A Look at PayPal's Q3 2008 Financial Results

by Russ Jones

eBay announced Q3 2008 results today, along with a significant PayPal milestone: off-Ebay purchase volume has for the first time exceeded on-eBay purchase volume. Before looking at what this means, the terminology here is worth clarifying. On-eBay purchase volume is all purchases made through PayPal to finalize purchases inside the eBay marketplace. Off-eBay purchase volume is all purchases made using PayPal with third-party merchants, unrelated to eBay. » More

Secure Vault Payments - A Bank-Centric Alternative Payment System

Glenbrook's Russ Jones recently met with Ken Myles of NACHA to get an update on NACHA's Secure Vault Payments initiative. Read on for Russ' insights and reactions to what he learned.

Apple Rocks the Mobile World

by Russ Jones

Apple announced their much anticipated software roadmap for the iPhone today, with a surprising (to me anyway) two-pronged push. I was waiting for the iPhone SDK announcement, but this turned out to be a bit more than I was expecting! » More

A Field Report from London

by Russ Jones

I'm in London this week for meetings with clients. Here's an "up close and personal" field report on my first real London shopping experience - payment card in hand - at Harrods. » More

The 10-Step Cookbook for Glenbrook's Thumbnail Mobile Banking Strategy

by Russ Jones

I completely agree with this thumbnail mobile banking strategy. But let's refine it a little into the 10-step cookbook version. » More

A Look at PayPal's Q2 Results

by Russ Jones

I recently took a look at the eBay Q2 2007 10-Q SEC filing to get some more details on the PayPal growth story. Read on for the details. » More

Peppercoin in the Payments Industry

Glenbrook has been following Peppercoin since 2002 and has closely monitored the company’s strategy and progress. We were pleased by Peppercoin’s shift in direction two years ago—and we continue to be impressed by its ability to listen to the market, adjust its strategy, and move forward with a payment service that we believe to be unique in the industry.

» More

Glenbrook's QuickTake: TextPayMe

Glenbrook's Russ Jones has taken a quick look at this new payment service offering and provides some initial comments on what he sees. Full story on Payments News.

Peppercoin V2.0

By Russ Jones

Peppercoin 2.0 extends the notion of transaction aggregation into both the physical world of small point-of-sale payments as well as across multiple merchants. Through this new “universal aggregation” capability, Peppercoin plans to aggregate individual consumer purchases at multiple merchants into a single card transaction. By doing this aggregation, the per-transaction fees that would otherwise be paid on each purchase are reduced—with the resulting savings shared between Peppercoin and merchants participating in the Peppercoin network. This research note analyzes how Peppercoin 2.0 actually works, explores its new value proposition, and offers an initial assessment of its potential strengths and weaknesses.

» More

RFID in Financial Services

By Russ Jones

Pundits believe that RFID tags—positioned as a next-generation replacement for the familiar bar code—are going to drive vast improvements in the efficiency of supply chains as products wind their way from the manufacturers out to the retail shelves. Critics believe that RFID tags pose a significant threat to personal privacy, in that tags worn or carried by individuals permit unwanted surveillance by anyone with an RFID reader. They contend that RFID technology and its use in business should be heavily regulated, if not outright banned for specific applications. The court of public opinion is still listening to both sides of the debate.

» More