Payment Card Competitor Tracker: October 2009

Introduction

The Payment Card Competitor Tracker provides expert analysis and opinion on the strategic moves of leading competitors in the payment card market. Produced on a monthly basis, the Tracker is a global product and covers 60 players, including American Express, Barclaycard, Capital One, Citigroup, Discover, GE Money, First Data, HSBC, JCB, MasterCard, Standard Chartered and Visa.

Reasons to Purchase

• Gain invaluable information on your key competitors in one concise document, and track long-term trends using the interactive news database.
• Sharpen your strategy by implementing the best market, product, competitor and strategic developments of leading global players.
• Learn the Datamonitor Cards & Payments Team's view on the most important competitor developments in the month.

• Overview
• Summary
• Methodology
• Introduction
• The Payment Card Competitor Tracker Provides Both One Month and 12 Month Views of Developments
• Each Month, Datamonitor Tracks The Most Relevant Announcements from 64 Competitors
• Datamonitor's Cards and Payments Team Provides Analysis of The Key Developments at Both The One Month and 12 Month Level
• A Fully Searchable Database of Developments from January 2007 Onwards Is Also Delivered alongside The Report
• Key Developments in October
• in October, The Key Story Was Barclays' Plans to Acquire Citigroup's Portuguese Card Business
• Barclays to Acquire Citi Cards in Portugal in Line with Its International Expansion Strategy
• Jp Morgan's Treasury Services Revamped Its Commercial Offering in Europe, Middle East and Africa
• There Were 54 Developments in October, Slightly Ahead of The 12-Month Average
• There Were 54 Developments in The October Competitor Tracker, Compared to The 12-Month Average 52
• M&a Was Relatively Quite in October, Well below The 12-Month Average
• in Line with The 12-Month Average, North America and Asia Pacific Were by Far The Busiest Regions for Competitor Activity
• Issuers Featured Strongly in October, with Schemes and Processors Broadly in Line with The 12-Month Trend
• Commercial Sector, Loyalty/Rewards and Innovations Were The Key Areas for Developments in Product, Services and Innovation in October
• Schemes Are Continuing to Push The Rollout of Contactless Technology
• Partnerships Accounted for The Bulk of Activity in M&a, Partnerships and Organic Growth
  • Product, Services and Innovation
  • Aeon Credit Service
  • Malaysia: Aeon Credit and Aeon Co launch Aeon card
  • American Express
  • Singapore: American Express and United Overseas bank launch the UOB PRVI American Express card
  • US: American Express eliminates monthly fees for its gifts cards
  • US: American Express launches new charge card
  • US: American Express launches online money manager for its charge card members
  • ANZ Bank
  • Australia: ANZ Bank to introduce the Visa payWave contactless payment card
  • Atos Origin
  • UK: Atos Origin launches fuelGenie, a business fuel card
  • Bank of America
  • US: Bank of America Merrill Lynch launch new banking channel
  • Bank of Montreal
  • Canada: Bank of Montreal enhances redemption benefits on Gold Air Miles MasterCard
  • Barclaycard
  • Sweden: Union of commercial employees and EnterCard launch new credit card
  • UK: Barclays introduces short film to raise awareness of contactless
  • US: RecycleBank introduces the Gconomy Visa card
  • China UnionPay
  • Canada: China UnionPay introduces ATM acceptance business in Canada
  • Taiwan: China Unionpay and Agricultural Bank of China launch Kins Unionpay Taiwan tourism card
  • The Philippines: China UnionPay and RCBC Bankard introduce the CUP card acceptance network
  • Citigroup
  • Indonesia: Citi and Telkomsel offer new credit card benefits celebrating the fourth anniversary of their partnership
  • Malaysia: Citi launches instant rewards points redemption program
  • Russia: Citi launches ultra premium credit card - the Miles & More Ultima MasterCard
  • The Philippines: Citi offers 30-day payment holiday to Typhoon Ketsana victims
  • US: ThankYou members eligible to download music from Sony Music Entertainment
  • US: Citi launches Citi Mobile En Español
  • Credit Agricole
  • France: Finaref develops mobile banking website
  • France: Finaref announces enhancements to the Mandarine card of La Maison de Valérie
  • France: Finaref revamps the Printemps card
  • Discover
  • US: Hess to accept Discover Zip payment devices at its locations
  • First Data
  • US: First Data and PayPal to offer new online payment service
  • US: First Data and Yahoo to provide payment options to merchants
  • Industrial and Commercial Bank of China
  • China: Industrial and Commercial Bank of China launches chip cards
  • China: ICBC upgrades its e-banking products
  • JP Morgan Chase
  • Europe, Middle East and Africa: JPMorgan Chase expands commercial card initiative
  • Mashreqbank
  • UAE: C3 Card signs agreement with Mashreq to provide electronic payroll solutions for low wage earners
  • MasterCard
  • Iraq: Warka bank launches a range of MasterCard payment products
  • US: Fifth Third bank to issue the World Debit MasterCard
  • US: MasterCard launches Money Manager, an interactive financial management tool
  • US: Reliant Energy to accept MasterCard cards for bill payments
  • US: Hess to accept MasterCard PayPass at its gas stations and convenience store locations
  • Maybank
  • Singapore: Maybank card members to earn five times the usual points for their donations to the Red Cross Donation Drive
  • PayPal
  • US: eBay and PayPal offer Bill Me Later as a payment option
  • US: PayPal and Green Dot agreement allows customers to shop online
  • TSYS
  • US: TSYS introduces MobilePASS
  • US: TSYS introduces credit card program for regional and community financial institutions
  • US Bancorp
  • US: US Bank introduces downloadable mobile banking application
  • Visa
  • US: Visa launches Visa IntelliLink Spend Management
  • Taiwan: Chunghwa Post launches Visa debit card in Taiwan
  • Wells Fargo
  • US: Wells Fargo temporarily eliminates remittance transfer fees for families and friends affected by Typhoon Ketsana
  • M&A, Partnerships and Organic Growth
  • American Express
  • US: American Express and ICBC reaffirm their strategic co-operation
  • Barclaycard
  • Portugal: Barclays Bank to acquire Citi's Portugal credit card business
  • China UnionPay
  • China: China UnionPay issues more than
  • 1.1million bankcards based on "CUP Card of 60th Anniversary for Foundation of PRC" theme
  • Citibgroup
  • Norway: Citi sells its Norwegian consumer finance business to Gjensidige Bank
  • Discover
  • US: Diners club International sign agreement with Elavon
  • Fidelity Information Services
  • US: Fidelity Information Services completes Metavante Technologies acquisition
  • US Bancorp
  • US: US Bank expands in Nevada by acquiring banking operations of BB&T Corporation
  • Visa
  • South Korea: International Visa card holder spend reaches $1.3 billion in 2008
  • US: Visa estimates $90.2 trillion in global commercial spending for 2008, $20.3 trillion in the US
  • Appendix
  • Methodology
  • Further reading
  • Ask the analyst
  • Datamonitor consulting
  • Disclaimer
• List of Tables
  • Table 1: The 64 companies and subsidiaries covered by Datamonitor's Payment Card Competitor Tracker
  • Table 2: Current relevant publications, 2008-09
  • Table 3: Future relevant publications, 2009-10
• List of Figures
  • Figure 1: in October, competitor developments saw an slight drop on the previous month, with 54 developments, slightly above the 12-month average of 52
  • Figure 2: October witnessed a significant drop in developments relating to M&A
  • Figure 3: North America and Asia Pacific accounted for the most stories in October, in line with the 12-month trend
  • Figure 4: Issuers accounted for the most activity in October, with 26 developments in total, but schemes also featured strongly
  • Figure 5: Commercial sector, loyalty/rewards and innovations were the key areas for developments in product, services and innovation in October
  • Figure 6: Conversely to developments in September M&A accounted for the majority of activity in October, with four announcements it total