PLA Innovation of the Week: eggs from a spray can for scrambled eggs, omelets, and more

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UK: momentum building behind adoption of contactless payments

Superdrug and Waitrose have announced plans to install contactless point-of-sale (POS) terminals across their stores during 2012, joining a string of major UK brands. It looks increasingly likely that the UK is moving toward widespread contactless payment acceptance. However, despite the increasing momentum the big guns of Tesco and Sainsbury's are reluctant to move beyond limited pilot schemes.

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Australia: Fee Disclosure Statement reforms will lead to higher barriers for consumers

Very significant changes will hit the financial advice industry when the FoFA reforms are enacted on July 1, 2012. One crucial aspect of the legislation, which is still highly controversial, relates to the introduction of FDS reform. In particular, the measures designed to increase transparency appear to be in conflict with the aim of increasing access to professional financial advice.

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Banorte targets the underbanked in Mexico using its new mobile-based program

Mexican bank Banorte has announced plans to launch a mobile-based financial services program aimed at consumers currently without access to banking services in the country. The scheme will combine a deposit account with the bank alongside a MasterCard debit card, and can be opened online. Other features include the ability to send funds from one account to another using only a mobile phone.

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PLA Innovation of the Week: potato chips for dessert?

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Automatic pension enrolment will be too soon for some

Due to concerns that UK consumers are saving insufficiently for their retirement, employees are to be automatically enrolled into pension schemes. The initiative will start to roll out in 2012 and will be fully implemented by 2018. However, due to the current squeeze on many consumers' incomes, Datamonitor believes that it is not the correct time to initiate the program.

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Facebook reveals its growth potential in the virtual payments space

In its filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission to raise $5bn in new funding through its long anticipated initial public offering, Facebook revealed that its payments business accounted for 15% of the company's total revenue in 2011, giving the virtual games payment market an estimated $1.9bn annual value within Facebook's platform alone.

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India's credit card market holds untapped potential

Datamonitor's latest report on the payment cards market in India shows that the pay later segment - and credit cards in particular - are still poorly represented in the country. However, there are huge potential earnings in some niche segments such as affluent customers, due to their use of premium cards.

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PLA Innovation of the Week: a pink soft drink for women

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Visa and Samsung debut the London 2012 Olympics contactless mobile app but its impact may be limited

Visa and Samsung have announced the launch of an NFC mobile app to promote the London 2012 Olympics. The app will allow customers to pay via Visa payWave, trace their contactless transaction records, and check up-to-date balances. Despite the 3,000 contactless terminals to be installed across Olympic venues, questions remain about whether the payment technology will prove popular during the games.

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