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Payments Perspectives Blog

The Democratization of the Tablet

Peter Reville |

Tablets are going mainstream. No longer is the tablet just the toy of the tech savvy and the wealthy. According to a recently released report from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, “Tablet and E-book Reader Ownership Nearly Double Over the Holiday Gift Giving Period,” tablets are getting into the hands of
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The Edge of…Something

Theodore Iacobuzio |

The news on Tuesday, February 7 that U.S. consumer borrowing on credit cards rose pretty sharply in December (after a very steep rise in November) elicited some head-scratching on the part of reporters and others who were asked to come up with an instant analysis of the data. On the one hand, spending on credit cards
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The Promise and Perils of Cross-Border E-Commerce

Peter Reville |

U.S. online sales growth is projected to be lower than the growth in developing markets, according to growth rate forecasts from Forrester Research.  Countries such as India, China, Brazil, and Mexico are all around 20 percent or higher compared with 10 percent in the United States.  Of course, 10 percent growth is pretty good—but 20
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Colombia: The Next Brazil?

Christina Sommer |

The new up-and-coming emerging economies are the CIVETS: Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey, and South Africa, according to Robert Ward, global forecasting director for the Economist Intelligence Unit.  According to Mr. Ward, they are ready to become the next BRICs. Unless you have been living under a brick yourself for the last 10 years, you’ve
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Saving the Sale

Peter Reville |

I was recently shopping at an EMS store for a fleece vest for my wife.  I found the one I wanted, in the color I wanted, but they didn’t have her size.  “Do you have this in a small?” I asked a clerk. “Let me check,” and off he went to the back room.  A
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