News from APEX Europe: GPS Appoints Former Head of Issuing at Optimal Payments PLC

London - May 18th, 2015 - Leading global payments processor Global Processing Services (GPS) today announced that Suresh Vaghjiani will be joining their Senior Management team as Executive Vice President of Card Services. Suresh commented, "We have all witnessed the growth of GPS globally in recent years and it is certainly exciting to be part of the team tasked with continuing the expansion of our global footprint".

In his former role as Director of Issuing at Optimal Payments PLC, Suresh successfully established the Issuing and newly formed Card Services division. Previously, as a founding member of Kalixa Payments Group, in his role as Head of Kalixa Pay, Suresh launched the award winning Kalixa prepaid card across international markets. Suresh has a substantial understanding of electronic money, throughout its complete value chain from Issuing to Acquiring, with strategic knowledge on what works and does not work in various international markets.

As a member of the UK Contactless Advisory Committee, Suresh worked with TFL to pilot some of the first contactless prepaid products used on the London transport network. In 2011, Suresh launched the first ever contactless wristwatch in the UK. This is in addition to being responsible for launching the first App controlled NFC solution for i-phone in Europe. Suresh is an elected Advisory Board member for the Emerging Payments Association.

GPS was founded in 2007 by the owners of Flex-e-vouchers (FEV). FEV was one of the pioneers of prepaid Programme Management in Europe and continues to operate successfully today. FEV's founders identified weaknesses in prepaid processor capability and decided to launch a second business (GPS) that would provide the flexibility needed to service prepaid Programme Managers worldwide. GPS is a MasterCard, Visa Inc. and Visa Europe accredited processor. The platform was built in-house from the ground up and is tailored to prepaid card functionality, utilising the multi-year experience gained from operating one of the largest programme management companies in Europe.

Neil Weeks, Chief Commercial Officer at GPS commented, "Suresh is a well-known and respected industry expert. We are delighted to announce his appointment to our senior management team".

Tony Kerr, Chief Executive Officer at GPS added, "Suresh has a depth of product and industry knowledge that is amongst the finest in our sector. We believe that Suresh will strengthen our executive team, further underpinning our global rollout strategy".

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United Kingdom Take a Step Forward in Regulation of Digital Currencies

Digital currencies are beginning to rise quickly in popularity with consumers increasingly looking into digital currency as a means of payment. The UK government, in their most recent budget report have announced their plans to support innovation in the nascent technology, whilst taking steps to prevent criminal use. Similar to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), who recently proposed rules to help the development of the prepaid industry, the UK government are seeking to create an environment that will allow digital currencies to flourish whilst making it ‘a hostile environment for illicit users of digital currencies’.

At the beginning of March, cash was overthrown as the leading method of payment in the UK. More transactions were made digitally by credit, debit, or via other cashless methods than paying with cash. Predictions in 2023 show that digital transactions will have risen to a staggering 27 billion per year with cash being around 13 billion. With digital set to continue to be the leader in payments, the UK Treasury have seen the need for new regulation.

The main aim, just like with the CFPB’s new proposed rules, look closely at consumer protection as digital currencies in the past have been linked with many criminal activities. The bitcoin especially has been under a lot of scrutiny for its popular usage on the website Silk Road which was a marketplace for drugs, arms and other underground business. What many seem not to know is that bitcoins are not in fact anonymous; they can be tracked through the pseudonyms created by users to see every transaction ever made.

This budget announcement came soon after the Bank of England declared moves to undertake research into central bank issued digital currencies. Digital currencies have been pinpointed by the UK government as something with great potential but need a set of standards and best practices in order to decrease the volatility of prices in currencies such as bitcoins and to protect digital transactions that previously have not been particularly secure.

The UK’s move to embrace digital currencies shows that increased usage is expected in the future. The necessary regulation should allow consumers to feel more comfortable in becoming more reliant on digital transactions. Standardising digital currencies could help to adapt bitcoin and other virtual currency values for recording and transfers to help promote mainstream adoption.

It will be interesting to see whether other countries follow suit and devote more research into the support of digital currencies. However like with the CFPB’s proposed rules regarding prepaid payments, the standardising and regulation of digital currencies could mean a potential stifling in development and innovation within the industry that could limit longevity due to new innovations arising in the future.  

About the Author: Harry Kempe, a marketing intern at IIR USA, who works on various aspects of the industry including social media, marketing analysis and media. He is a recent graduate of Newcastle University who previously worked for EMAP Ltd. and WGSN as a marketing assistant on events such as the World Architecture Festival, World Retail Congress and Global Fashion Awards. He can be reached at hkempe@IIRUSA.com  

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Digital Transactions Surpass Cash in UK

This past weekend saw the end of cash leading as the most popular payment method in the UK. On Sunday March 8th, more transactions were made via credit, debit and other cashless methods than that of cash.

The Payments Council had predicted that this switch would occur in the UK in 2015.

See the figures in the article from The Telegraph, one shows the total value of cash vs. credit transactions from 2014 and the credit transactions out valued cash at a rate of 250:1. This is due to the fact that large corporations who deal with high-value transactions rarely touch cash.

The figures also continue to show the decreasing average payment on a credit or debit card, the rise of contactless payments, and the decrease of average cash transactions over the last few years. These are telltale signs that cash is losing its grip on consumers and is being replaced by digital transactions.

It is suggested that by 2023, cash transactions will fall to just 13 billion and the cashless alternative will grow to a staggering 27 billion. 

The direction of the payments industry is hard to deny, as years pass cash will begin to become an obsolete payment method that is rarely used by the everyday consumer. As new technology continues to emerge, cash slips a little further from relevance.


How long will it be until cash is no longer carried by the everyday consumer? Only time will tell but right now it seems as if it is sooner rather than later.

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Retail Focus – Everything you need to know about Prepaid

The world of retail is continuously changing, with retailers having to be innovative and ahead of the competition to remain strong, with this in mind where does a gift card or prepaid scheme sit?. The prepaid market is both one that is lucrative, fast moving and diverse with the UK and Europe quickly catching up to our US counterparts with the UK alone having a total value of £4.74bn in 2012.  The Prepaid industry covers gifting in either a voucher form, gift cards or more recently in a digital / virtual format. The opportunities cover both B2B and B2C, with B2B becoming increasingly significant year on year.  Distribution channels within B2C are easily identifiable as in-store, online or through a third party.  B2B is more complex with various routes to market and segmentation including reward and recognition, incentive and motivation, government, charity, savings and insurance replacement.

Launching a gift card, e gift code or a voucher can be daunting; however, there are true benefits which retailers can reap from a prepaid product beyond the obvious income of a card or code.  Working to a financial model it is possible to explore the benefits to a retailer including instrumentality, breakage and cash flow providing profitability beyond just the cash value sale.  Join us next week at the Prepaid Expo Europe at 9am on 17th April where this will be explained in further detail and exploring the in’s and outs of the financial benefits to a retailer.


Brian Dunne:

President of the IMA in Europe, IMA ( Incentive Marketing Association ) is the not for profit trade association for the incentive industry, which is a role I am very proud and humbled to have.
I am also MD and equity partner at SVM Europe from which I have the honour of working with the very best in class.

SVM is the global leader in gift cards , the leading and largest supplier of gift cards to incentive companies and driver of incremental sales for many of the greatest retail brands on the planet.

Prior to that I was CEO at Action Solutions, the UK’s leading prepaid consultants. 25 years experience in retail and hospitality, including holding positions at some of the prepaid market leaders such as Whitbread Leisure Vouchers and The Post Office. Worked with some of the world’s largest retailers and hospitality brand providers, including Target Corporation, WHSmith and Boots, helping clients to set up new gift card programmes, analyse gift card performance, drive incremental trade through B2B and other channels and to develop new and innovative uses of prepay to achieve specific business objectives and goals.


IMA Europe:
IMA Europe, a Strategic Industry Group of the Incentive Marketing Association, was formed with the mission of stimulating and developing the benefits that incentive marketing offers to all kind of organizations in Europe. The IMA is a reference organization for the local incentive and motivation markets as a European mirror to the IMA US.

With the task of helping incentive and motivation marketing become widely accepted throughout Europe, IMA Europe is making an important effort to become a permanently updated information source, promoting its member’s interests and the best industry practices.

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Prepaid Profile: Alex Hunter

Alex Hunter is the keynote speaker at next week's The Gift Card, Gift Voucher and Reloadable Card Summit in London.

For those of you not familiar with Alex Hunter, we present his Prepaid Profile:

Alex Hunter is the former Global Head of Online Marketing at the VIRGIN GROUP, and Brand Consultant and Digital Marketing Guru.


He "served as an adviser to the Prince of Wales’ Rainforest Trust specifically around the use of social media and was featured in the best-selling book The Whuffie Factor. He is a SeedCamp mentor, who splits his time between the UK and Northern California and regularly blogs at TripHunter, which combines tech with global travel."

You follow him on Twitter @cubedweller and check out more of his work below:
 
Brand Reputation Management 
The DOs and DO NOTs of Brand

Alex Hunter will be sharing his ideas on social engagement, digital marketing and the leveraging user-driven content vis a vis Prepaid inititatives and powering brands during his discussion on Harnessing the Power of the Social Web to Take on the World: Customer Loyalty in the Digital Age on March 30th at The Gift Card, Gift Voucher and Reloadable Card Summit.

We hope to you there and look forward to your feedback.

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Tips on How to Beat the Flunctuating Pound with Prepaid Cards

The pound which has plummeted against all major currencies this past year has added extra costs incurred by UK business travelers. According to this article on TimesOnline, the best way to cope with this dilemma is by loading prepaid debit cards with dollars or euros when the exchange rate is favorable. Some of the better known prepaid cards that are supplied by the exchange companies are Caxton FX and FairFX.

Mark Bodega, marketing director of HiFX offers this advice before shopping for a prepaid card,“It is worth shopping around before deciding on a prepaid card. Some levy a fee every time you spend, either a percentage of the amount or a flat fee per transaction. If you make a high number of small purchases, go for a percentage fee; for fewer but higher-value purchases go for a set fee.”

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Coffee Republic starts prepaid card and loyalty program

Coffee Republic, a coffee chain based in the UK, has teamed with sQuid eMoney Service to start a prepaid card and loyalty program for its stores. They intend for the prepaid cards to replace cash purchases in the fast-food market. The service is arleady available in London, but will expand to other stores early next year.

Peter Breach, Coffee Republic chairman, had this to say about the new program:
“The sQuid eMoney service gives us the ability to reward our customers at the same time as making their life easier at the point of purchase. We wanted to move on from the loyalty-only card; we needed contactless, and an ability to extend an online relationship with our customers meant that sQuid was the obvious partner.”

Read more here.

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UK Prepaid card survey results

In a recent study released about the usage of prepaid cards in the UK, they show that 60% of all customers had bought a prepaid card for another person within the last 12 months as well as 30% of consumers had bought a prepaid within the last six months. Of those who received prepaid cards, 50% were willing to reload their card. Read more about the study here.

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MasterCard for Mothers

In a recent article at All Pay News, they shed light on the first MasterCard pay as you go card available in the UK. Altair Financial Services International Plc (Altair) and Blueberry Card Services Ltd came together to launch this card to help new mothers manage their finances as well as save money on day to day expenditures that have to with children called the BeBee Card

With the cost of £14.95 a year, these mothers will have access to hundreds of discounts on items that are made for new babies, as well as discounts at grocery stores. Also following suit is the balance information that can be obtained by sending a text. This is an incredible example of companies finding the right target market, and using incentives that appeal especially to them.

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