Thursday , March 28, 2024

John Stewart

Starting as an editor on Bank Network News at Faulkner & Gray, John ultimately played a key role in starting, editing, and publishing many of F&G's flagship publications, including Credit Card Management, Card Technology, Card Marketing, and Collections & Credit Risk. Before co-founding Boland Hill Media, John was a group publisher at Thomson Media responsible for a $10 million division embracing magazines, newsletters, and Web sites.

As Open Banking Grows More Popular, Banks Work to Streamline Links to Fintech Apps

The firms that make payments apps work behind the scenes are facing a growing problem. As more and more consumers use the apps, more and more banks get involved, casting an ever-widening net of unique requirements on the data networks that connect the apps to users’ bank accounts.  That places …

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AmEx’s Top Exec Looks to Vaccines To Help Spur a Comeback for T&E Spending

In a wide-ranging session, American Express Co.’s top brass Tuesday expressed optimism that increasing availability of coronavirus vaccines will soon induce consumers to travel and that the new Biden Administration’s policies are unlikely to have much impact on the New York City-based company’s core business. On an early morning conference …

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A Planned Pilot for FedNow Spurs More Than 110 Banks And Processors to Sign up

The Federal Reserve reported late Monday it has received more than 110 expressions of interest from financial institutions and processors for a real-time payments pilot program slated to start later this quarter. That number exceeds the 80 entities the Fed expected to participate in the pilot for the FedNow service, …

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MoneyGram’s Links to Visa Direct And Checkout.com Hike the Stakes in Near Real Time Remittances

The remittance giants haven’t been shy over the last two years in adopting card-network technology and local payments services to close the last mile for fast transfers directly to users’ mobile devices. And MoneyGram International Inc. on Friday played its latest card in this market with an arrangement that will …

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Checkbook.io’s Link to Plaid Looks To Bring Verification to Real-Time Payments

As the payments business moves toward faster settlement, verifying payor accounts becomes crucial, yet for non-card payments, “there’s a gap there,” notes Patricia Hewitt, principal at PG Research & Advisory Services LLC, a Savannah, Ga.-based payments consultancy. On Thursday, Checkbook Inc., a San Mateo, Calif.-based startup, announced a step toward …

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As Consumers And Businesses Turn to Electronic Channels, ACH Growth Accelerates

For the nation’s automated clearing house network, payments trends already under way before the coronavirus pandemic are still unfolding—only faster.  ACH payments initiated on the Web to pay bills and make other transfers totaled 2.1 billion in 2020’s fourth quarter, a 15.2% increase year-over-year, Nacha reported Thursday. Herndon, Va.-based Nacha …

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A Look at the Dark Web Shows How Thieves Market Payment Data—And the Prices They Get

Much has been written over the years about the seemingly unending succession of data breaches involving credit card and other personal payment data. But little is known about the so-called dark Web, the sites where these data thieves set up shop to sell what they’ve pilfered. It turns out these …

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Despite Covid, Holiday Retail Sales Beat Expectations Handily, the NRF Says

The numbers are in, and it turns out the holiday shopping season was not only better than expected, but also better than the one in 2019, weeks before the coronavirus pandemic struck in the United States. Retail sales in November and December totaled $789.4 billion, up a healthy 8.3% over …

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With a New ACH Rule Looming, Open Banking Takes on Added Urgency

Online account debiting has grown in usage and prominence as consumers and businesses turn to e-commerce in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. But now many businesses are reckoning with a rule that will take effect in March that requires sellers using the automated clearing house to perform more rigorous …

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How Its Deal for Kount Lets Equifax Reinforce Its Capabilities Against Online Fraud

With consumers and businesses flocking to online commerce, companies of all sizes are reinforcing their technology for accepting transactions and rating them for risk. The latest example is the giant credit-reporting company Equifax Inc., which on Friday said it is paying $640 million to buy Kount Inc., a 14-year-old Boise, …

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