TfL Tube strike 26 and 28 August 2015: Driverless trains would break the militant unions forever August 23, 2015 This week, fed-up Londoners will be forced to endure two more Tube strikes. And this despite Transport for London having already offered the unions: a two per cent salary increase this year, inflation-protected rises in 2016 and 2017, a £500 bonus for all staff on Night Tube lines, £200 extra per Night Tube shift for [...]
Plastic eclipses paper cash as card payments soar to £600bn June 3, 2015 Three quarters of all retail spending is now conducted by card, with transaction volumes topping £600bn during 2014 according to new research by The UK Cards Association released today. Data compiled by the industry body revealed over £19,000 was spent on card every second last year, partially driven by the increased use of contactless payments [...]
August Tube strike 2015: Unions are standing against progress in their fight against the Night Tube August 5, 2015 As Londoners struggle to get to work today, trade unions are also struggling – to justify their strike. If you listen to the spin from the RMT, the 24-hour Tube (the justification the union is giving for downing tools) is a “rushed and botched vanity project”. Yet the plans were actually announced two years ago. [...]
General Election 2015: Mastercard’s Ann Cairns wants greater devolution and more technological innovation April 21, 2015 ELECTION COUNTDOWN: 15 DAYS TO GO Every day until the final week of the election campaign, we ask a business leader to say what policies would entice them to vote for a particular party. ANN CAIRNS: PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL MARKETS, MASTERCARD ■ Reduce reliance on cash to drive economic growth – Cash costs [...]
WWDC 2015: Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference showcases the tech we’ll all be using in the months ahead June 10, 2015 APPLE PAY The rollout of Apple Pay marks a new era for contactless payment and it’s going to be here as soon as July. After a successful trial in the US, Apple has teamed up with most major British banks so all you need to do is register your credit or debit card on [...]
Contactless Tube payment: Just the latest advance in the UK banking revolution September 15, 2014 You could be forgiven for thinking that London’s trams might be an unlikely place to find cutting edge technology. But from today, this iconic and characterful mode of public transport – along with our more conventional Tube stations and buses – are offering technology that allows you to pay your way with just a flash [...]
RBS glitch demonstrates the UK’s creaking banking infrastructure June 17, 2015 Today’s payment glitches at RBS, which are affecting thousands of customers across the UK, are another timely reminder that many of the City’s IT systems are a ticking time bomb. This is not the first time the UK’s creaking legacy systems are in the spotlight. Last October, RBS was fined £56m following an IT meltdown [...]
Tapping into a priceless showcase for sport: MasterCard’s Mark Barnett wants the World Cup to pay off for rugby and his brand May 25, 2015 For those of a certain age, the day that Erica Roe streaked at Twickenham during an England-Australia rugby international is a sporting image to rival anything that the greats of that generation, from Duckham to Underwood, Beaumont to Carling, achieved on the field of play. For Mark Barnett, president in the UK and Ireland for [...]
Apple Pay in the UK: These are the retailers and restaurants signed up for the July launch June 9, 2015 Some of the UK's biggest retailers are lining up to start accepting Apple Pay when it launches in the UK next month. As well as being able to use your iPhone or Apple Watch to seamlessly glide through ticket barriers on the Tube, the Silicon Valley giant has its finger hovering over the button [...]
Death of cash? British Retail Consortium says the imminent arrival of a cashless society has been “greatly exaggerated” July 1, 2015 Cash was used in just over half of retail transactions last year – but the sector's trade body has heralded this as a sign of suprising strength. "The death of cash has been greatly exaggerated," the British Retail Consortium said today. Consumers used 4.5 per cent less cash on high street and supermarket shopping [...]