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Location
Millersvile
Member since
2013
Writes about
Payments Regulation & Compliance Retail banking

Gerard's blog archive

2020 (1) 2018 (1) 2017 (2) 2016 (2) 2015 (3) 2014 (1)
Gerard Hergenroeder

Gerard Hergenroeder

Retired IBMer and Banking Executive at Payments Shark
Message Message me Posts: 10 Comments: 105
Bio Former Global Payments Executive at IBM responsible for solution sales Career History 1 Gerard is a seasoned professional in banking and payments 2 He started his career with Ford Motor Company then spent 20 years in banking 3 His last bank was acquired by the now Bank of America. 4 He helped Visa and MasterCard launch and grow their debit businesses 5 He also spent time as a c

Blogs

Futuristic Banking

An opportunity to transform the credit card world

08 May 2020

It has been awhile since I last posted a blog. I am sure everyone is thinkling about potential credit losses as a result of rising unemployment rates. In the U.S. it now over 15%. During the great mortgage recession in 2007 loan losses peaked at 10%. It took almost 10 years to get the loss rate below 5%. Just prior to the recesssion losses averaged...

9

Blockchain Observations

Bitcoin

09 May 2018

Warren Buffet and his thoughts on Bitcoin -- "Speaking to CNBC anchor Becky Quick ahead of Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska on Saturday, the billionaire investor said bitcoin — the largest and most well-known cryptocurrency — is "probably rat poison squared." I agree with Warren. Bitcoin has no real mass market...

 

I predict Bitcoin will crash in 2018.

08 Dec 2017

Bitcoin is a fraud, nothing more than a ponzi scheme. I do feel sorry for those people buying at today's prices. I remember studying the tulip crash in the 1600's. I predict Bitcoin will crash in 2018. When it crashes you get nothing, not even a beautiful tulip. Here's a list of market crashes: Market Crashes: The Tulip and Bulb Craze (1630s) Mar...

4

 

The payments industry is in the throes of a perfect storm

06 Apr 2017

The payments industry is in the throes of a perfect storm – the traditional payments business is at risk from excessive rising costs and disruption which calls for radical payments transformation (Content for these thoughts are Gerard Hergenroeder’s solely, not his employer IBM) Below are a list of proof points that bankers and payments people shou...

4

See all Gerard's blogs

Gerard is Commenting on

Amazon reaches global deal with Visa over card fees

  Interchange pricing has always been a cash cow for Visa's member banks. It generates $ billions in revenue for cardholder banks. As the industry has reduced processing costs and fraud losses, there is always a tendency to not share lower expenses and fraud losses with merchants. Amazon forced Visa's hand to lower interchange. This is good news to the merchant community. More large merchants should challenge Visa to realize value form the new economics of card processing. Remember efficiencies realized from processing and fraud reduction should always drive reductions in interchange fees.

17 Feb 2022 Reply Read article

Square to acquire Afterpay for $29 billion

  $29 billion is a lot of money. I guess I am getting old. I would have paid only $29 million.

02 Aug 2021 Reply Read article

Is VISA a colossus on clay feet?

  There have many attempts to bring alternatives to Visa and MasterCard. As a former employee of both entities I know they are a market force with lots of money and a brand that is trusted. To start a new global brand and technology platform would cost billions of dollars. Technology has indeed taken quantum leaps. If they had to do it all over again their solutions would much more superior than the current two message system. i remember when it took 4 weeks for an international transaction to clear. Both have made significant steps in their authorization and clearing systems. But much more needs to be done. I would advise both Visa and MasterCard to build their next generation solutions using a single message while at the same maintaining in parallel their two message system for some period of time.There are newer technology solutions in the market; e.g.. Faster Payments.

08 Mar 2021 Reply Read article

Mastercard hikes interchange fees for UK online purchases from the EU

  There are alternatives to Visa and Mastercard. It only takes a few large merchants to opt for new payments schemes. Let the free market figure this out, not government!

25 Jan 2021 Reply Read article