"The holiday season is here, bringing with it a host of celebrations. From office parties to family gatherings, shoppers are navigating an evolving landscape of gift-giving traditions. In our latest podcast episode, we dive into how consumer trends, new technologies, and the timeless appeal of gift cards are shaping the way people are gifting this season. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Sarah Kositzke, Director of Research, and Jonathan Soffin, VP of Global Brand & Product...

Artificial intelligence is fueling a major transformation in the financial fraud landscape. AI has democratized criminal sophistication and fraud at a very low cost of conducting business, generating more malignant actors that financial institutions have to fight against. What can these institutions do to mitigate increasingly sophisticated frauds and scams? In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Kannan Srinivasan, Vice President for Risk Management, Digital Payment Solutions at Fiserv,...

Instant payments have been a global phenomenon, but the momentum for real-time payments  is building in the U.S. There is a growing expectation among both businesses and consumers that when they send funds, the recipient should be able to access them instantly. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Justin Jackson, SVP, Head of Enterprise Payments, Fiserv, and Robert Clayton, Vice President of Product Management, as well as Albert Bodine, Director of Commercial and Enterprise Payments at...

In 2021, the Government of Canada passed the Retail Payments Activities Act, which required the Bank of Canada, the nation’s central bank, to begin overseeing payment service providers (PSPs). Under the legislation, Canadian PSPs—along with any entities involved in the electronic transfer or storage of funds—must register between November 1 and 15. In preparation of these new regulations, Ron Morrow, Executive Director of Payments, Supervision and Oversight at the Bank of Canada, spoke...

Artificial intelligence has had a dramatic effect across industries in a short time. Accounting is no exception, but there has been speculation of whether AI would replace those working in the profession. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Ted Callahan, Accountant Leader at Intuit, and Albert Bodine, Director of Commercial Payments at Javelin Strategy & Research, explored key findings from the 2024 Intuit QuickBooks Accountant Technology Survey and their implications for the...

When the topic is prepaid cards, the store-branded or general-purpose gift cards at grocery stores and retailers might come to mind. However, a substantial number of businesses and organizations continually use prepaid cards for a range of cases, including employee incentives and customer rebates. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Sheryl Shewman, Vice President of Business Development at U.S. Bank, and Jordan Hirschfield, Director of Prepaid at Javelin Strategy & Research,...

As of March 10, 2025, ISO 20022 will become the messaging standard for financial services in the United States. Yet adoption continues to be slow among large and small banks, with only about a quarter of American banks already using the new protocol. As some have put it, it’s like waiting until the last minute to do your Christmas shopping. Are financial institutions ready for this conversion? In a recent Payments Journal podcast, Laura Sullivan, Senior Product Manager at Form3, spoke...

Banks allocate significant resources to fighting fraud, both in prevention and in maintaining reserves for potential losses. No matter how good the performance is, fraud losses remain a burden on their balance sheets. Instnt, under the leadership of CEO and founder Sunil Madhu, has been at the forefront of developing innovative ways to combat bank fraud. Madhu recently sat down with Tracy Kitten, Director of Fraud and Security at Javelin Strategy & Research, in a recent...

The ATM industry has undergone a dynamic shift that has taken automated teller machines far beyond cash dispensation. As the number of bank branches has declined, both banks and consumers expect ATMs to provide a wide array of services that were once only offered at a teller’s counter. In response to the increased demand for ATM services, financial services company NCR recently split into two separate entities—NCR Atleos and NCR Voyix—with NCR Atleos overseeing the company’s...

With no relief from inflation in sight, consumers are bracing for an expensive holiday shopping season, especially with only 27 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. To stretch their budgets, consumers will leverage every available method, and merchants’ loyalty programs can save customers money while strengthening brand relationships. However, another key pillar of a merchant’s successful holiday strategy is its gift card program. In a recent PaymentsJournal...

Access to emergency funds provides peace of mind, especially when many people find themselves scrambling to cover expenses. Given the needs of younger consumers, liquidity and cash flow issues are becoming increasingly important for financial institutions to address.   Changing regulations offer financial institutions an opportunity to rethink how they are meeting these customer needs through offerings like overdraft protection and small-dollar lending. In a recent PaymentsJournal...

The upcoming conversion to ISO 20022 presents both challenges and opportunities for banks. It allows them to drive potential efficiencies by redesigning operational processes around Swift messaging. However, there is also the challenge of data ingestion; banks will need to ensure every tech platform in their stack, particularly reconciliation and reporting tools, can effectively handle ISO 20022 messaging. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Nick Botha, Payments Sector Lead at...

Open banking has come to encompass so much that it can be hard to define. At its heart, open banking is about opening consumer financial data—once the sole domain of banks—to third-party service providers that manage the data using APIs. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Vladimir Jovanovic, VP of Innovation at Velera, and James Wester, Co-Head of Payments at Javelin Strategy & Research, discussed open banking’s evolving regulatory framework, its benefits for banks and credit...

After companies have spent years struggling to build their own payments systems, the era of Payments 3.0 has arrived. This new domain is driven by technological innovators who take a product-centric approach to creating holistic payment systems from the ground up. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Danny Shader, CEO of PayNearMe, spoke with Christopher Miller, Lead Analyst of Emerging Payments at Javelin Strategy & Research, about the virtuous cycle of innovation that has driven the...

The role of the Chief Financial Officer has evolved significantly in recent years, with finance offices increasingly tasked with driving business growth. As technology requirements and banking relationships grow more complex, CFOs often find it challenging to maintain the cash visibility necessary to optimize working capital and make informed strategic decisions. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Leo Gil, VP of Product at Bottomline, and Albert Bodine, Director of Commercial and...

As fraud related to artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly sophisticated and accessible, many legacy lines of defense are no longer able to effectively protect financial institutions and their customers. Financial institutions need to take a more proactive approach to fraud. By collecting and analyzing real-time data and using AI to identify patterns, FIs can quickly detect suspicious activity and clamp down on fraud. Karen Postma, Senior Vice President of Risk Solutions at...

As fraud related to artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly sophisticated and accessible, many legacy lines of defense are no longer able to effectively protect financial institutions and their customers. Financial institutions need to take a more proactive approach to fraud. By collecting and analyzing real-time data and using AI to identify patterns, FIs can quickly detect suspicious activity and clamp down on fraud. Karen Postma, Senior Vice President of Risk Solutions at...

The ACH Network is set to surpass 33 billion payments by the end of the year, marking a significant milestone. Consumer Internet-initiated payments are set to surpass 10 billion, a remarkable achievement considering the payment method was created just 20 years ago. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Michael Herd, Executive Vice President of ACH Network Administration at Nacha, and Elisa Tavilla, Director of Debit Payments at Javelin Strategy & Research, discussed this success...

Cards made from paper and other sustainable materials continue to gain in popularity. In addition to being ecofriendly, paper cards are more cost-effective and perfect for single-use purposes, such as gift cards. To explore the future of sustainable cards, Peggy O’Leary, EVP, Prepaid and Digital Solutions for CPI, spoke with Elisa Tavilla, Director of Debit Payments for Javelin Strategy & Research, on a recent PaymentsJournal podcast. They discussed the flexibility available to...

As a reliable revenue stream, recurring payments help both organizations and their consumers by giving them the option to “set it and forget it.” However, ensuring that these recurring payments run smoothly can be a challenge when businesses face returns or declines due to errors, outdated payment information, insufficient funds or even fraud. With the right partner, a subscription model can help businesses run smoothly while ensuring sustained cash flow. In a recent PaymentsJournal...

Paying bills is an essential part of life, but it’s a task that has become increasingly complex. Because bills often come in various forms and require different payment types, it can be hard for consumers to stay on top of their finances. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Derek Swords, VP, Head of Product, Bill Pay at Fiserv, and Albert Bodine, Director of Commercial and Enterprise Payments at Javelin Strategy & Research, discussed the challenges consumers face when paying bills...

Facing a continuing rise in fraud and fraud attempts against financial institutions, Nacha has announced new rules to help organizations mitigate these risks. These new rules will take time to implement, so institutions should begin preparing now rather than waiting until the rules go into effect.  In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Brian Holbrook, Director of Product Strategy and Integrated Solutions at LSEG Risk Intelligence, spoke with Elisa Tavilla, Director of Debit at Javelin...

Facing a continuing rise in fraud and fraud attempts against financial institutions, Nacha has announced new rules to help organizations mitigate these risks. These new rules will take time to implement, so institutions should begin preparing now rather than waiting until the rules go into effect.  In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Brian Holbrook, Director of Product Strategy and Integrated Solutions at LSEG Risk Intelligence, spoke with Elisa Tavilla, Director of Debit at Javelin...

One of the most disturbing aspects of present-day fraud is just how prevalent it has become. Around 80% of respondents to an Association of Financial Professionals survey said they were victims of payment fraud in 2023. It was a 15% increase from 2022 and the highest number since 2015. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Ryan Clayton, Director of Solution Consulting at Bottomline, and Albert Bodine, Director of Commercial and Enterprise Payments at Javelin Strategy & Research,...