Latest opinions that Hans Hagen has shared on Finextra

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Hans Hagen

Founder

Alphastrike

Member since

09 Feb 2006

Location

France

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Hans's opinions

What kind of partnership do YOU need?

Most businesses have some problem they need to solve at any given point in time. These days, getting stellar growth may be a challenge, and the cost of acquiring a new customer seems to go only one way. Up. Ouch! For others, it may be that the business you set up a few years back is no longer performing as expected, and a change is needed. But you...

24 March 2021 /startups /inclusion Innovation in Financial Services

Can partnerships superboost your consumer lending revenues?

You may have felt it more than ever over the past months. The pandemic makes it harder to grow your revenues, as customers are more concerned about their personal health and well-being than ever before. Your cost to acquire new customers only knows one path, and that is up. Sigh. There’s gotta be another and better way to boost your growth, no? I...

04 February 2021 /retail /inclusion Personal Finance

The Amex Paradox as US Credit Card Issuers Crash Land

In a recent article in the New York Times, the major US credit card issuers have put on their safety belts and crash helmets, as they prepare for a major crash landing with their credit card portfolios. Credit card losses are soaring to unprecedented levels as unemployment rises, and cardholders struggle to make ends meet. From credit card write...

11 May 2009 /payments

Levering ATMs for Cardless Money Transfer

For some time I have been intrigued by banks' lack of interest in, or inability to leverage their ATM networks to gain a competitive edge. Traditionally used for cash advances and balance enquiries, ATMs have turned into more of a multimedia kiosk capable of providing a wide range of services. One area of particular interest, in my mind, is money ...

04 May 2009 /payments Trends in Financial Services

Will WooGroup Succeed in Taking on Western Union?

A new challenger to Western Union recently emerged in the money transfer area. The WooGroup, based in Paris, was recently listed on the Paris stock exchange (Nyse Euronext, ticker MLWOO). After a somewhat chaotic start – the listing was postponed a week following liquidity problems by Europe Finance et Industry, tasked to manage the introduction – ...

26 February 2009 /payments Trends in Financial Services

What did I miss about PayPass cards at Carrefour in France?

To my great satisfaction I read recently that Carrefour will issue it's PASS card with contactless technology in collaboration with MasterCard. The new card will be on the cutting edge of current card technology, including multiple accounts on the same chip, giving consumers the choice to pay with their own money (debit) or funds made available...

29 January 2009 /payments Trends in Financial Services

Not a Level Playing Field in European Consumer Lending

The European financial services industry should be pleased that the European Parliament finally passed the Consumer Lending Directive earlier this year, after more than six years of mulling, negotiating, and digestion. Or should it? Does the directive really bring about a single market for consumer lending, and level the playing field for consumers...

14 November 2008 /payments /retail

Dinosaur revival

Not too long ago, ATMs were predicted to suffer the same fate as dinosaurs. With the invention of payment cards of all sorts, increasing usage of cards as a cash substitute, and the introduction of cash back at point of sale, ATMs were predicted to suffer a slow death. Those predictions, however, failed to consider two key aspects of ATMs. First ...

18 October 2007 /payments Trends in Financial Services

Never-ending battle

No industry observer is surprised by the reported rise in fraud committed abroad on UK cards. The perverse effect of harder-to-crack chip card technology is that fraud increases where chip cannot be used, by using cards with information obtained by skimming or other ways obtaining the information located on the mag-stripe on the back of the very ...

16 October 2007 /payments Trends in Financial Services