Alshobaki

MENA Managing Director Ziad Alshobaki (Middle) of Mobibucks FZ LLC at MPD Payments Innovation Institute (Photo: Business Wire)

Mobibucks, a leading provider of mobile marketing and payment solutions, announced that MENA Managing Director Ziad Alshobaki of Mobibucks FZ LLC presented at the MPD Payments Innovation Institute on June 23 and 24 at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA. The focus of this year’s Institute, one of the leading forums in the payments industry, was on the role of mobile and social commerce in driving innovation in payments.

Mobibucks, selected as one of the most promising innovators in payments, showcased its next-generation mobile payments, marketing and rewards solutions. “Mobi™” is a first-of-its kind payment product for making purchases using a mobile phone number. It provides customers with a patent-pending, cashless, card-less, paperless and phone-less payment solution that targets the everyday purchases made by consumers. The company also showcased its recent mobile payments service launch at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) in Abu Dhabi, UAE. ADCB is the first bank to offer this unique mobile payment service.

The two days of “innovation immersion” was led by faculty members from renowned business schools as well as the leaders of some of the most innovative companies in the payments industry. Ziad Alshobaki, who presented the success story between Mobibucks and ADCB, was the only participant from the Middle East.

The MPD Payments Innovation Institute (PII) is designed to help people in the payments industry find the next great idea; drive adoption for new products and services to attain critical mass and ignition; and turn great ideas into great businesses that are viable and profitable.

Source: Business Wire

PayPal Sees Increase in Mobile Payments

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PayPal estimates it could process as much as $3 billion in mobile device payments this year, as e-wallet options continue to expand in an increasingly competitive field.

The San Jose, Calif.-based company, which originally expected to reach $1.5 billion in mobile payments, doubled its estimate as more smartphone users begin to use mobile platforms to purchase goods. [Read more…]

PCI Security Standards Council Releases Guidelines for Mobile App Security

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The PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC), a global, open industry standards body providing management of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), PIN Transaction Security (PTS) requirements and the Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA-DSS), today provides clarity around what type of payment applications are eligible for PA-DSS validation and listing, including an update on the applicability of PA-DSS to mobile payment acceptance applications. A report from the company lists the types of mobile applications now measured by the security standards, and which applications require additional review. [Read more…]

Chinese Mobile Payment Company B.Shark Launches Payment API for Tablets

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With more than 300 partners registered in the first week after B.Shark launched its mobile payment API, B.Shark continued to introduce the payment API for tablets. With the B.Shark’s BSpay API, tablet manufacturers will be able to charge consumers from other countries, which would be a new option to increase tablet manufacturer revenue.

The latest IDC report shows that the worldwide shipment of tablets has reached 18 million in 2010. Market research Company IMS expects a growth of 242% and 58 million shipments for tablets in 2011. All of this shows the rapid increase of popularity for tablets– and the Android driven tablets are  taking up the market share dramatically. Analyst Toni Sacconaghi has predicted that the shipment of tablets worldwide will reach 215 million units by 2015. He believes that 15% of the tablet sales are derived from consumers from the PC market; consequently, between 2010 and 2015 the growth rate of PC sales should decline by 2%. [Read more…]