Page 40 - Pay Magazine s2014

pay world
Rockin’ E-Money on Gibraltar
€112 billion oPen-looP sPend by sector 2020 europe / russia / turkey
FX/Travel Remittances 8%
5%
Corporate Disposable
10%
Corporate Reloadable
Government Payroll
populations), and the corporate prepaid market is expected to be worth €29 billion (US$39.5 billion), with an anticipated CAGR of 19 percent. Corporate reloadable
cards (including employee expenses, benefits and incentive schemes, together with B2B payments) are predicted to make up the largest segment of the corporate prepaid market. Government and payroll prepaid products are anticipated to be lower in turnover than the other corporate segments.
By 2020, the U.K. is expected to generate the largest expenditure
on prepaid, closely followed by Italy. Italy will see the greatest number
of transactions with products, such as Poste Italiane’s, continuing to play a dominant role in day-to-day and online spend.
Benefits 3% Gifting
2% Youth 2%
Un/underbanked (with GPR)
34%
Online 17%
PSE Consulting forecasts spend
on open-loop prepaid cards to reach €112 billion (US$153 billion) in Europe, Russia and Turkey by 2020. The European consumer sector is expected to generate
€83 billion (US$113 billion) in spend by 2020 (with the most significant contribution from un/underbanked
7%
12%
source: PSE Consulting, February 2014, with permission.
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European finance center, and our attitude is ‘Bring it on!’” he contin- ues. “Whatever needs to be done, we’ll do it and we’ll try to be the first at it, as well.”
“Gibraltar is a small jurisdiction, and its reputation is its lifeblood. We don’t want a lax regulatory environment here,” says Howard Gibbs, managing director of Payoneer EU. “It’s to our benefit
to have strong regulation, a strong regulator, strong examinations and strong enforcement. Our business benefits from a strong regulatory environment—not a weak one.
“What we ask for is a regulator
to put in the time to understand what we’re doing and our business models, and to take a risk-based approach to AML and mitigating fraud. And, that’s what we have here,” he continues. “It’s not
about ticking boxes; it’s about understanding and managing
the real risks.”
Patel notes that the addition
of U.S.-based companies, which historically and by culture have paid significant attention to “pro- cess,” including KYC, mitigating money laundering and monitoring for fraud, has helped the FSC support the framework for risk- based regulation. “Our approach at The Bancorp is all about adopt- ing best practices from the U.S. alongside the experience gained
in Europe to deliver the most effective services for our partners,” he says. “The U.S. is about five years ahead of Europe in terms
of efficiency and control, so we’ve harmonized the onboarding and ongoing monitoring of our Euro- pean clients with the processes followed in the U.S.
“The entry of experienced and recognized U.S. companies into Gibraltar helps give what’s being done here—that is, making it one of the best places to set up opera- tions—credibility,” he continues.
The European Opportunity
“It’s a world of opportunity here,” adds Brands. “From Gibraltar, we’re able to transform payments with new European partners and
support those partners from the U.S. that wish to expand into the European marketplace.”
She says the greatest opportunities The Bancorp sees are in the corpo- rate space—incentive, expense and payout. And, Italy and France are hot countries right now for prepaid, she adds.
IDT’s Spier says his company has never been busier and one of its chief goals is maintaining the highest level of customer service for its current clients even as
his company adds significant new business.