In 2018, cashless payments exceeded cash payments in the U.K. for the first time, as the use of banknotes and coins fell a substantial 15 percent.

On October 23^rd 2018, the workshop namely “Instant card issuance – How to revitalize your card programs” was successfully co-organized by MK Group and Entrust Datacard at Majestic Hotel, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Currently, one of the major concerns of various financial institutions is the emergence of new payment methods such as QR code, electronic wallet, online payment methods, etc. This has made a considerable impact on the loyalty of consumers with the payment cards. Although the need for bank cards remains, customers are taking on new payment methods quickly.

Facing this challenge, an important question posed to financial institutions is whether banks’ traditional card issuance practices help them to achieve their goals of “Engaging customers – Driving sales” anymore? Is it the high time for banks to switch to instant card issuance right after the customer’s need for a card arises? This can help to shorten the lead time and cross-sell financial products or actualize the co-branded card program between banks and businesses in just a matter of minutes. In addition, one of the challenges is the lack of practical implementation experiences and the role of suppliers in consulting, system integration, maintenance and technical support activities during the implementation phase.

In response to customer concerns, Entrust Datacard and MK Group team have figured out the key issues that issuers have to face up with. They include the selection of solution provider, compliance with security regulations, budget optimization and related maintenance services (*), in addition to the best practices with the aim of increasing the activation rate of payment cards, building loyalty amongst customers as well as “Revitalizing financial card program”.

At the event, visitors also had chance to experience the demonstration of CardWizard solution – the instant financial issuance software and Datacard® CE875 – the desktop card issuance system in order to have a better understanding about the flexibility, speed, and feasibility of the instant card issuance solution.

With the broaden knowledge and more than 40 years of experience in card issuance field, Entrust Datacard has co-operated with MK Group to provide a comprehensive card issuance solution, which suits different financial institutions, business models and card issuance methods. With the instant card issuance solution, retaining existed customers and attracting potential customers becomes a viable way for financial institutions to build loyalty and drive sustainable development.

(*) Kindly refer “5 questions to consider about financial instant issuance” by Alyssa Arredondo – Marketing Director of Entrust Datacard to have a better understanding about the solution.

NEXT Biometrics (Oslo Bors: NEXT), a global leader in fingerprint sensor technology, today announced the company is joining with MK Group to launch an R&D program for biometric smart cards for banking and other applications. The program will integrate NEXT’s large-area fingerprint sensors into MK Group’s next generation smart card products. Vietnam-based MK Group is the leading provider of smart cards and digital security solutions for financial, telecommunication and retail enterprises in Vietnam and one of the largest in South East Asia.

The percentage of payments made with a mobile phone in UK stores has jumped from 1.3% in Q3 2016 to 5.6% in Q3 2018, an analysis of 190m card transactions has shown. Compared to this time last year, the volume of contactless mobile payments has increased by 60%.

For payments under the £30 contactless payments limit, the number of transactions accounted for by mobile payments increased from 1.8% in Q3 2016, to 4.6% in Q3 2017 and then 7% in Q3 2018, the analysis by Cardlytics found.

“The biggest beneficiaries of growing mobile payments are quick-service merchants who have introduced contactless payment methods,” the company says. “This includes quick-service-restaurants (11.3%), coffee shops (11%), public transport (11%) and bars and pubs (9.25%).

“This reflects that mobile payments are used more readily at merchants that people visit on a daily basis and wish to pay more expediently, while less popular amongst bigger-ticket, one off purchases.”

“London is by far the biggest adopter of mobile pay, accounting for 7% of payments less than £30 and 5.7% of all transactions – at least 2% higher than any other region,” Cardlytics adds.

“Outside of London, east of England and the rest of the south east have been the fastest movers, with 3.3% and 3.2% of all transactions respectively carried out via Apple, Google or Android pay. Yorkshire ranks fourth with 2.9%.”

“The huge growth in contactless payments has been well documented, and we’re now seeing mobile payments making a big contribution to that growth, often at the expense of cash,” says Duncan Smith, commercial director at Cardlytics.

– Nfcworld – 

JP Morgan Chase, the largest card issuer in the U.S., will roll out Visa contactless payment cards — including debit, credit and co-branded cards — to millions of the bank’s cardholders starting later this year, according to a press release from the bank.

Starting with Chase Freedom Unlimited and Chase Slate customers, the bank will issue Visa contactless Tap to Go credit cards to all new cardholders and to existing cardholders receiving reissued cards.

All Chase credit cards will have Tap to Go capabilities by the first half of 2019. Chase will roll out Tap to Go to all debit card holders during the second half of 2019, the release said.

The contactless payment feature means that cardholders need only tap their card on the contactless-enabled card reader to pay for their purchase at millions of retailers and other outlets. The dual interface cards use RFID and secure EMV chip technology to generate a one time code to secure the payment information, Chase said.

– atmmarketplace.com –