Category: Uncategorized

June 4 COVID Update: New Case Acceleration Begins for Some States

The following summary and its attached report are the eighth in ongoing series by the W. Capra Data Science team on the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak on the industries we service over time.  The first report can be found here, the second here, the third here, the fourth here, the fifth here, the sixth…

Why Not to Delay Your AFD EMV Implementation

If you are old enough, you might remember when there were no cards. Merchants transacted through cash, and service stations were no different. In order to save money and avoid risk, many countries, especially those “in development” continue to transact via cash only. In many countries that have decided to pursue card acceptance, even adopting EMV…

COVID-19 Trends by State: May 20 Update

The following summary and its attached report are the sixth of an ongoing series by the W. Capra Data Science team on the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak on the industries we service over time.  The first report can be found here, the second report can be found here, the third report can be found…

EMV Co. and W3C, United for a World Without Friction

One of the hardest parts of the payments universe is increasing transaction speed and reducing friction for the consumer. Let’s be realistic, we have gone from paying with cash to using a mobile phone in a very short time, but the last five years have brought significant change. In the United States, we approached the…

Mitigating Mobile Fraud via Machine Learning

Many retailers have been making the shift towards applications that allow users to shop and pay for products directly through their phones. This modern way of transacting creates new avenues for tech-savvy fraudsters to benefit. There are many ways to fraud a mobile payment app; reinstallation, dummy emails, multiple devices, loading card info stolen from…

Will Big Tech Become a Payments Disrupter?

In the payments industry we regularly hear rumors about the next big disrupter. Some of these disrupters materialize, some take a while (cough, cough, contactless card acceptance[1]) and some fizzle as fast as the rumors start. One of the latest and more interesting disrupter discussions is Facebook’s proposed cryptocurrency, Libra. There are a bevy of…

Whitepaper: Data Privacy

From the Target and Home Depot breaches to Marriott’s most recent breach weeks ago, data breaches are becoming a near-daily part of the standard news cycle. In response to the increasing concern over consumer data privacy, numerous government entities are evaluating and drafting consumer data privacy protection laws. The European Union was a first mover…

Your project is ready for go-live. Is your project team ready?

This scenario has played out tens of thousands of times: your loyalty/mobile/fill-in-the-blank project, that your project team has been working on for months, is ready to go-live; eight months later, key members of that project team are still providing guidance as it relates to support, use, and everything else related to that project that supposedly…

The MYTH of getting robbed from your pocket via Contactless Payments

While navigating on social media, I found a video around contactless fraud. The video warns people to be protective of their wallets as he initiated a contactless transaction with another person who carried his wallet inside his back pocket (you can see the video here). Of course, a video like this can generate reactions that…

Does Your App Accept the New Consumer Currency – Data?

Consumers are offering data, a new currency, in exchange for truly exceptional experiences. Like monetary currencies, the value consumers receive for this new currency will vary, depending on where they exchange it. To succeed, your app must offer an experience in line with consumer value exchange rate expectations. Mobile apps are changing consumer behavior Consumers…