Apart from perhaps the last point about Advertising / Communication, I'd argue that banking solutions vendors - at least the one I used to work for - have been doing the other three things for ages. To take Manufacturing / Prototyping as an example, I can't remember winning a single deal without doing a prospect-specific demo, or what we'd call "scripted demo". As for evaluation copy, it takes a lot of time and energy to enter prospect-specific sample data, set up process flows and provide rudimentary training in the software. All this costs the vendor a lot of money but I know many vendors who would be happy to support an evaluation phase if the prospective customer is willing to pay for the PoC. Unfortunately, most prospects expect all this for free, which is where part of the problem lies. Let alone something as extensive as a banking solution, I'm currently evaluating a much smaller SaaS-based website visitor tracking solution. Nearly a month after signing up for the free evaluation version of the software, I can't say that I've managed to understand the software completely. Neither can I blame the vendor for not providing the required handholding support.
15 Mar 2013 09:48 Read comment
"Adding business value while achieving compliance" is a strong value proposition in general. However, we've seen it resonating well only when the basic compliance measure fixes something that's broken. I'm not sure if SEPA falls in that category, especially when it comes to domestic payments.
15 Mar 2013 08:25 Read comment
Kudos for some sensible and balanced reporting on the subject of fraud. For the first time, I'm seeing a statement like "Meanwhile, losses on CNP transactions rose by 11% in 2012 but, says Financial Fraud Action, this needs to be seen in the context of the sharp 18% increase in card spending on the Internet over the last year". This clearly proves that fraud as a percentage of transaction value is actually going down. I look forward to the day when we can see more accurate headlines like "CNP fraud now rarer than before".
15 Mar 2013 08:08 Read comment
Good point. Not sure whether such a practice is still in vogue but, once upon a time, the customs department in India got to keep a certain percentage of the value of the smuggled goods they confiscated at airports and harbors, with the inspectors involved in the seizure getting cash awards for their personal contribution.
14 Mar 2013 15:07 Read comment
While doing so, they should be mindful of introducing any incremental false-positives. Otherwise, they might turn down business that they would have accepted previously!
14 Mar 2013 14:59 Read comment
Banks can do a lot more to reduce friction in their applications before pointing a finger at "consumers' contradictory attitudes".
13 Mar 2013 16:43 Read comment
That said, many people do feel safe about keeping gold and other valuables in a bank vault / locker than inside their own homes. By the same token, they might feel comfortable about storing their master passwords in eLockers offered by some banks (e.g. Wells Fargo, ICICI).
12 Mar 2013 10:57 Read comment
For all its faults, I'm amazed at the sheer popularity enjoyed by the basic credit card over the decades. HDFC Bank and a few other card issuers have been offering "onetime tokens for online purchases" but, despite being around for over five years, their offtake has been poor and COD reigns supreme for ecommerce in India. In an ideal world, OTP, card reader, 2FA, out-of-band authentication and all those nice things should provide more comfort to the user and increase their use of epayments, but in the real world, the inevitable friction they add to the payment process seems to be driving people away from them.
08 Mar 2013 20:11 Read comment
It's hard for a common man to believe that something on the cloud could be safer than something in their personal possession. To me, that's the main reason why password managers haven't managed to enter the mainstream despite being around for over a decade. My personal recommendation: Select passwords in a foreign language in which you're not very conversant. Such passwords are known to be very secure, as I'd highlighted here. You're unlikely to have difficulties remembering them since you anyway know only a few words in that language. What's more, others don't know which are the few words you know in a foreign language and won't be able to figure them out even if they shoulder-surf you as you're entering them on your keyboard.
08 Mar 2013 19:37 Read comment
@StanleyE: +1. According to this research report on retail payments released by RSR Research a couple of days ago, retailers are thoroughly frustrated with the multiple directions in which the present stakeholders are pulling mobile payments and have reacted by not making any budgetary allocations for any new form of payments as of now. So, plastic is going to be around for a while!
@MichaelK: If, indeed, PayPal has infringed PayOne's patent, it's likely to have known long ago that it was doing so, and would have likely already prepared a defence in anticipation of a potential lawsuit by PayOne in future. On the other hand, this infringement might come as a total shock to Home Depot. Besides, Home Depot is a FORTUNE 500 company with lot more "rep to protect" as against PayPal which is used to listening to irate merchants on a daily basis without getting bothered in the least bit. As a result, it would seem logical that PayOne chose to go after Home Depot rather than PayPal. And, why not, since patent owners are legally permitted to sue the buyer, not just the infringer.
08 Mar 2013 18:57 Read comment
Ben GoldinFounder and CEO at Plumery
Derek RogaFounder and CEO at EQUIIS Technologies Switzerland AG
Hamza KhanFounder and CEO at Suburbia
Devin RedmondFounder and CEO at Theta Lake
Shantanu SharmaFounder and CEO at Sharma Labs, Inc.
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