Episodes

Affluent families are increasingly targeted by criminals and financial advisors must take a more proactive stance to mitigate the cyberthreats, for both clients and their children. According to Javelin’s wealth management research, a large 45% of investors say they expect their wealth management advisors to educate and shield them from cyber and fraud risks. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, two Javelin Strategy & Research analysts—Tracy Kitten, Director of Fraud and Security, and Greg O’Gar...

The payments industry has undergone more change in the past few years than it has in the preceding few decades. The rise of instant payments, the arrival of fintechs, the consumerization of payments, and the onset of open banking have driven significant shifts in the business payments terrain. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, James Richardson, Head of Global Product Solutions at Bottomline, and Albert Bodine, Director of Commercial and Enterprise Payments at Javelin Strategy & Research, dis...

After years of restrictions and uncertainties, people are eager to travel the world again, whether for leisure, business, or reconnecting with loved ones. As a result, international travel is getting back to—and in some cases even surpassing—pre-pandemic levels. Dynamic Currency Conversion, or DCC, is making the travel experience more seamless. On a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Ed Robles, Senior Director of Sales, Business Development at Euronet Worldwide, spoke with Albert Bodine, Director,...

In an era marked by rising inflation, prepaid cards have become more than mere financial tools. They are increasingly seen as strategic assets in managing the economic pressures felt by consumers and retailers alike. The benefits of gift cards extend beyond financial transactions, helping retailers build personal relationships and loyalty with their customers. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Sam Lituchy, Vice President and Head of Gift Solutions at Fiserv, spoke with Jordan Hirschfield, Di...

With the growing demand for immediacy and a seamless experience in personal finance, credit unions must keep up to remain competitive. While many of these institutions have remained competitive with lower rates, they often lag behind banks and other lenders in the digital lending space in convenience. In an era of instant credit, speeding up the loan origination process is essential for maintaining and expanding credit unions’ market share. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Scott P. Young, S...

New cross-border payments solutions are offered seemingly every day. These solutions use everything from stablecoins to pay-by-bank platforms. However, international wire transfers still play a crucial role in money movement, and that’s not likely to change anytime soon. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Justin Jackson, SVP, Head of Enterprise Payments at Fiserv, and John Min, Chief Economist at Monex USA, discussed the present and future of international wire transfers and the methods finan...

In the past, the chief financial officer’s role has been somewhat relegated to the financial aspects of a business. Now, CFOs face a challenging array of responsibilities that include payments modernization, fraud mitigation, and the selection and implementation of technological solutions. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Jeff Feuerstein, SVP of Paymode-X Product Management and Market Strategy at Bottomline, and James Wester, Co-Head of Payments at Javelin Strategy & Research, discussed the...

Organizations have faced the challenge of deriving insights from their data for a long time. Some enterprises have the ability and resources to do this, but others are far behind. Artificial intelligence (AI) has the capability of catapulting data analysis into the future, allowing enterprise analytics to fit into the daily, general health and success of a company. Billtrust has been at the forefront of using AI to build out analytics processes, especially within the payments landscape. In a re...

Instant payments systems have gained traction in countries that had cash-based payments infrastructures. While services like FedNow and the RTP network have launched in the U.S., instant payments haven’t taken hold due to the firmly established financial system. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Abeer Bhatia, CEO of Personal Lending & Head of Enterprise Payments at Wells Fargo, and Elisa Tavilla, Director of Debit Advisory Services at Javelin Strategy & Research, discussed the past, present,...

Organizations turn to fintechs for payment solutions that are as efficient and seamless as the transactions they facilitate. However, behind these smooth interfaces lies a labyrinth of challenges. Security concerns, regulatory compliance, and constant technological upgrades are just a few of the hurdles fintechs must navigate to provide what appear to be simple solutions. For clients, the expectation is straightforward: a payment solution that works flawlessly. The intricate complexity involved ...

With gift card spend projected to reach $267.3 billion by 2028, it’s clear that gift cards are an influential force in the market. And the rise of digital gift cards, a trend that continues to gain momentum, is opening up new avenues to engage younger generations. During a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Blackhawk Network’s (BHN) Sarah Kositzke, Director of Research and Hilary Spidaliere, Director of Product Marketing, as well as Jordan Hirschfield, Director of Prepaid at Javelin Strategy & Res...

Reconciliation is an essential aspect of the accounting process that improves transparency, maximizes decision-making, and ensures regulatory compliance. However, many merchants and payments organizations still rely on inefficient processes that can result in errors, financial losses, or violations. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Nick Botha, Global Payments Sales Manager at Autorek, and Don Apgar, Director of Merchant Payments at Javelin Strategy & Research, discussed the importance of op...

The United States is a unique banking market, with more than 11,000 financial institutions and some of the most stringent regulations in the world. With the launch of FedNow last year, The Clearing House’s RTP network, and a new messaging standard in ISO 20022, U.S.real-time payments have finally arrived. There’s only one problem: The infrastructure here is not ready. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Himanshu Pujara, Managing Director for Euronet Worldwide, and Elisa Tavilla, Director of De...

The end-of-the-year flurry of holiday shopping is a classic example of business seasonality. As fraud professionals have long observed, fraud activity also follows seasonal patterns, with seasonal upticks and slow-downs. The challenge has been reacting to seasonality with precision in real-time, instead of just recognizing them in the rear-view mirror. And new data shows that this seasonality doesn’t correlate to the business year as much as one might expect—fraudsters have a seasonal calendar a...

Now that the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard 4.0 has gone into effect, merchants have a year to conform to the 63 new or updated requirements. With many moving parts to the standard, some businesses may struggle to understand their compliance obligations. Simultaneously, they also don’t want to risk creating friction in the customer experience as they introduce the new security measures. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Sukanya Madhavan, Payments Chief Product and Technology Of...

Though most people still refer to prepaid products as gift cards, that term has almost become a misnomer in today’s payments industry. Prepaid cards do so much more than carry gifts—not just for consumers but also for issuers. Savvy businesses use them to drive more consumer spending while increasing brand loyalty. To that end, Fiserv recently worked with Javelin Strategy & Research on a survey of more than 500 buyers in the incentives area to find out what’s driving their purposes. The survey ...

The banking industry infamously divides itself into silos to address different aspects of the business, which can be problematic for customers who think they are dealing with a single entity. This can be especially difficult during onboarding and security checks, when different silos at the bank ask repeatedly for credentials. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Sunil Madhu, founder and CEO of Instnt, a fraud loss indemnification that covers the entire customer lifecycle, and Jennifer Pitt, Se...

As awareness of the dangers of identity theft grows, it’s important to highlight a particularly insidious threat: stealing children’s identities. Although children have very limited financial activity, this ironically makes them appealing targets for fraudsters. According to Javelin Strategy & Research, 1.7 million children had their personal information stolen in 2021-2022, resulting in nearly $1 billion in identity fraud loss. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Tracy Kitten, Director of Fra...

Even though the number of checks written continues to decline, mail theft remains on the rise. Beyond the theft of checks directly from mailboxes, there have been instances of stolen mail trucks. The ease of modifying checks allows criminals to simply wash and modify the payee’s name. Q2’s positive pay system, used by roughly 550 banks across the country, is on track to stop more than $2.5 billion in fraud this year. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Bruce Dragoo, Manager, Solutions Consulta...

The evolution of digital card management has given financial institutions new opportunities to cultivate enduring customer relationships. By making consumers’ lives more convenient and complimenting physical cards, so consumers have the options that work for their lives at a particular time, issuers can foster ease of use and brand loyalty, leading to decades-long relationships. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Wesley Suter, Senior Director of Product Solutions at Fiserv, spoke with Elisa T...

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 PSCU/Co-o...

The rise in e-commerce fraud, combined with consumers’ increasing willingness to file chargebacks, has left issuers and acquirers scrambling to shore up their dispute management processes. With a complicated process that varies depending on the payment network involved, chargebacks have become a huge operational challenge for many merchants. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Cheryl Fitzgarrald and Kate Knudsen, Senior Program Directors at BHMI, and Don Apgar, Director of the Merchant Payment...

Successful companies must constantly change to preserve their success, but digital transformation may be the most radical overhaul most of us will ever see. For organizations to make this transformation a success, getting employees on board and fully engaged is a requirement. As the head of Corporate Strategic Planning and Management for Wells Fargo, Amy Downey understands the optimal ways of steering a company’s strategic direction and organizational design. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast...

Cognizant of the rise of credit-push fraud, Nacha has approved a new set of rules aimed at addressing it. Credit-push fraud uses social engineering and email phishing attacks to deceive someone into sending funds to a criminal-controlled account, whether through a compromised business email, vendor impersonation or payroll fraud. In a recent PaymentsJournal Podcast, Michael Herd, Executive Vice President of ACH Network Administration at Nacha, and Brian Riley, Director of Credit & Co-Head of Pa...