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INSIDE: Fast Facts P 2-4 | contactless wristband From u.s. bank P 5

CHARTS: largest issuers oF u.s. consumer credit & debit cards in the u.s. P 8 | purchase transactions & volume in middle east/aFrica P 9 general purpose cards in mea P 9 | top mea issuers oF credit cards, debit cards, general purpose/visa/mastercard P 10,11

TOp card issuersThe Middle East/Africa region’s 42 largest card issuers ranked by purchase volume on American Express, Diners Club, Maestro, MasterCard, Visa, and Visa Electron general purpose credit,

GeNeraL purpOse cardsTotal volume of purchases at merchants as well as cash activity generated by credit, debit, and prepaid general purpose cards (American Express, Diners Club, MasterCard, and Visa)

TOp u.s. cONsumer crediT/debiT issuersThe largest issuers of credit cards and debit cards in the U.S. are ranked on page 8 in charts that show total consumer and commercial volume — purchases at merchants and cash. At

rOam daTa mObiLe checkOuTGoogle, Isis (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile), and Visa want to bring mobile wallet software to the U.S. market for use at the point of sale. Mobile wallet checkout technology that Roam Data is making

GFG card/mObiLe maNaGemeNT sOFTwareJava-based card management and mobile banking payment management software available from GFG Group is installed in 34 sites in 19 countries. Cadencie, the card management system,

isis siGNs cONTacTLess aGreemeNTsIsis, the mobile commerce joint-venture company owned by wireless network operators AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile, has licensed Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express

cONsumer debT resOLuTiONDebt resolution firms negotiate with creditors to significantly reduce the principal amount owed by consumers. By comparison, debt management firms, often referred to as credit counseling

airLiNe cO-braNded card upGradesAirline co-branded card programs are expanding their suite of product offerings as issuers continue to look for ways to retain high-spending customers, particularly with benefits that improve

iNTuiT buys mObiLe baNkiNG/paymeNTs TechNOLOGyThe mobile Web banking and payments platform of Mobile Money Ventures (MMV) in the U.S. has been acquired by Intuit. Terms were not disclosed.

Top card issuers middle east/africa

JULY 2011 Issue 976For 40 years, the leading publication covering payment systems worldwide.

© HSN Consultants Inc. 2011 THE NILSON REPORT Reproducing or allowing reproduction or dissemination of any portion of this newsletter in any manner for any purpose is a copyright violation subject to substantial fines. Yearly Subscription for 23 print and electronic issues is $1,295. ISSN 1087-8718THE NILSON REPORT: 1110 Eugenia Place, Suite 100, Carpinteria, CA 93013 USA • PHONE (805) 684-8800 • FAX (805) 684-8825 • [email protected]

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RJM ACQUISITIONS, a debt buyer, is offering debtors the oppor-tunity to make cash payments over the counter at 6,300 participat-ing 7-Eleven locations throughout the United States linked to the PayNearMe network. Scott Matte is CEO at RJM Acquisitions, (516) 714-1328, [email protected], www.rjmacq.com. Danny Shader is CEO at PayNearMe, (650) 383-7294, danny@ paynearme.com, www.paynearme.com.

CHARGESMART, a payments technology provider, now lets consumers make payments at 30+ large utility companies using American Express cards. Andrew Waskey is VP at ChargeSmart, (443) 695-0104, [email protected], www.chargesmart.com.

AMALGAMATED BANK of Chicago has signed a five-year agree-

ment to use FIS as its provider of card processing and fraud fighting

products and services. FIS’s card processing will manage consumer

and commercial accounts. Frank D’Angelo is EVP at FIS Payment

Solutions Group, (904) 854-5000, frank.d’[email protected],

www.fisglobal.com. Jonathan Telzrow is SVP at Amalgamated Bank

of Chicago, (312) 822-3206, [email protected], www.aboc.com.

PNC BANK’S acquisition of RBC Bank includes a $165 million credit card portfolio and 615,000 Visa debit cards that generated $2.68 bil-lion in purchases last year. PNC is the 5th largest U.S. debit card issuer and 12th largest credit card issuer. Richard McNutt is EVP, Retail Payments, (216) 222-8037, [email protected], www.pnc.com.

ACI WORLDWIDE has offered to acquire S1 Corp. for $540 million. S1 has a pending offer to merge with Fundtech in a stock-for-stock transaction that values the combined company at about $700 mil-lion. Philip Heasley is CEO at ACI, (402) 778-2510, [email protected], www.aciworldwide.com.

HSBC Purchasing Card results on page 10 of issue #974 should be

$318.8 mil. in volume from 20,404 accounts and cards, moving

HSBC to #19. Figures include its MasterCard Multi Card results. Total

volume on page 9 should be $1,289.8 mil., up 29% from 199,942

accounts and 190,787 cards, moving HSBC to #22. Peter Fleming is

Corporate Card Product Manager, (201) 386-7148, peter.fleming@

us.hsbc.com, www.hsbc.com.

NORDSTROM Purchasing Card results on page 10 of issue #974 should be $97.6 mil. in volume (not $76.4 mil.), up 52%, from 13,281 accounts and 9,728 cards, moving Nordstrom to #27. Michael Coon is Corporate Card Program Manager, (206) 233-6250, [email protected], www.nordstrom.com.

U.S. BANCORP can now provide mobile apps for users of its pre-paid ReliaCard to check balances, pay bills, receive alerts, and view mini-statements. The Visa-branded card is available in 16 states for consumers who receive recurring cash disbursements from a government agency. Monitise Americas, a joint venture of FIS and Monitise, provides the software. Kevin Morrison is Prepaid SVP, Retail Payment Solutions business at U.S. Bancorp, (612) 973-1089, [email protected], www.usbank.com.

BLAZE MOBILE has received notification that it will receive a U.S. patent covering a service for using an NFC payment sticker for con-tactless payment and receiving an SMS receipt in a custom mobile wallet after the purchase. Blaze says the patent also covers the use of Blaze’s mobile wallet for bill pay, funds transfer, loading funds, and getting account balances from other financial institutions. Blaze first introduced its NFC payment sticker in 2006. Michelle Fisher is CEO at Blaze Mobile, (510) 282-3295, mfisher@ blazemobile.com, www.blazemobile.com.

TGATE, provider of payment gateway, security, encryption, and mobile platforms, has given Class B Certification to Dejavoo X5 Dial, X8 Dual Comm, M3, and M8 payment terminals. Tracy Metzger is President at TGate, (847) 227-2423, [email protected], www.tgatepayments.com. Mony Zenou is CEO at Dejavoo Systems, (516) 439-4249, [email protected], www.dejavoosystems.com.

NEWCOMLINK has received $10 million in Series B funding in a round led by StarVest Partners. Austin Ventures also participated. NewComLink will bring software to the market that retailers can use to offer credit to consumers who don’t initially qualify for credit at the point of sale. Jim White is President, (512) 501-1242, [email protected], www.newcomlink.com.

EURONET SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS’ Integrated Transaction Management payment system has received validation of the Payment Application Data Security Standard for the third consecu-tive year. Cindy Ashcraft is Managing Director, (501) 218-7217, [email protected], www.euronetworldwide.com.

- 1 -

The Nilson Report #976 • 2nd draft • July 29, 2011 • 4:06 PM • llw

THE NILSON REPORTNUMBER 976 JULY 2011

The Largest Issuers of Payment CardsWorldwide

Asia/Pacific, Canada, Europe, Latin

America, United States, and Middle East/Africa.

Top 300 Issuers, Top 150 Credit Issuers, Top 150 Debit Issuers, Top 150

Merchant Acquirers Worldwide

Also lists the

Largest Acquirers in the

U.S., Europe, Asia/Pacific, Middle East/Africa,

and Latin America.Order Today

www.nilsonreport.com/largestissuers

78-page report names more than

770 issuers in 105 countries.

Fast Facts > > > > > > > > >

2 JulY 2011 issue 976 the nilson report IF YOU ARE BEING FORWARDED a copy of this report, there has been a violation of copyright law which carries substantial fines. The right to possess digital versions of this newsletter are granted solely to the individual subscriber.

www.nilsonreport.com/largestissuers

> > > > > > > > > Fast Facts

- 2 - THE NILSON REPORTNUMBER 976 JULY 2011

FIRST DATA will offer merchants VeriFone’s PAYware Mobile pay-ment processing hardware and software for smartphones. Sovereign Merchant Services, an alliance between First Data Merchant Services and Santander’s Sovereign Bank unit, has started to offer the VeriFone technology. Bruce Dragt is SVP & Division Manager, Payment Acceptance at First Data, (404) 890-2205, [email protected], www.firstdata.com. Eduardo Tobon is CEO, U.S. Cards & Payments at Sovereign Bank/Santander, (617) 757-5588, [email protected], www.sovereignbank.com.

TXVIA, provider of prepaid card account management for consumer,

corporate, and government programs, has been certified by

Discover Financial to process for issuers and program managers

using the Discover Network. Anil Aggarwal is CEO at TxVia, (212)

937-4154, [email protected], www.txvia.com. Farhan Ahmad is GM,

Prepaid & Director, Emerging Payments at Discover, (224) 405-1385,

[email protected], www.discovercard.com.

ELEMENT PAYMENT SERVICES, a payment processor, and ThoughtKey, a consulting firm, have produced a white paper entitled “Point-to-Point Encryption (P2PE): Reduce PCE Scope, Protect Cardholder Data and Preserve Profit.” The paper is avail-able at www.elementps.com/whitepapers/. Susan Matt is CEO at ThoughtKey, (678) 522-2466, [email protected], www.thoughtkeyinc.com. Sean Kramer is CEO at Element Payment Services, (480) 993-0700, [email protected], www.elementps.com.

AMERICAN EXPRESS’S Serve mobile wallet application with prepaid account will be available in the Sprint Zone website where customers manage their wireless accounts. Christopher Bierbaum is Bus. Development, Mobile Commerce at Sprint, (913) 624-6000, [email protected], www.sprint.com. David Messenger is EVP, Enterprise Growth at American Express, (212) 640-2000, [email protected], www.americanexpress.com.

UNITED MERCHANT SERVICES handled $2.69 billion in Visa/MasterCard volume in 2010, up 19%, generated by 72.2 million transactions. In issue #967, it would rank #53. It also processed $320.8 million in other credit card volume and $455.7 million in PIN debt volume from 20,199 merchant clients. Shirley Yoon is SVP, (201) 567-7600 x6002, [email protected], www.unitedmerchant.com.

OMNEGO is offering merchants a software platform they can use to create their own branded loyalty programs, prepaid cards, membership cards, promotional coupons, or in-app payments to a mobile wallet. Merchants can also use Omnego’s technology to create ads, messages, mobile Web gateway, QR code publishing and scanning, product code lookup, location-based services, and more. David Thomas is CEO at Omnego, (416) 479-0711 x257, [email protected], www.omnego.com.

ALIEXPRESS.COM, a B2B e-commerce platform in China, now lets buyers pay cash at select Western Union agents for purchases of small quantities of goods. Subrina Peng is VP at Alibaba, 86 (571) 8502-2088 x39000, [email protected], www.alibaba.com.

ISRACARD, the largest credit card issuer in Israel, will test NFC-enabled contactless stickers affixed to mobile phones as part of a MasterCard PayPass pilot. Dov Kotler is CEO at Isracard, 972 (3) 689-5500, [email protected], www.isracard.co.il. Daniel Cohen is Country Manager at MasterCard, 972 (77) 693-5491, [email protected], www.mastercard.com.

GLOBAL BLUE, provider of a software application that integrates point of sale, software and payment systems, payment terminals, acquirers, processors, and value-added services such as tax-free shopping and currency choice used by over 270,000 retailers, shop-ping brands, and hotels in over 40 countries, has formed a partner-ship with Hypercom, the third largest POS terminal manufacturer. David Cronin is Managing Director, North America at Hypercom, (480) 642-5000, [email protected], www.hypercom.com. Michael Balzer is SVP at Global Blue, 49 (211) 6168-0115, [email protected], www.global-blue.com.

TSYS will provide U.S. Bank’s Elavon Financial Services subsidiary with corporate card account processing in Europe. U.S. Bank plans to issue corporate cards to European-based employees of its North American multinational customers in the U.K., Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy. Bob Evans is Managing Director, Europe at TSYS International, 44 (207) 160-9400, [email protected], www.tsys.com. Alan Gibson is Director, European Commercial Payments at Elavon, 44 (131) 445-4275, [email protected], www.elavon.com.

management > CHANGES

Caitriona Whelan, formerly at Monex Financial Services, has been appointed Associate at McClure Naismith, 44 (207) 334-2521, [email protected]. Antonio Castilho, formerly at Visanet, has been appointed President in Brazil at Elavon, 55 (11) 5185-2787, [email protected]. Antonio Galiano, Head, Payment Cards and Card Products at Italian Iccrea Banca, has been appointed Vice Chairman at EAPS, 32 (2) 517-6211, [email protected]. Marc Solomon, formerly at ACI Worldwide, has been appointed Managing Director, at BPC-USA, (770) 625-5050, [email protected]. James Hussey, formerly at De La Rue, has been appointed Consultant at Oberthur Technologies, 44 (7860) 386-514, james.hussey@ hotmail.co.uk. Greg Pesci, COO has also been appointed CEO at ProPay, (801) 341-5560, greg.pesci@ propay.com. Souheil Badran, formerly at First Data, has been appointed SVP and General Manager at Digital River World Payments, (952) 253-1234, sbadran@ digitalriver.com. Todd Freyman, formerly at Actividentity, has been appointed VP, U.S. Operations at Bell ID, (781) 223-7967, [email protected]. Henry Chun has been appointed Regional Director, Korea at Datacard Group, (65) 6227-7838, [email protected].


> > > > > > > Fast Facts

– 3 –THE NILSON REPORTNUMBER 976 JULY 2011

WIRECARD BANK is issuing prepaid MasterCard cards as part of

the Bonayou gift voucher product marketed by PL Gutscheinsys-

teme in Germany. Oliver Bellenhaus is EVP, Consumer Products at

Wirecard Bank, 49 (89) 4424-2000, oliver.bellenhaus@

wirecardbank.com, www.wirecardbank.com.

DIGITAL RIVER WORLD PAYMENTS has received an approved payment institute license from the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority under the European Commission’s Payment Services Directive regulatory initiative. Ingrid Lindström is VP, Operations, 46 (8) 5272-1000, [email protected], www.digitalriver.com.

BAYERN CARD-SERVICES will deploy FICO Falcon Fraud Manager technology to help protect more than 5.7 million cards. BCS is a credit card processor in Germany with 300 clients. Monika Kummer is Head, Risk Management at BCS, 49 (89) 2171-28410, [email protected], www.bayerncard.de. Phillip Sertel is Senior Director, DACH, Central and Eastern Europe at FICO, 49 (172) 620-1380, [email protected], www.fico.com.

AKIBANK in Tatarstan has deployed BPC Banking Technologies’ SmartVista to manage all aspects of its card-issuing business includ-ing product development, card production, and cardholder relation-ship management. Akibank has issued 100,000+ credit and debit cards. Ruslan Garaev is Chief, Department of Card Business at Akibank, 7 (8552) 773-388, [email protected], www.akibank.ru. Vasily Grigoriev is CEO at BPC Banking Technolo-gies, 7 (495) 780-3165, [email protected], www.bpcbt.com.

CIRCULO DE CREDITO, a consumer credit bureau in Mexico that holds 60 million files, will offer FICO credit risk scores to its banking clients. Gustavo Lacroix is CEO at Circulo de Credito, 52 (55) 1720-9960, [email protected], www.circulodecredito.com.mx. Andreas Suma is Senior Director, Latin America at FICO, 55 (11) 5501-9222, [email protected], www.fico.com.

FIRST ATLANTIC COMMERCE (FAC) is processing all online credit card payments for Air Turks & Caicos. Scotiabank is the acquirer. Christopher Burns is SVP, Business Development at FAC, (441) 294-4622, [email protected], www.firstatlanticcommerce.com. Jenika Laporte is Cash Management Services & Merchant Specialist at Scotiabank, (649) 946-4750 x278, jenika.laporte@ scotiabank.com, www.scotiabank.com.

ASIAPAY provides online payment services and technologies to banks, payment service providers, and merchants in Hong Kong, China, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, and Vietnam. It is a certified 3D-Secure vendor for Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and JCB, and has been PCI DSS compliant since 2006. Joseph Chan is CEO at AsiaPay, (852) 3173-1930, [email protected], www.asiapay.com.

VERIFONE SYSTEMS will supply 15,600 NFC/contactless pay-ment terminal systems to ComfortDelGro, the largest taxi fleet in Singapore. VeriFone’s VX 820 device with integrated contactless payment acceptance capability will interface with the in-vehicle mobile data terminals in ComfortDelGro’s fleet of taxis. Zvi Mitlanski is VP and GM at VeriFone Asia Pacific, (65) 9382-5098, [email protected], www.verifone.com.

MORPHO, a top supplier of identification, detection, and e-docu-

ment products, will acquire Carvajal Group’s bank card manufactur-

ing and personalization centers in Colombia and Peru. After the

transaction’s close Morpho will have offices, factories, and person-

alization centers in Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Argentina, and Mexico.

Philippe d’Andrea is EVP, e-Documents Division at Morpho,

49 (4347) 715-1000, [email protected],

www.morpho.com.

FIME is the first lab to achieve EMVCo accreditation for contactless card specification v2.01. Noël Catherine is Head of R&D, 33 (2) 3144-6904, [email protected], www.fime.com.

AltErNAtivE PAymENtS & mobilE rEtAil SErviCES Summit 2011: September 13-14, 2011. The Congress Plaza Hotel in Chicago, Illinois. Estimated attendance: 200. Cost for the two-day conference is $1,495 for industry delegates and $795 for retailers. Subscribers to The Nilson Report will receive a 40% discount. (Use codes RAMP-NILS-D for industry and RAMP-NILS-R for retailers.) Contact Melissa Morrissey at The Morrissey Group, (646) 593-1439, melissa@ retailramp.com. Register at www.retailramp.com/ register.html.

NFC mobilE PAymENtS Forum 2011: October 11-13, 2011. The Peninsula Beijing, Beijing, China. Estimated attendance: 200. Cost for the three-day conference is $2,895. Subscribers to The Nilson Report will receive a 20% discount. Contact Echo Sun at A.T. Unicorn, 86 (21) 3360-0066, [email protected]. Register at www.nfc-mobilepayments.com.

EmErGiNG PAymENt SyStEmS 2011: September 22-23, 2011. The Washington Hilton, Washington, D.C. Estimated attendance: 100. Cost for the two-day conference ranges from $1,995 to $2,295 (prices including Master Class range from $2,595 to 3,495). Subscribers to The Nilson Report will receive a $300 discount. (Use code NR 300.) Contact John Stoops at ACI, (212) 352-3220, [email protected]. Register at www.americanconference.com/emergingpayments.

mobilE CoNtACtlESS PAymENt iNNovAtioNS 2011: October 17-18, 2011. The JW Marriott, Chicago, Illinois. Estimated attendance: 200. Cost for the two-day conference is $1,395. Subscribers to The Nilson Report will receive a 25% discount. (Use code NIL02.) Contact Aron Barkan at Strategic Solutions Network, (561) 674-0082, [email protected]. Register at www.paymentinnovations.net.

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the airport experience.

Citibank issues American Airlines co-branded cards.

Originally only Visa and MasterCard cards were offered, but American Express cards have been available since 2009. The bank’s American Airlines co-branded credit and debit, consumer and commercial accounts have been tied to nine products — four MasterCard, three Visa, and two American Express.

Now Citi has added a tenth product to the suite — Executive/AAdvantage WorldElite MasterCard. The annual fee for this top-of-the-line card is $450. Benefits

include membership in the Admirals Club (at least a $350 value), waiver of all foreign currency conversion fees, waiver of a baggage fee for one bag (up to eight people per itinerary) for domestic flights, a concierge service, priority check-in, and expedited airport screening and boarding.

Cardholders will receive 10,000 Elite status bonus miles after spending $40,000 each year. Any payments made to American Airlines for tickets and other services earn two points for every dollar spent when purchased from American Airlines directly. All

other purchases receive one point for every dollar spent.

Beginning in the fourth quarter, most of the 10 American Airlines co-branded card products

will offer EMV chips. Terry O’Neil is Executive VP at Citi in Long Island City, New York, (718) 248-7292, [email protected], www.citi.com. Charles

Sultan is VP of AAdvantage Partner Marketing at American Airlines in Fort Worth, Texas, (817) 967-0376, [email protected], www.aa.com.

Chase Card Services, which issues United Airlines co-branded cards, has added a new MileagePlus Explorer Card

to its existing suite of more than 20 United Airlines and Continental Airlines co-branded credit and debit, consumer and commercial products. Continental and United became a single holding company in 2010. Continental co-branded cards will be reissued as United Airlines cards when the Continental brand is phased out in 2012.

U.S. Bank is conducting a pilot test of a rubber wristband embedded with a chip that can initiate MasterCard PayPass contactless payment

transactions. Printed on each wristband is a toll-free phone number, a medical symbol, and a unique eight-digit number linked to a medical information profile

created by the cardholder. First responders to an emergency situation could spot the medical

sign and phone the number to get access to the information, which is stored at a website operated by Vita Products. The wristbands are tied to prepaid accounts at U.S. Bank. Beth Blaisdell is

Senior VP at U.S. Bank Payment Services in Minneapolis, Minnesota, (678) 731-5952, [email protected], www.usbank.com.

Vita Products sells contactless wristbands directly to consumers at www.vitaband.net/store. Cost is $39.90.

Prepaid accounts tied to those wristbands are a Visa product managed by The Bancorp Bank. David Waxman is CEO at Vita Products, Inc. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, (267) 303-3394, [email protected], www.vitaband.net.

ContaCtless wristband from u.s. bank

turn to page 6

beNeFiTs imprOve The airpOrT experieNce.

aN 8-diGiT Number LiNks TO medicaL iNFOrmaTiON.

airline Co-branded Card upgrades(from page 1) ...


available to merchant acquirers is designed for the virtual

world. Merchants will use the technology to build mobile commerce apps and

sites. Roam Data sees its checkout API as providing merchants and acquirers with an alternative to relying on PayPal’s mobile checkout.

Roam Data is best known as the provider of smartphone-based card payment processing used by approximately 300,000 small merchants linked to Intuit, Sage Payment Systems, Chase Paymentech, First

Data, and other processors. Those merchants initiate card payments by using a card reader inserted in Apple, Android, or BlackBerry devices. Roam Data also supplies turnkey apps that can be white labeled and customized so that both card-present and card-not-present transactions go through its Level 1 PCI-certified mobile payment

gateway.

The RoamWallet checkout API, which is in beta tests, aims to give a checkout experience optimized for a small screen and does not require cardholders to leave the mobile site to make a purchase. Merchants bypass PCI requirements and costs because Roam Data hosts the service, which

captures Level III data, email addresses, shipping

All new MileagePlus cards will carry the Visa brand. Existing MasterCard branded Continental cards will be reissued as United MileagePlus MasterCard cards, retaining the same account number.

MileagePlus Explorer Card benefits include waiver of any fee for the first checked bag, priority boarding, two United airport club day passes annually

(a $100 value), upgrades on rewards tickets for Elite customers, and 10,000 bonus miles when $25,000 has been charged to the card in a year.

Cardholders also receive benefits that Chase offers on other card products including hotel amenities and access to special events and experiences. Chase’s aim was to add benefits that exceeded the MileagePlus

Explorer Card’s $95 annual fee. David Gold is General Manager at Chase Card Services in Wilmington, Delaware, (302) 282-3680, [email protected], www.chase.com. Tom O’Toole is Senior VP and COO of MileagePlus at United Airlines in Chicago, Illinois, (312) 997-8536, [email protected], www.united.com.

Mobile Money Ventures was a joint venture between Citigroup

and SK Telecom of South Korea. Intuit, along with several Citi subsidiaries in Asia and Europe were the only clients of MMV. The Citi units will move to a

new mobile banking platform.

Intuit has been selling MMV’s software since 2009. So far about 320 U.S. banks and credit unions use it to supply 400,000 of their customers with the ability to view account balances, pay bills and set up recurring payments, make transfers

between accounts, and connect to customer service. Another

300,000 people use mobile devices to link to Intuit Financial Services using text and downloadable apps. CeCe Morken is President at Intuit Financial Services

in Mountain View, California, (650) 944-4181, [email protected], www.intuit.com.

... aims TO Give aN experieNce OpTimized FOr a smaLL screeN.

asseTs OuT-side The u.s. were NOT iNvOLved.

roam data mobile CheCkout(from page 1) ...

airline Co-branded Card upgrades(from page 5)

intuit buys mobile banking/payments teChnology(from page 1) ...


specifications for contactless payments.

Having the licensing agreements in place enables Isis to add contactless protocols for credit, debit,

and prepaid products to the mobile wallet software they are developing, which will include payment as well as commerce (loyalty, coupons, etc.) applications.

The specification agreements also cover payment network access certification of the handsets once the credentials are in the device.

(A certification process also exists for all payment cards that access the Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover networks.)

Isis plans to sign agreements with individual banks that issue cards so that those issuers can put credit, debit, and prepaid account information into wallet software installed in smartphones sold by the joint-venture partners. Mark McKinney is Business Development Executive at Isis in Atlanta, Georgia, (404) 915-2789, [email protected],

www.paywithisis.com. Prior issues: 972, 971, 962

Consumer debt resolution (from page 1) ...

firms, negotiate a reduction in the finance charge rate paid by a consumer but leave the

principal amount untouched. Debt

management firms

help consumers who have the ability to pay their debt if the monthly repayment amount is reduced. Resolution firms help consumers who owe significant amounts of debt, usually to multiple creditors, and who need more than a minor adjustment in their monthly

cashflow. For this group, bankruptcy is often the only other alternative.

Debt management firms were an invention of top credit card issuers decades ago. Debt resolution firms are about a decade old and grew rapidly with the steady rise in consumer debt in the years before the recession hit in 2008. There were more than 1,000 debt resolution firms at the end of 2010, up from less than a dozen 10 years before. Because so many of those debt resolution firms were unscrupulous, the Federal Trade Commission finally acted to regulate the industry in 2010. Most

importantly, FTC regulations mandate that fees cannot be collected from consumers until negotiations with creditors has ended and a first payment to the creditor has been made. Negotiated settlements are often for half of the original amount, and are usually paid back in 24 to 48 months.

FTC regulations have been effective. Membership in the American Fair Credit Council, a trade association that mandates compliance with

FTC regulations as a condition of membership, has fallen in the last year to 45 members from 225. While some of the 200 or

addresses, and all other details merchants need for fulfillment. It also calculates and collects taxes.

The wallet is agnostic to mobile network operators and handset manufacturers. It gives consumers the opportunity

to manage loyalty programs and coupons at Roam Data’s website. Cardholders will be offered the wallet at checkout. Once they register, future purchases will be supported by an auto-fill form.

Roam Data plans to support

NFC and 2D barcode (including one-time transaction codes technology). Will Graylin is CEO at Roam Data in Boston, Massachusetts, (857) 254-2345, [email protected], www.roamdata.com. Prior issues: 964, 949

aGreemeNTs aLsO cOver paymeNT NeT-wOrk access cerTiFicaTiON.

isis signs ContaCtless agreements(from page 1) ...

baNkrupTc y is OFTeN The ONLy OTher aLTerNaTive.

... turn to page 8


top u.s. Consumer Credit/debit issuers(from page 1) ...

15 of the top 20 credit card issuers, including the 8 largest, commercial card volume increased as a percentage of combined consumer and commercial volume. Of the other 5 issuers, 4 didn’t offer commercial cards. The biggest

gains in commercial card volume as a percent of total volume occurred at PNC, RBS, and Wells Fargo.

At 15 of the top 20 debit card issuers, including 9 of the top 10, commercial card volume

increased as a percentage of combined consumer and commercial volume. Of the remaining 5, 2 did not offer commercial cards. The biggest gain in commercial card volume as a percent of total volume occurred at PNC.

Consumer debt resolution (from page 7) ...

so remaining debt resolution firms nationwide believe there are exemptions and loopholes in the FTC regulations, which they claim will permit them to operate in the old way, most unscrupulous companies have closed down.

Freedom Debt Relief believes it is the largest debt resolution firm. Most of the $123 million in bad debt resolved by the company in the second quarter was tied to 18,329 credit card accounts.

This year Freedom Debt Relief expects to resolve nearly $500 million. Consumers pay the company 20% of any debt reduction.

The company employs 500 people. Andrew Housen is CEO at Freedom Debt Relief in San Mateo, California, (650) 393-6201, [email protected], www.freedomdebtrelief.com.

Largest U.S. Consumer Issuers Credit Cards 2010

Largest U.S. Consumer Issuers Debit Cards 2010

Consumer Total Percent Basis Pt. Visa & MasterCard Volume Volume Consumer Chg. vs.Rank Issuer (bil.) (bil.) 2010 2009 1 Bank of America $121.00 $139.80 86.5% –41 2 Wells Fargo $103.56 $117.00 88.5% –64 3 JPMorgan Chase $88.23 $97.82 90.2% –10 4 U.S. Bank $24.87 $27.71 89.8% –84 5 PNC $21.69 $24.58 88.2% –141 6 Fifth Third $14.79 $15.96 92.7% –27 7 SunTrust $13.32 $15.52 85.8% –33 8 Regions Bank $12.83 $14.50 88.5% –73 9 TD Bank $11.43 $13.50 84.7% 94 10 RBS Citizens $10.75 $12.24 87.8% –58 11 BB&T $9.30 $10.92 85.2% 159 12 Capital One $7.58 $8.42 90.0% –61 13 ICBA Bancard $7.50 $7.50 100.0% 0 14 Citibank $6.86 $13.83 49.6% 515 15 M&T Bank $6.59 $7.58 86.9% –73 16 TCF FInancial $6.12 $6.65 92.1% –14 17 Huntington Bank $5.11 $5.57 91.8% –15 18 BBVA Compass $4.83 $5.73 84.4% –64 19 KeyBank $4.76 $5.71 83.3% 0 20 BMO Harris $3.88 $4.21 92.2% –8

Consumer volume is signature debit card volume from issue #970 minus commercial small business debit card volume from issue #974.

© 2011 The Nilson Report

Consumer Total Percent Basis Pt. Visa & MasterCard Volume Volume Consumer Chg. vs.Rank Issuer (bil.) (bil.) 2010 2009 1 JPMorgan Chase $281.40 $351.02 80.2% –121 2 Bank of America $202.16 $248.11 81.5% –226 3 Citibank $155.46 $189.70 82.0% –126 4 Capital One $82.80 $103.62 79.9% –157 5 U.S. Bank $38.42 $77.74 49.4% –189 6 Wells Fargo $31.90 $54.54 58.5% –440 7 HSBC $30.77 $31.62 97.3% –112 8 Barclays $29.82 $30.40 98.1% –2 9 Cabela’s $11.96 $11.96 100.0% 0 10 Target $8.60 $8.60 100.0% 0 11 PNC $8.36 $15.80 52.9% –937 12 Navy FCU $7.71 $7.71 100.0% 0 13 GE Money $7.26 $7.26 100.0% 0 14 First Nat’l Nebraska $5.75 $8.80 65.4% –218 15 Nordstrom $5.52 $5.62 98.3% –46 16 RBS $4.45 $5.40 82.5% –504 17 FIfth Third $3.85 $6.00 64.1% –77 18 State Farm Bank $3.67 $3.91 93.9% 40 19 ICBA Bancard $3.59 $4.49 80.0% –53 20 BB&T $3.19 $5.56 57.4% –172

Consumer volume is total volume from issue #966 minus commercial volume from issue #974.



issued in the Middle East and Africa was $429.69 billion in 2010, up 18.2%. Cash represented a 65.2% share of total volume, up from 65.0%. For Visa, cash accounted for 71.9% of volume, up from 71.7%, and for MasterCard it accounted for 48.7%, up from 48.0%. For American Express, cash was 5.5%, up from 5.0%. For Diners Club it was 2.1%,

down from 2.2%.

Purchase volume rose 17.3% to $149.36 billion. The largest increase was on Visa cards (up $13.00 billion), followed by MasterCard (up $8.13 billion). Purchase volume on American Express was up $0.96 billion. Purchase volume on Diners Club cards declined $0.07 billion.

MasterCard’s market share of purchase volume

rose 48 basis points to 34.18%. American Express’s share rose 1 point to 4.31%. Visa’s share fell 26 points to 60.53%, and Diners Club’s share fell 23 points to 0.98%.

Transactions made to purchase goods and services reached 1.94 billion, up 17.7%. Visa and MasterCard cards generated 1.90 billion of those transactions, accounting for 97.59% of the region’s total — up from 97.48%.

Visa added 169.7 million purchase transactions increasing its market share to 58.09% from

58.07%. MasterCard added 116.7 million purchase transactions, increasing its share from 39.41% to 39.50%. Amex’s share was 2.08%, down from 2.12%. Diners Club’s share was 0.33%, down from 0.40%.

Cards totaled 130.1 million at the end of 2010, up 16.1%. Of these, 99.0% carried either the Visa or MasterCard brand. Visa grew by 18.6%, adding 14.5 million cards. Its market share increased from 69.28% to 70.78%. MasterCard added 3.5 million cards. Its market share decreased from 29.67% to

28.21%.

For Visa, cards issued in the Middle East/Africa region generated 1.93% of its worldwide purchase volume, up from 1.90% the prior year. The region generated 1.42% of Visa purchase transactions

worldwide, up from 1.39% in 2009.

MasterCard cards issued in the Middle East/Africa region generated 2.49% of its worldwide purchase volume, up from 2.28% the prior year. The region generated 2.47% of MasterCard purchase transactions worldwide, up from 2.31% in 2009.

middle east/afriCa general purpose Cards (from page 1) ...

Chg. in Brand Share Basis Pts.

Middle East/Africa Purchase Vol.Market Shares in 2010

©2011 The Nilson Report

Visa 60.5% –26

MasterCard 34.2% 48

Amex 4.3% 1

Diners 1.0% –23

$149.36 Bil.

PurchaseTransactions in

Middle East/Africa(Millions)

2,500

2,000

1,500

1,000

500Amex

Master-Card

Visa

Diners


‘03 ‘05 ‘07 ‘09 ‘11 ‘15‘13

Middle East/Africa General Purpose Cards 2010 vs. 2009 Dollar Volume (bil.) Transactions (mil.) Cards Brand Total Chg. Purchases Chg. Cash Chg. Total Chg. Purchases Chg. (mil.) Chg.

Visa $321.95 17.6% $90.41 16.8% $231.54 17.9% 2,663.0 18.9% 1,129.0 17.7% 92.1 18.6%

MasterCard $99.44 20.5% $51.05 18.9% $48.39 22.2% 1,119.0 18.6% 767.8 17.9% 36.7 10.4%

Amer. Express $6.81 18.2% $6.44 17.6% $0.37 30.0% 42.0 16.0% 40.5 15.6% 1.0 20.2%

Diners Club $1.49 –5.0% $1.46 –4.9% $0.03 –10.9% 6.6 –2.9% 6.4 –2.7% 0.3 –11.8%

Totals $429.69 18.2% $149.36 17.3% $280.33 18.7% 3,830.6 18.7% 1,943.7 17.7% 130.1 16.1%

Includes all consumer and commercial credit, debit, and prepaid cards. Currency figures are in U.S. dollars. Some prior year figures have been adjusted. Change for dollar volume reflects a year-over-year comparison in local currency. Includes Israel. Visa includes Electron. MasterCard excludes Maestro & Cirrus.


purchase TraNsacTiONs reached 1.94 biL., up 17.7%.


middle east/afriCa top Card issuers (from page 1) ...

debit, and prepaid consumer and commercial cards are listed on pages 10 and 11. The 86.2 million cards in circulation tied to this group generated $127.87 billion in purchase volume during calendar year 2010. Purchases of goods and services at merchants represented

34.7% of $368.44 billion in total volume. The remaining 65.3% of or $240.57 billion came from cash activity.

These top issuers represented fourteen countries. The highest spending

in the region came from the three issuers from Israel with $49.01 billion in purchase volume from 6.9 million cards, equal to $7,112 per card. South Africa had four issuers that collectively accounted

for $40.06 billion in purchases at merchants from 48.2 million cards for an average of $831

per card. Saudi Arabia had eight issuers that accounted for $15.33 billion from 11.3 million cards — $1,353 per card. Kuwait had five issuers that accounted for $10.71 billion from 2.6 million

cards — an average of $4,058 per card. The United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) had seven issuers that accounted for $7.34 billion from 4.9 million cards — $1,499 per card.

When measuring results for only MasterCard and Visa

TOp issuers represeNTed FOurTeeN cOuNTries.

Purchase Purch. 2010 Volume Cards Vol. Rank Issuer, Country (mil. $U.S.) (000) per Card 1 Standard Bank South Africa $6,230.4 15,902 $392 2 Al Rajhi Bank Saudi Arabia $5,955.7 3,499 $1,702 3 Absa Bank South Africa $5,002.2 10,643 $470 4 Nedbank Limited South Africa $3,891.0 5,513 $706 5 National Bank of Kuwait Kuwait $3,823.5 563 $6,796 6 First National Bank South Africa $3,363.4 6,752 $498 7 Kuwait Finance House Kuwait $2,579.8 654 $3,947 8 Riyad Bank Saudi Arabia $1,332.7 1,748 $762 9 Gulf Bank Kuwait $1,291.0 201 $6,420 10 Nat’l Comm’l Bank Saudi Arabia $1,146.6 1,050 $1,092 11 Commercial Bank of Kuwait Kuwait $1,071.4 541 $1,982 12 Emirates NBD U.A.E. $1,001.6 1,038 $965 13 SABB Saudi Arabia $985.7 715 $1,379 14 Arab National Bank Saudi Arabia $928.3 909 $1,021 15 Dubai Islamic Bank U.A.E. $651.8 908 $718 16 Qatar National Bank Qatar $504.7 188 $2,683 17 Ahli United Bank Kuwait $501.6 198 $2,532 18 Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank U.A.E. $340.9 424 $804 19 National Bank Abu Dhabi U.A.E. $326.1 271 $1,203 20 Doha Bank Qatar $302.5 179 $1,691 21 Mauritius Commercial Bank $228.8 530 $432 22 Mashreq Bank U.A.E. and Qatar $200.8 535 $375 23 Bank Audi Lebanon $196.0 309 $635 24 Attijariwafa Bank Morocco $173.3 864 $201 25 Arab Bank Jordan $148.4 849 $175 26 Banque Centrale Populaire Morocco $130.3 878 $148

Debit Card Issuers in Mideast/Africa

Includes Visa, Visa Electron, MasterCard, and Maestro consumer and commercial debit and prepaid cards. © 2011 The Nilson Report

Purchase Purch. 2010 Volume Cards Vol. Rank Issuer, Country (mil. $U.S.) (000) per Card 1 IsraCard Israel $23,801.1 3,206 $7,424 2 Leumi Card Israel $12,784.7 1,883 $6,788 3 Israel Credit Cards (Cal) Israel $12,406.2 1,655 $7,497 4 Absa Bank South Africa $6,537.6 2,543 $2,570 5 Standard Bank South Africa (1) $5,198.8 3,243 $1,603 6 First National Bank South Africa $4,920.5 2,208 $2,229 7 Nedbank Limited South Africa $4,914.2 1,380 $3,561 8 Emirates NBD U.A.E. $1,840.6 304 $6,057 9 SABB Saudi Arabia $1,331.8 468 $2,847 10 Nat’l Commercial Bank Saudi Arabia $1,080.6 400 $2,702 11 Samba Financial Saudi Arabia $1,000.2 401 $2,495 12 Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank U.A.E. $975.6 466 $2,096 13 Mashreq Bank U.A.E. and Qatar $871.2 465 $1,872 14 National Bank of Kuwait Kuwait $787.6 185 $4,256 15 Bank Audi Lebanon $745.7 128 $5,839 16 Al Rajhi Bank Saudi Arabia $507.2 352 $1,442 17 Qatar National Bank Qatar $478.2 55 $8,639 18 Riyad Bank Saudi Arabia $464.9 359 $1,294 19 National Bank of Egypt Egypt $456.7 983 $465 20 Standard Chartered U.A.E. $416.0 230 $1,812 21 Kuwait Finance House Kuwait $365.1 182 $2,002 22 National Bank Abu Dhabi U.A.E. $290.3 76 $3,801 23 Standard Chartered Kenya $281.8 169 $1,665 24 CrediMax Bahrain $264.6 61 $4,356 25 Arab National Bank Saudi Arabia $255.7 209 $1,223 26 Dubai Islamic Bank U.A.E. $252.9 98 $2,575 27 Bank Alfalah Pakistan $240.3 324 $742 28 Commercial Int’l Bank Egypt $235.2 191 $1,231 29 Arab Bank Jordan (2) $218.6 100 $2,192 30 Doha Bank Qatar $191.4 31 $6,127 31 Dubai First United Arab Emirates* $170.6 79 $2,154 32 Gulf Bank Kuwait $169.9 56 $3,020 33 Saudi Hollandi Bank Saudi Arabia $123.4 55 $2,226 34 Mauritius Comm’l Bank Mauritius $107.9 85 $1,274

Credit Card Issuers in Mideast/Africa

Includes Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Diners Club consumer and commercial credit and charge cards. (1) Doesn’t include its Diners Club figures. (2) Includes Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, & Yemen. *Estimate.



branded cards, purchase volume reached $110.70 billion from 67.5 million cards. Issuers from Israel had the highest combined credit, debit, and prepaid card purchase volume with $45.13 billion from 6.3 million cards, followed by South Africa with $31.08 billion from 35.4 million cards, Saudi Arabia

with $11.85 billion from 6.7 million cards, Kuwait with $10.19 billion from 2.4 million cards, and the U.A.E. with $7.33 billion from 4.9 million cards.

For general purpose credit cards only, the 34 largest accounted for purchase volume of

GENERAL PURPOSE CARD RESULTS VISA AND MASTERCARD RESULTS 2010 ‘10 Purch. Vol. ‘10 Total Vol. ‘10 Cards ‘10 Purch. Vol. ‘10 Total Vol. ‘10 Cards Issuer, Country Rank (mil. $U.S.) Rank (mil. $U.S.) Rank (000) Rank (mil. $U.S.) Rank (mil. $U.S.) Rank (000) IsraCard Israel 1 $23,801.1 4 $24,291.0 8 3,206 1 $21,169.3 3 $21,532.3 8 2,868 Leumi Card (Bank Leumi) Israel 2 $12,797.7 9 $13,845.1 10 1,907 2 $12,797.7 7 $13,845.1 9 1,907 Israel Credit Cards (Cal) Israel 3 $12,415.0 10 $12,656.7 11 1,779 3 $11,167.8 11 $11,386.6 10 1,547 Absa Bank South Africa 4 $11,539.8 3 $27,282.2 2 13,186 4 $8,957.0 4 $20,296.6 3 8,632 Standard Bank South Africa 5 $11,429.1 2 $36,324.6 1 19,145 6 $8,053.0 6 $15,007.3 1 12,216 Nedbank Limited South Africa 6 $8,805.2 6 $22,283.2 4 6,893 8 $5,789.6 5 $17,102.1 4 5,581 First National Bank South Africa 7 $8,283.9 5 $22,595.9 3 8,960 5 $8,283.9 2 $22,595.9 2 8,960 Al Rajhi Bank Saudi Arabia 8 $6,463.0 1 $47,674.2 7 3,851 7 $6,463.0 1 $47,674.2 7 3,851 National Bank of Kuwait Kuwait 9 $4,611.0 12 $12,183.8 30 748 9 $4,590.8 9 $12,159.4 26 741 Kuwait Finance House Kuwait 10 $2,944.9 15 $10,438.3 28 836 10 $2,944.9 12 $10,438.3 24 836 Emirates NBD U.A.E. 11 $2,842.3 14 $11,623.8 14 1,342 11 $2,834.8 10 $11,616.0 11 1,335 SABB Saudi Arabia 12 $2,317.5 17 $9,111.4 16 1,183 13 $1,331.8 31 $1,444.9 34 468 Nat’l Commercial Bank Saudi Arabia 13 $2,227.2 8 $15,125.1 13 1,450 17 $1,080.6 35 $1,175.7 37 400 Riyad Bank Saudi Arabia 14 $1,797.6 7 $19,425.2 9 2,107 25 $464.9 14 $6,581.0 38 359 Gulf Bank Kuwait 15 $1,460.9 20 $3,798.8 40 257 12 $1,460.9 17 $3,798.8 40 257 Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank U.A.E. 16 $1,316.5 18 $4,618.9 23 890 14 $1,316.5 15 $4,618.9 19 890 Arab National Bank Saudi Arabia 17 $1,184.0 13 $12,166.7 18 1,118 15 $1,184.0 8 $12,166.7 14 1,118 Commercial Bank Kuwait 18 $1,145.6 19 $3,850.5 35 571 16 $1,145.6 16 $3,850.5 31 571 Mashreq Bank U.A.E. and Qatar 19 $1,072.0 22 $3,648.0 20 1,001 18 $1,072.0 19 $3,648.0 16 1,001 Samba Financial Saudi Arabia 20 $1,016.9 11 $12,367.3 12 1,476 19 $1,000.2 34 $1,264.5 36 401 Qatar National Bank Qatar 21 $982.9 23 $3,143.2 41 243 20 $982.9 20 $3,143.2 41 243 Bank Audi Lebanon 22 $941.7 27 $2,584.2 38 436 21 $914.0 24 $2,556.0 35 430 Dubai Islamic Bank U.A.E. 23 $904.7 16 $9,491.4 19 1,006 22 $904.7 13 $9,491.4 15 1,006 National Bank of Abu Dhabi U.A.E. 24 $616.4 32 $1,641.5 39 347 23 $616.4 29 $1,641.5 39 347 Ahli United Bank Kuwait 25 $546.6 33 $1,640.1 43 227 52 $45.0 56 $58.5 61 29 National Bank of Egypt Egypt 26 $506.1 21 $3,703.7 5 4,388 26 $459.9 18 $3,657.5 5 4,379 Doha Bank Qatar 27 $493.9 29 $2,139.2 44 210 24 $493.9 26 $2,139.2 43 210 Standard Chartered U.A.E. 28 $416.0 45 $503.2 42 230 27 $416.0 43 $503.2 42 230 Arab Bank Jordan 29 $367.0 26 $2,656.0 22 949 28 $367.0 23 $2,656.0 18 949 Mauritius Commercial Bank Mauritius 30 $336.8 37 $1,334.2 33 614 41 $100.1 49 $125.6 50 83 Commercial International Bank Egypt 31 $316.8 30 $1,817.1 21 963 29 $316.8 27 $1,817.1 17 963 Standard Chartered Kenya 32 $281.8 47 $371.7 46 169 30 $281.8 45 $371.7 45 169 CrediMax Bahrain 33 $264.6 49 $290.1 54 61 31 $264.6 47 $290.1 54 61 Bank Alfalah Pakistan 34 $252.5 38 $891.0 29 794 32 $252.5 36 $891.0 25 794 Saudi Hollandi Saudi Arabia 35 $216.3 41 $676.7 48 89 33 $216.3 39 $676.7 48 89 Attijariwafa Bank Morocco 36 $173.5 31 $1,801.9 25 883 34 $173.5 28 $1,801.9 21 883 Dubai First United Arab Emirates* 37 $170.6 50 $180.8 51 79 35 $170.6 48 $180.8 51 79 Housing Bank Jordan 38 $136.4 36 $1,340.5 34 614 36 $136.4 33 $1,340.5 30 614 Banque Centrale Populaire Morocco 39 $130.3 24 $3,027.5 26 878 37 $130.3 21 $3,027.5 22 878 BMCE Bank Morocco 40 $128.4 25 $2,675.3 24 888 38 $128.4 22 $2,675.3 20 888 Bank AlJazira Saudi Arabia 41 $110.9 44 $507.6 55 55 39 $110.9 42 $507.6 56 55 Credit Libanais Lebanon 42 $106.6 40 $709.0 47 157 40 $106.6 38 $709.0 46 157

Top General Purpose/Visa/MasterCard Card Issuers Middle East/Africa

General purpose results include Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, American Express, and Diners Club consumer and commercial credit, debit, and prepaid cards. Visa and MasterCard results exclude Maestro and cards that carry only the Plus or Cirrus brands or any domestic-only brands. *Estimate.


... turn to page 12


middle east/afriCa top Card issuers (from page 11) ...

$84.69 billion from 22.6 million cards. Issuers from Israel accounted for $48.99 billion from 6.7 million cards, followed by South Africa with $21.57 billion from 9.4 million cards, the U.A.E. with $4.82 billion from 1.7 million cards, Saudi Arabia with $4.76 billion from 2.2 million cards, and Kuwait

with $1.32 billion from 0.4 million cards.

For general purpose debit and prepaid cards only, the 26 largest issuers in the region accounted for purchase volume of $42.31 billion from 55.9 million general purpose debit and prepaid cards. Debit and

prepaid issuers from South Africa generated $18.49 billion from 38.8 million cards. Issuers in Saudi Arabia had $10.35 billion from 7.9 million cards, those in Kuwait had $9.27 billion from 2.2 million cards, and those in U.A.E. had $2.52 billion from 3.2 million cards.

handles both issuing and acquiring. For issuers this includes software for credit, debit, private label, prepaid, loyalty, and installment loans.

For acquirers, the system is multicurrency and multilingual. GFG touts its ability to deliver quick implementation of projects. It focuses sales efforts on Tier II banks, particularly in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, where it sees opportunities with banks just getting into the card business as well as third-party

processors servicing multiple banks.

The card management packages are substantially lower in price than legacy systems designed to operate on IBM mainframes. Costs for Cadencie range from $750,000 to $2.0 million. Clients include Banco de Oro Unibank, the largest bank in the Philippines, Bank of Investment and Development in Vietnam, and Banco de Reservas in the Dominican Republic.

Simfonie, the company’s mobile payment and banking technology, is sold as a standalone platform or it can be integrated with Cadencie. Customers use Simfonie to deliver remittances, over-the-air top up of network time, management of reseller networks, government benefits, and bill payment. More than two million transactions a day are processed by clients including Vodaphone in New Zealand, SMART Communications in the Philippines, and Etisalat in the U.A.E. Costs for Simfonie range from $300,000 to $1.2 million.

Cadencie generates 55% of GFG revenue, but Simfonie, which currently generates 20% of

revenue, is the fastest growing product. This year the company sold Simfonie to customers in Gabon, Qatar, and Nigeria. In these markets and others, it sees mobile payments as its biggest sales opportunity and expects to go back later to many of these customers to sell issuer and acquirer processing software. This reverses GFG’s approach in more established markets where it sells mobile banking and payment software to existing card customers.

GFG earns 25% of its revenue from software tools for EFT systems, FINsim testing, gateways, and PIN selection. It competes with similar products available from Paragon Application Systems and Level Four.

In its fiscal year ended March 2011, GFG had $10 million ($12 million NZD) in revenues, up 10%. The privately held company expects 20% revenue growth this year.

GFG, which has offices in New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, and the U.A.E., is looking for a strategic partner to help it service installations in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Wayne Robinson is Senior VP, Sales & Marketing at GFG Group in Auckland, New Zealand, 64 (9) 966-7011, [email protected], www.gfg-group.com.

gfg Card/mobile management software(from page 1) ...

simFONie has beeN sOLd TO cusTOmers iN GabON, QaTar, aNd NiGeria This year.


David Robertson, Publisher JulY 29, 2011

nilson report

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