tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46268887723800148302024-03-08T07:22:10.393-08:00Welcome!Kevin Murphy's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00308584288101989773noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4626888772380014830.post-60459156413594607092017-08-14T02:10:00.000-07:002017-08-14T02:10:45.101-07:00Building a strong leadership team for a Private Equity backed business<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">When looking at building a senior leadership
team for a PE backed business, it’s hugely different from that of a plc or
large corporate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From my experience, a
PE backed business typically has a timeline of 3 to 5 years to deliver
significant results for the PE fund. Accordingly the leadership team, and the
hiring CEO, must develop and deliver strong business results quickly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Whenever I joined as CEO of a business, one of
the first things I would do is assess the existing management structure to
ascertain if adjustments were necessary to turn the performance of the business
around, or to push a successful business to achieve greater returns. I
generally use a few firm principles to guide me and these are broadly as follows:
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Don’t
compromise and be ruthless if necessary<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">There can be no hesitation or compromise to
ensure you build the strongest performing teams.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe it’s crucial to<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>wait for the right person; it’s all about getting the right people
you need to achieve business goals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
not, it will come back to haunt you and cause you unnecessary issues later on. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">If you inherit a team, then it may be the case
that this team is not structured or built with the right skills to enable you
to carry out the activities required by the business. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The growth of the business simply requires
bringing in fresh team members who have the necessary vision and skills. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In this situation, you need to make the hard
calls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If people lack the right skills
or cannot do the job, then they must go. There is no scope for compromise. With
the demands and pace of a PE backed business, there really is no room for
passengers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is frequently a
difficult part of the job to exit people, however I believe that the wider business
understands that difficult decisions need to be made. They will acknowledge
where a CEO has made a difficult leadership decision. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Experience
is essential <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">On that basis, there are certain things I
always look for in building a leadership team, namely people who have 25-30
years of experience under their belt. I call it my “grey hair” principle. It’s
a great support to me as CEO to have a mature, experienced team sitting around
the leadership table who will not be fazed by the various business challenges.
They will pretty much have seen it all before. This reverse ageism principle
has always served me well and I have had great, older colleagues who have done
great jobs for me. The other big advantage of this is that they tend to speak
their minds more and can contribute strongly to the growth of a business. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">As CEO, I don’t have the time to wait through a
long adjustment period for management to find its footing or develop into their
roles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the right leadership in
place, I can be more confident of delivering the annual return and ongoing
growth that investors expect. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Once or twice however I’ve made mistakes, hired
someone who wasn’t ready, or wasn’t right for the role.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is when the 6-month probation period is
crucial as this allows a get-out for both parties. I believe that setting clear
goals for the first 6 months, and giving regular performance feedback, is
crucial to letting a new hire know he / she is performing. If they are not
hitting the required standard in these first 6 months, I have at times exited
people at this stage. This is tough to do but is better in the long run for me
as CEO and for the business. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Let
them get on with it<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">When you have experienced people in place, who know
more than you do frequently, it aids in the overall momentum of the
business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can give them clear goals,
get out of their way and simply let them do their jobs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By identifying situations where strong
existing leadership just needs greater independence and rewards, this makes it
easier to push the business forward. A good friend of mine uses the 3D rule of
management – Decide, Delegate & Disappear! I don’t quite do the “disappear”
bit but I do like to actively delegate and let my experienced team work away on
delivery. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I also strongly encourage people to have
different opinions to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
challenges me, and ultimately provokes more valuable discussions with respect
to business issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tapping into the
reservoir of others’ experience can lead to far greater returns than having to
pull people along with you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">So, in summary, when you hire people that have
been around the block, they can handle themselves and the demands required of
them leaving you to focus on strategy, direction and other issues. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Consider
your Succession Plan<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Lastly, as CEO, I believe that it is imperative
that you think about your succession plans and how to develop more junior
colleagues so that they can potentially step up to more senior leadership roles
in due course. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ideally the skillsets and
experience is there for every team member to move upwards in the chain but it’s
up to the CEO to ensure that smooth transition and to create opportunities for
it to happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Keeping an eye on the
future line-up is part of maintaining a strong leadership team.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Hopefully you have enjoyed this short read
about the few key principles that I have used in building leadership teams,
particularly in demanding PE backed businesses. Perhaps in different types of
businesses a CEO may have a longer development time line or may not be under
such intense pressure for results each month or quarter. Certainly when I
worked as CEO in a plc business, there were always options to move people to
other parts of the wider Group so the need to exit people was not as intense.
However PE backed business have a particularly demanding dynamic I believe and
hence why, as CEO, I adhered strongly to these principles. They have served me
well to date! <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: red;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></span></div>
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Kevin Murphy's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00308584288101989773noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4626888772380014830.post-43462569761631592342017-07-17T09:08:00.001-07:002017-07-17T09:08:50.412-07:00Lessons I learnt as CEO of a private equity backed business<div class="MsoNormal">
I was chatting to a colleague recently about my time working
in private equity backed businesses and how my experiences there differed from my
time in public companies. Immediately
there were a few things that really stuck me about my time spent leading these
types of companies and I thought I’d share these.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="text-indent: -18pt;"><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="text-indent: -18pt;">1. </span><b style="text-indent: -18pt;">Above all, it’s all about the numbers</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Really, it is. Delivery
of financial targets is absolutely critical much more so than any plc business
that I have worked in. As the saying goes, if the numbers are green you never
see the Americans. If they’re red,
they’ll be on your front lawn! Getting
the numbers right is the first rule of success when leading a private equity
business. So what does this involve? Careful budgeting, keeping some contingency
in reserve, staying on track and always knowing where you stand against your
targets. Typically, private equity
partners are usually invested in the funds they manage so they tend to have a more
personal interest in the financial results. I learnt early on that being all over your
numbers was time well spent.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="text-indent: -18pt;"><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="text-indent: -18pt;">2. The type of Private Equity fund often
determines the operational culture</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A lot depends on the type of PE funds involved in the
ownership of a business e.g. Buy and Build, Distressed Credit Equity Funds,
Start-up Equity Funds and so on.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You’ll need to understand the objectives, and culture, of your
private equity owner/fund as these can vary dramatically depending on the
nature of the funds involved. In the
end, the goals of your operational business will be closely aligned to the
owner’s fund objectives and you need to try and understand what’s going on at a
fund level. This requires a fair bit of informal stakeholder management. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the past, I’ve experienced working for a private equity
firm who clearly had zero interest in staff progression or cultivating customer
loyalty and engagement. Their focus was fixed
only on actions that positively impacted the bottom line. Staff engagement or customer programmes didn’t
form part of my year end goals which were only financial in nature. As CEO, you
then have to drive the balanced scorecard goals and ensure that they were of
equal importance for the Leadership team. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> 3</span></b><b style="text-indent: -18pt;">. </b><b style="text-indent: -18pt;">CEO has a high degree of autonomy</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One aspect I really enjoyed was the level of autonomy I had
as CEO in these private equity companies (subject of course to those numbers
being green!) It was largely left to me to steer the ship, on the understanding
that I was fully accountable and most of the decisions were mine to make. This level of accountability really suits my
leadership style as I am comfortable making big decisions and working through
the consequences. As a follow-on from that I also learnt that building
relationships and governance models with the private equity owners is
critically important if you are to succeed and influence. Private equity
colleagues tend to have a very high IQ and high levels of numerical literacy,
often not scoring quite so high in terms of EQ! So it works well to make
an effort to engage them on a personal level and build a good working
relationship. This way stakeholder management
is achieved in both an formal and informal manner and everyone is clear on
where they stand. Frequently governance routines are very fluid so
it’s important to solidify decisions and agree actions as you go. Having built these relationships, this
becomes a much easier process.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="text-indent: -18pt;"><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="text-indent: -18pt;">4. </span><b style="text-indent: -18pt;">Securing investment is challenging</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s never easy to get investment, and it seemed
particularly so in the case of private equity companies where it’s all about
the bottom line. Typically getting multi-million investment can be a slow
process. I found it challenging to
secure investment from private equity owners for the delivery of business
enhancing initiatives. A high level of
proof was always required to satisfy them before they were prepared to invest
in a material way which can be tricky to show.
However, once they invest they become very impatient for results!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This varies depending on the type of company but it’s fair
to say that getting the investment dollars is a tough process and requires a
number of tries to close the deal. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="text-indent: -18pt;"><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="text-indent: -18pt;">5.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><b style="text-indent: -18pt;">It’s very different to a plc environment</b></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: transparent;">Private Equity backed companies tend to be more focused on driving the business towards a sale therefore the approach is more task orientated and primarily focuses on the short term or up to the end of fund term. On the other hand, a Plc would more likely make decisions on a longer term basis; say up to 5 years. The PE model quickens the pace and heightens the pressure to ensure the short-term targets are met. As CEO, this means bringing the team with you and driving initiatives across the business to make things happen fast. I really enjoyed this pace of work as it suited my working style really well. </span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: transparent;">Overall the business style and operational model in private
equity firms is a great environment to work in.</span><span style="background-color: transparent;">
</span><span style="background-color: transparent;">I enjoyed the speedy decision -making process, which is not bogged down
in excessive governance or bureaucracy. I relished the autonomy, the overall fast
pace of work, the ability to drive the business forward and the financial
awards.</span><span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent;">Naturally there were challenges
but this is the case for any growing business.</span><span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent;">It’s a world I’d be keen to go back into
again should the opportunity arise. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Kevin Murphy's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00308584288101989773noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4626888772380014830.post-11456383592850615032017-06-26T02:45:00.000-07:002017-06-26T02:53:29.229-07:00My CEO ‘Cheat Sheet’: 5 key areas to get right when leading a large business<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Recently
I was reflecting on my various stints as Chief Executive of various businesses
both here in Ireland and internationally.
There are some universal lessons that apply across all, regardless of
business, industry or location. These
will resonate with those tasked with the challenge of leading a business,
especially in a time of transformational change.<b><br />
</b><br />
<b><span style="background: white;">1. Have clear
goals and strategies for the business -set these early on and make them easy to
communicate</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">When I was leading a business in one of the largest Irish
banks, leading a team of more than 700 people, it was key that we developed company
goals to make them tangible, easy to communicate and easy to understand for all
members of the team. One year we
condensed these down to 3 key metrics: achieving a 4 on our Employee Engagement
Scale (5 being the highest); earning a score of 90% on the Customer
Satisfaction scoreboard and reaching €100m profitability. Our slogan for that strategic cycle became
‘4, 90,100’ – it was short, memorable and easy to articulate effectively to all
staff and stakeholders. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br />
<b><span style="background: white;">2. Get
the team in place as soon as possible - don't compromise and make the hard
calls to get the right team</span></b><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Changing teams is never easy, especially if teams are
entrenched in certain ways of working within a business. However, in order to get things done, it’s
crucial. As Chief Executive of a
consumer finance business, I brought in a team of new, experienced directors to
lead the business into a new strategic phase.
I needed this renewed vigour, and
depth of experience, to help me carry out the turnaround that was
necessary. It’s not about change for change’s sake;
instead it’s about ensuring that people are playing to their strengths within
their roles and that accountabilities are clear <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br />
<b><span style="background: white;">3.
Delegate and empower your team<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Following on from point 2 above, bring in
professional, highly experienced people. Empower them in their roles and make it
abundantly clear where their accountabilities and responsibilities lie. As CEO, this is one of the first areas I
focus on when trying to set a business up successfully.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">I find the RACI (<b>R</b>esponsible,
<b>A</b>ccountable, <b>C</b>onsulted and <b>I</b>nformed) business
model particularly useful for this. It’s
a tool that is used for identifying roles and assigning clear responsibilities
during an organizational change process or when setting annual goals. When you have this model in place, it’s a lot
easier to assign roles and it creates clear accountability with regards to who
is delivering critical business KPIs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br />
<b><span style="background: white;">4. It's
all about making decisions (especially the tough ones)<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">No one likes to be the bad guy but if you want to earn
respect and lead with integrity and conviction there are times when tough
decisions must be made. All the easy
decisions get made before they get to the CEO!</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Keep the lines of communication open, and ensure that
individuals / teams are informed as to why certain difficult decisions have
been taken.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">In a vacuum of knowledge, rumours
and speculation take hold.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">If people are
well informed and understand the basis for the decision this can avoid
negativity and have a greater chance of success</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">5. Get your operating model and governance structures
right<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">I find that people frequently underestimate the importance
of having and using clear governance models in business. This is closely aligned to the RACI model as
it’s about having clear accountability across the business. Setting appropriate governance steerings,
forums, meetings etc with the right attendees and right input ensures that key
decisions can be made by the right people, at the right time. I’ve been at too many meetings with too many
people who really had nothing valuable to add to the agenda (and my patience
for these long, unproductive meetings is pretty low to be honest!) Everyone attending the meeting should have a
reason to be there so that they can contribute meaningfully to the
session. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Once appropriate governance routines are in place, and
the business operating model is established, this allows for clear accountability
in decision-making. The process is clearly laid out and communicated to all.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">While it’s not rocket science, I’ve found this way of
working useful for me across the various businesses I have led. In tandem with trying to maintain a healthy
work-life balance (which I frequently struggle with!) these structures and
disciplines really help to make the most efficient use of my time and allow me
to effectively lead large teams and businesses. I hope you find them helpful
and insightful. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Kevin Murphy's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00308584288101989773noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4626888772380014830.post-20220769536035615002017-05-30T03:47:00.001-07:002017-05-30T03:47:22.913-07:00Consumer Card Spending is finally getting rewarded in Ireland<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">For years, the Irish market has lagged behind
the UK market in terms of consumer and credit card reward schemes. It’s common practice in the UK for consumers
to get rewards every time they spend or use a particular card, be in from a
bank or other card issuer. For example, Amex
runs a cash back incentive scheme with a range of credit cards, where consumers
can earn rewards every time they use the card.
Nationwide offer the ‘Select credit card’ which gives unlimited 0.5%
cashback on all UK spending and has no exchange fees on overseas transactions. Both Asda and Amazon also offer rewards linked
to spending. The ‘Asda Money
card’ gives 1% 'cashback' on shopping at Asda, including online and fuel,
and 0.5% back everywhere else. The
‘Amazon Platinum card’ gives 1.5 in Amazon
Reward Points for every £2 spent at Amazon and 1 point for every £2 spent
elsewhere.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">However, this has not been a feature in the
Irish market to date. There was one strong
Tesco Credit Card reward offering - the Clubcard Credit Card -but this is not
currently available to new customers as they have just announced they are leaving
the market. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">In the past few months, the two major banks
AIB and Bank of Ireland, with circa 35% market share each have both announced new
card schemes for different spend types and levels. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">BoI’s ‘Rewarding You’ is their new loyalty
programme. They have teamed up with
SuperValu so that when consumers use their personal credit cards for purchases
anywhere they can earn SuperValu Real Rewards points. </span>This applies for purchases both at home or
abroad. It has been heavily marketed by
both parties and is clearly a key offering for both for 2017. Interestingly this doesn’t appear to have any
wider commercial arrangements; it is limited purely to credit card spend and
can only be redeemed in SuperValu outlets.
This appears to be an attempt by BoI to incentivize cardholders to spend
more on a day-to-day basis using their credit cards.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">AIB has a taken a different approach, in
that they are enticing customers to spend using both debit and credit
credits. Their ‘AIB Everyday Award’
scheme rewards consumer spend with cash back in a range of outlets. This is in partnership with Visa, so AIB can
offer a broader range of offers as they are using the Visa reward platform. Consumers receive cashback from a range of
large household brands such as Lidl, Topaz, Easons, H&M and Boots.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">For both AIB and BOI, these are clearly
designed to attract market share in terms of new credit card customers, as well
as encourage spend amongst their existing cardholders. BOI is focusing solely on credit cards, which
limits the offer somewhat as traditionally Irish consumers would not use credit
cards for everyday spend. AIB’s offer
gives greater flexibility, in terms of card usage and in terms of the choice of
retailers that are involved. Consumers
can recoup their rewards in more than just a grocery shop as with the BOI offer
-this will appeal to a wider demographic. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Other players also have more limited offers
in this space. For example, with a KBC
credit card you get 1% cash reward on grocery and online purchases however this
is quite restricted. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> </span> </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">PTSB has a general ‘GoREWARDS’ loyalty
programme however it is multi-product. This offers consumers
cashback on a wide range of popular high street and online brands, such as LIDL
and M&S. As with the AIB offer, this is in partnership with Visa.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Overall this is a welcome development for
Irish card consumers. They are getting
something in return for spend, and this will offer an incentive to use cards
more often.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">For the banks, clearly there is a cost
involved, especially for AIB and BOI, however it offers them a strong customer
retention tool. Notwithstanding the
lower Interchange environment, they have clearly decided that card portfolios
are worth investing in. As the dominant players in the market, this will surely
lead to challenger brands upping their offering to mitigate this. Interestingly,
Chill Money has just launched a new credit card, in association with Avantcard,
however it does not have a reward offer at this stage. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">For the financial services market in
general, it’s a positive development for the Cards market after a period of
little competition over the past 6 to 8 years.
It will be interesting to see how other competitors will react in coming
months.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Kevin Murphy's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00308584288101989773noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4626888772380014830.post-51969910139302505982014-04-22T03:33:00.001-07:002014-04-22T03:33:15.106-07:00The countdown to SEPA and E-Day: Key deadlines for Irish SMEs <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">For Irish businesses, there are two key milestones over the coming months, both of which hugely impact their payment processes and systems, namely SEPA deadline and national E-Day.<span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">For SEPA this date is the 1<sup>st</sup> August.<span> </span>According to the European Central Bank (ECB), the majority of businesses have completed the migration to SEPA.<span> </span>In February 2014, SEPA direct debit transactions were at 80.3% and already 649.82 million transactions have been processed in the new SEPA format.<span> </span>Furthermore, AIB are claiming that in excess of 90% of Irish Payment files are now processed under SEPA.<span> </span>So clearly the majority have moved ahead and are implementing the changes required, which is a good thing.<span> </span>However, for those who are not, and with just 3 months to go, this is a crucial time.<span> </span>There will definitely be no further extensions to this date!<span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">At this point, businesses should certainly have aligned and upgraded their internal systems and began the process of communicating BIC & IBAN business account details with customers and suppliers alike.<span> </span>In my earlier blog I’ve outlined the main actions required by businesses<a href="http://kevinmurphyie.blogspot.ie/2014/02/sepa-extension-use-this-additional-time.html"> to get SEPA-ready</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Under SEPA, banks are subject to stricter data checks in processing existing payment files so compliance is more crucial than ever.<span> </span>While companies are auditing their systems in preparation, it’s also timely to examine <a href="http://kevinmurphyie.blogspot.ie/2014/03/pci-dss-30-failure-to-comply-and-your.html">pci dss compliance</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Meantime, in accordance with the National Payments Plan (NPP), government departments, local authorities and other state agencies will stop sending and receiving cheques from businesses from 19th September this year.<span> </span>This date has been branded e-Day, and actually launched in September last year to allow businesses and public sector bodies the year to prepare for the transition to e-payments.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">It’s all part of the NPP plan to reduce costs and improve cash-flow in the Irish economy and encouraging SMEs to move away from cheque usage.<span> </span>Currently SMEs contribute to more than 60% of all cheques in circulation in Ireland.<span> </span><a href="http://kevinmurphyie.blogspot.ie/2013_08_01_archive.html">Although cheque usage</a> has halved in Ireland since 2005 it remains a key payment method for many Irish businesses, amounting to a total of 33 million cheques every year. It is ingrained for many as a fuss-free method of paying suppliers or contractors.<span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">According to the NPP, savings of up to €1 billion per annum can be made if Ireland were to match best practice in Europe by migrating away from cheques and cash in favour of electronic payments.<span> </span>The challenge for businesses is to ensure that they have the right financial management tools and processes in place to manage transition efficiently.<span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">In order to prepare for e-Day, businesses should discuss and agree new e-payment solutions and carry out the steps required so there is minimal disruption to regular trading eg online transfers will need to be set up to ensure payments are made in a timely manner.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Certainly the business benefits to both SEPA and e-payments are numerous, however there will be short-term pain in this preparation and transition phase.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">We’re currently working with a number of companies to prepare them for both the SEPA and e-payments changeover.<span> </span>For more information on how these will affect your business and how best to prepare and align your payment processes, get in touch with us here at Colthurst Card & Payment Solutions (<a href="http://www.colthurst.ie/">www.colthurst.ie</a>).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Contact <a href="mailto:Johngavin@colthurst.ie"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">Johngavin@colthurst.ie</span></a> or <a href="mailto:Kevin@colthurst.ie"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">Kevin@colthurst.ie</span></a></span></div>
Kevin Murphy's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00308584288101989773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4626888772380014830.post-59165684522004266642014-03-31T06:25:00.002-07:002014-03-31T06:26:43.367-07:00Acquiring market in Ireland – primed for a shake up!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">At the moment the Irish
acquiring market is undergoing some significant changes, with new contracts and
moves across the industry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
certainly poised for a shake-up of some sort.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">
</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">To my mind this market
broadly divides into three – physical, DCC and online. I have blogged before
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://kevinmurphyie.blogspot.ie/2014/03/highlights-of-our-research-study-strong.html">about DCC </a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">and will discuss the online world shortly; my focus in this
blog is the changes in the physical acquiring market. The main players here
include AIB Merchant Services, Elavon, Streamline, World Pay and Barclaycard.</span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Market share stats
are hard to come by for the Irish acquiring market, however it is likely that
AIB MS and Elavon have the largest share of the market between them – somewhere
around 70%-80%.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These market positions
are primarily driven by the main bank partner business banking shares – AIB are
JV partners in AIB MS and Elavon have had a 11 year exclusive referral deal
with Bank of Ireland, since BoI exited the Euroconex JV back in 2003. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The big development
this year is the retendering of the BoI merchant acquiring business to the
market. Should Elavon not be successful in winning a renewed contract, it’s likely
that this reasonably static market will see some significant change. BoI will
be very careful about who they grant access to their business banking base so
that rules AIB MS out straight away. If Elavon don’t win this business again
there will be change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">At AIB MS, a JV
between AIB / First Data, there are plans to drive the business more
aggressively. David Courtney, an experienced financial services executive with
a strong marketing background, has recently taken over as GM and is likely to
be instrumental in driving this business forward. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Other niche players
are also starting to make some inroads. For example, Irish company Blue Sky
Payments, which is gaining market share on the domestic front by undercutting competitors
and offering something different. Earlier this year, they announced a strategic
partnership with VeriFone Systems to provide VeriFone payments terminals to
businesses in Ireland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The partnership
will also involve collaboration in terms of offering customer services and
support for the payments terminals, as well as support with sales, marketing,
provision and procurement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Similarly, Irish-owned
Stripe Payments, which launched in Ireland at the end of last year, offers
businesses an instant setup and straightforward pricing model for card
processing services with no monthly fees, minimums, or any other charges. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">However, there are
areas that require further development and could definitely be exploited. Change
from the customers’ perspective would be refreshing- the market is suffering
from a lack of innovation and new products.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For example, the whole area of smartphones and credit cards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It never fails to surprise me that we still
don’t have a robust offering where consumers or sole traders can process credit
card transactions through their smartphone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I have yet to see any mobile merchant, like a plumber or gardener be
equipped with hand held acquiring devices, which are common in the UK.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With smartphone penetration in Ireland at 57%
and on the rise, this would offer an ideal hassle-free, low-volume solution for
smaller retailers and consumers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">In addition, the
quality of acquiring terminals in many locations leaves a lot to be desired (as
a card nerd I check these things!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
are plenty of opportunities for a new or dynamic incumbent to chase market
share via the BoI business. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The market is
attractive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Figures indicate positive
and continued growth with card usage increasing globally and projected card
transaction volumes to reach US$21.9tn by 2015.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I believe that the credit card market will start to grow again after the
retrenchment of the past few years. With moves afoot to also launch some mass
market prepaid cards, this market is ripe for growth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the Irish context, there has been massive
growth in debit cards over the past few years <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- a 10% growth to 341 million purchases and a
14% rise in the value of debit card sales to €17.6bn last year — up from 309
million and €15.4bn respectively in 2012.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">One of the big strategic
challenges facing the industry is the proposed EU regulations on
interchange.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Issuer rates are due to
fall substantially over the next few years, I strongly believe that this income
will primarily migrate to acquirers … if their pricing and structures are smart
enough to capture it. The question remains, who will seize these opportunities
amongst existing and new acquirers, and how will this impact the industry
overall?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will the gap resulting from the
end of the Elavon/BoI deal entice a new player into the market?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I’ll be watching with
interest to see what emerges. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Default">
<br /></div>
<div class="Default">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">To discuss any payment related issues, you can contact
me on </span></i><span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="mailto:kevin@colthurst.ie"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kevin@colthurst.ie</i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> or + 35386 2319 484<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">Sources:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">Nielsen
Report Issue 983, Forrester e-commerce research and <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://www.creditunion.ie/communications/news/2014/title,8023,en.php">http://www.creditunion.ie/communications/news/2014/title,8023,en.php</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://www.wolfgangdigital.com/blog/research/irish-e-commerce-study-online-retail-revenue-increases-25-cent/">http://www.wolfgangdigital.com/blog/research/irish-e-commerce-study-online-retail-revenue-increases-25-cent/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://www.ipso.ie/?action=statistics&sectionName=IrelandStatistics&statisticCode=IE&statisticRef=IE08">http://www.ipso.ie/?action=statistics&sectionName=IrelandStatistics&statisticCode=IE&statisticRef=IE08</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment--></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Kevin Murphy's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00308584288101989773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4626888772380014830.post-48364096975827549422014-03-18T04:29:00.000-07:002014-03-18T04:29:07.711-07:00Highlights of our Research Study: Strong Global Growth Potential for DCC
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Recently we carried out a
material research project in conjunction with the Financial Services Innovation
Centre (FSIC) at University College Cork (UCC).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Our aim was to examine the global market for Dynamic Currency Conversion
(DCC), to talk with those involved in the various stages of the supply chain
and to look at the potential for this service in the years ahead. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Our research also looked at
Multi-Currency Processing (MCP), a merchant re-pricing mechanism focused on the
eCommerce market allowing the merchant to market and price in local currency.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I’ve blogged about this
subject before, outlining the mechanism and benefits of DCC (in <a href="http://kevinmurphyie.blogspot.ie/2013/09/dynamic-currency-conversion-dcc-why-is.html">September</a> and <a href="http://kevinmurphyie.blogspot.ie/2013/11/huge-opportunities-globally-for-dynamic.html">November</a> 2013). In fact this is fast becoming a specialist area for us -<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>we see massive potential and this piece of
research clearly indicates the exponential growth opportunities for DCC over
the next 5 to 10 years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The following factors are
fuelling this growth:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">The increase in
card volumes and transactions</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Growth in e-commerce</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Growth in global
travel and tourism</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Global increase
in business spending</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">The emergence of
new transaction channels</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Further customer
adoption of DCC</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Further lifting
of scheme restrictions</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="Default">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Card usage is
increasing globally with projected card transaction volumes to reach US$21.9tn
by 2015.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Similarly e-commerce spend is
expected to reach US$2tn by 2016.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
are now 2 billion people online today with mobile users projected to surpass
desktop internet users by late 2014. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">In parallel,
global and business travel is on the rise, with many of the large markets like
India and China set to experience double-digit growth in inward business travel
over the next four years.*</span></div>
<div class="Default">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Default">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">DCC offers a simplified process</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> with a guaranteed rate of exchange.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Customers have
the option to pay securely in their home currency at POS when travelling or
online, with price and cost certainty. </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">All
of this leads to a more convenient and positive experience.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Although many scheme
restrictions are being removed and regulatory pressure is decreasing, there are
still issues affecting DCC on a local level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For example, it acts as a deterrent for cardholders when card issuers actively
decline DCC transactions or apply cross border fees to any additional transaction
fees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Likewise if DCC exchange rates are
prohibitive, cardholders are less likely to opt to use the service.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">There are multiple DCC
operators in the market, each with different operating models according to their
business type and geography. The large players include WorldPay, Barclaycard and
Travelex.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are also a number of
Irish players leading in this space such as Fexco, Fintrax and Monex.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Whilst there are many players
in this industry, our research shows a distinct lack of innovation amongst them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In reality, the service is largely commoditized
across all the service providers leaving untapped potential for those that enhance
their product offering.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">There are unique challenges
faced by each of the parties in the DCC process. </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Amongst cardholders, DCC is poorly
understood - excessive margins on transactions is giving this product a bad
name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Equally, many merchants fail to
understand the revenue potential of DCC resulting in poor staff training as
necessary resources are not invested.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
the acquirers, long lead times associated with implementing new merchants can again
hinder progress. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Meanwhile the market for
DCC/MCP processors is highly fragmented with numerous players operating across
several tiers, all of which are not subjected to regulation and tend to work on
their individual efforts in an uncoordinated manner.</span></div>
<div class="Default">
<br /></div>
<div class="Default">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">However, despite
these various challenges, there is still a clear strategic rationale for entering
this </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">market. The global market for
DCC/MCP is underpenetrated and underserviced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is also relatively fragmented with medium </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">levels of competition. </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Existing players and new entrants alike can
capitalize on this, especially those who adopt an open, forward-thinking and innovative
approach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Default">
<br /></div>
<div class="Default">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">We will continue to evaluate
the DCC marketplace over the coming months, and hope to share more research
with you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For now, this gives a clear summary
of the positives for the DCC industry and strongly indicates the mass potential
of this service.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Default">
<br /></div>
<div class="Default">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">To discuss any of this
research, or any other payment related issues, you can </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">contact me</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> on </span><a href="mailto:kevin@colthurst.ie"><span style="font-family: Arial;">kevin@colthurst.ie</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"> or + 35386 2319 484</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">* </span>Nielsen Report Issue 983, Forrester e-commerce
research, Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) and Morgan Stanley .</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Kevin Murphy's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00308584288101989773noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4626888772380014830.post-65114601886103705082014-03-03T02:55:00.000-08:002014-03-03T02:55:05.310-08:00PCI DSS 3.0 –failure to comply and your reputation is at stake.
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The Payment Card
Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) is a set of requirements for
enhancing payment account data security.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Developed in 2004 by the PCI Security Standards Council, these standards
set out industry-wide, global adoption of consistent data security measures.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">It was originally founded
by American Express, Discover Financial Services, JCB International, MasterCard
Worldwide and Visa International and applies to all businesses that take credit
and debit cards, regardless of size or transaction volume. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Essentially the credit
card companies and merchant banks have shifted the risk of data breach to the
merchants through the introduction of PCI DSS.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">It applies to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">all entities</b> involved in credit card
processing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, any business
involved in the storage, processing and/or transmission of payment card numbers
must comply.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The scary thing is that most
merchants have no idea that the PCI requirements exist!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">In its 10th year,
there have been various iterations but we are now on PCI DSS 3.0.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>PCI ensures customers’ personal data is
protected, allows companies to protect themselves from financial losses and
remediation costs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In turn, this higher
level of data security inspires customer confidence and trust, ultimately safeguarding
brand reputation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Simple right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Actually, PCI compliance can be a confusing
and costly exercise, and so often it is cast aside as businesses deal with
other more pressing issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The market
is filled with inaccurate information and myths around PCI.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Non-compliance can leave your business
exposed (worst case scenario means a hacker can effectively steal customer
credit card details from your system)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">However if dealt with
in a timely and logical manner, it can save both financial pain and your reputation
in the long run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Requirements can differ
according to merchant level and card issuer so it’s important to check with
your suppliers to ensure that you are meeting all the requirements.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">In Ireland, Loyaltybuild
was recently at the centre of a major data breach, in which the full card
details of over 376,000 customers were taken. 70,000 were Supervalu Getaway
customers and over 8,000 were AXA Leisure Break customers. It transpires that the
details of an additional 150,000 clients were also potentially compromised.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This has caused material damage to
Loyaltybuild and also to the brands affected, in some cases perhaps further
fuelling customer suspicion in terms of handing over credit card/personal
details to retailers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">The large retail
brand Target, in the US, was also hit by a major credit-card attack at the end
of last year, involving up to 40 million customer accounts. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">The data breach began
around Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving and<span style="color: #262626;">
the busiest shopping day of the year. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">With almost 1,800
stores in the United States and 124 in Canada, Target is a robust brand and to
some extent could weather this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However
for smaller brands, this type of hit would be a disaster.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">At the moment in Korea, millions of cards are being
re-issued following another massive data leak scandal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Consequently banks there have been raising
their security measures to protect customers’ data.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of the major credit card firms, such as
KB Kookmin Card, Nonghyup and Lotte Card are affected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, there are reportedly some 20 million
card users in Korea and reports say that personal data of at least 10-17
million bank and credit cards holders has been leaked!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Apparently the majority of financial firms in Korea were
not even aware of the leaks for nearly one year, after which time the damage
has been done.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Clearly the US and
Korean examples are on massive scale but this is just as important for SME and
medium sized businesses, where reputation is the cornerstone of repeat
business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Any retailers who
take credit cards have to be careful of who they select as their service
provider –security and compliance are essential.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many companies — large and small — are
typically under-prepared when they face a data breach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are key procedures to follow in the
event that this happens namely to work closely with those affected and the
Regulator and to draft in the right experts to address the data breach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a very short window in which you have a
chance to preserve public trust in your company.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">It’s a good idea to do a
thorough check of any IT and security systems in place and to review your
service provider to ensure they are up to speed with PCI DSS 3.0.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We regularly work with companies in this
area, and offer audit services for any business to confirm their compliance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">If this is something that
affects your business, get in touch with either of us to discuss your options.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="mailto:Kevin@colthurst.ie">Kevin@colthurst.ie</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">086 231 9484<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="mailto:johngavin@colthurst.ie">johngavin@colthurst.ie</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">086 242 6382<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment--></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Kevin Murphy's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00308584288101989773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4626888772380014830.post-66079785225652983632014-02-21T02:14:00.000-08:002014-02-21T02:14:07.604-08:00My thoughts on the MPE conference just finished in Berlin!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<!--StartFragment-->
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 18.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Billed as the ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">first and the last
payment conference you will need in 2014</i>” certainly my expectations were
high and on many levels the Merchant Payments Ecosystem conference did deliver…
however there were a few omissions that could have improved it further.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The topics and seminars
revolved around merchant payments, multichannel retailing, customer experience,
mobile innovation, business models, loyalty, big data and technology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some strong themes emerged and some of my
highlights and important nuggets included: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">-Listening to the various talks, it’s
clear to see that the acquiring market is getting very fragmented across
Europe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also there was little talk of
enhancing core profitability in acquiring ... perhaps this is not deemed sexy
enough?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">-With too many offerings to choose from, mobile
POS is still very confusing, particularly for merchants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s simply not clear yet what will work and
where.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">-I really think that the regulators of interchange
are living in a different universe!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Completely out of touch with the reality out there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">-In general, Bitcoin got a poor reception
- there’s very few believers out there. As <a href="http://kevinmurphyie.blogspot.ie/2014/01/bitcoin-bubble-or-brainwave-i-just-cant.html">I said before</a>, time will tell on this one.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">-Security solutions getting ever more
complex as criminals get more sophisticated.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">-Emerging schemes are getting traction but
will be slow to deliver major changes internationally … if ever <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">-World Pay are very clear on
their global strategy and plans for further acquisition. Ron Kalifa gave a very
interesting talk. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">-Private Equity and Venture Capital firms very
interested but how could they make sense of this landscape -it's hard enough
for industry players <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">It was interesting that issuers were not
well represented at the acquiring conference – I wonder do they not talk to
each other?! There could have been more input across the issuer / acquirer
divide. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Overall it was a great networking
opportunity and gave me a chance to take some time out and hear all about the
many diverse aspects of the payments market.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However there are so many different types of companies working here - I
wonder have we made the payments value chain too complex?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I was surprised that the Twitter
conversations were not more active. Good to get to meet some of the tweeters
over coffee too as well as online.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">On a personal level, I was disappointed
that there was no mention of Dynamic Currency Conversion, perhaps it’s
considered too niche?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(This is a topic
of interest to my business so please do get in touch to discuss further). Yet
the specialist DCC operators were working the audience during breaks etc. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I also felt there was a lack of merchants
on the podium –it would be good to hear more about what they <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">actually </i>want rather than the myriad of
solutions which we <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">think</i> they might
want.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would have been very
interesting to hear their views on payment costs, on all the activity in mobile
POS and on the drive for contactless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Overall it was well worth attending in
terms of learning about new developments, getting a greater understanding of
the market challenges and networking with fellow industry colleagues. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">For me there are three Ps I’ll be
watching with interest in the future: the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">product</b>
–Zapp; the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">person</b>- Rob Fernandez (great
presentation) and the market <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">place</b>
-Turkey!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment--></span><br />
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<!--EndFragment-->Kevin Murphy's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00308584288101989773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4626888772380014830.post-15684513824303553442014-02-10T01:59:00.001-08:002014-02-10T01:59:34.465-08:00SEPA Extension: Use this additional time wisely to get your business ready!
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Following delays in
some EU member states, the European Commission has extended the SEPA deadline
by six months to the 1st August.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
means that Irish businesses now have more time to get organized and ready for
this payments changeover. It’s a valuable time for those who still have work to
do to make their payment systems compliant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Although SEPA has formally
come into existence from the 1st February, payments made in other formats will be
accepted for another six months but it’s worth using this time wisely.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Firstly,
it’s worth auditing your current systems to understand the overall impact for
your business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If resources allow, it’s
a good idea to nominate somebody within your company who is responsible for
SEPA so that there is a constant internal focus on the strategic options and
implications.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Under
SEPA, banks are now required to apply stricter data quality and data
completeness checks in processing existing payment files so keeping on top of
compliance is essential.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">There are a few key elements to look at
to get this process started</span></div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Companies will
now need to familiarize themselves with the BIC and IBAN’s of their own
business and that of their suppliers. Equally, when making electronic payments
from the business you will need to use your suppliers BIC and IBAN.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">This has ramifications
in a few different ways, for example, for electronic payments coming in to your
business, suppliers will need to know the BIC & IBAN of business accounts. (Basically
SEPA will affect how people pay you or how you get paid).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Likewise the
branch number and account number data on internal systems and spreadsheets has
to be upgraded to BIC and IBAN.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
will therefore affect processes like your invoice systems, payroll, and direct
debit arrangements.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Failure to comply
with this may result in items being returned unpaid.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">However the
BIC/IBAN conversion may not be straightforward as some branch numbers are
actually ‘redirected’ branch numbers and so they don’t have a direct
conversion. For your business, this means a thorough validation of the existing
database.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 18.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Furthermore, the whole area of direct
debits requires particular attention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>SEPA
Direct Debit brings with it a number of important business changes: new file
submission time frames, new customer file formats and new automated process for
rejected/returned transactions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>SEPA
Direct Debit now allows you to collect payments in euro from domestic and
cross-border debtors throughout SEPA.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">So this means the
following considerations for your business:</span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Customers now
have additional rights and revised timeframes to return DD’s – there is a no
quibble return available to them.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">In future, the
company will also need to hold mandates so it’s key to properly verify these
when taken.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">The notion of
foreign bank accounts may be rendered unnecessary in the future as with SEPA
payments can now be made from and to anywhere in the Eurozone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(SEPA will cover the 28 EU member states plus
Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway and Switzerland when fully operational.)</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">This next deadline will be the final one
– governments and regulators are closing in on this and pressing ahead so get
yourself up to speed and ensure you are ready when 1<sup>st</sup> August rolls
around. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">We’re currently working with many brands
to prepare them for this changeover.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
more information on SEPA, how it affects your business and how best to prepare
and align your payment processes, get in touch with us here at Colthurst Card
& Payment Solutions - contact <a href="mailto:Kevin@colthurst.ie">Kevin@colthurst.ie</a> or <a href="mailto:johngavin@colthurst.ie">johngavin@colthurst.ie</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Kevin Murphy's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00308584288101989773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4626888772380014830.post-32551392512431072542014-01-27T01:15:00.000-08:002014-01-27T01:15:08.836-08:00Bitcoin: Bubble or Brainwave? I just can't decide.
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Bitcoin is a new kind of currency denoted by virtual or digital tokens
rather than physical coins/notes. Its
value is determined by how much people are willing to exchange for it. Supported by peer-to-peer technology and cryptography,
to process Bitcoin transactions, a procedure called "mining" must
take place, which involves a computer solving an algorithm. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">There are essentially four parties involved in the Bitcoin economy:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">-Consumers who are paying with Bitcoin</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">-‘Miners’ who process and validate
Bitcoin transactions via computers</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">-Merchants who accept Bitcoin</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">-Entrepreneurs/developers
building new products and services with Bitcoin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I
found a really good (short) video explanation here: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um63OQz3bjo">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um63OQz3bjo</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 11.25pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Every day more and more people
are agreeing to accept Bitcoin in transactions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In fact, there are currently about 11 million Bitcoins in existence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 11.25pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">There are very divided views out
there with the promoters saying that Bitcoin will revolutionise the world of
payments in much the same way as the internet has fundamentally changed how
consumers, and people, operate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Marc
Andreessen, who’s venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz, has invested just
under $50 million in Bitcoin-related start-ups is massively excited about the
potential of this digital currency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a
recent NY Times piece he wrote: “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitcoin
gives us, for the first time, a way for one Internet user to transfer a unique
piece of digital property to another Internet user, such that the transfer is
guaranteed to be safe and secure, everyone knows that the transfer has taken
place, and nobody can challenge the legitimacy of the transfer</i>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 11.25pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Meanwhile in Cyprus, in the
University of Nicosia (UNic), you can now pay for university tuition in Bitcoins!
According to the university, those who wish to pay tuition fees in Bitcoins
will be able to use an online merchant processing service or pay directly to
the finance office.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Social Gaming company Zynga has also announced it’s going to test
Bitcoin payments for its in-game purchases with popular games like Farmville 2,
CastleVille and CityVille.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Merchants and manufacturers are also embracing this new currency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to Reuters, the Bitcoin ATM
manufacturer Lamassu is reportedly seeing an increase in orders for its service
-it has sold 120 of its ATMs worldwide since it opened for business, shipping
machines to Canada, Russia, and other countries. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Similarly a Bitcoin storage service has launched in London.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Insured against the loss and theft of the
digital currency, Elliptic Vault uses "deep cold storage", where
private encrypted keys to Bitcoins are stored on offline servers in a secure
location. Unlike money stored in a bank, Bitcoins are not insured and there is
no way of retrieving them once they are gone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Much like the Internet, there is no one government, regulator or private
entity behind Bitcoin and so governments across the world are now scrambling
around deciding how to legislate for this new currency.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">In some cases, there has been an outright ban, namely in China, where
the largest online marketplace, Alibaba Group's Taobao, said it would ban
virtual currencies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In December, the
country's central bank ordered financial institutions to halt Bitcoin-related
services and products.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Singapore, on the other hand, has become one of the first countries to
issue tax guidance for Bitcoin businesses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is also monitoring transactions to detect any illicit financing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">In the US, however, it has been received more positively with
Overstock.com becoming one of the first major online retailers to accept
Bitcoin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">There is a huge amount of hype about this new innovation, not all of it
positive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In particular questions focusing
on transparency and control.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who
controls the flow of this new currency? Who is making money from the hype?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it a pyramid scheme?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Let’s face it; Bitcoin has absolutely no track record.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You certainly can’t buy your dinner with
it!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reason cash and cards work is
because they work so well and are easy cash has been around for thousands of
years and will last because it does a simple job simply.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is trusted and easily transferable. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">As I write this I am coming to conclusion that I should not be taken in
by the hype and take a jaundiced view of this now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think it will be a crash but I may well be
so wrong!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">It’s hard to see what new value it is bringing or big problems it is
solving ... or am I a dinosaur here?
Time will tell.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Sources: </span></i><span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.pymnts.com/"><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">www.pymnts.com</span></i></a></span><i><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, </span></i><span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/"><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">www.bbc.co.uk</span></i></a></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, <a href="http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/01/21/why-bitcoin-matters/">http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/01/21/why-bitcoin-matters/</a></span></i></span><i><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<!--EndFragment--></span><br />
<!--EndFragment-->Kevin Murphy's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00308584288101989773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4626888772380014830.post-49353229189740463332014-01-13T02:40:00.000-08:002014-01-13T02:40:21.556-08:00Savvy Selection of Payment Conferences in 2014!
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">This time of
year is always conducive to planning and goal-setting for the year ahead. For me this </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">involves a review of all the conference
notifications and invites.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There seems
to be so many for the payments and cards industry and it can be overwhelming trying to select the most relevant ones
for your business.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Looking at
the range of payment conferences across Europe and the US, it’s a worthwhile
exercise to review them and figure out which ones would be most beneficial to
attend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unless you’re learning new
topics, networking with relevant industry people or expanding your
knowledge/business prospects in some way then there’s little point in signing
up for them!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Depending on
the business topics you are dealing with, you can pick up a lot of info at the
right event and with careful planning it doesn’t have to set you back too much
cost-wise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Retail expos are also usually
free or low cost and you can pick up lots of useful insights attending the
specialist mini seminars and simply talking to the exhibitors. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">For me
personally in 2013, there were two stand-outs - Payments Innovation Harvard in
Boston and Cartes in Paris.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">At the
Harvard event, I gained fantastic insight into US developments and enjoyed high
quality talks from key industry speakers </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">including
Al Gore, who spoke about the concept of the Global Mind (what happens when
technology connects people and information rendering us fairly
inseparable).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is now coming up
again next month and I would strongly recommend it. At Cartes, I learnt a huge
amount about the latest trends and innovations in mobile payment, NFC,
biometrics, M2M and related businesses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Overall there was a great mix of diverse sessions, which gave me great
exposure to the unique challenges and opportunities
facing the industry. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Dinah Tobias coordinates
the Payment Forward Networking forum in London, which brings together senior
professionals from across the payments industry on a regular basis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their events give industry specialists the
chance to discuss issues affecting our industry through a series of debates,
discussions and networking events.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
recent data security event at Vendorcom was very insightful and provided
an up-to-date view on this pertinent issue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Looking at the 2014 calendar there are a range of topical debates taking
place in London, which are certainly worth checking out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Likewise the payments regulation event, also
in London, this coming April is very comprehensive looking and probably well
worth attending.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Throughout Europe there
are a few larger events scheduled for 2014, the first of which is the Merchant
Payments Ecosystem conference in February, taking place in Berlin which is set
to be a key event for those of us researching the evolution and impact of payment
systems worldwide. This is one I am really looking forward to attending.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">With mobile
payments a hot topic in the industry, the number of events dealing with this
area have increased recently.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve
attended a few and find that the same issues are re-hashed and it’s tricky to
come across something new or useful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d
advise doing </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">some research on the speakers
and companies attending to make sure it’s relevant for your business interests,
as these tend to be pretty expensive too. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">You don’t
have to give up </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">a whole day or week to
gain something.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was at a variety of
short afternoon events last year, for example a recent Vendercom afternoon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">With clever
planning can get you a lot of information, insights and contacts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also find that taking a day or two out from
grind helps with thinking and I always come back with clearer thoughts on my
own business priorities. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The key lies
in setting out your objectives and what you want to achieve from the
events.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Early bird offers, or attending
some of the mini sessions can save money and ensure you get the most from your
budget for this type of activity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
fact where possible, never pay full price. Either book early and take discounts
or book late and haggle!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">My immediate priority is
to get organized for Money2020 in November in Las Vegas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m watching closely on Twitter to see all
their announcements and discounts –well worth following them on
@money2020!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s in its third year and
is considered by all accounts to be the most professional, innovative and
forward-thinking event for our industry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Anil and the team run a fantastic show and they’re expecting around 4500
attendees from more than 1750 companies for 2014, which will make for an
excellent networking and learning opportunity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Kevin Murphy's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00308584288101989773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4626888772380014830.post-72015479294078309442013-12-20T02:26:00.000-08:002013-12-20T02:26:01.391-08:00Guest Blog for Business & Finance: Ireland a hotbed of payments innovation!<i>I was delighted to guest blog for Business & Finance this month. Here's a copy of the post as it appears on their site:</i><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Ireland is fast becoming a thriving hub for the global payments
industry.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">We have the right experience, world
class skills and are building a solid reputation globally for creating highly
innovative payment businesses.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">According to IDA Ireland there are 30 indigenous companies in operation
here, employing around 1600 people and producing over €225m in exports.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ireland has also attracted large global
payments brands such as MasterCard, PayPal and Elavon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The IDA states there are now 12 multinational
payment companies here employing around 3700 people.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Over the last few years we have seen a lot of new innovative solutions-
from payments technology to entirely new payment concepts. There are some
fantastic success stories emanating from this country!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Kerry
is a regional hothouse of payments innovation with Fexco and Monex.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Set up in 1981, Fexco now employs 1800 people
globally offering Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC), corporate payments and
global treasury solutions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Monex was
established in 1997, offering multi-currency pricing, DCC and cross border
acquiring solutions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Similarly
Continuum, another Irish-owned operation also offers DCC services from a Kerry
base.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Irish-owned
Realex, which was set up here over 10 years ago, already processes payments of
over €24 billion a year for 12,500 online retailers including Aer Lingus, Paddy
Power, Vodafone and Virgin Atlantic. It employs 160 people in offices in
Dublin, London and Paris.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Colm Lyons,
founder, is now driving the company’s growth further by pushing into UK and
Europe by partnering with Elavon, to offer a gateway solution for online
retailers across Europe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Sentenial, the Maynooth-based payments company providing technology for
other companies to ready themselves for the SEPA changeover, has recently announced
over 100 new jobs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These will be created
over the next 14 months, bringing the total workforce to 270.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">OmniPay, a global payments processor, was founded in Dublin in
2000.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Due to significant business
growth, this company also recently announced the creation of 30 new jobs at its
headquarters in Clonskeagh, Dublin, bringing its total workforce to almost 200
people over the next six months. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">MasterCard
has now based its global innovation ‘hub’, MasterCard Labs, in Dublin with 200
people employed there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Similarly, Elavon
supports a variety of business lines globally through its 400-strong workforce
in Ireland. Paypal, set up in 2003, now employs over 2400 people at its Dublin
plant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Neither
of these is Irish-owned but as with other examples in this industry offshoots
do develop so it will be interesting to see what emerges.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stripe, a new e-commerce tool for online
payments, offers an alternative online payment system to the likes of PayPal. Whilst
US based, it was founded by Irish brothers Patrick and John Collison.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only two years old it has already secured thousands
of clients in the US and recently launched officially in Ireland with further
plans to expand into Europe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">There
are a number of Irish research institutes involved in ongoing research into
payments technology such as Centre for Cybercrime at UCD, the Computer Science
Centre at UCC and the Dependable Systems Unit at DCU where students are
developing more reliable software systems, examining security issues and exploring
mobile forensics.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">It’s
not difficult to see why such companies would choose to set up here. Irish financial
regulation, whilst stringent, still serves the payments market in Europe
well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ireland is signatory to the
European Payments Services Directive and e-Money directive and is a member of
SEPA. This is undoubtedly an attractive aspect for any interested US or
European business<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Equally,
government enterprise bodies offer employment grants and favourable tax credits
to companies who set up here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">With
regards to innovation on the Irish front, the Irish Payments Services
Organisation (IPSO) doesn’t directly call out their thoughts on fostering
innovation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead they reference the
goals expressed by the National Payments Plan (NPP).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These NPP goals revolve largely around changing
the focus, usage and adoption rates of newer payment technologies rather than
listing any specific goals to attract or foster investment in new payments
providers or payments innovation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Surely
this is a strategic gap which needs to be filled?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">IDA
Ireland however bills Ireland as ‘the location of choice for international payments
firms’ and is promoting Ireland as having a strong capability in DCC, PCI
compliance, prepaid cards and payment processing platforms. The payments market in Ireland offers rich
opportunities to start up, scale and grow new businesses with a truly
international focus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">It
is important that we do more to foster indigenous enterprise rather than
focusing all our efforts on attracting multinationals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Investment in research and education, a focus
at national level by bodies such as IPSO and incentives to set up at a local
level will certainly help.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">This
way we can ensure we continue to strengthen our payments knowledge and
technology enabling us to retain and grow our global reputation in this area.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Sources include: Government’s Action Plan for Jobs 2013 </span><a href="http://www.djei.ie/publications/2013APJ_Annex.pdf"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">http://www.djei.ie/publications/2013APJ_Annex.pdf</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">, Irish
Independent, IDA Ireland<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<!--EndFragment-->Kevin Murphy's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00308584288101989773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4626888772380014830.post-33080127418682736072013-11-27T02:21:00.000-08:002013-11-27T02:21:28.727-08:00Huge opportunities globally for Dynamic Currency Conversion
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The market for Dynamic
Currency Conversion (DCC), where consumers are offered the opportunity to pay
in their home currency regardless of where they actually make the purchase, represents
a massive opportunity. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">When Visa lifted its moratorium
in 2010, allowing its acquirer customers to activate new accounts and new
merchant locations for DCC in all regions, I expected a much more prolific
growth in the number of companies and merchants offering this service.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without those Visa limitations, new DCC
participants into the market could further capitalise on foreign spending by converting
new customers, while at the same time increasing their revenue from foreign
transactions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The market is ripe for
this type of service.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The global economy
is set to record 3.1% growth in 2013 with the IMF predicting global GDP to grow
by 3.8% in 2014.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>International tourist
arrivals worldwide are set to increase by 3.3% a year from 2010 to 2030 to
reach 1.8 billion by 2030.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Business
travel alone recorded 212 million arrivals globally last year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Unfair practices of DCC are
being ruled out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Australia, in
February this year, the competition regulator launched a case against Visa </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">in support of fairer DCC
services.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Regulator alleged that the
company had abused its market power by preventing customers from using a
currency of their choice when carrying out their international shopping.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In other words they were accusing Visa of
actively limiting consumer choice by preventing retail stores in Australia from
offering DCC or preventing businesses from supplying DCC services on ATMs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although Visa is asserting the opposite
stating it will “vigorously defend itself” against these claims, the reality
looks like Visa is simply not keen to drive the growth in any competing DCC
services as this represents a loss to their own earnings from the
transaction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">As of September this year Brazilian
banks, Itaú and Bradesco, no longer allow DCC on purchases made with credit
cards they issue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Association of
Brazilian Credit Cards and Services Companies (Abecs) has recommended against
the practice stating that they were dealing with a number of complaints from
Brazilian consumers who bought goods in Brazilian Reals but were confused by
credit-card statements showing the purchase in dollars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">It’s too early too tell the
impact of this decision on e-commerce merchants selling into Brazil but
certainly not being able to pay for products on foreign websites in Brazilian Reals
will adversely affect sales for international e-commerce merchants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think this decision will illustrate how a
lack of DCC services ultimately does not serve the consumer well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Despite regulatory issues
like this, there is still plenty of growth available in this industry over the
next 5 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve extolled the benefits
of DCC before in my <a href="http://kevinmurphyie.blogspot.ie/2013/09/dynamic-currency-conversion-dcc-why-is.html">earlier blog</a> namely the ability for consumers to view foreign prices in their own currency
therefore making a more informed purchase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Equally I’ve highlighted that some merchants are using it as an excuse
to levy unfairly high fees which fuels consumer fears that this type of
currency conversion is artificially higher than actual market rates. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The market is
ready: </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">the global economy is returning to levels of stability and tourism and business
travel is growing annually. The key
here, on the merchants’ side, is to ensure fair fee levels. Once there is complete transparency and trust
in this system, there are infinite possibilities for merchants to get on board
and offer DCC as part of their service. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">
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<!--StartFragment--><span style="font-family: Arial;">Sources include: Forbes.com,
FT.com, Irish Independent, World Travel Market Euromonitor Report 2013, Tourism Trends and Marketing Strategies UNWTO,</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> ABECS website</span></span><!--EndFragment-->
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<!--EndFragment-->Kevin Murphy's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00308584288101989773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4626888772380014830.post-85374594856780532112013-11-11T03:24:00.002-08:002013-11-11T03:24:16.479-08:00O2 money card ... An opportunity lost or still available?
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">When the O2 money card first came out in <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">2011</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> in Ireland </span>it got great traction; within one month of its
launch O2 had sold more than 50,000 cards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Customers could top-up their cards online through their bank accounts, in
any O2 retail store or in over 1,500 Payzone outlets nationwide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Card balances could be checked at any time online
or via text message. It was positioned as an easy way to manage personal cash
flow and without incurring additional debt. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 252.0pt 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">By 2012, O2 had signed up more than 100,000 customers and
reported over 1.2 million transactions through their cards, citing that 80% were
online purchases with the majority of spend going towards well known music and
book retailers, airlines, online gaming services and supermarkets. 53% of the O2
Money Card customer base were under 35 years old and it was made available to
everyone aged 13 or over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A valuable
customer segment and one which is highly attractive to players in the financial
services market. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt 36.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt 36.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Heralded as something
revolutionary in terms of payment options, you would think that this momentum
would have continued and more consumers would have opted to take out prepaid
cards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In reality, this has not been the
case.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt 36.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">A survey conducted by National Consumer Agency in
2012 stated that there were 9 prepaid cards in circulation on the Irish market.
Examples include Swirl MasterCard and Ryanair Cash Passport.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">The features of prepaid cards vary
significantly, particularly the methods of purchase, operation, fees, terms and
</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">conditions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is also huge
variation in the charging structures between these products.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In some cases they can have up to five
different fees involved in using them for example sign-up fees, top-up charges
and various transaction charges each time the card is used in making a
purchase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Likely consumers are confused
and find it difficult to compare the products on offer, as well as consider
many of them to be poor value<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">In 2012 it was estimated that there are around
200,000 prepaid card holders however there seems to be little growth, or no
evidence of growth since the initial surge of O2 money card’s success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Competition in the prepaid market competition
is now virtually non-existent, with little or no mass advertising to try to
attract more customers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">This represents a real opportunity, especially in
the financial services sector, to revitalize interest in this type of
service.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At a time where </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">consumer trust in banks is very low,
and there is a well-founded fear of accumulating excessive debts, a product
like this is ideal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Add to this the
increasing fee structures for current accounts and you can understand why people
want something different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Consumers are</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"> actively seeking new alternatives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">With
prepaid options, consumers can load money onto their cards and use this instead
of incurring fees associated with payment via their Laser or Visa cards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Equally there is no pressure on them to have
a certain amount lodged in their accounts to avoid fees. Instead they can lodge
smaller amounts to the prepaid card and use this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Due to
this no-debt factor, prepaid cards are often available to the under 18s and the
student segment - younger people who wouldn’t have a credit rating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, this represents an ideal opportunity
for financial services companies to develop prepaid products to bolster their
student package offerings and attract this lucrative segment. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt 36.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 252.0pt 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">If we consider the move towards
a mobile wallet, where brands are offering mobile contactless purchasing
options, then money cards integrated with mobile apps are a valuable and highly
relevant payment option. It is surprising therefore that O2 have not developed
this further.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">The
timing is right for a reinvigorated prepaid offering -something straightforward
and easy to grasp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Consumers are
debt-adverse and actively seeking new and inexpensive ways to manage their
money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The market is ripe for a cool
alternative to bank payment products, integrated with mobile apps and wallets,
and leaders in this space would certainly see positive results. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Sources:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">Survey of
Prepaid Payment Products, National Consumer Agency, October 2012.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">Archived
o2 press releases February 2011 & February 2012.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shoppers warned over high charges for
prepaid cards’,</i> Irish independent Article, March 2012.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h3>
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></h3>
<!--EndFragment-->Kevin Murphy's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00308584288101989773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4626888772380014830.post-46526799837147649992013-10-29T12:20:00.001-07:002013-10-29T12:20:23.655-07:00SEPA: So near but so what?
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">It seems we have been
collectively preparing for the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA)</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> for quite some time now yet no one seems too pushed
about it!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Essentially </span><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">SEPA is designed to
improve the efficiency of payments in Euros both cross-border and domestically.
As part of this, new schemes for credit transfers and direct debits will
replace existing payment schemes and existing payments will migrate to the new
schemes.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 17.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">With a February 2014 deadline –
this actually means there’s only 100 days left for government, banks and
businesses to migrate their existing euro credit transfer and direct debit
schemes to the SEPA credit transfer (SCT) and SEPA direct debit (SDD) schemes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to the European Central Bank </span><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">the changeover process
is now entering ‘a critical phase.’ <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">In the Irish market, it’s
been very slow to gain momentum despite these impending deadlines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">An ISME survey from September revealed that only 58%
of SMEs are aware of SEPA, 29% were unaware of the 1st February 2014 as the
compliance date and little over half of the SME community (54%) have begun
early planning or implementation of this new system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In total just 19% are considered SEPA
compliant.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">With so many other pressures and challenges facing
small business owners it’s easy to see how SEPA fell below the radar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In light of everything going on for business,
it’s not really that compelling - even I struggle to find something
transformative or tangible about it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">No doubt consumers
are feeling the same; it’s just not clear how it will affect them or indeed if
it will benefit them at all. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>SEPA
promises to offer greater choice of service, competition and flexibility. So a
consumer wishing to pay for services within any of the 33 European countries
involved in SEPA can now do so using just one domestic account.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They will also be able to use the same
payment card for all euro payments within the participating countries, making
the use of cards more efficient.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will
also be easier to opt and pay for services provided by European companies such
as telephone, insurance and utilities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Therefore consumers should
enjoy the benefits of increased competition in both the payments and utilities
market.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wonder though, will they embrace
these rights post SEPA?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will we see
consumers opening up new European bank accounts?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And what are the risks for consumers, particularly
in regards to making cross-border direct debits?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">The
ISME report also outlines risks posed by a "big bang" late migration.
If everything is left to the last minute, there could be huge capacity issues by
providers and software vendors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Similarly this doesn’t leave adequate time for system testing and
dealing with any issues during the changeover phase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ultimately this approach could cause operational
risks, like disruptions in individual handling of payment orders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The organization is embarking on a nationwide
rally to inform and motivate SMEs to get moving in their preparations for the
upcoming deadline.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">If
life post SEPA offers up increased efficiency, smoother payment processes and
greater competitive pricing/choice for both businesses and consumers, why are
we so unhurried in our pace to embrace this? It seems there is little
understanding or urgency to get moving on this new payments era.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 252.0pt 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Source: Second SEPA Migration
Report, October 2013, European Central Bank and ISME</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">
SME SEPA survey, September 2013 </span></span><span style="color: #3f3e40; font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Kevin Murphy's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00308584288101989773noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4626888772380014830.post-63105213672222938062013-10-22T04:02:00.000-07:002013-10-22T04:02:01.037-07:00My thoughts on the recent Realex Payments blog regarding our National Payment Plan..
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<!--StartFragment-->
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">There was an
interesting post recently from Colm Lyon at Realex Payments on the National
Payment Plan (<span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><a href="http://www.realexpayments.ie/the-national-payments-plan-a-missed-opportunity">http://www.realexpayments.ie/the-national-payments-plan-a-missed-opportunity</a>).</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">I’d agree with
him on many points. The report is nearly two years in the making and
for me it really isn’t decisive or potent enough in its approach. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">There are many
dynamic payment companies –of all sizes –operating nationally and
internationally that are based in Ireland. We have a vibrant,
innovative payments industry with great businesses led by great
people. This report doesn’t really reflect this!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">This progressive
cohort of businesspeople would prefer to be out there developing viable
businesses rather than crafting such reports over a two-year
timeframe. Like me I’m sure they’ve seen a few National payment
plans in their time and are pretty pessimistic about what can be achieved via
this route. I suspect that if we looked back at previous payment
plans –and what was targeted –it might be a less than successful track
record. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Market change will come from dynamic people making
things happen –unfortunately they tend not to be the people who spend time
producing reports like this. </span><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<!--EndFragment-->Kevin Murphy's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00308584288101989773noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4626888772380014830.post-15716926840084103372013-10-14T04:26:00.001-07:002013-10-14T04:26:33.062-07:00Is an annual tax on credit and debit cards the most stupid tax in the world?
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</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10pt;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">With tomorrow
heralding a new budget here in Ireland, there is certainly time to reflect on
the choices made at government level with regards to payment taxation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In Ireland, the practice of imposing stamp duties –a tax on cards -is
still alive and well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">tax is charged by the government on credit and debit cards
issued by the financial institutions in Ireland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">n
reality f</span>inancial institutions are actually levying the charge: they
chose to pass it on to consumers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I’m struggling to understand why this tax still persists.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Whilst the rules can
vary from card to card, there are standard charges levied for each customer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For credit cards, stamp duty is payable
annually at a rate of €30 on every credit card.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>With regards to Debit and ATM cards, it is payable annually at a rate of
€5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For credit cards, the duty is
applied to each account whereas for debit cards it is €2.50 where cards have
been used at ATMs only, €2.50 where cards have been used at Point of Sale only
and €5 is paid where cards have been used in both instances.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">This €30 levy on
credit cards represents a significant barrier to competition in the Irish
credit card market.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This practice
contributes to stagnation of switching in this marketplace - customers are
reluctant to shell out another €30 to acquire a second credit card within a
given year. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">In total this tax amounts
to approximately €107m for the Exchequer, not one of the more significant
revenue streams.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The government claims
to be fostering a modern, efficient payment system for the people of
Ireland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As part of this, they actively encourage
people to use electronic forms of payment yet the continued existence of stamp
duty is in direct contradiction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
tax effectively penalizes the consumer for doing so!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The National Payments Plan
(NPP) completely fudges the matter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Using obtuse language it advocates that stamp duty should be reformed “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">to ensure that more effective, efficient
e-Payments such as debit cards are not discouraged</i>” concluding that current
stamp duty on debit and pre-paid cards should be “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">phased out.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>However there
is no deadline date, and therefore no commitment to this definitely happening
anytime soon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">At this stage the NPP
should clearly and explicitly call for the elimination of stamp duty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It doesn’t make any sense – overall it
discourages people from using e-payments, raises only a small amount of money for
the Exchequer and above all else really annoys consumers and is
anti-competitive!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">It’s well past time that
these taxes are immediately abolished.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">Sources:
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10pt;">
<a href="http://www.finfacts.ie/irishfinancenews/article_102633.shtml"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">http://www.finfacts.ie/irishfinancenews/article_102633.shtml</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">and the National Payments Plan (NPP)
2013<u style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: blue; mso-themecolor: hyperlink;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></span></div>
<!--EndFragment--></span><br />
<!--EndFragment-->Kevin Murphy's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00308584288101989773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4626888772380014830.post-752855578564041922013-09-30T03:28:00.000-07:002013-09-30T03:28:29.197-07:00Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) - why is this valuable customer benefit so misunderstood?
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Recently I was at the counter in a shop in
London and I was given the option to pay for my purchases in Euro as I had
issued an Irish credit card for the payment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In moments like this, without a currency converter to hand, it can be
tricky to figure out exactly what you are paying for the item in your home
currency versus what it would cost if I paid in Sterling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This can lead to some nasty shocks when
statements come through a few weeks later! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">With Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC), customers are given the option to
pay in their home currency when transacting abroad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They can either pay in the original pricing
currency or amount, or in the billing currency of their own card.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not all locations offer this to international
shoppers and an offer to avail of DCC will only be made when the billing
currency of the customer’s card is identified, and only if the retailer can
accept that billing currency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the customer’s
home currency is presented, the DCC exchange rate will contain an FX conversion
margin –this is the DCC profit, which goes to the retailer and the acquirer
(and sometimes to a specialist DCC provider as well). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 252.0pt 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">For example<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">,
</i>if </span><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">a U.S. Visa cardholder is in Japan and decides to
purchase a souvenir priced at 20yen <s><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></s><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the retailer may offer the cardholder the
option to pay in USD.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The retailer
converts the transaction amount to USD.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The customer actively chooses DCC and agrees to pay the USD amount for
the souvenir using the exchange rate provided by the retailer (which will
include a % fee for the DCC service).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">For the consumer, there is total transparency as they know exactly what
they are paying at the time of purchase (instead of seeing this later on their
credit card statement).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As they have a
choice to use DCC or not, they have control over their finances and as a result
greater peace of mind regarding transactions abroad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">It’s a simple and fast way for consumers to
make their payments in the currency they know and understand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So why is this valuable benefit so
misunderstood? </span><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Unfortunately there is a certain cohort of retailers / acquirers who
exploit this service, charging high service fees which artificially inflate the
true price of the goods (I have seen </span><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">as much as 7% / 8% of the purchase price - or ATM
value - in certain cases!)</span><s><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></s></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">In particular, airport services have been guilty of this leading to
accusations of DCC as</span><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"> a money-making scheme and very customer unfriendly. As always with
online and credit transaction, it’s up to us as customers to be vigilant and
ensure we accept the terms and rates being offered. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Naturally it’s </span><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">not something the card associations and card
issuers are pushing as it moves profit from them – it </span><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">redirects revenue
earned from currency conversion margins and fees to retailers and acquirers / DCC
transaction processors. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">In a market where we are continually talking about customer-led
services, this should be a great additional benefit for customers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the DCC rate is priced reasonably, it
should be a straightforward and more economical decision for customers to
select it with confidence. For an innovative and customer-centric DCC or
acquiring company, there is a real opportunity for a customer friendly and
ethical pricing solution, whilst still offering a profitable option for all
involved. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 252.0pt 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">In reality the benefits should appeal to customers
and retailers alike. Some staff education is involved to properly position and
ensure it is sold responsibly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Customers need to feel
comfortable with this service and be sold a fair deal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">For the retailer it means customer convenience at
profitable margins<s>.</s><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 252.0pt 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Whilst the reputation of this service has been
tarnished somewhat by some companies persisting on milking the margin, overall
if it is positioned appropriately by retailers, and adheres to reasonable margins
it should play a more meaningful role in purchasing abroad and be a much better
customer proposition.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Kevin Murphy's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00308584288101989773noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4626888772380014830.post-63032344927925974142013-09-16T08:43:00.000-07:002013-09-16T08:43:04.972-07:00Mobile Wallets & Payments…so much choice but UK consumers slow to adopt and change!<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Earlier this week I read that McDonald’s was trialing mobile payments in
two of their stores in the US.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
effect, customers will be able to pay for their Happy Meals using just their
mobile phone! I wonder was this intended when the term Digital Wallet was first
conceived - a seamless, easy way to remove the need for a physical wallet by
paying for everything using a mobile.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">In the UK, there have certainly been advances towards a world where this
McDonald’s example is the norm. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">According to the UK Office of National Statistics, access to the
Internet using a mobile phone more than doubled between 2010 and 2013, from 24%
to 53% and so far in 2013, 72% of all adults have bought goods or services
online.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">However, another survey, carried out in January by UK-based ICM Research
showed that consumer awareness of mobile payment methods was high - 80% but
only 8% of people were actually making contactless transactions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ICM surveyed over 2,000 consumers in
the UK and found </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">that, despite smartphone
penetration around 60%, only a third would 'definitely' or 'probably' use their
mobile to make payments, use as event tickets or to collect vouchers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Looking at just the smartphone owners'
answers that figure rises to 46%.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">So we know that consumers’ buying behaviour is perfectly suited to all
the new technologies available but something isn’t resonating with them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 28.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Let’s take a look at what’s out there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b>PayPal</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> and <b>Google
</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial;">have already entered this market
with their mobile offerings but adoption is still a long way from mainstream in
both cases.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>PayPal has a
well-entrenched network especially with its eBay connection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has also been around for a long time
and enjoys a larger user base.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>According to Play, Google’s app store, Google Wallet has been downloaded
fewer than 10 million times in the two years since its launch.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>V.me</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial;">, Visa Europe's answer
to PayPal and Google Wallet, allows consumers to store details of several cards
in their own digital wallet, which can then be used for mobile payments. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The service will be available in the UK
from the end of 2013 and has already announced a deal with Dixons Retail
allowing customers to purchases on the Currys and PC World websites using the
V.me service.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Stripe,</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> an online and mobile payments startup, recently
launched operations in the UK.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
enables UK merchants and vendors to accept online payments, no PayPal required
- effectively providing a rival service to PayPal and Visa. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Their service
eliminates the need for UK businesses to go through time-consuming compliance
and accounts set-ups to facilitate online payments. It can accept all major
card types including Visa, MasterCard and American Express and the start-up has
also launched multiple currencies to support its UK extension letting
businesses charge in US dollars, British pound sterling and Euros.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Meanwhile a group of
UK banks, including Barclays, RBS, Lloyds, HSBC and Santander have come
together to launch <b>Zapp</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial;">, a new
mobile phone payment app.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unlike some existing
apps, it’s not tied to one particular bank and it comes pre-installed rather
than requiring a separate download.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Once a customer has logged into
mobile banking app on their phone, according to Zapp, the transaction can be
completed with a tap of the finger in as little as 12 seconds.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .25in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Also keen to move into the e- and m-commerce space, <b>Facebook</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> is planning to test a new mobile
payment </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">feature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will use payment details added by
users to their Facebook account to automatically fill in forms when they make
purchases on mobile applications. A clever move
as this will help to convince advertisers of the effectiveness of its platform
in driving revenue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">To date, no third-party wallet provider has won large-scale
adoption in the UK market and I suspect wont for a good while to come yet. With
all these new collaborations and app releases, it will be interesting to see
how well UK consumers embrace the mobile wallet in the months and years to
come. Indeed it will also be interesting to see which of the many developments
will actually ever recoup their start up costs!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">Sources:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none;">
-<a href="http://www.icmresearch.com/2013-the-year-of-the-mobile-wallet"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">http://www.icmresearch.com/2013-the-year-of-the-mobile-wallet</span></a><span style="color: #1e1e1e; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #1e1e1e; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">-UK National Statistics 2013 </span></div>
Kevin Murphy's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00308584288101989773noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4626888772380014830.post-76049222929317460222013-09-04T01:59:00.000-07:002013-09-04T04:22:49.955-07:00Where is the competition in the Irish credit card market?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">I recently had cause to
review the competitive offerings in the Irish card market and was left a little
underwhelmed.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">A few years ago there was
a proliferation of credit card offers available to the Irish consumer however
since then we have witnessed numerous players exit market leaving the
competitive landscape less than competitive!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">In 2011, MBNA, which would
have typically had some of the best rates exited the Irish credit card market
leaving just six issuers for consumers to chose from: PTSB, Ulster, BoI, Tesco,
Dankse and AIB.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of those, I suspect that
at least two are very passive competitors.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The overall result is a
distinct lack of competition and complete lack of innovation! The offerings are
quite homogeneous, with interest rates being the main headlines from each
market player.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe that there is
huge scope in the Irish market for something new.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the UK, there has always been healthy
competition with balance transfer offers incentivising consumers to move
between companies in search of the best deal as well as some very interesting loyalty
reward options, driven by cardholder spend dynamics.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Here, credit card payments
continue a downward trend –the number of credit card payments has dropped by 14%
since 2008, and is still falling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>According to the Central Bank, in 2008, there were over 2.2m personal
credit cards in circulation, this has reduced year-on-year and latest figures
show just over 1.8m personal credit cards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Irish are uniquely disciplined with regards to credit card payments
with many paying their full credit card each month.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Conversely, debit card use
is growing, rising by an estimated 14% annually.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rollout of Visa Debit may well have
displaced some credit card usage over the past year or two however the lack of
competition, and exit of some issuers, has had an adverse impact.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Over the next month of two,
action in the credit card market will revolve around the annual surge in
marketing and promotion to woo new third level students to sign up to their
services.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other than this, it would
appear that credit card companies are primarily focused on selling to their
existing customer base rather than competing against each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is not helped by the ridiculous €30
Government Stamp Duty, which is levied annually, an obstacle to effective
competition and switching in the market (but perhaps it suits the incumbents?)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Interestingly, customers are
entitled to a refund of the €30 fee if they switch cards mid-year, this is not
well understood and nobody seems to make the process easy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">So in reality, competition
really only exists for some distinct market segments at certain times of the
year, suitably discouraged by the stamp duty constraint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">This is in marked contrast
to the UK market and I believe that there is a significant gap, and opportunity, for a really innovative and compelling consumer proposition, something to shake
up this market and create true competition.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #141414; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">Sources: <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Central
Bank Statistics & Central Bank Report</span> April 2013</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Kevin Murphy's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00308584288101989773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4626888772380014830.post-13741558183845988762013-08-19T05:25:00.001-07:002013-08-19T05:25:11.867-07:00The end of cheques in Ireland - are we really ready?
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">The
National Payments Plan, which was launched in April this year, aims to make
savings of c.€1bn annually to the Irish economy by increasing the use of
electronic forms of payment such as debit cards and electronic banking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ultimately this
means the removal of cheques as a payment method for Irish people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">This won’t be easy as according to the Central Bank, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Ireland has the second highest usage of cheques among major European
countries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This practice is quite
ingrained and it will take a long time – and consumer-friendly alternatives
–before we see cheques disappear completely.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Granted there is a significant cost-saving to be gained by the
removal of cheques.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">An ECB study estimates that a cheque costs around €3.55 when all costs
are included. For a small business or consumer this cost includes the 50c stamp
duty on each cheque, bank charges and postal charges, as well as time taken to
process cheque payments.<i> <o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">A date will be set in 2014 at which time the public sector will
no longer write or accept cheques to or from business users. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">However, how realistic is it to think that there will be large
scale reductions in cheque volumes, particularly for consumer generated
payments? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Despite the Cheque Guarantee Card Scheme closing on December
31st 2011, Government figures state that consumers account for more than one
third of all cheques issued.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
majority of these (56%) are payable to businesses, primarily to SMEs.
Just over one third of all cheques issued by consumers are payable to other
consumers. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">For these cheque payments to disappear, there needs to be
easier, cheaper and customer friendly solutions deployed across the market. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">At the moment, for many C2C payments and C2B payments, there are
only two alternatives – cash or cheque. At this time of year I find myself
writing numerous cheques to cover my kids back to school expenses – lunch
vouchers, drama classes, sports classes, etc. The most effective way for me to
send funds to these recipients is still via cheque – notwithstanding that this is
now effectively a “trust” based system. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Certainly there are already some payments services available
which could potentially fill these gaps but others are still in the very early
stages of development or deployment. And we know that customer adoption is
frequently slow! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">The mobile phone, already an integral part of most peoples’
lives, could offer part of the solution. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mobile phone based payments – P2P - are
available today but these will not cover all instances where a cheque is simply
an easier solution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Account details and
prior registration are frequently involved – a barrier to simple once-off
payments to tradesmen for example.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">With aggressive targets being set to end cheque circulation in
2014 (from government to SMEs) and in 2016 for the rest of the population, I’m
not convinced that there are viable alternatives in place yet for consumers
which will facilitate this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">In fact, I suspect that they will be around for a long time yet
…. Unless, of course, the forthcoming budget increases the cheque stamp duty to
a €1 or €2 per cheque. Now that would change consumer behaviour pretty quickly!
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1a1a1a;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">S<b>ources: </b></span><b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">National Payments Plan (April 2013) & </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">Central Bank Report</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"> on Cheque Usage (February 2013)</span></b></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Kevin Murphy's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00308584288101989773noreply@blogger.com3