Read the 2nd PEERS Issue: Mobile Review

Last month, we introduced you to the Prepaid Expo Executive Report Series (PEERS) here. PEERS is a series of summary briefs for prepaid business executives focused on key developments and topical hot spots driving prepaid industry change.

The second issue is now available. Please sign up here for full access.


Issue Two: Mobile Review

The Mobile Review Issue covers key developments, information and exclusive analysis from experts on the prepaid industry mobile frontlines.

PLUS a Special Feature Interview with Visa's Head of Consumer Prepaid Products, Hyung Choi!

In This Issue: 

 

• Plastic’s Last Stand: Tipping Point 2015/16

• Merchants Move Adoption Needle

• Providers Wage Wallet War

• Do We Need a New Network?

• Mobile Wallets, Huge Hurdles 

• Emerging Markets: What Can We Learn? 

• And much more!

 

Read PEERS Issue Two:  Mobile Review

* Stay tuned for our next issue: Prepaid's Social Media Equation 

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Finance, Payments & Prepaid on Pinterest: What I found

I've become a fan of Pinterest, the latest social network phenomenon, after writing about its corporate innovation potential here. One of the trends that I am always exploring is how social media can be harnessed by the finance industry, both externally for marketing and consumer education/awareness and externally to learn how consumers feel, think or use products and gather insights.

Why Pinterest Makes Cents Sense

As an avid user (and also a analyst/marketer) one of my favorite finds on Pinterest are infographics - lot of data condensed into an aesthetically pleasing one-pager - and Pinterest has them aplenty. Originally, this post was going to be about Pinners Prepaid Should Follow on Pinterest but after a deep dive, I think it might be best to show you the goodies I found on Pinterest and then explain why they matter:

Found:

1. Intuit's The Marketplace in Your Hands Infographic: Mobile Payments

2. The Mobile Payment Landscape in 60 Seconds Infographic

3. Pinned Articles: How Digital Money Spurs Digital Innovation

4. The Payment Revolution is Coming MindMap

5. The Value of Stored Value Cards Infographic

6. NCR Mobile Milestones Infographic

Follow These Pinners/Pinboards:


1. Mobile Experiences Board:

2. Payments Board #1:

3. Payments Boards #2:

5. Credit Card Statistics Board:

Use Pinterest as a Search Engine

1. Search Terms: "Mobile Commerce"

Last One

What Your Wallet Says About You - Now & Tomorrow Infographic

Evolving Technology and Disruptive Innovation 

Adapt or Die. Whenever I talk to clients about social media, I often refer to this principle but it has implications beyond marketing. The pace of technology innovations today is happening at unparalleled speed and affecting every single sector and will transform it. This is our new market reality. The marketplace is changing, and so are the needs of the Prepaid consumer.

Pinterest along with other popular social networks are often underrated by the finance industry or seen as the play things of the idle with little ROI. I see a lot of potential uses for them as tools for which to analyze and research trends, consumer data and the shifting landscape, its players, and filter news. I hope you try it out and enjoy it as much as I do.

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” 

― Marcel Proust

About the Author

Valerie M. Russo is a Senior Social Media Strategist at IIR USA and Managing Editor of the Prepaid Expo Blog. She has worked in media positions at Hachette Book Group, Aol, and Thomson Reuters and has an anthropology and brand-building background. She is also published poet and maintains a literary blog. She will be live blogging during Prepaid Expo 2013, taking place March 4-6, 2013, in Orlando, Florida and hopes to meet you there. She may be reached at vrusso@iirusa.com. Follow her @Literanista.

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Cashless Squares Up At Starbucks

(Photo: BetaNews.com)

A typical encounter at the cash register consists of either fumbling with cash and change, or pulling out your credit card, swipe it, wait for an authorization, followed by a signing of a console or receipt. An alternative payment method has been emerging in small, and micro, businesses. 

These alternative payment methods will be more apparent in coming months as a big deal has been struck by caffeine distribution giant, Starbucks, and mobile payment startup, Square.

In early August, Starbucks has struck a deal and will be investing $25 million to outfit a network of 7000 participating stores with the mobile payment system, Square. Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, notes that, “the smartphone is the primary device in our lives.” This deal will provide Starbucks with a significant discount on credit card processing fees. Traditional credit card processing methods required businesses to pay the credit card company 2.5-5% plus equipment rental and usage charges. Square on the other hand charges a flat 2.75% with free equipment, in the form of a dongle that attaches via headphone jack on any smartphone or tablet.

In 2009, Jack Dorsey, founder of Twitter, took a leap in to innovating the mobile payment space. With a simple philosophy, “everyone should be able to accept credit cards. It should be easy and free to get set up, it should use simple technology people already own, and, most importantly, it should instantly adapt to any size business”.

Square consists of four major components: a card reader, Pay With Square app, Square Register, and a Square Card Reader. The card reader is a plastic device which plugs into the audio jack of an iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and Android based mobile phones. This allows any smartphone to be used as a credit card swiping machine. Pay With Square is an app which allows customers check in a Square enabled business and set up tabs and pay with their names. It also enables them to receive electronic receipts. The Square Register is available for the iPad and transforms it into a credit card management system. Square Card Reader is another app available free of cost for iOS and Android, and is the actual interface that is utilized by the business to manage payments made via the card reader or Pay With Square app.

Previously focused around aiding small and micro businesses, with this $25 million investment from Starbucks, Square has raked in $200 million in new funding, positioning Square with a $3.25 billion valuation. As of March, Square has processed $4 billion a year in mobile payments transactions in this year alone through its 1 million registered merchants. 

With well-established companies, such as PayPal, Google Wallet, Intuit, LevelUp, and dozens others, fighting to gain market share in the space of mobile payments, the addition to the 7000 stores that have been added through the Starbucks deal, Square has taken a huge lead ahead of their growing field of competition.

The exposure provided through Starbucks to spotlight an seamless alternative payment method will greatly expand the emerging cashless zeitgeist. Expect to see more alternative payment methods at an ever growing number businesses, from your corner store to one of the thousands of Starbucks coffee shops.

About the Author


Phil Ng is a Social Media Analyst at IIR USA with a specialized focus on technology and technology culture. He may be reached at PNg@iirusa.com.

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The B2B Applications of Prepaid: Implications of Mobile Payments

In the video below, Carol Lee Mitchell of Global Prepaid at MasterCard sits down with Marilyn Bochicchio, CEO of Paybefore, earlier this year at Prepaid Expo USA 2012 to discuss Paybefore's mission.

Marilyn speaks about emerging and developed market trends She highlights the B2B applications of prepaid and the implications of mobile payments. She also shares her views about the existing regulatory environment in the US.

As the leading prepaid and emerging payments publishing company, Paybefore sponsors the Paybefore Awards®:

Now in its seventh  year, Paybefore Awards is the oldest and most prestigious awards to recognize excellence in the worldwide prepaid and stored value industry.

Three winners will be selected in approximately 20 categories, including Most Innovative Prepaid Solution and Breakout Prepaid Company of the Year. Best-in-Category and Industry Achievement winners will be announced at the Prepaid Expo USA, March 4-6, 2013, in Orlando, Fla. Applications will be available in mid-September, with nominations due Friday, November 16, 2012.

Editor's Note:  We encourage you to learn more and become involved with Prepaid Expo 2013, bringing together professionals from leading retailers, processors, financial institutions, service providers and marketers in the prepaid marketplace every year. Over 12,000 people have attended Prepaid Expo USA since 2007 to hear industry experts discuss what's next in the growing prepaid marketplace and where it fits in our new economy. Visit www.PrepaidExpoUSA.com to learn more.

* Thank you! Save 10% off the standard rate when you register for Prepaid Expo 2013, use Prepaid Expo Blog Reader VIP Code: XU2648BLOG10.

About the Author

Valerie M. Russo is a Senior Social Media Strategist at IIR USA and Managing Editor of the Prepaid Expo Blog. She has worked in media positions at Hachette Book Group, Aol, and Thomson Reuters and has an anthropology and brand-building background. She is also published poet and maintains a literary blog. She will be live blogging during Prepaid Expo 2013, taking place March 4-6, 2013, in Orlando, Florida and hopes to meet you there. She may be reached at vrusso@iirusa.com. Follow her @Literanista.

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The Future of Prepaid List: 25 Books to Read Now

There is no doubt the nature and landscape of the Prepaid industry as a whole is changing. Below is a list of books we have compiled that could foster a discourse on what lays ahead for the entire prepaid marketplace. Enjoy!

The Future of Prepaid List: 25 Books to Read Now

1. Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker by Kevin Mitnick, Steve Wozniak (Foreword), William L. Simon, 2011 [Go]
2. The SmartPhone Wallet: Understanding the Disruption Ahead by David W. Schropfer, 2010 [Go]
3. Insufficient Funds: Savings, Assets, Credit, and Banking Among Low-Income Households by Rebecca M. Blank, Michael S. Barr, 2011 [Go]
4. The Mobile Wave: How Mobile Intelligence Will Change Everything by Michael Saylor, 2012 [Go]
5. Resilience: Why Things Bounce Back by Andrew Zolli, 2012 [Go]
6. Social Business By Design: Transformative Social Media Strategies for the Connected Company by Dion Hinchcliffe, Peter Kim, Jeff Dachis, 2012, [Go]
7. BRICs and Beyond: Lessons on Emerging Markets by Stephanie Jones, 2012, [Go]
8. The Death of the Internet by Markus Jakobsson, 2012 [Go]
9. The Financial Services Marketing Handbook: Tactics and Techniques That Produce Results by Evelyn Ehrlich PhD, Duke Fanelli, 2012 [Go]
10. Interop: The Promise and Perils of Highly Interconnected Systems by John Palfrey, 2012 [Go]
11. The Value Path: Embedding Innovation in Everyday Business When the Customer Makes the Rules by Peter G.W. Keen, Ronald O. Williams, 2012 [Go]
12. Auditing Social Media: A Governance and Risk Guide by Peter R. Scott, J. Mike Jacka, 2011 [Go]
13. Moving Illegal Proceeds: Challenges Exist in the Federal Government's Effort to Stem Cross-Border Currency Smuggling by United States Government Accountability Office, 2012 [Go]
14. Innovation Reinvented: Six Games that Drive Growth by Roger Miller, Marcel Côte, 2012 [Go]
15. The End of Money: Counterfeiters, Preachers, Techies, Dreamers--and the Coming Cashless Society by David Wolman, 2012 [Go]
16. The Remittance Market in India: Opportunities, Challenges, and Policy Options by Gabi G. Afram, 2012 [Go]
17. The End of Business As Usual: Rewire the Way You Work to Succeed in the Consumer Revolution by Brian Solis, 2011 [Go]
18. No Slack: The Financial Lives of Low-Income Americans by Michael S. Barr, 2012 [Go]
19. Likeable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on Facebook (And Other Social Networks) by Dave Kerpen, 2011 [Go]
20. Protecting Mobile Money against Financial Crimes: Global Policy Challenges and Solutions by Pierre-Laurent Chatain, Andrew Zerzan, Wameek Noor, Najah Dannaoui, Louis de Koker, 2011 [Go]
21. High-Tech, High-Touch Customer Service: Inspire Timeless Loyalty in the Demanding New World of Social Commerce by Micah Solomon, 2012 [Go]
22. Migration and Remittances during the Global Financial Crisis and Beyond by Ibrahim Sirkeci, Jeffrey H. Cohen, Dilip Ratha, 2012 [Go]
23. The future of payment systems: A case study on digiPROOF, a fingerprint based payment solution by Markus Mayer, 2012, [Go]
24. Kingpin: How One Hacker Took Over the Billion-Dollar Cybercrime Underground by Kevin Poulsen, 2012, [Go]
25. Outrageous Fortunes: The Twelve Surprising Trends That Will Reshape the Global Economy by Daniel Altman, 2012, [Go]

Which book would you add?

Editor's Note:  We encourage you to learn more and become involved with Prepaid Expo 2013, bringing together professionals from leading retailers, processors, financial institutions, service providers and marketers in the prepaid marketplace every year. Over 12,000 people have attended Prepaid Expo USA since 2007 to hear industry experts discuss what's next in the growing prepaid marketplace and where it fits in our new economy. Visit www.PrepaidExpoUSA.com to learn more.

* Thank you! Save 10% off the standard rate when you register for Prepaid Expo 2013, use Prepaid Expo Blog Reader VIP Code: XU2648BLOG10.

About the Author

Valerie M. Russo is a Senior Social Media Strategist at IIR USA and Managing Editor of the Prepaid Expo Blog. She has worked in media positions at Hachette Book Group, Aol, and Thomson Reuters and has an anthropology and brand-building background. She is also published poet and maintains a literary blog. She will be live blogging during Prepaid Expo 2013, taking place March 4-6, 2013, in Orlando, Florida and hopes to meet you there. She may be reached at vrusso@iirusa.com. Follow her @Literanista.

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The Prepaid Marketplace in Brazil & Latin America

Yesterday, Anabel Perez, the CEO of NovoPayment wrote Digital Money, Mobile Wallets and Latin America at the Huffington Post.

Earlier this year, Marcio Franklin of MasterCard Brazil sat down with Sergio Marcondes, the CEO of Accentiv' Mimetica at Prepaid Expo USA 2012 to discuss prepaid in the Brazilian market. If you are keeping an eye on emerging markets, you may want to take a look at the video below.

Editor's Note:  We encourage you to learn more and become involved with Prepaid Expo 2013, bringing together professionals from leading retailers, processors, financial institutions, service providers and marketers in the prepaid marketplace every year. Over 12,000 people have attended Prepaid Expo USA since 2007 to hear industry experts discuss what's next in the growing prepaid marketplace and where it fits in our new economy. Visit www.PrepaidExpoUSA.com to learn more.

* Thank you! Save 10% off the standard rate when you register for Prepaid Expo 2013, use Prepaid Expo Blog Reader VIP Code: XU2648BLOG10.

About the Author

Valerie M. Russo is a Senior Social Media Strategist at IIR USA and Managing Editor of the Prepaid Expo Blog. She has worked in media positions at Hachette Book Group, Aol, and Thomson Reuters and has an anthropology and brand-building background. She is also published poet and maintains a literary blog. She will be live blogging during Prepaid Expo 2013, taking place March 4-6, 2013, in Orlando, Florida and hopes to meet you there. She may be reached at vrusso@iirusa.com. Follow her @Literanista.

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