Payment Card Competitor Tracker: March 2011

Introduction

The Payment Card Competitor Tracker provides expert analysis and opinion on the strategic moves of leading competitors in the payment card market. Produced on a monthly basis, the Tracker is a global product and covers over 100 players, including American Express, Barclaycard, Capital One, Citigroup, Discover, GE Money, First Data, HSBC, JCB, MasterCard, Standard Chartered and Visa.

Features and benefits

• Gain invaluable information on your key competitors in one concise document, and track long-term trends using the interactive news database.
• Sharpen your strategy by implementing the best market, product, competitor and strategic developments of leading global players.
• Learn the Datamonitor Cards & Payments Team's view on the most important competitor developments in the month.

Highlights

There are 49 competitor developments analyzed in the March edition of the Payment Card Competitor Tracker. This was on par with the 12-month average and somewhat higher than the number of developments recorded in the previous month (41 stories).
As expected, the developments in the mobile space are continuing at a rapid pace. Out of the 32 product, services, and innovation developments recorded in March, 13 (40%) were related to mobile phones. This is an increase of three developments on the previous month and more than double the 12-month average of five stories.
The developments in the mobile phone space recorded in March cover broad areas, including account maintenance; person-to-person (P2P) and remittance; business-to-business and commercial payments; mobile payments including near field communication (NFC) and, finally, loyalty and rewards through coupons.

Your key questions answered

• What have been the key new product developments in the industry this month, particularly in contactless, mobile, online and prepaid?
• Which players are leading the way with these new developments, and where are they occurring?
• How have trends in competitor activity changed over time, and which regions are becoming more active?
• What are the top developments in the past month and what do they mean for my business?

Table Of Contents

OVERVIEW
Catalyst
Summary
Methodology

INTRODUCTION
The Payment Card Competitor Tracker provides both one-month and 12-month views of developments
Improvements to the 2011 Payment Card Competitor Tracker series
Each month, Datamonitor tracks the most relevant announcements from over 100 competitors
Datamonitor’s Cards and Payments team provides analysis of the key developments at one-month and 12-month intervals
A fully searchable database of developments from January 2007 onwards is also delivered alongside the report

KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN MARCH
Developments in the contactless, mobile, online, and prepaid sectors in March
Mobile: Monitise and Western Union launch mobile person-to-person and business-to-business payment services
Mobile: Visa and ANZ launch a trial program for contactless mobile phone payments in Australia
Online/mobile: American Express launches payment solution “Serve” in the US
There were 49 developments in March, on par with the 12-month average
The level of competitor activity picked up in March compared to the previous month
Products, services, and innovation-related developments were on par with the annual average in March
Western Europe and North America had the highest level of activity in March
Schemes accounted for the majority of competitor activity in March
Similarly to February, developments in the mobile channel were at the forefront of activity in March
Partnerships accounted for the majority of developments in the M&A, partnerships, and organic growth category

PRODUCTS, SERVICES, AND INNOVATION
American Express
US: American Express launches payment solution “Serve”
AEON Credit Service
Asia Pacific: AEON introduces the“AEON MasterCard MoneySend” fund transfer service
Banamex
Mexico: Banamex and Club America launch a credit card
Bank of Moscow
Russia: Bank of Moscow announces the launch of an iPhone banking application
Barclaycard
UK: Barclaycard offers a 25% discount on balance transfer handling fees for new customers
Bank of America
UK: MBNA launches a balance transfer offer for new customers
US: Bank of America launches the AAA Member Rewards Visa credit card
Capital One
Canada: Capital One partners with InterContinental Hotels group to launch a co-branded credit card
US: Capital One announces a credit card rewards promotional offer
Commonwealth Bank
Australia: Commonwealth Bank launches a mobile application for Android smartphones
Crédit Agricole
France: Crédit Agricole Consumer Finance launches an app for Sofinco Réserve Couleurs cardholders
Citigroup
Poland: Citi expand its mobile offerings to Android smartphones
Poland: Citi launches the Citibank MasterCard World credit card
United Arab Emirates: Citibank announces the launch of Citi Mobile
First National Bank
South Africa: First National Bank introduces ATM cash withdrawals by mobile phone
First Data
US: First Data launches mobile vouchers for merchants
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China
China: Industrial and Commercial Bank of China partners with China Eastern Airlines to launch a co-branded card
la Caixa
Spain: la Caixa and Visa announce the deployment of a contactless payment system in the Balearic Islands
MasterCard
Global: MasterCard launches the Expert Monitoring Compromised Account Service
Monitise
Nigeria: Monitise launches a mobile payment service
OCBC
Singapore: OCBC introduces a mobile application for Android phones
Scotiabank
Canada: Scotiabank adds the Visa payWave feature to its line of credit cards
Swedbank
Estonia: Swedbank launches an Android application
US Bancorp
US: US Bank expands its mobile banking features
Visa
Australia: Visa and ANZ launch a trial program for contactless mobile phone payments
Canada: Visa launches a preloaded payment card for healthcare spending accounts
US: Visa signs an agreement with CashEdge and Fiserv which allows US Visa account holders to pay each other
Western Union
Global: Western Union launches a foreign exchange payment service
Japan: Western Union and Seven Bank launch an international money transfer service
Japan: Western Union announces no-fee money transfers
UAE: Western Union and Emirates NBD launch the Account-Based Money Transfer service
Wells Fargo
US: Wells Fargo offers "Patient Payment Solution," an online payments tool
M&A, PARTNERSHIPS, AND ORGANIC GROWTH
American Express
US: American Express completes the purchase of Loyalty Partner
Barclaycard
UK: Barclays to purchase Egg’s credit card accounts
UK: The number of contactless transactions processed grows by over 150% year-on-year
BBVA
Turkey: BBVA finalizes the purchase of Garanti
China UnionPay
Asia: China UnionPay partners with Citibank to increase the reach of UnionPay cards
Global: CUP signs contract with Société Générale to increase the acceptance of UnionPay cards
Russia: CUP partners with Gazprombank to develop UnionPay card acceptance
UAE: CUP partners with Network International to increase UnionPay card acceptance
First Data
Saudi Arabia: Saudi Hollandi Bank converts its credit card portfolio to First Data's FirstVision solution
MoneyGram
Global: MoneyGram expands its agreement with Société Générale
PayPal
UK: Domino's to accept payments through PayPal
US Bancorp
Europe: US Bank to issue cards to North American corporate clients
Visa
Luxembourg: Luxembourg banks to implement V PAY debit card
US: Visa completes the purchase of PlaySpan
WorldPay
Europe: WorldPay and Mobizcorp to create a payment solution
UK, Ireland: McDonald’s and Tesco renew contract with WorldPay
US, UK: RSA selects WorldPay to support its card verification processes

APPENDIX
Definitions
Methodology
Further reading
Ask the analyst
Datamonitor consulting
Disclaimer