Tuesday 15 March 2016

Two stories hit the headlines recently that, while appearing to have nothing in common, actually resonate quite sharply with the payments industry.   The first was news from the Payments System Regulator, now seemingly showing its teeth, that it might want banks to sell their stake in VocaLink.   The other was the news that […]

Monday 7 March 2016

As we look back on the month of February, social media became saturated with data in the shape of heavily edited photographs, mushy status updates and hashtags (#boydonegood, anyone?). All of this was traceable to the misty-eyed couples that singletons love to hate, but now that the romance of Valentine’s Day has died down all […]

Monday 29 February 2016

Recently there has been a lot of talk about cash being phased out in favour of electronic payments. John Cryan, CEO of Deutsche Bank has predicted that cash will be abolished within a decade. However, when looking at the spending habits of Germany, Europe’s largest economy, this doesn’t appear to be the case.   Germans […]

Thursday 5 November 2015

Last night was a huge success for the who’s who of the payments sector, after scooping some of the industries most coveted awards at the prestigious annual Payments Awards.   Top names in the industry including Barclays, Transport for London, Digital River and Fiserv gathered at the glittering ceremony, held at the London Marriott Hotel, […]

Friday 10 July 2015

As the dust settles on the first full Conservative budget in 19 years, commentators are starting to pick apart the bones and look at the detail.   With one eye towards continuing economic recovery, this was a relatively cautious budget from the Chancellor. However, behind the headlines about welfare reform, the slashing of inheritance tax […]

Friday 12 June 2015

Well, another PayExpo is over and whilst many are resting weary feet (and maybe some weary heads), we take a look at some of the themes and trends that came out over the two days.   • Payment Networks – whilst there was plenty of talk and appetite to move away from the MasterCard and […]

Tuesday 9 June 2015

The payments industry is growing fast and with a certain amount of fury. New players and new technologies are keeping the traditional stalwarts and models under pressure to evolve and keep pace with speedier, easier and more secure payments. With this context of heady growth, many are asking what future are we hurtling towards and […]

Friday 15 May 2015

Today’s alleged breach at Starbucks is a result of on-going challenges faced by the payments industry; balancing real security with consumer demand for convenience. The technology to avoid such breaches already exists, making breaches such as this increasingly difficult to comprehend, or accept.   The alleged hacking of Starbucks customer accounts is reported to be […]