News

What the Little Engine that Could and Nuclear Physics Have to Do With Ignition Strategies
September 01, 2010

Remember the kid’s story “The Little Engine That Could.” That describes what goes on with a lot of startups in two-sided markets. The train is trying to get up the mountain, but it needs to accelerate to offset the force of gravity that’s pushing it...

Why Every Payments Product Needs an Ignition Strategy
August 26, 2010

Hard data are not available but based on my experience billions of dollars each year go poof in the payments industry from investments in products that crash and burn soon after launch.  These products didn’t have a sound ignition strategy which should be the foundation...

The Fed’s Final Debit Rules: Did Anyone Win?
August 20, 2010

June 30, 2011 – Fed Memo on Debit Regulations – Fed’s Full-Length Report on Debit Regulations Whew, at least it’s over! Two months after they were due under the Dodd-Frank Act and about three weeks before they were supposed to go into effect, the Federal...

Is Behavioral Economics In-Control?
August 19, 2010

MasterCard’s new In-Control Card (the name speaks for itself but more details on their Product Profile)–illustrates the good side of behavioral economics. Behavioral economics is the new (within economist-time) field that studies how and why people act the way they do and tosses out old...

Igniting Payments in India
August 16, 2010

With almost 90% of payment transactions in India done in cash, there is little doubt that alternative payments have taken a back seat. Recently, banks have begun to promote electronic payment with efforts to tip the scale. PYMNTS.com asked David S. Evans to speak with...

Divulging Details of China’s Debit-Dominated Ecosystem
August 05, 2010

In this exclusive NEXTcast interview, David S. Evans is joined by Jing Yang, Director of Corporate Strategy at TSYS. Jing has had numerous roles since joining TSYS in 2001, most notable was her role in the establishment of CUP Data, TSYS’ joint venture with China...

Will the Mobile Payments JV Trounce MasterCard and Visa?
August 02, 2010

Judging by the breathy press reports yesterday of the new, sort of, kind of, maybe joint venture between mobile behemoths AT&T and Verizon (with T-Mobile in the mix too) MasterCard and Visa are sitting around conference tables today white-knuckle-gripping their blackberries and iPhones. Bloomberg first...

Comeptition in Canada’s Debit Card Market
July 30, 2010

In this exclusive NEXTcast interview economist, Philippe Bergevin joins David S. Evans to discuss what’s next in the Canada debit card market. Philippe weighs in on how the entrance of MasterCard and Visa and disrupted the debit card market in Canada and what’s next for...

Tilting at Windmills: Some Final Thoughts on Dodd-Frank
July 15, 2010

If Senators needed any further reason not to vote for the misguided Dodd-Frank bill two stories over the last week should have pushed them into the NO column. The first was the jobs report. Unemployment remains high at 9.5 percent and job growth is anemic....