By Silvio Tavares, CEO, The CardLinx Association At a time like this, when our personal lives and professional lives are unexpectedly upended, it‘s tough to stay optimistic—and not lose sight of unseen opportunities. As we witness the enormous scale of death, sickness and suffering caused by Covid-19, it can be difficult to see the silver lining. But it is often...

Amazon announced the availability of its Just Walk Out technology to rival merchants. Shoppers use credit cards to enter the store. Items are selected and automatically billed to the card—with no scanning, checkout (or waiting in line) required. The tech is similar to that used in Amazon Go stores. CardLinx Insight: Amazon’s new cashierless technology will face an uphill battle...

As part of a global partnership, Ant Financial, the payment affiliate of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, has invested in Klarna. The companies announced that Ant Financial has purchased a <1% ownership in the Swedish financial technology start-up, known for offering shoppers interest-free financing over monthly installments. CardLinx Insight: Ant Financial is an affiliate of Alipay, China’s largest mobile wallet and...

CardLinx Member Collinson Group Ltd today announced the creation of a new business unit. The global loyalty and benefits company has launched Collinson Valuedynamx to deliver on the need for an integrated and secure platform to enable personalized, low-friction earn-and-redeem experiences. The new entity was created to drive innovation where data, payments, technology and rewards intersect: Consumers, retail/merchant partners and...

CardLinx members including Mastercard, Microsoft and Hilton have all announced negative impacts from the rapidly spreading coronavirus. This week Mastercard revised downward its revenue forecast by 2%- 3%, citing slower cross border transaction growth. Microsoft issued lower revenue guidance due to supply chain disruptions in Asia. Hilton recently temporarily closed 150 hotels in China due the coronavirus. CardLinx Insight: The...

BY SILVIO TAVARES, PRESIDENT AND CEO, THE CARDLINX ASSOCIATION Reading tea leaves and gazing into crystal balls are two ways some say they can predict the future. I prefer a more grounded, fact based approach. Observation, conversation and data analysis are my tools of choice for forecasting what’s ahead in our industry. As CEO of a trade association with members...

Silvio Tavares, CardLinx CEO writes in Benzinga about what 2017 will hold for fintech. An excerpt: The election of Donald Trump and the impending Brexit have created new uncertainties around the fintech industry which was one of the best performing sectors in 2016.  While Trump’s election has been great for financial stocks, especially bank stocks, it has not been so...

No so, says CardLinx CEO Silvio Tavares in Benzinga today. Here is an excerpt from the article: …if you look closely, one realizes that a severe downturn in the Silicon Valley economy will not be happening any time soon, and certainly not before the end of this year. The reason is that many of the new breed of Silicon Valley...

Open Banking Oens Doors to Card-Linking Opportunities Consumers’ ability to manage all their financial data in one location is an appealing concept—and open banking makes it possible. Open banking leverages a set of technologies and standards that let consumers safely and securely consolidate their account information. They grant permission and control over who uses their data and how, and reap...

2022 DCA Industry Study Shows Strong Annual Growth More than one-third of respondents report card-linking growth rates up more than 100 percent HERNDON, Va. (Dec. 19, 2022)—The Digital Commerce Alliance (DCA) released 2022 data revealing industry trends related to the card-linking, mobile wallet, and financial data space at the annual DCA Summit held earlier this month. Among the global trade...