Gift Cards
The Consumer Federation of America issued a press release on October 27, 2009 in relation to a survey that demonstrates the depth of consumer misunderstanding when it comes to gift cards. According to the survey results, approximately 33% of a representative sample of slightly over 1,000 adult Americans know how much gift cards cost and only 54% are aware that “six to 12 months after purchase, some of these gift cards charge a monthly fee”. Here is related article in the Washington Post published on October 25, 2009 in relation to the rise of prepaid cards as opposed to traditional bank accounts and credit cards.
Payments/Credit Cards
Utility companies looking to convert from paper-based billing to electronic payments are continuing to become payment card acceptors. One recent market trend involves MasterCard’s so-called Utility Industry Program.
AITE Group estimates that nearly 10 million U.S. cardholders experienced some kind of difficulty with using their credit cards abroad in 2008 alone, a majority of which changed their card usage behavior as a result. This report is based on an online survey performed by AITE sometime in September 2009 on approximately 1,019 U.S. resident cardholders.
An article in the Miami Herald published on October 26, 2009 describes how one section of the Florida Turnpike will be cashless (that is, toll booths will become a thing of the past) by 2011, with the goal of converting the entire Turnpike in the far future.
Anti-Money Laundering
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority recently announced that it has fined Scottrade $600,000 for failure to establish and implement an adequate anti-money laundering program to detect and trigger reporting of suspicious transactions, as required by the Bank Secrecy Act and FINRA rules.
Consumer Financial Protection Agency
Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) issued a statement on October 29, 2009 critiquing the manager’s amendment to the CFPA Act adopted by the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Data Security
A security researcher shunned by the worldwide anti-virus community for violating its own code of behavior has attempted to turn the tables, erecting a Web service that virus writers and other distributors of malware can use to make their cloak their programs for longer periods of time.
A feature article published on October 29, 2009 on Forbes delves into the issue of account security, with respect to commercial bank accounts.
New research reveals that leading cloud-computing services may be vulnerable to eavesdropping and other forms of malicious attacks, allowing attackers to precisely map where a target’s data is stored physically within the “cloud” and then use various tools to gather the information.
Over on StorefrontBacktalk, Fred Aun inquires as to whether a recent case in Texas signals a nationwide trend where judges have begun to penalize retailers whose data gets stolen as a result of inadequate security.
Amazon has begun to implement a checkout process that completely replaces the use of multiple passwords and usernames, instead substituting a “mnemonic phrase” and a single PIN that customers can use to make electronic payments.
Prepaid Cards
An expanding debit card market may help lift transaction processors’ business for the foreseeable future, according to recent research results by Goldman, Sachs & Co. The analysis predicts that processors will find robust growth in other areas of interest such as mobile payments and prepaid cards.
This article in Selling Prepaid discusses the increase in retail cards and gift certificates with regards to massively multiplayer online-roleplaying games such as World of Warcraft and Everquest and their market focus towards teenagers and young adults.
Related Posts
- News Roundup — October 12, 2009 to October 16, 2009 - October 16, 2009
- News Roundup — October 19, 2009 to October 23, 2009 - October 23, 2009
- News Roundup — September 28, 2009 to October 7, 2009 - October 7, 2009
- News Roundup — June 8, 2009 to June 12, 2009 - June 16, 2009
- News Roundup — November 5, 2009 to November 13, 2009 - November 13, 2009
