Cash : Relic or lifeline ?

 Cash : Relic or lifeline ?

 

After yesterday’s blackout across Spain and Portugal, it has really put a new perspective on our reliance on our cards and digital payment methods.

Whilst the pandemic encouraged us to move away from cash payments and  increase our spend on physical cards and digital payments, yesterday’s outage showed us that there is still a place for cash.

So, with that in mind, we e have some  practical tips to help prepare for digital payment outages to ensure you are  not caught off guard the next time systems go down:

🏦 1. Keep a Small Cash Reserve

• Enough to cover 2–3 days of essentials like food, transport, and minor emergencies
• Store some securely at home and keep a small amount in your wallet for day-to-day use

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🔋 2. Keep Devices Charged & Carry a Power Bank

• Keep your phone fully charged when possible and invest in a portable charger

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📱 3. Enable Offline Features on Your Payment Apps

• Some apps allow offline payment limits (like Apple Pay or Google Wallet), which can still process small transactions when you’re offline
• Check with your bank or wallet provider to see what’s available

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🧾 4. Make a physical note of key information

• Write down or print key account numbers and support phone lines (for your bank or credit card issuer)
• In a blackout or mobile outage, you may not be able to access contact info digitally

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⏳  5. Don’t Wait for a Crisis to Prepare

• The worst time to realise you need cash is after the ATMs go dark or merchants can’t process cards
• Treat it like insurance: you hope not to need it, but it’s crucial when you do

 

Contactless limit set to rise to £45

The contactless payment limit of £30 in the UK is to be raised in an effort to reduce the need for physical contact with Payment devices as well as to reduce the need for handling cash.

Banking Industry group UK Finance said that from April 1st, the new £45 limit would be applied at many stores though it would take longer to roll out across the retail network as a whole.

The decision to raise the limit was taken following consultation between the retail sector and the finance and payments industry and follows similar increases in several other European countries over the past week.

In the past few days, governments and the payments industry in Greece, Ireland, Malta, Poland and Turkey have worked together to raise the contactless payments limit

The changes were already under consideration by the industry, but the process has been expedited as part of the industry’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak to support consumers who choose to pay using contactless at this time.

From 1 April 2020, consumers will begin to see an increasing number of retailers accepting contactless card payments up to the new £45 limit. Given the pace at which this change is being rolled out, the new limits will take some time to be introduced across all retailers, including some of those facing additional pressure due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

For consumers spending more than £45 there are many ways to choose to pay, for example through Chip & PIN, cash and alternatives such as mobile payments which do not have an upper limit when authenticated through biometric technologies.

Stephen Jones, CEO of UK Finance, said:

“The payments industry has been working closely with retailers to be able to increase the contactless payment limit to help customers with their shopping at this critical time for the country.

“This will give more people the choice to opt for the speed and convenience of purchasing goods using their contactless card, helping to cut queues at the checkout.

“The industry continues to work closely with the government and regulators to support customers impacted by Covid-19 and ensure that they can pay in a way that suits them.”

Latest figures from UK Finance reveal that £80.5 million was spent on contactless payments in 2019, up 16% on the previous year. We will undoubtedly see a bigger uplift in figures for the coming year.

For the latest payment and fintech jobs, go to www.cardandpaymentjobs.com

Payment/Card Payment Business Analyst needed

RDF have a  client who is building a Payments Team and therefore requires Business Analysts with an emphasis on Business knowledge around Retail Banking and Payments.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

*          Elicits and clearly defines client needs by assessing and

documenting business opportunities, benefits, risks, and success factors

of potential business solutions. Conducts business assessment reviews

and walkthroughs for complex projects.

*          Provides problem definition, evaluation of requirements, and

implementation of solutions to meet business and user requirements.

*          Works directly with a client to solve problems or make decisions

requiring technical expertise or specialized knowledge.

*          Investigates client needs, regulations, and technology to

provide input into the design of a new system, system enhancements, or

acquired software or hardware.

*          Prepares and updates written material and explanations to

accompany systems, programs, and program changes.

*          May supervise overall activities of the consulting

engagements/projects or work independently on an engagement.

*          Provides vendor relations and client support, training and

testing within the area of expertise (e.g., client/server architecture,

payment solutions).

*          Manage projects or project sub-plans by developing, coordinating

and controlling the steps necessary to carry out a project within

established time frame, budget, quality and requirements.

 

 

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

*          Extensive knowledge of the financial services industry,

including payments using ATM, POS and other device types, card products

(Visa, MC, AMEX, etc...), transaction switching, card management

systems, EMV/Chip Cards, back office banking systems

*          Extensive knowledge of methods, tools, and technology used to

carry out tasks necessary to prepare business assessment deliverables

*          Considerable knowledge of Client Focus/Value Management

*          Considerable knowledge of the basic principles, processes,

phases and roles of multiple applications development methodologies

*          Thorough knowledge of conversion methodologies and the basic

principles, processes, phases and roles relevant to each conversion

methodology

*          Knowledge of basic, fundamental accounting principles

*          Skill in project management preferred but not required

*          Skill in understanding and focusing on the clients' needs,

establishing credibility and building relationships with clients

*          Skill in analysis, solid decision-making and problem solving

skills

*          Ability provide the direction required to supervise overall

activities of the consulting engagement and to provide performance

updates to company and client management as needed

*          Ability to effectively lead and supervise

*          Ability to maintain professional appearance and project a

professional image

*          Ability to use effective listening skills to develop

understanding of user questions or problems

*          Ability to rely on experience and judgment to plan and

accomplish goals

*          Ability to establish and manage priorities effectively

*          Ability to learn quickly and willingness to continuously learn

and enhance skills

*          Ability to demonstrate interpersonal and teambuilding skills and

manage conflict

*          Ability to communicate exceptionally both verbally and in

writing

*          Fluency in English, both written and oral. Additional language

skills are preferred but not required

*          Ability to establish and maintain effective working

relationships with employees, clients and the public

*          Willingness to travel and work at client locations, sometimes

for extended periods of time

Additional Key Competencies include:-

- Ambitious and self-starter

- Culturally aware

- Had exposure to other aspects within the financial technology space, as in core banking, mid-office applications and/or channels.

- Knowledge of payment hubs

Fantastic Benefits Package

Contractual benefits include:

-           26 days' holidays

-           Pension scheme (4% employee contribution, met with 6% employer

contribution)

-           Permanent Health Insurance (PHI)

-           Life Assurance (4 x annual salary)

 

Discretionary benefits (applicable to all employees) include:

-           Employee Share Purchase Plan (ESPP)

-           Healthcare Cash Plan

-           Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)

-           Eye care vouchers

-           Childcare vouchers

-           Cycle to Work scheme

-           Season ticket travel loan

-           Long Service Awards

-           Recognition scheme

-           Scholarship Scheme

 

Click here to view and apply

 

To view other roles in the payment industry, go to www.cardandpaymentjobs.com

Ethoca recruiting Sales Director based in USA or Canada on www.cardandpaymentjobs.com

www.cardandpaymentjobs.com is delighted to announce that Ethoca are now advertising for a Sales Director. This is an opportunity for a payment professional based in either the USA or Canada.

Ethoca is a one-of-a-kind, innovative collaborative-based technology company that is disrupting CNP payment fraud. Our market-leading platform currently solves the significant challenges and inefficiencies of CNP payment fraud for the largest and most influential card issuers and merchants in the world – and our customer and partner list is growing daily!
We are adding a Sales Director to aggressively grow our digital and high-risk merchant segments through both direct and channel partner sales. This role will report to Ethoca’s VP of Sales.

Your Challenge:
• Generate significant revenue growth from our digital and high-risk merchant segments through both direct and channel partner sales.
• Identify and sign-up new channel partners (i.e., Value Added Resellers and Authorized Sales Agents) and generate sales through them to onboard new merchants to Ethoca’s platform.
• Refine the sales process for these merchant categories and provide sales support to channel parties to optimize revenue opportunities.
• Attend segment-specific conferences as well as industry networking and social opportunities with channel partners.
• Actively participate in the continued development/enhancement of the service offering to these merchant categories.
• Prioritize activities and territory management to ensure optimum penetration and profitability, including developing Strategic Account Action Plans.
• Prepare written proposals and deliver presentations to channel partners and direct sales prospects.
• Diligently maintain customer information using CRM.
Here’s What You Offer Ethoca:
• As the best-fit candidate you are a smart, personable, versatile, well-educated, B2B and B2C sales professional with 3-5 years of stellar results in a solution/consultative sales role.
• Sales experience in CNP, card processing, card related payments and/or fraud prevention is essential.
• Solid success in developing sales channels or selling into sales channels
• A relentless hunter, driven to win new business for Ethoca.
• Boundless energy to explore and persistently pursue leads and transform them into your clients.
• Demonstrated depth in developing relationships with senior executives in a sophisticated environment
• You are aggressive, competitive and skilled in using a CRM system such as salesforce.com
• Your English communication and interpersonal skills are exemplary.
What Ethoca Offers
Good compensation for good results; great compensation for great results; unique career opportunity in a company with unequaled product strength in a rapidly growing, global online payments market.
Location: US or Canada
To apply for this exciting opportunity, go to Sales Director

Ethoca is a one-of-a-kind, innovative collaborative-based technology company that is disrupting CNP payment fraud. Our market-leading platform currently solves the significant challenges and inefficiencies of CNP payment fraud for the largest and most influential card issuers and merchants in the world – and our customer and partner list is growing daily!
We are adding a Sales Director to aggressively grow our digital and high-risk merchant segments through both direct and channel partner sales. This role will report to Ethoca’s VP of Sales.

Your Challenge:
• Generate significant revenue growth from our digital and high-risk merchant segments through both direct and channel partner sales.
• Identify and sign-up new channel partners (i.e., Value Added Resellers and Authorized Sales Agents) and generate sales through them to onboard new merchants to Ethoca’s platform.
• Refine the sales process for these merchant categories and provide sales support to channel parties to optimize revenue opportunities.
• Attend segment-specific conferences as well as industry networking and social opportunities with channel partners.
• Actively participate in the continued development/enhancement of the service offering to these merchant categories.
• Prioritize activities and territory management to ensure optimum penetration and profitability, including developing Strategic Account Action Plans.
• Prepare written proposals and deliver presentations to channel partners and direct sales prospects.
• Diligently maintain customer information using CRM.
Here’s What You Offer Ethoca:
• As the best-fit candidate you are a smart, personable, versatile, well-educated, B2B and B2C sales professional with 3-5 years of stellar results in a solution/consultative sales role.
• Sales experience in CNP, card processing, card related payments and/or fraud prevention is essential.
• Solid success in developing sales channels or selling into sales channels
• A relentless hunter, driven to win new business for Ethoca.
• Boundless energy to explore and persistently pursue leads and transform them into your clients.
• Demonstrated depth in developing relationships with senior executives in a sophisticated environment
• You are aggressive, competitive and skilled in using a CRM system such as salesforce.com
• Your English communication and interpersonal skills are exemplary.
What Ethoca Offers
Good compensation for good results; great compensation for great results; unique career opportunity in a company with unequaled product strength in a rapidly growing, global online payments market.
Location: US or Canada
To apply for this exciting opportunity, please go to :
http://www.cardandpaymentjobs.com/hot/jobs/sales-director-cnp-4062.htm

YESpay teams up with YES-wallet.com

Global card payments company YESpay has teamed up with YES-wallet.com to provide a hosted Facebook social commerce service dubbed YESfstore, a Facebook storefront with integrated payment services.

By integrating the YES-wallet’s Pouch digital wallet with YESpay’s payment services, the companies now provide a platform which enables retailers and entrepreneurs to sell any goods and services via Facebook storefront pages with integrated web card payments.
YESfstore enables social commerce for merchants as it constructs and hosts their Facebook storefront pages integrated with its Pouch web payment wallet within the YESfstore Facebook shopping basket.
The Pouch wallet is designed to store credit and debit payment card details, payment receipts, loyalty and coupon information and enables customers to carry out payments.
YES-wallet.com, the hosted Application Service Provider (ASP) for YESfstore, features a series of capabilities including product management, order notification and order management.
YESpay has recently partnered with YES-wallet.com to deliver e-Money payment service, a cloud-based NFC contactless payment service for NFC smartphones.

To look at and apply for roles in the card and payment industry, go to http://www.cardandpaymentjobs.com