4 12 December 2010

News:

An official US document dated 1 February 2010, released by whistleblowing site Wikileaks on 8 December, urged US Government officials to 'take advantage of meetings with their Russian counterparts...to change the draft text to ensure US payment companies are not adversely affected'.

Google is currently testing its own free credit comparison service in the US, after successfully implementing the system in the UK. Under the umbrella of its 'Comparison Ads' service - launched in 2009 for mortgages - Google is now offering US customers the possibility to compare credit cards according to interest rate, applicable fees, rewards etc directly in the search results.

The EU Commission has pledged to boost the adoption of e-invoicing practices in the EU and remove barriers to its development, which 'has the potential to make a big difference...for European trade as a whole', it said in a 2 December statement.

Features:

UK
World
US
EU

The year is about to end but developments in payments regulation appear to continue unabated with almost the frequency of the recent heavy snowfall in the UK.

The second E-Money Directive, which needs to be incorporated in UK law by April 2011, will create a more competitive and diverse environment for the electronic money market. William Long and Kai Zhang, of Sidley Austin LLP, consider the main issues raised in the consultations preceding the Directive implementation in the UK, and their implications for the emoney and prepaid industry.

Collaboration models in mobile payments across the mobile and banking sector are evolving rapidly, as the markets develop. Finding the right structure for co-operation can be vital for a successful venture. John Worthy, Partner at Field Fisher Waterhouse, examines the impact of the recent GSMA/EPC White Paper and the potential models for collaboration that exist.

The current economic climate in Ireland has created the need to revisit the country's payment infrastructure and how institutions, businesses and users manage their payments. Pat McLoughlin, Chief Executive Officer at the Irish Payment Services Organisation, examines the roles of cash, cards and electronic payments in Ireland.

Surveys conducted in Canada have revealed that although consumers are increasingly adopting mobile channels to make payments, security and privacy are still major concerns. Dan Petirs, Senior Consultant at KPMG, examines how Canadian consumers relate to the mobile platform.

The post-recession era has seen major financial reforms being voted upon, none more extensive than the Dodd-Frank Act. The reform included provisions on cross-border financial transfers and clarified the roles and obligations of banks, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. Stanton R. Koppel, Of Counsel at Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP, examines the scope of the changes.