In my teens, I remember TV commercials for Yellow Pages in the UK. The publication would list local retailers by category, and then you could call to see if the retailer had the item in stock. Maybe if they were a ‘nice retailer’ they would but the item aside for you (a boy wanting a new...

Over the past few ye ars much of the innovation in payments has centered on the consumer experience with the mobile handset for purchases at point of sale (POS). NFC payments is the topic du jour in many countries. Mobile network operators through consortia like ISIS are driving an amount of buzz in...

This week Microsoft announced its 4Afrika initiative. This is a new effort through which the company will actively engage in Africa’s economic development to improve its global competitiveness. By 2016, the 4Afrika Initiative plans to help place tens of millions of smart devices in the hands of...

Another key solution provider that Microsoft is proud to partner with at Sibos is Experian Payments, a leading provider of payments solutions for the European market. To provide some more insight to Experian, their solutions and what to expect at Sibos I invited Jonathan Williams of Experian Payments...

Kon nichi wa Osaka. After a missed connection on the way from Chicago, I finally checked into the hotel at midnight, thankful my luggage also survived the trip. As a wet drizzle blankets Osaka on Sunday morning the Microsoft team is making our final preparations, and it gives me a chance for a blog post...

Microsoft has many high profile technology solutions partners exhibiting at Sibos this year. Decillion Group, a leading provider of SWIFT and high value payments solutions across Asia, was one of the first Microsoft partners to develop payments solutions on BizTalk and the Accelerator for SWIFT. To provide...

With only about six weeks to go before the doors of Sibos 2012 open in Osaka, Japan - I thought I'd take this opportunity to give a brief overview of Microsoft's presence there. As a SWIFT Key Partner we've been an exhibitor at Sibos for 9 years now, essentially since the BizTalk Accelerator for SWIFT...

I hope those of you in the northern hemisphere enjoyed your summer and took time out to be with friends and family. Now the summer is drawing to and end, the kids are back at school, and that means one other thing: Sibos is right around the corner. Just 3 weeks to be precise! Microsoft financial services...

As the debate about digital wallets and mobile payment models rages in the US, many point to the very successful mobile schemes in markets such as Africa as proof positive that a mobile payments infrastructure can be sustained as a viable model. M-PESA in Kenya is perhaps the flagship model, now with...

Those of you who know me have heard that I am passionate about the game of hockey (the variety played on ice rather than grass). The NHL playoffs have just started and so this is my favorite time of year. It's a fast-paced game and it takes physical and mental stamina to win four best-of-seven series...

Hardly a day goes by without some new innovation in mobile payments or mobile banking being announced. It’s hardly surprising, as ‘consumers in control’ are demanding banks provide services that meet the capabilities of mobile devices. But the other thing one notices is the almost complete...

Picking up on my recent threads about mobile payments as a form factor ( NFC Payments - Build It and They Will Come? ), and with the current state of market buzz around mobile and alternative payments, I am certainly a strong proponent for advancing innovative payment methods for wholesale and consumer...

What is a Mobile Payment Anyway? A somewhat rhetorical question, but every day there are new startups, alliances and technology announcements about the next generation of mobile payments: most recently, NFC enabled phones. The problem with mobile payments is that everyone has a different definition of...

I just returned from my annual trip to visit partners and customers in India. In one year I could see quite a difference in the infrastructure developments, but also how the pace has picked up in developing new banking services. The economy is expanding rapidly on an annual basis (8.9% in 2010), and...

It is easy to think of ISO20022 as a Europe-only set of message definitions because of the machinations around SEPA, and so the broader value of ISO20022 and its global applicability can be lost when it is viewed only as a SEPA issue. At Sibos 2010 I was delighted to participate in a panel discussion...

There are two areas of corporate payments innovation that I expect to receive more attention at Sibos this year. First is e-invoicing, a process that is gaining considerable momentum as companies seek to further digitize the financial supply chain. The second is the adoption of mobile devices for treasury...

Living in the Chicago area, I've spent my fair share of time in traffic congestion trying to get to the airport. (Anyone familiar with Chicago ORD will also know that finding a plane that leaves on time is another challenge - but that's a different story). Chicago is known for having only two seasons...

It’s not quite so fashionable to talk about SEPA these days. After all – aren’t we all wishing the rules and solutions were are all defined and implemented? But there’s still a fundamental challenge that banks (and corporate treasuries) face: integration among both legacy formats...

Closing the Door on Data Privacy? After 3 some three years, the EU Parliament has approved the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program ( TFTP ) which outlined the rules for investigation into suspicious payments that may have been exchanged between banks via the SWIFT network. Hopefully the final chapter...

The topic of payments system integration has in the past usually dwelled on topics such as real time or batch requirements, message queue interfaces and of course, support for payment standards. All these of course are very important in any payments integration project, whether to support implementation...

Last month I had a whirlwind tour of 3 cities in India in 5 days, and had the privilege to visit several major financial institutions to talk about payments. It's a fascinating country, ranked second to China in population with over 1.1 billion people. Much is written about the growth of the middle class...

A commonly asked question is if payments are a product or a commodity? I firmly believe the answer is that they are actual both. The traditional way of defining and processing payments has become very much commoditized. Facilitated by the homogenization of payment standards, particularly in Europe (and...

Hello and welcome from Microsoft’s worldwide financial services group. In this blog, I will share my thoughts and insights into the payments industry, and the challenges banks face in renewing their core platforms. Many people ask me, “why the interest in payments systems?” Quite honestly, it’s an easy...