| Having trouble reading this newsletter? Click here to see it in your browser. You are receiving this newsletter because you signed up from our web site. |
 |
|
|||||||||||
 |
Jan 6th, 2012
Edition #285
New to NewsFilter? Click here to subscribe. In this Issue In Other News This Day in History 1838 Morse Demonstrates Telegraph On this day in 1838, Samuel Morse's telegraph system is demonstrated for the first time at the Speedwell Iron Works in Morristown, New Jersey. The telegraph, a device which used electric impulses to transmit encoded messages over a wire, would eventually revolutionize long-distance communication, reaching the height of its popularity in the 1920s and 1930s. Samuel Finley Breese Morse was born April 27, 1791, in Charlestown, Massachusetts. He attended Yale University, where he was interested in art, as well as electricity, still in its infancy at the time. After college, Morse became a painter. In 1832, while sailing home from Europe, he heard about the newly discovered electromagnet and came up with an idea for an electric telegraph. He had no idea that other inventors were already at work on the concept. Click here to read more.
TSG Fun Fact
Check out TSG's blog, PaymentsPulse.com. Advertisement Pass it on Know anyone who might be interested in our newsletter? Click here to forward this email to up to 5 friends at once. |
|
|
2012 Insights & Predictions from the Experts of TSG 
1/06/12 PaymentsPulse
Chuck Fillinger: Strategic loyalty marketing programs will be more successful than ‘One and done’ programs Click here to read more TSG predictions. Stay tuned for more next week! Top 10 Debit and Credit Card Stories of 2011
1/05/12 Forbes This past year was a very eventful one with debit and credit cards. Here is a review of the top ten stories of 2011: 1. Debit Card Interchange Fee - The government regulation of the debit card interchange fee was the most controversial issue of the year. The Durbin Amendment to the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul bill went into effect on October 1. Before the legislation, the interchange fee averaged 44 cents per transaction. Now, the reduced fee is 21 cents plus an additional amount to cover losses from fraud. Employment Growth Picks Up Pace
1/06/12 Reuters Employment growth accelerated last month and the jobless rate dropped to a near three-year low of 8.5 percent, offering the strongest evidence yet the economic recovery was gaining steam. The unemployment rate dropped from a revised 8.7 percent in November to its lowest level since February 2009, a heartening sign. "While positive, it's important to contain optimism about the outlook in the months ahead." New Chief at Consumer Bureau, Cordray, Promises Vigorous Agenda
1/05/12 The New York Times The new director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday outlined a vigorous oversight and enforcement agenda, saying that companies that take unfair advantage of consumers of financial products will face “real consequences.” The director, Richard Cordray, who was appointed to the post Wednesday by President Obama, encouraged consumers to contact the agency with their stories and complaints about banks, payday lenders and other financial institutions that they feel have sold deceptive products or engaged in abusive behavior. Outside Forces Impinge on Payments in 2011
1/05/12 The GreenSheet TSG Makes the Cover! This year positive signs in the economy were revealed in the U.S. Economic Indicators Q3 2011 Report, by The Strawhecker Group and the Electronic Transactions Association. The report showed strong demand in the retail sector, despite a declining consumer sentiment index. Total retail and food service sales, seasonally adjusted, rose 7.8 percent to more than $395 billion from September 2010 to September 2011, as compared to 7.4 percent over the same period one year previously. PayPal Boss Thompson Decamps for Yahoo Just As Key POS Strategy Unfolds
1/04/12 Digital Transactions PayPal Inc. on Wednesday lost its top executive just as the e-commerce processing giant has embarked on an ambitious strategy to handle transactions for brick-and-mortar stores. The departure of Scott Thompson, who has been PayPal’s president since 2008, also represents the second loss of a key executive at PayPal in less than a year. John Donahoe, chief executive of PayPal parent eBay Inc., San Jose, Calif., said in an internal message to PayPal employees that he will take over the president’s position at PayPal on an interim basis. New CEO Could Put Yahoo on the Map in Payments
1/04/12 BTN Yahoo Inc. stands out as the only major Internet brand without a payments service. That may change now that the company has hired Scott Thompson from PayPal Inc. to be its new CEO. "I don't see how payments can't be important here, with someone with as much payments experience and someone who has developed essentially a new network" for PayPal, says Beth Robertson, director of payments research at Javelin Strategy and Research. Report: Credit Card Industry Revenue Fell 6% in 2011
1/03/12 American Banker The economy may be crawling back to normal in some sectors, but credit card industry revenue continues to fall, according to one longtime observer. One big problem is that consumers have turned away en masse from using credit cards, causing their revolving debt to decline over the past two years. But even if borrowing picks up, card issuers still will need a way to make up lost revenue after rules associated with the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act that went into effect nearly two years ago restrict their ability to preemptively raise interest rates on risky cardholders. Discover U.S. Spending MonitorSM Consumer Confidence Remains Steady in December
1/04/12 BusinessWire Consumer confidence remained fairly consistent in December, as consumers viewed the economy and their finances as improving, but consumers are heading into the New Year with conservative spending intentions according to the Discover U.S. Spending Monitor. The Monitor, a 4-year-old daily poll tracking economic confidence and spending intentions of nearly 8,200 consumers throughout the month, recorded a 1.3-point decline from the previous month to 85.0 percent. Holiday Discounts Crimp Retailers' Profits
1/05/12 CBS The 2011 holiday shopping season will go down in the record books as the year the Grinch stole stores' profits. Many retailers sacrificed their bottom lines by pushing heavy discounts to shoppers bent on getting a good deal in a challenging economy. That created a sharp divide between stores that won the battle for wallets, and those that didn't. The big winners? Shoppers who held out for deals late in the season. Retailers reported a 3.5% increase in revenue at stores open at least a year for Dec. Mobile Payments and Location-Based Offers Go Hand-in-Hand
1/03/12 GigaOm As we have been reporting, PayPal is gearing up to launch an in-store payment system that will compete with Google Wallet, Isis, Square and others. But the company isn’t just building out a point-of-sale transaction network. It’s looking to engage consumers well before they set foot in a store.Walt Doyle, the CEO of WHERE, which was acquired by PayPal last year, said that will be a key battleground in mobile payments, pulling in consumers off the street. Fiserv Sues FIS Over Payments Patents
1/05/12 CreditUnionTimes Fiserv Inc. of Brookfield, Wis., said Thursday that its two major payment subsidiaries, CheckFree Corp. and CashEdge Inc., have filed a patent infringement suit against FIS in Jacksonville, Fla., and its Metavante Corp. subsidiary. The suit filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida charges FIS with infringing on Fiserv patents with the Florida company’s Payment Manager products for inter-bank account-to-account fund transfers, process payment instructions and electronic biller notifications. Financial Transmission Network Teams Up With ETran
1/03/12 ISO&Agent Financial Transmission Network Inc., an Omaha, Neb.-based payment processor, is working with Unit4 Coda to offer receivables management that consolidates checks, single and recurring automated clearinghouse transactions, credit card payments, cash posting, and Web payment on the ETran Receivables Platform. Once an employee enters receivables into ETran, the system posts payment data via a batch file import utility into Coda Financials financial management software, the firms said in a press release. VeriFone GlobalBay iPad Retailing Solution Fits GUESS
1/05/12 VeriFone GUESS, Inc. created a premium global brand in part by putting iconic imagery in front of consumers. Now, it’s again leading retail trends by integrating these assets into the shopping experience inside stores and beyond using the VeriFone GlobalBay iPad Retailing solution from VeriFone Systems, Inc. (NYSE: PAY). Elavon Introduces MobileMerchant for Small Businesses on the Go
1/04/12 Elavon Elavon, a wholly owned subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) and a leading global payments provider, has introduced Elavon MobileMerchant, an innovative, affordable and secure payment solution that effectively transforms mobile devices into terminals, allowing small businesses to accept payments quickly and securely anywhere, anytime. The solution is currently running as part of a pilot programme in the UK, with full production availability scheduled for March. Element Payment Services Named a 2012 Best Channel Vendor By Business Solutions Magazine
1/02/12 Element Element Payment Services, Inc., the industry leader in PCI compliant payment processing, announces it has been selected by Business Solutions magazine as one of the Best Channel Vendors for 2012. Value Added Resellers (VARs) and Independent Software Providers (ISVs) participating in Business Solutions’ annual survey ranked Element Payment Services as a top payment processor for its innovative and reliable technologies, and service and support. Verizon Reverses on $2 Fee for One-Time Payments
12/31/11 Yahoo! Finance After a customer backlash, Verizon Wireless on Friday dropped a plan to start charging $2 for every payment subscribers make over the phone or online with their credit or debit cards. In a statement on its website Friday, the company said "customer feedback" prompted the decision to drop the "convenience fee" it wanted to introduce on Jan. 15. Verizon wanted to steer people to electronic check payments, which are cheaper, and automatic credit card payments, which are more reliable. |
|
||||||
|
 |
|