[Discover Global Network] Universities across the globe have confronted the need like never before to enhance their payment and digital capabilities. The world of higher education and its communities, hit by new restrictions over the past year, were suddenly prompted...
[Discover Global Network] Social trends change what we wear—and now increasingly the way we pay. With consumers’ preference for everything contact-free, wearable payment technology is finding new momentum. Driven in part by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the...
[Discover Global Network] While 2020 was a difficult year, foretelling what 2021 will bring might be even tougher. The COVID-19 pandemic affected the entire payments ecosystem—from merchants rushing online to consumers shopping remotely for groceries, clothes and even...
[Discover Global Network] This year’s holiday shopping season is likely to be very similar to the year itself: suddenly and unexpectedly unlike anything that anyone has ever experienced. The rise of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to shops closing, consumers staying...
[Discover Global Network] Europe has long spearheaded change for much of the payments industry. From instituting tighter interchange rules to accelerating cross-border payments to implementing new customer data protections, regulators in the EU have set the pace for...
[Discover Global Network] Super apps, which combine payment, social media, merchant, loyalty programs and more under a single umbrella, are booming. Since 2011, when Tencent in China launched what is today known as WeChat, these integrated mobile apps have attracted...
[Discover Global Network] The long-term impact of the coronavirus pandemic has yet to be determined, but the immediate turmoil confronting the merchant community as a whole is already here. With the rapid spread of the virus, giant retailers, including Apple, Nike,...
[Discover Global Networks] The push for customer-centrism was born decades ago when shoppers entered a store and merchants planned their products and services around that personal engagement. Clearly, the shopping experience has evolved since then—and the challenge...
[Discover Global Network] The long-term impact of the coronavirus pandemic has yet to be determined, but the immediate turmoil confronting the merchant community as a whole is already here. With the rapid spread of the virus, giant retailers, including Apple,...
[Discover Global Network] As fast as technology is changing, so is the impact of today’s young consumers. Generation Z—those folks born since 1996—is reshaping consumer expectations and payment trends in ways that are becoming increasingly apparent. The eventual...
[Discover Global Network] Top analysts in the payments industry are expecting a year of big changes ahead with shifts in the international landscape, the impact of new technology and advances in rapid payment methods. The effect of each of these trends is expected to...
[Originally published March 31, 2014, in Capital.] If you buy anything in Romania, then you already have – or at least have been offered – dozens and dozens of retail loyalty cards. You know, that piece of paper or plastic that supposedly means you’re a valued...
[Originally published in August 2012 issue of Lafferty Cards & Payments Insights.] There is a traffic circle (or “round-about” if you’re from England) along one of the main roads in Bucharest that is, unfortunately, a perfect metaphor for many of the new products...