Novidade (fonte: Baguete):

Entre as funcionalidades do sistema PayPass está a possibilidade de não entregar o cartão ao vendedor, mas apenas aproximá-lo do leitor. O uso do dispositivo compreende transações de R$ 50,00.

De acordo com pesquisa conduzida pela MasterCard, a tecnologia de pagamento sem contato pode reduzir o tempo do consumidor na fila em até 25%.

Banks get our tax payer money from the fed to give us loans at 10% interest rate. They engaged in risky loaning practices and our tax payer dollars have to bail them out. The charge vendors a 2% merchant or Interchange fee to process credit card transactions this makes banks $30 billion annually.

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For the person who has need to eat (and which of us doesn’t?), it will track everything from your greasy cheeseburger to your tofu salad. It will bring every transaction to scrutiny by a taxing authority. After all, if you can’t buy food and other necessities with cash there’s no sense in working for it. You will have to ask permission to live.

We don’t need banks at all. They hold all our money use it to make investments lobby the government and to give loans to other people so they can make money from our money.

Here is the solution we all have cards like Master Card paypass and Visa paywave or even our cell phones. You get paid on your card you spend on your card. No banks. No Fees. No tracking.

Our spending habits are changing

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So on Monday I am going “off the grid” care to join me?

http://www.off-grid.net

11:31PM: I have a fasting blood test tomorrow and I’m a late night snaker, so this is killing me. My strategy is to get to bed before midnight. If I’m sleeping, I can’t be hungry.

I got a new debit card from my bank and it has PayPass enabled. That’s a technology where at certain merchants that support it, you can simply wave your card over the scanner and walla, you’re done. No typing numbers, nothing. Security, well that sucks, as anyone who has stolen your card can simply swipe it without knowing any pin numbers. Other than that fatal flaw, it’s cool. I like it.

Girls; they’ve got clothes comming out of their ears, but can never find something to wear. I feel the same way with WordPress themes. I downloaded another four tonight and I’m constantly serching for the “perfect” theme. Something’s always just not quite right. Than you go to all that trouble to get the right theme and people subscribe to your RSS feed where there is no style. Oh, well.

Odd story: I knew a girl in college who would pop her boyfriends pimples on his back. First, who has that many pimples on their back? Well, I guess he did. That’s either dedication or just plain gross.

I watched “Panic In Year Zero” on Netflix streaming service last night. Worked pretty well but it wouldn’t play the second part of what was supposed to be a double feature. That sucked, but Panic is this great, completely cheesy black and white horror film. End of the world stuff. I highly recommend it if you get the chance.

Reposted from CFO Magazine:

Though awash in cash, the company is determined to avoid complacency and places an ultra-high priority on forward-looking strategy, the CFO says.
Avital Louria Hahn, CFO Magazine
October 1, 2008

At first glance, MasterCard’s core business model would seem enviable: it collects a fee on every payment it processes. But while Martina Hund-Mejean, who became CFO last year, appreciates “the high profitability of this sector,” she’s quick to add a cautionary note: “We can never put our head in the sand.” Hund-Mejean is constantly scanning the horizon for signs of what’s ahead, in terms of both technology and competition. What market segment will attract new rivals and where will they spring from? What device is likely to replace traditional credit cards? (Hint: you’re probably carrying one right now.) And with the economy forcing consumers to cut back on discretionary spending, how long will it be before MasterCard holders hesitate to plop down their cards so freely? Hund-Mejean doesn’t have the answers, but she’s well trained to look for them. A product of General Motors’s rigorous treasury program, she assumed increasingly demanding finance positions at GM before serving as treasurer and senior vice president at Tyco International. That broad experience will no doubt come in handy at MasterCard, as economic uncertainties pile up as steadily as, well, credit-card solicitations from banks.

You have said that you are constantly thinking about strategy and ways to stay on the leading edge. Is that a new focus?
We are focusing on strategic planning in a renewed way now that the company is two years out of an initial public offering. We have a nine-person executive committee that consists of our CEO, Bob Selander; business partners; unit leaders; and myself. We meet every week for an hour and a half, and one full day a month. It’s a great team.

MasterCard faces some interesting challenges. For instance, the House Judiciary Committee recently approved a bill that would require credit-card companies to negotiate fees with merchants, rather than letting the banks set those rates. How would the Credit Card Fair Fee Act affect MasterCard?
If the bill passes, it will harm consumers. Australia passed regulations slashing these “interchange fees” about five years ago, and it is clear that consumers have been hurt through higher fees and fewer rewards. Merchants are paying lower fees, but there is no evidence that they have lowered the prices they charge consumers. The result was completely contrary to what the legislators wanted to accomplish.

What about the technological hurdles ahead? Will cell phones ever replace plastic cards in the United States?
MasterCard’s [tap-and-go wireless] PayPass technology has enabled us to lead the development of the communication standard around contactless payments for the industry, which ensures that cards and terminals supporting all contactless-payment brands are globally interoperable. This has led to the transformation of mobile phones into secure contactless-payment devices. We have been working with telecom providers and industry organizations to ensure that standards are met as mobile phones move to the center of commerce [see "Cash, Credit, or Cell Phone?"]. As of today, we have announced about 17 mobile pilots across all major regions.

What else is MasterCard doing to differentiate itself from its competitors?
We differentiate ourselves in three main areas. One, we can custom-tailor our products to fit a partner’s particular need. For example, Lufthansa wants to make sure its frequent flyers are really using their credit cards and are having a unique experience, like going faster through security. We made a card for them to do that. We placed a PayPass feature on the cards so that users can make last-minute purchases at the airport. Number two, we are truly global, with about 50 percent of our revenues generated outside the United States. If we develop a new product in one part of the world, we can deploy it in other parts of the world. Our third unique competency is our professional-services arm, MasterCard Advisors. Through that group we provide information, consulting, and outsourcing services to our customers, the banks.

Will MasterCard’s future business model look entirely different?
Unlike many other industries, the global payments industry is still in its infancy. Cash and checks are still the predominant forms of payment in many global economies, and this translates into tremendous opportunities for us to grow.

Given all the areas you have to be involved in at MasterCard, is there one that you find especially exciting?
I have a passion for strategy. Whichever proposition we’re looking at, I put it in the context of “What does it mean for MasterCard?” — not only today, but years from now. I’m constantly focused on, What are we missing? What are we not thinking about? What is it that we don’t know and how do we learn about it?

How do you figure out what you don’t know?
From a finance perspective, you have to do a number of things. First, be very connected to the businesspeople in the company and be on top of where the business is moving or can move to. Having a finance group that is well connected and embedded in the business is key to this. Second, be connected to other external sources that provide objective input to shape the company’s strategy. And third, engage in a constant debate on possible scenarios and prepare the company to either take advantage of those or make defensive moves.

 

What skills do you think an aspiring CFO needs most?
CFOs can come from various backgrounds. They’ll need to develop expertise in areas like financial planning and analysis. It helps if you have been the controller of a unit, run a subsidiary, and have M&A, tax, and audit experience. By growing up through the General Motors treasurer’s office, I was fortunate to get experience in most of those areas.

“Mobile commerce refers to the ability to conduct a commercial transaction over a mobile device” definition given by Ajit Jaokar & Tony Fish in their book Mobile Web 2.0

Intuitively the players in the Mobile Commerce industry are:

Mobile Operators, Banks, Credit Card Companies, Handset Manufacturers & Pure-Play players.

Today in the market the notion of M-Commerce is multiple:

• Mobile Banking corresponds to the action of having all the services of your bank on your mobile device (meaning account consultancy, funds transfer…) With players positionning themselves as provider of financial services to the mobile phones (mFoundry, lemonway)
• Mobile Payment corresponds to the action of paying wiht your mobile device in 2 ways either through Mobile Web Browsing (wifi not 3G for now) or through a mecanism of exchange of token or through a platform.
• Near Field Communications integrated system similar that the one your are using in your transportation can be added to your mobile phone. It is the same principle as the Digital Wallet concept.
• Premium SMS or Operator led is a system where the mobile operator is in control of the transaction and do it either through a Premium SMS or report it into the bill of its users.

In terms of implementation, we can see clearly that Mobile Banking & Operator led systems are definitely less difficult to implement than Mobile Payment or Near Field Communications.

Indeed in the case of Mobile Payment, merchants need to have a system to receive these payments in their premises such as today they have different credit card machines whether it is for a debit card (Nets, Moneo) or a credit card. Within this respect are we going to see a war between retailer/mobile vendor to see who is going to win the battle of standard.

The complexity in the mobile payments area lies in the interaction between the “wired world” and the “non wired world” which is completely different from the ecommerce. In the web, transaction are simple they are between websites and surfers. In mobile transactions are between users and retailers…So as the websites integrated new standards such as paypal, verisign…retailers will have to integrate such payment system… this where the challenge lies!

Couple of links:

Companies in the mobile payment: paypal, paypass, paymo sorry for the others but there are a lot more of them!

Mobile Payment Forum, Mobile Payments World.

Some recent News in Singapore – Singtel is trialling NFC….a long time after Starhub, which did a similar trial beginning of this year.

Note: This notion of Mobile Device is very interesting in the book from Jaokar and Fish. As a mobile device is not necessarily a mobile phone, as long as it is connected it can be any device.

I’ve been thinking lately about how we use credit cards, gift cards, and ID cards in the US. It seems to me that every way to enter in the information from these cards are to swip them. Well hasn’t anyone ever noticed that when a credit card gets swiped a lot and pulled out from the wallet frequently it gets worn quite easily? This makes me wonder how come we haven’t adopted RF chips inside our ID cards, Credit cards etc. When I was in China and Hong Kong we had to get an Octopus Card or a Token to ride the subway in China. Anyways the distinct feature with this Octopus Card or Token was that they had RF chips inside them. This allow me to scan my card by just touching a little plate and it would deduct the amount from my account. The same would go for this Token I used in China. Since the Octopus Card was RF I didn’t even need to take it out of my wallet. I could literally place my wallet to the plate and it would scan my card. So what I did was I got a little Octopus Card holder with a drink I bought and I just kept it inside that, and then inside my wallet. This was very convenient and my card stayed in great shape. The Token on the other hand I had to take out of my pocket but that was because it was a coin I had to put to the plate. How come we haven’t adopted this technology to our culture? The only thing I’ve seen similar to this is the paypass readers and I’ve only seen a few of them since it’s launch. I don’t know, what do you all think about this techonology’s future? Is it something you’d like to see or does it not matter to you?

Non è la famosa frase di “Non ci resta che piangere“, ma quello che devono aver pensato alla Mastercard quando hanno annunciato l’ennesimo “Mobile Payment Trial” con Bell Mobility in Canada.

Mastercard Canada Mobile Payment Trial

Maggiori info qui.

Voici une nouvelle qui en intéressera plusieurs concernant les micro-paiements.

MONTREAL, QUEBEC–(Marketwire – 19 mars 2008) – La Banque Nationale (TSX:NA) annonce qu’elle intégrera le mode de paiement sans contact PayPass(MC) de MasterCard à ses cartes de crédit en plus de la technologie de la puce lors d’un projet pilote qui aura lieu en 2008, à Saint-Jérôme à Québec et à Kitchener-Waterloo en Ontario.

PayPass(MC) permet d’effectuer des transactions, habituellement de moins de 50 $, plus simplement et plus rapidement que tout autre type de paiement. Il suffit de taper la carte contre un lecteur PayPass(MC) pour régler instantanément un achat qui ne dépasse pas la limite établie par le marchand. La transaction entre le client et le commerçant ne nécessite alors aucun échange de monnaie, aucune signature, ni de glisser ou d’insérer la carte de crédit dans un terminal. La carte de crédit MasterCard de la Banque Nationale avec PayPass(MC) permet de réduire le temps de transaction et de diminuer le temps d’attente à la caisse, un avantage tant pour les clients que pour les commerçants.

“Le mode de paiement sans contact PayPass(MC) permettra à nos clients de transiger plus facilement et rapidement sans avoir à se préoccuper d’avoir la monnaie exacte en main”, affirme Paolo Pizzuto, vice-président, Solutions de paiement électronique, de la Banque Nationale.

Ainsi, la carte de crédit MasterCard de la Banque Nationale permettra d’effectuer des paiements de trois façons, selon la technologie offerte chez le commerçant :

- Le mode de paiement sans contact PayPass(MC) devient une alternative à l’argent liquide pour les petits achats simplement en effleurant ou tapant la carte contre un lecteur.

- Le paiement effectué à l’aide de la technologie de la carte à puce rehausse les standards de sécurité en permettant l’authentification du client à l’aide d’un numéro d’identification personnel (NIP).

- Là où la carte à puce et le mode de paiement PayPass(MC) ne sont pas encore disponibles, la carte de crédit sera glissée, puis une signature sera demandée à titre d’authentification. La carte de crédit pourra ainsi continuer à être utilisée de façon sécuritaire partout où la carte MasterCard est acceptée.

Lancé au Canada en 2004, le mode de paiement PayPass(MC) sera de plus en plus utilisé au cours des prochaines années chez les marchands où la rapidité du service est essentielle, par exemple : les restaurants à service rapide, les pharmacies, les stations-service, les distributeurs automatiques, les dépanneurs et les cinémas.

Dans une perspective novatrice, la Banque Nationale saisit donc cette excellente occasion d’offrir PayPass(MC) à sa clientèle et faire de la carte de crédit MasterCard de la Banque Nationale l’outil de paiement le plus complet et le plus flexible sur le marché.

Pour plus d’information à ce sujet, vous pouvez visiter le www.bnc.ca/paypass.

We’ve written in the past about MasterCard’s sweepstakes scheme.  It’s back.  Same trick, just different name. 

This time you can “win two identical gifts in the MasterCard^® Joy of Giving Sweepstakes.  Every time you … use your MasterCard^® card between 11/1/07 – 1/2/08, you’ll be entered for a chance to win.

In big print, MasterCard brazenly explains that the sweepstakes is for “two identical prizes and two times the joy” if you win the two identical gifts in the MasterCard^® Joy of Giving Sweepstakes.  But, don’t even think about using your PIN-based debit card!   PIN-based & international transactions are ineligible.

Here’s the scheme: even though MasterCard [and Visa] have ocean-sized marketing, advertising and public relations campaigns promoting their PIN-based debit cards, just make sure not to use it!  Oh, you can use it, but you must insist that the friendly retailers’ sales clerks – already crazed with holiday shoppers - process your payment at the much higher credit card signature interchange fee rate.  It’s just the press of a button on the electronic card terminal, and it’s not that you then get anything special.  Your funds are still withdrawn from your bank account nearly as quickly.  The threat of fraud is minimized and the card associations’ member banks reap the much higher interchange revenues and get your money extra fast.

See the following link for the fine print [official rules] from this holiday sweepstakes.  We have enlarged it for your easy understanding:

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Void where prohibited. Restrictions apply.  PIN-based & international transactions ineligible.

We wonder how many cardholders actually recognize that when they use their debit card, they are ineligible to participate?  Then again, since lotteries and sweepstakes were designed for people who weren’t good at math, it probably won’t matter anyway.  If the card associations held such equal value for their debit card products as they do for signature credit cards, why the discriminatory distinction?  Unless, oh yes, they make more money when they condition debit card holders to force merchants to process the cards at the much higher credit card rate.

This is about as scheming as were the recent Visa TV commercials and its attempt at Pavlovian-training cardholders not to use cash.  They explain it slows down the cashiers line, ruins the fun of shopping and makes you feel inferior as everyone behind you in line gets really, really annoyed with you.  Just watch the commercials to see for yourself – see link.

[Commentary: WayTooHigh.com]

If you go to your local Tims you’ll be treated to decent coffee, donuts and a Cash only business. Except for a Pilot Program a few years ago Tim Hortons doesn’t except credit cards or Interac (bank cards.) Why? I’ve always believed that with the huge lines, inside and out, they don’t want people waiting around for the interac machines, which are slow – using a 2400 Baud modem and take about 45 seconds to complete a sale.

Recently, Tim Hortons announced that they will be accepting MasterCards Quick Payment System & PayPass which automatically debits from ones account using RFID. This sounds like speed of transaction verification was the primary selling point.

MasterCard PayPass is ideal for traditional cash-heavy environments where speed is essential, and has led the way in bringing contactless technology to consumer categories where quick service is essential. There are nearly 13 million PayPass cards issued globally. The introduction of MasterCard acceptance at Tim Hortons will be supported by advertising and in-store signage and communications.

Since no one I know owns a Mastercard but everyone I know goes to Tim Hortons – this can only be a win for Mastercard to push the card in Canada. I bet this is a loss leader deal to grow the business. Should be coming to a Tim Hortons near you – if its not already there.

Hat tip – SmartCanucks.ca.