The Nation Newspaper

Tag: MasterCard

  • Mastercard announces new payment app

    Mastercard has announced the roll out of the Identity Check Mobile, a new payment technology application that uses biometrics, including fingerprint and facial recognition, to verify a cardholder’s identity and simplify online shopping.

    BMO Financial Group (BMO) will be the first bank in America and Canada to offer Identity Check Mobile to its corporate customers from the first half of the year.

    The rollout of Identity Check Mobile follows  a launch of Mastercard and BMO earlier. Three of every four participants agree that biometrics is easier to use than passwords. Nine out of 10 participants anticipate using biometrics for online payment security in the future.

    “The pilot tested the potential of delivering greater security and convenience using biometric technology. Our goals were to understand the attitudes and perceptions of our participants toward biometrics as an online payment security solution,” Steve Pedersen, vice president, head, North American Corporate Card Products at BMO, said.

    “After using Identity Check Mobile, our programme participants gave strong reviews on biometric security and ease of use, especially as compared with passwords. We are looking forward to bringing this same experience to our clients in 2017,’’ he added.

    Mastercard Identity Check Mobile minimises the need for passwords, dramatically speeding the digital checkout process while also improving security. A cardholder can verify his/her identity by using the fingerprint scanner or facial recognition technology on his/her smart phone with the Identity Check app.

  • Mastercard deploys artificial intelligence

    Mastercard deploys artificial intelligence

    Mastercard has un-veiled  fraud management solution named Decision Intelligence (AI). The solution, it said, would use artificial intelligence technology to help financial institutions increase the accuracy of real-time approvals of genuine transactions and reduce false declines.

    This is the first use of AI being implemented on a global scale directly on the Mastercard network. Decision Intelligence claims to go beyond focusing primarily on risk assessment by taking a broader view in assessing, scoring and learning from each transaction. That score then enables the card issuer to apply the intelligence to the next transaction.

    “We are solving a major consumer pain point of being falsely declined when trying to make a purchase,” said Ajay Bhalla, president of enterprise risk and security, Mastercard. “By using AI technology on our global network, we’re helping financial institutions and merchants improve approval rates – and the consumer experience.”

    Building on other proprietary services, Decision Intelligence claims to use sophisticated algorithms to provide a predictive score to the issuer, based on intelligent analysis. Issuers then incorporate that information into their existing fraud mitigation efforts. Alternatively, issuers can activate a Mastercard tool, which makes data-driven, real-time decisions tailored to the account, including defined alert and decline thresholds.

    Decision Intelligence examines how a specific account is used over time to detect normal and abnormal shopping spending behaviors. In doing so, the product leverages account information like customer value segmentation, risk profiling, location, merchant, device data, time of day, and type of purchase made.

    “We estimate that in the U.S. alone, the value of false declines is more than 13 times the total amount lost to actual card fraud,” said Al Pascual, senior vice president, research director and head of fraud and security at Javelin Strategy & Research. “Applying machine learning to decision-scoring is a new way of creating a positive consumer experience, while also minimizing fraud.”

    The addition of AI as a core component of the Mastercard network is expected to deliver an enhanced fraud score for every transaction.

  • Mastercard sued for $19b in Britain’s biggest damages claim

    Mastercard is alleged to have done this for 16 years between 1992 and 2008, in more than 600 pages of documents filed at the Competition Appeal Tribunal.

    “This was almost an invisible tax,” Walter Merricks, who is bringing the case, told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). “Mastercard has behaved disgracefully in this. They have not had the reasonableness to accept that what this was doing was damaging UK consumers.”

    Mastercard in a statement denied any wrongdoing.”We continue to firmly disagree with the basis of this claim and we intend to oppose it vigorously,” the world’s second-largest payments network said.

    The lawsuit comes after the European Union’s antitrust regulator found in 2014 Mastercard’s fees to store owners to process international payments within the EU were excessive. Law firm Quinn Emanuel said the lawsuit was the largest damages claim in British history and would be brought under a law meaning consumers would automatically be claimants unless they opt out. Any person living in Britain who used a credit card, cash or cheques and was over 16 years old in the period covered by the lawsuit will automatically be part of the claim.If the 14 billion pound claim was shared equally between the number of eligible claimants, each person could receive more than 300 pounds each, according to a Reuters’ calculation. A lawyer working on the case said Mastercard charged shops fees in excess of 1 percent for card use on international transactions between 1992 and 2008.Although the EU’s anti-trust regulator only ruled Mastercard’s international fees were illegal, this impacted British consumers as it was the default fee used in Britain.

    Two years ago, the EU capped the fees retailers pay at 0.2 percent for debit cards and 0.3 percent for credit cards. Merricks said the case is a watershed moment for consumer compensation in Britain. Merricks was head of Britain’s financial services ombudsmen for ten years until 2009, helping to settle disputes between consumers and financial services companies. Britain’s banks have been caught in a range of misspelling cases in the last five years. They have paid 24 billion pounds in compensation for mis-selling loan payment insurance, making it Britain’s costliest scandal in financial services. Consumers no longer living in Britain, but who lived in the country between 1992 and 2008, can opt in to the collective claim against Mastercard. Any hearing on the case is not expected until early 2018, unless MasterCard settle it out of court.

  • FCMB raises hope for MasterCard, Visa card holders

    FCMB raises hope for MasterCard, Visa card holders

    First City Monument Bank (FCMB) has said holders of its MasterCard, Visa and Verve cards are in for better value, seamless service and excellent experience, following the implementation of its recently commissioned technology solution, otherwise named, Finacle 10.

    The bank said yesterday that holiday makers will now have access to over 850 airport lounges around the world with their priority pass card available only to MasterCard holders since the cards are acceptable all over the world.

    The lender said its cards are configured in variants that suit different lifestyles, usable by all segments of the society and are quite easy and simple to activate.

    This bank said it is investing in more channels to reach its customers. FCMB’s customers are embracing alternative channels such as mobile at an impressive rate, whilst many crave for the reassurance of a 33-year enduring experience of a financial institution that has endeared itself to its customers.

    Responding in Lagos, the bank’s Group Head, Cards and Electronic John Iwuajoku, said the lender’s cards give access to much more than moderate transactions with subsisting exchange rates reflected on transactions executed with all its cards anywhere in the world.

    “We have set our eyes on providing robust products and facilities that meet the demands of  today’s innovative environment and complex desires and experience of our teeming customers. The comfort we are promising our customers with our cards includes increased transaction limit even in the face of other institutions shutting down their international transactions,” he said.

    The advent of financial innovation such as smart card, credit card, electronic transfers in the payment system space and the launching of internet banking have transformed the world into a global village linked with electronic impulses. The bank also has its pre-paid card in all card types, MasterCard, Visa and Verve (used within Nigeria only) for customers who do not wish to open current or savings accounts with the bank.

    The bank explained that all travelers and holiday makers can as well cash-in on these opportunities even where they are not its customers.

  • MasterCard eyes 40m small merchants

    MasterCard eyes 40m small merchants

    MasterCard has set a goal to connect 40 million micro and small merchants to its electronic payments network within five years. This expands on the company’s Universal Financial Access 2020 commitment made last year.

    To date, financial inclusion has been predominantly centered on providing the underserved and the unbanked with tools and transaction accounts. This remains a critical need with two billion unbanked people, the majority of whom are women, forced to operate in a cash economy. In order for financial inclusion efforts to truly have an impact, there needs to be an equal focus on both access and usage.

    Since 2013, MasterCard has delivered programs and services to more than 200 million people previously excluded from the financial mainstream. The company is committed to reaching at least 500 million by 2020.

    Through broad-based collaboration with public and private sector entities, MasterCard is bringing the benefits and security of electronic payments to the unbanked around the world. In Rwanda, MasterCard is collaborating with the government to fast-track the country’s move to include 90 percent of its citizens in the financial mainstream, as set out in its Vision 2020 strategy.

    In Egypt, MasterCard is helping the government roll out a digital ID program that links citizens’ national ID to the existing national mobile money platform, allowing 54 million Egyptians to participate in the formal electronic economy through a single, easy-to-use cashless programmes.

    In Bangladesh, bKash, Western Union, BRAC Bank and MasterCard launched an international remittance service that gives bKash’s 22 million registered customers the ability to receive international remittances directly into their bKash mobile wallet.

  • MasterCard’s Start Path partners emerging companies

    MasterCard’s Start Path Global  programme has opened application list for start-up companies to apply for this year’s programme, aimed at helping emerging companies to realise their potential through innovative technological applications.

    Global Lead, MasterCard Start Path, Stephane Wyper, said the programme can provide critical support through operational expertise and access to a steady pipeline of customers, channels and partners to start-up companies.

    “In just two years, Start Path Global has a strong record of helping startups transform innovations into sustainable business propositions,” Wyper said.

    According to him, technology and data are transforming the way consumers and businesses interact with each other, driving a need to bring new ideas to market with greater speed.  The right corporate-startup partnership gives startups an accelerated path to scale innovative solutions.

    He noted that the Master Card Start Path Global has been designed with that objective pointing out that the programme has provided more than 60 startups a variety of operational support, mentorship, and investment to develop the next generation of commerce solutions.

    He said Start Path has seen success in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region and it is intensifying its search as a continuing reminder of the innovation potential of local startups.

    In MEA, the programme is  working with startups, including Saida, a startup that has developed an app that uses the data on the customers’ smartphones to underwrite loans to them in minutes.

    The app has just been launched in Kenya and has been instrumental  to providing over 16,000 loans.

  • GTBank unveils virtual MasterCard

    GTBank unveils virtual MasterCard

    Guaranty Trust Bank Plc has reaffirmed its position as a leading provider of e-payment gateway solutions with the recent launch of its Virtual Prepaid MasterCard.

    The card, which is issued instantly via Internet banking, provides an added comfort for security conscious online shoppers who prefer not to use their regular debit/credit cards when making online payments.

    The GTBank Virtual card has all the security features of a physical card and can be used to make both international and local online payments. It also serves as a fall back option for customers who have forgotten or lost their card, but need to perform urgent online purchases.

    The introduction of the virtual card has bridged the gap between traditional e-wallets and bank accounts by providing a low cost alternative to physical debit cards. Customers also have the option of converting the virtual card to a physical card.

    The bank’s Managing Director / Chief Executive Officer, Segun Agbaje said: “This marks another milestone in our quest to make banking more seamless for our customers. As a bank, we remain firm on our objective to deliver value adding services that are tailored to meet the diverse needs of our ever-growing customer base by leveraging technology to make banking more convenient for all our customers.”

    He further stated that “the launch of this product, attests to our commitment towards encouraging a cashless culture in our country by promoting the use of alternative payment channels for transacting both locally and internationally. Our desire to be at the frontier of banking excellence enables us to pioneer innovative products aimed at making banking more simple and attractive to the unbanked and unserved.”

     

  • GTBank unveils virtual MasterCard

    GTBank unveils virtual MasterCard

    Guaranty Trust Bank Plc has reaffirmed its position as a leading provider of e-payment gateway solutions with the recent launch of its Virtual Prepaid MasterCard.

    The card, which is issued instantly via Internet banking, provides an added comfort for security conscious online shoppers who prefer not to use their regular debit/credit cards when making online payments.

    The GTBank Virtual card has all the security features of a physical card and can be used to make both international and local online payments. It also serves as a fall back option for customers who have forgotten or lost their card, but need to perform urgent online purchases.

    The introduction of the virtual card has bridged the gap between traditional e-wallets and bank accounts by providing a low cost alternative to physical debit cards. Customers also have the option of converting the virtual card to a physical card.

    The bank’s Managing Director / Chief Executive Officer, Segun Agbaje said: “This marks another milestone in our quest to make banking more seamless for our customers. As a bank, we remain firm on our objective to deliver value adding services that are tailored to meet the diverse needs of our ever-growing customer base by leveraging technology to make banking more convenient for all our customers.”

    He further stated that “the launch of this product, attests to our commitment towards encouraging a cashless culture in our country by promoting the use of alternative payment channels for transacting both locally and internationally. Our desire to be at the frontier of banking excellence enables us to pioneer innovative products aimed at making banking more simple and attractive to the unbanked and unserved.”

     

  • MasterCard to launch facial recognition payment service

    MasterCard to launch facial recognition payment service

    The Electronic Payment Providers Association of Nigeria (E-PPAN) said that MasterCard would soon launch a facial recognition payment service to tackle the risk of increasing cybercrimes.

    Mrs Onajite Regha, the Chief Executive Officer of E-PPAN, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos.

    Regha said that the development was part of the company’s vision to discontinue with the use of password for online payments.

    “MasterCard’s facial recognition will roll out to only about 500 users at first, with major hardware and software companies like Apple,

    Microsoft and others along with two banks already on board the venture.

    “Through this system, your phone can tell the difference between your unique face and that of your siblings,’’ she said.

    Regha, who is also the Executive Secretary of E-PPAN, said that the Automated Teller Machine (ATMs) based on biometrics had been the subject of discussion for years.

    She said that China had unveiled the world first facial recognition ATM, which would not allow users to withdraw cash, unless their faces match their identification.

    The E-PPAN officer said the machine had inbuilt camera which captures the facial features of the users compared with a database of identification photos.

    According to her, the machine can also identify people if their facial features changes.

    Regha also said that the machine would help the police to crackdown on a range of financial crimes.

    She said that it would prevent thieves from accessing other peoples’ accounts.

    “The ATM records the serial number of every bank note deposited and any client who deposited fake money can be identified.

    “It is 20 per cent more accurate at verifying the authenticity of multiple currencies compared to the average ATM being used globally,’’ Regha said

     

  • Visa, MasterCard to face big competition in China

    Visa and MasterCard’s challenges in China are just beginning. The country is set to open its $7 trillion bank card market to outsiders. But once in, Visa and MasterCard will face an entrenched incumbent and unpredictable online rivals like e-commerce group, Alibaba.

    The duo’s shares have soared since Beijing’s announcement last October, but the hype around gaining a foothold in the People’s Republic looks premature.

    Five billion bank cards, according to Reuters, had been issued in China as of the first quarter of this year. Currently, payments made using those credit and debit cards – 12 trillion yuan ($1.9 trillion) in the first three months of 2015 – must go through UnionPay, the state-backed monopoly responsible for processing and clearing local transactions between banks and merchants.

    For Visa and MasterCard, processing payments in what will be the world’s largest bank card market by 2020 looks attractive. Assume consumer spending on credit and debit cards increase at a compound rate of 20 per cent annually for the next 10 years. By 2024, card payments in China will hit over $42 trillion.

    Yet card transaction fees are tightly regulated and much lower than in the West. Supermarkets, for instance, pay around 0.38 per cent for every card transaction while restaurants and luxury retailers pay up to 1.25 percent, according to Barclays. That fee is split: 70 per cent goes to the bank that issued the card, 20 per cent to the merchant’s payments company, and just 10 per cent to UnionPay. In comparison, MasterCard charges supermarkets up to 1.48 per cent for certain credit cards in the US.

    If the average Chinese card transaction fee is around 0.5 per cent, a combined 10 per cent market share for Visa and MasterCard would translate to $1.1 billion in revenue from each company’s clearing business in 2025. While both companies already have strong ties to Chinese banks, convincing merchants to switch to a different clearing network may be an uphill battle: the most popular payments company used by retailers is owned by UnionPay and had a 40 per cent share of the market in 2013, according to iResearch.

    Online companies will also add uncertainty. Alibaba’s payments affiliate, Alipay, which is also applying for a clearing licence according to people familiar with the situation, can bypass UnionPay since it does not require customers to use cards and charges retailers lower rates.