Banking Payments News San Francisco Technology

BarCampBank San Francisco - March 29

I've been intrigued by the idea of a BarCamp – informal, unstructured, participant-organized conferences where people with similar interests share and learn in an open environment – since I read about them in other (mostly technology) blogs. There is an upcoming banking/finance BarCamp in San Francisco (well, actually at UC Berkeley) and I just signed […]

ACH Decoupled Debit NACHA

ACH @ POS

I spoke last week with Elliott McEntee, President and CEO of NACHA about two current issues – NACHA’s reaction to “de-coupled debits” and the progress of the Secure Vault Payments program. Decoupled Debit – Background Decoupled debit programs, announced by both Capital One and HSBC (as issuers) and Tempo (as a processor) take a normal […]

ACH AFP Check 21 Conferences & Meetings Decoupled Debit NACHA

NACHA Topics Update from AFP Boston

Here’s an update on NACHA topics from this morning’s sessions at the Association for Financial Professionals conference being held this week in Boston. Check to ACH Conversion Some of us in the industry will remember a brief and ill-fated “Check-ACH Coalition” in 2006, targeting a larger-scale conversion of checks to ACH, at a bank’s instigation […]

ACH AFP Back Office Conversion Carol Coye Benson Check 21 Commercial Payments Conferences & Meetings

Monday Morning Report from the AFP Conference

There are 6,000 people at this year’s AFP (Association of Finance Professionals) conference in Boston, and it feels like half of them must be smashed into this morning’s session on “The Retail Merchant’s Customers’ Payment Options: Deciding Between C21, BOC, ARC & POP”. Peter Nash of CVS, Charlie Labassi of Home Depot, and Delores Ratliff […]

Banking Payments News Remote Deposit Capture

Community Banks Focus on Image Clearing & Remote Deposit Capture

A recent survey by the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) finds that community banks are leveraging technology and electronic payments to serve small business customers and extend their market reach. More than 1,100 community banks responded to the survey. Community banks are implementing check image clearing and settlement at an unprecedented rate. Nearly 90 […]

Payments News Research Round Up

Alternative Payments Predicted to Increase Share Online

According to new research from Javelin Strategy & Research credit card share of online payments is expected to decline from 60% today to 44% in 2012. Debit card usage is expected to remain steady. In addition to PayPal, Google Checkout, and Bill Me Later literally dozens of companies are competing in the alternative payments space. […]

Back Office Conversion Payments News

A Slow Start for Back Office Conversion (BOC)

The latest Digital Transactions explores why adoption of Back Office Conversion (BOC) has been so meagre six months after NACHA launched the transaction type for converting checks to ACH transactions in the back office of merchants instead of at the point-of-sale (via the POP transaction type). The primary cause of the slow start is the […]

Remote Deposit Capture

Remote capture as an enabler of business' own payment gateway

In the September issue of Bank Technology News David Foss describes the unprecedented success of remote capture and anticipates even more growth to come, citing projections from Financial Insights and Aite. But most interesting to me was that he sees remote capture as an enabler of "merchant capture" – whereby merchants consolidate and manage their […]

Strategy

Strategy - Are Porter's 5 Forces Irrelevant Today?

Over at winmarkets.com a recent post by Nilofer Merchant, a marketing entrepreneur I admire, questions the relevance of Porter's venerable 5 Forces strategic framework in today's Web 2.0 era. Her business focuses on the technology innovators of Silicon Valley – admittedly a different industry than the payments realm we usually cover here – but what […]

Back Office Conversion Payments News Treasury & Cash Management

Back Office Conversion: Opportunity for Merchants and Retailers

Check conversion via Back Office Conversion (BOC) has significant advantages, particularly over the Point of Purchase (POP) check conversion method, and is widely regarded as NACHAs reaction the merchant disappointment with POP transactions. Back Office Conversion benefits for merchants and retailers are as follows: Increased efficiency: Rather than converting checks one at a time at […]

Back Office Conversion Payments News Technology Treasury & Cash Management

Available today: Back Office Conversion (BOC) simplifies check processing for merchants

Effective today, March 16, 2007, there is a new way to convert checks to electronic ACH transactions: Back Office Conversion (BOC). This method joins Point of Purchase (POP)  and Accounts Receivable Entry (ARC) and fills a gap in check conversion options, particularly for retailers and other businesses that continue to receive a large number of check […]

Payments News

Consumer Reports Weighs In on Virtual Wallets - PayPal, Google Checkout, Bill Me Later, etc.)

Consumer Reports, the venerated protector of consumers interest, urges online shoppers to use virtual wallet services from PayPal, Google Checkout, or Bill Me Later in order to reduce the risk of credit card fraud and identity theft. The article (in the January 2007 issue and online) acknowledges that the services are very convenient, but far […]

Payments News

Google Checkout extends free processing for 12 more months; does this redefine the online payments game?

Google announced on Wednesday that they are extending the Checkout promotion offering  free processing through 2007. Google is a formidable competitor with its deep pockets that allow it to extend the promo in order to further expand its base of merchant customers. Utilizing a loss-leader strategy, more typical in retail, Google is essentially subsidizing merchant […]

Payments News

USA Today touts no-signature transactions

USA Today features an article on the convenience – and hidden costs – of no signature small dollar credit card transactions. CardWeb.com estimates that the number of small dollar transactions has increased elevenfold since 2000. Card companies are increasingly allowing no-signature transactions for purchases of less than $25 at movie theaters, pharmacies, convenience stores and […]

Payments News

Coming Soon: Payments via Drivers License

Today's American Banker reports that as soon as next month consumers will be able to make debit payments using their drivers license or government issued ID card through the Fastlane Secure Payments network. How it Works Consumers enroll at the point of sale. They swipe a personal check or enter the MICR line and assign […]