ACI Watford runs first Coding for Girls Camp in Europe

The ACI Watford Office recently teamed up with local West Herts College to run its first Coding for Girls Camp in the UK. The free, one-day event was designed to introduce girls from year (grade) 7-9 to the world of technology, offering a crash course in computer programming; including HTML, CSS and Java. I spoke to Melissa McKendry, VP of retail banking implementation services and Watford Site Leader at ACI, to find out more.

Online Retailers Are Fighting Account Takeover Fraud Fires

There are a few different ways that consumers can become victims of account takeover fraud, and once they have been exposed, the floodgates are open for a fraudster who not only has access to one merchant’s website, but a set of credentials that can be tried on other merchants’ websites

Modernizing Cross-Border Transfers with SWIFT gpi

The customer experience for domestic payments – retail and corporate – has recently undergone a complete transformation. There’s still plenty more that could be achieved, but the advent of real-time payments in combination with open APIs has seen the launch of Request for Payment services and direct eCommerce instant payments in the UK and Europe. And it’s not just the PSD2 push in Europe that’s driving change – in the U.S., Zelle is moving beyond standalone P2P payments to become an integrated part of the retail banking app experience, as well as being included in new kinds of corporate disbursements.

Payments in Gaming: The Female Gamer Powers-Up

The global games market is booming, with revenues set to reach USD $137.9 billion by 2021. But along with the growth, gaming is also transforming and diversifying; in genre, gaming devices, platforms, economics and demographics. Notably, female gamers are ‘powering up’ – representing 40% of paying gamers across all platforms – and there are implications for how gaming companies deliver their products and the role of payments in the overall customer experience.

Mid-Year Payments Reflections… And What 2018 Has Left Up Its Sleeve

It has been a while since I had a chance to collect my thoughts, nee, reflections. My all-time favorite movie reminds us all that “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” And with this advice in mind, I want to share my thoughts on the ‘Big 3’ of 2018 so far… and prep us all on what to look for as the calendar churns through its last six pages.

Could Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies Revolutionize Payments in the Gaming Sector? [Q&A]

ACI recently partnered with Nextpayway, a company offering a specialist payment solution for the gaming industry. The Israeli start-up is implementing ACI’s UP eCommerce Payments solution to deliver next-generation payments and fraud prevention. We spoke with Nextpayway’s CEO Angela Behar just after the GES World Gaming Summit in Barcelona.

Time is Money: A Millennial View of UK Faster Payments’ 10th Anniversary

As a millennial, I’ve often been the butt of jokes of those a little bit older than I am (whether colleagues or my own family). One of the clichés perpetuated is that we are constantly glued to our smartphones: In a way that’s correct, but misses an important point. As a young millennial professional, the most important thing to me is TIME. And that’s the reason my phone plays a crucial role in my life – much to the annoyance of my girlfriend and family. It means I can do things on the move, which in turn makes my life a whole lot easier.

Pints, Penalties and Payment Fraud: Welcome to the World Cup

You’d think that England already had the World Cup in the bag, based on the nationwide scenes of jubilation after the Three Lions’ penalty-takers had gone against the (painful) grain of football history, and emerged victorious at the end of a scrappy match against Colombia. However, those cries of “It’s Coming Home” from English football fans may just be a little premature, given that there are still three matches to play (and win) before the English can lay claim to being world champions for the first time in half a century.

Success Speaks: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Talks Meeting Member Demands in Healthcare

When looking for a payments success story in the world of healthcare, you’d be wise to turn your attention to the Great Lakes and the work done by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBS MI). In a recent webinar with AHIP (America’s Health Insurance Plans) and ACI, Faran Farooqi, Strategic Capability Implementation and Operations for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, shared his insights into how his organization addressed the challenges of today to deliver a great payments experience for their members.

Innovate and Integrate to Accumulate: Investing in Payments Systems to Drive Growth

Today’s merchants face numerous challenges, which boil down to one central issue: how to succeed in a constantly changing, complex market, while also investing for the future. Merchants need to deliver on growing expectations around the customer experience in an increasingly competitive environment, while battling growing costs and squeezed margins. This pressure extends through the whole business for every merchant, in every sector, and it’s driving merchants to look into every corner of their operations for ways to cut costs and redirect resources.

Taking Payments and Fintech for Granted? (A Lyrical Edition)

Based on a very quick search of the Googles, there are 128,014 songs that contain the lyrics “take for granted”— from the likes of Mary J. Blige, Social Distortion, Madness and Frank Sinatra as well as countless other great (and not-so-great) crooners. And that would make for a sizable Spotify playlist… and I do love my Spotify playlists (I’ve been on a Wham! kick lately).

Instant + Open Payments = A Winning Combination

I recently joined a panel discussion at EBAday 2018, alongside representatives from across the payments ecosystem, and the clear consensus was that real-time payments will be the new normal. This was evidenced by some of the interactive polls carried out.