Reserve Bank of India's new PIN rule boosts sales of payment solution companies

Companies that help in processing card paymentslook set to benefit from rising demand for portable card swipe machines after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) adopted new rules to prevent fraud and enhance security.
Merchants in India usually swipe cards through a reader to generate receipts that customers sign, but the new rule, effective December 1, adds another layer of security by making debit card holders enter their personal identification numbers (PIN)to validate transactions via these machines, also referred to as point-of-sale (POS) terminals.
Businesses such as fuel stations, hotels and restaurants that normally keep their card machines out of the customer's reach will have to buy the portable, GPRS-enabled devices to offer convenience to clients.
Sunith Menon, India's managing director for France-based Ingenico SA, which manufactures such devices and supplies them to various banks, expects revenue to rise by 20 per cent as demand for the wireless POS terminals rises after the new RBI mandate.
"We are seeing an increased requirement coming in from banks," he said, adding that ICICI-First Data, Bank of Baroda and Axis Bank were among those who have placed orders for GPRS-enabled POS terminals.
Of the 20,000 POS terminals sold every month by Ingenico in the country, 10 per cent were GPRS-enabled models. Menon now expects such devices to account for a 30 per cent share in his near-term sales.
The new PIN mandate would affect more than 350 million debit card holders in the country. A recent study by industry body ASSOCHAM showed that the debit card users, growing at an annual rate of 18 per cent, were clocking sales of 69 billion rupees using POS terminals every month.
The number of POS terminals in the market has grown significantly in the recent years. As of the end of September, there were 965,000 terminals in use across the country, 46 per cent higher than the 661,000 devices in March 2012, according to data provided by e-payment services provider Worldline India.
Pine Labs India, which counts Starbucks, Future Group and Pantaloon Retail among its clients, has installed about 4,000 GPRS swipe machines since November, higher than the monthly average of 200 to 300. In the next month, the company expects to install another 2,000 such machines.
"Somebody like a premium restaurant chain will never like to call the customer, neither would the customer like to go behind the counter," said Kush Mehra, vice president of payment solutions at Pine Labs. "They have become the newest recipients of this technology along with a very large network of fuel stations."
One of their clients, Speciality Restaurants, which operates brands such as Mainland China and Oh! Calcutta, have placed orders for 50 GPRS machines and plan to buy at least one machine for each of their 74 restaurants in India.
Over the years, Indians have increasingly started using plastic as their payment method. But fraudulent transactions on credit and debit cards have also become common. The central bank earlier this year directed banks to put in place certain security and risk control measures to safeguard customers' interest.

HOW MONEY TRANSFER IS DRIVING KENYA ECONOMY

HOW MONEY TRANSFER IS DRIVING KENYA ECONOMY
Usage of mobile money transfer is on increase in Kenya day bay day. Some of the operation than by mobile money service include the following
 Paying of electricity and water bills, this days you do not see people lining up in banks just pay the bills.
 Shopping online many companies today in Kenya give their customers to pay for goods or service by paying through mobile money cash transfer. This process operate just like visa.
 Booking of travel ticket today in Kenya major airline services operating in the country allows it customers to pay for their tickets by Mpesa.
Cheap mobile phone being launched in Nairobi my major mobile manufacturers, especially those from china is the key to the success of the project I the country. the four major mobile providers companies in Kenya are;
a) Safaricom through Mpesa service
b) Airtel through Airtel money
c) Orange by Orange money
d) YU by Yucash
Just four months after safaricom launched M-shauri in collaboration with Commercial Bank of Africa a program that allow its customers to save cash or borrow cash. Its recorded massive response from Kenyans. Today it has more than 4 million customer already.
Statistics from Central Bank of Kenya shows that there are 15million bank deposits accounts compared with 24million money transfer accounts.

Australia central bank cuts cash rate 25 bps to 3.0 pct, to a record lows

Australia's central bank cut interest rates a quarterpoint to a record-matching low on Tuesday,stepping up efforts to safeguard the rich world'smost resilient economy from the risk of recession as a mining boom peaks.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cut its main cash rate to 3.0 percent following its monthly policy meeting, bringing the easing since May to 125 basis points and matching the trough hit during the darkest days of the global financial crisis.
"While the full effects of earlier measures are yet tobe observed, the Board judged at today's meetingthat a further easing in thestance of monetary policy was appropriate now," said the central bank's governor, Glenn Stevens.
"Looking ahead, recent data confirm that the peakin resource investment is approaching. As it does, there will be more scope for some other areas of demand to strengthen."
Financial markets were almost fully priced for an easing given signs the seven-year old bonanza inmining investment is finally likely to crest next year, leaving a hole in growth that needs to be plugged by other sectors of the economy.
The move was so well discounted the local dollar actually firmed a quarter of a cent to$1.0445 on the news.
Yet, investors are still wagering official rates will have to go lower yet to truly stimulate demand among cautious consumers and a lacklustre housing market.
Interbank futures suggestthe central bank rate could approach 2.5 percent by the middle of next year, while some economists think a floor of2 percent is not impossible.
"I think the RBA realises itneeds to do more to boostthe non-mining parts of the economy," said Shane Oliver, chief economist at AMP Capital Investors in Sydney.
"What it doesn't do is to offer much guidance as tothe future, but my feelingis they still have to cut further. They will probably do 25 (bps cut) in February and then 25 in April."
One reason for that is the stubborn strength of the Australian dollar.
In the global financial crisis, the currency tumbled by 30 U.S. cents, giving a big boost to exports. This time foreign demand for Australia's triple-A rated debt has helped it stay solidly above parity.
China has also played a part by accepting more moderate growth at homeand thus restraining demand for Australia's commodity exports, leading top miners such as Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton to announce a slowdown in future expansion plans and job cuts.
The Asian giant is Australia's biggest trade market and the single largest buyer of iron ore.
It helped Australia avoid recession during the global crisis by unveiling a 4 trillion yuan ($635 billion) stimulus package that led to a wave of infrastructure development and demand for resources.
Australia's mining investment in the year to June 2013 is expected to total A$109 billion, or nearly 8 percent of GDP, way above the long-run average of 2 percent.
CONSUMER CAUTION, FISCAL TIGHTENING
Even after Tuesday's cut, Australian rates are still among the highest in the developed world.
With rates near zero in theUnited States, Japan and Britain, those countries have taken ever more exotic stimulus steps including buying massive amounts of government debt.
And, as yet, lower rates have had only a limited impact on consumers, withretail sales disappointinglyflat in October and demand growth for creditthe lowest in decades.
The housing market has also been less than stellar.The Statistics Bureau on Tuesday reported approvals to build new homes slid 7.6 percent in October, so reversing much of September's hefty 9.5 percent increase.
The impact of lower export prices was clear in Australia's trade deficit, which more than doubledin the third quarter. As a result, the current accountdeficit widened by a fifth to A$14.9 billion ($15.5 billion), according to figures from the AustralianBureau of Statistics.
Fortunately, export volumes managed to outpace imports and so add 0.1 percentage point to economic growth in thequarter.
However, that was more than offset by governmentpenny-pinching as the ruling Labor Party struggles to return the budget to surplus in 2013, years before most other rich nations.
Data out Tuesday showed government spending fellby 2.0 percent in the third quarter, largely due to a big drop in defence investment. That was a steeper fall than many analysts had expected and could take around half a percentage point from economic growth in the quarter.
It was no surprise then that Treasurer Wayne Swan warmly welcomed the RBA's largesse.

Ghana holds rate, sees balanced inflation, growth risks

The central bank of Ghana held its policy rate unchanged at 15.0 percent, saying the risks to inflation and growth were balanced despite the worsening in global economic conditions and uncertainties that could adversely affect the country's economy if prolonged.
The Bank of Ghana, which has raised its rate by 250 basis points this year, said the domestic economy had improved in the third quarter and inflationary expectations had diminished.
"The bank's inflation forecast indicates that inflation has been well anchored within the projected band of 8.5, plus/minus 2 percent and islikely to end the year in a single digit," the bank said.
Ghana's headline inflation eased to 9.4 percent in September from 9.5 percent in August, with food inflation stable at 4.4 percent, the bank said.
Second quarter Gross Domestic Product growth was estimated at 2.5 percent, down from 20.6 percent in the same 2011 quarter, mainly due to the base effects from the addition of oil, the bank said.
The bank added that exchange rate pressures, which threatened the economy's stability and boosted inflation in the first half of the year, have eased and in the past two months the cede currency had appreciated marginally against the U.S. dollar, helping lower inflation expectations.
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Ghana holds rate, sees balanced inflation, growth risks

The central bank of Ghana held its policy rate unchanged at 15.0 percent, saying the risks to inflation and growth were balanced despite the worsening in global economic conditions and uncertainties that could adversely affect the country's economy if prolonged.
The Bank of Ghana, which has raised its rate by 250 basis points this year, said the domestic economy had improved in the third quarter and inflationary expectations had diminished.
"The bank's inflation forecast indicates that inflation has been well anchored within the projected band of 8.5, plus/minus 2 percent and islikely to end the year in a single digit," the bank said.
Ghana's headline inflation eased to 9.4 percent in September from 9.5 percent in August, with food inflation stable at 4.4 percent, the bank said.
Second quarter Gross Domestic Product growth was estimated at 2.5 percent, down from 20.6 percent in the same 2011 quarter, mainly due to the base effects from the addition of oil, the bank said.
The bank added that exchange rate pressures, which threatened the economy's stability and boosted inflation in the first half of the year, have eased and in the past two months the cede currency had appreciated marginally against the U.S. dollar, helping lower inflation expectations.
www.CentralBankNews.info