Best Cities in Which to Have Fun-filled New Year’s Eve Celebration Without Having to Rob a Bank to Do ItOrlando, San Francisco, and Atlanta lead the New Year’s Eve parade for cost-effective NYE celebration, according to our friends at WalletHub. They are great cities in which to have fun. The Lobster...

As we approach the Christmas season many of us are trying to avoid The Devil's Workshop in order to stay off of Santa's Naughty List and maximize our Christmas hauls.In order to help you avoid the Naughty List, The Lobster presents the following list of the most sinful cities in the US, compiled...

The Government May Give You Stuff But That Doesn't Make It FreeThe Farmers Market Coalition has announced that its free SNAP EBT equipment program has been extended. Under the program USDA provides EBT equipment and services to farmers markets in order to allow more markets to accept EBT cards, thus...

As the Lobster takes a break from detailing the recently completed EBT-the Next Generation conference, he along with his many followers, turns his attention, to the upcoming holidays.Black Friday shoppers can save $500 or more, according to our friends at WalletHub, by shopping with one of the cards...

On November 7th, I enjoyed moderating Front Page Focus, my signature panel, at EBT the Next Generation, the premier conference dedicated to exploring electronic-benefits transfer applications and technology.  This was my 17th Front Page Focus in the 19 years of the conference.This year, Front Page...

Having recently participated in the 19th annual EBT the Next Generation conference which dissects the use of debit-card technology for the disbursement of government-to-consumer payments, I offer the following retrospective on the conference.We were proud to display our new Chaddsford Planning Associates...

Election Day TriviaMost but not all of the following is courtesy of our friends at WalletHub.Defensive Voting. 46.5 percent of voters questioned say they their main objective in voting for either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump is to prevent the election of the other candidate.Hillary Clinton earned...

Mobility and EBTSmart phones are changing the way people are interacting, such as using social media from Facebook to Instagram, Twitter to WhatsApp. Now, mobile apps are looking to change the way we conduct financial transactions through e-Commerce. This year’s EBT—The Next Generation conference...

The US Agriculture Department, which administers what is colloquially known as the Food Stamp Program, is toying with the idea of allowing program participants to purchase food online. This is made possible because the program uses Electronic Benefits Transfer technology to authorize purchases. EBT...

Getting the Most Out of EBT the Next GenerationIf past attendance figures are a prologue to the future, about half of all EBT the Next Generation attendees this year will be attending their first NextGen. For first time conference attendees and anyone else who drops by we offer a 30 minute orientation...

Electronic-payments professionals interested in checking out new business opportunities may want to participate in a long established conference set for November 6-8 in Florida. Dubbed EBT the Next Generation it brings together 300 buyers and influencers in this booming EPS segment that uses electronic-payments...

It is hard to believe, but EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer) is now a mature sub-industry within the Electronic Payments industry.  It has been 25 years since the first statewide rollout of EBT in Maryland to replace paper food stamps. Congress has mandate that all States use EBT technology...

We are in the final steps of putting the agenda together for the 19th annual EBT the Next Generation conference. EBT is a multi-billion dollar business opportunity for companies in the electronic-payments industry, including payments processors, financial institutions, networks, manufacturers of payment-processing...

The Content Marketing EquationHas there ever been a more overused and misunderstood phrase in marketing. Content  marketing is a redundancy . All good marketing is content marketing. Because all good marketing is target marketing. Content marketing lets us target a message to a narrowly defined...

The Importance of Traditional Media in a Digital WorldIn the interest of fair discloser, I write this as a recovered reporter and news director and current PR practitioner. The worlds of traditional and digital media are closer than might at first glance appear. I am a big proponent of digital...

Government BrandingBranding your agency is not aping the private sector or selling out to Madison Avenue. Branding a government agency or service is as important as any other way you engage the consumers of the services you offer.You will soon come to understand that if you ask 10 experts to outline...

Case Study: Service BrandingThe Electronic Funds Transfer Association is a thirty-year-old trade association based in Fairfax County, Virginia. Its core members are organizations involved in the facilitation of consumer electronic payments, such as credit or debit card transactions. Although it...

Values-based Branding Determine who your core customers are.Figure out exactly how you want your brand to be known or seen by your core customers.Develop a values inventory that lists the values you believe your customers hold along with the characteristics of your product that demonstrate those...

Big Data: The Internet of Things (IoT) presents a large cache of consumer data that speaks volumes about customer buying, spending and lifestyle choicesHowever, Chuck Martin, editor of IoT Daily, notes in his April 6 column that a new study including research by Oxford Economics and commissioned by...

Operation Choke PointMissouri Member of Congress Blaine Luetkemeyer has contacted the Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as well as the FDIC Inspector General concerning Operation Choke Point. Operation Choke Point is a formerly covert Department of Justice initiative to coerce...

Flight 93 and July 4th The July 4th holiday is too often marked by automobile-dealer sales, excessive consumption of alcohol, and lawn-games like Corn Hole or Badminton. This 4th the family and I did something different. We visited the Memorial to the 40 victims of United Flight 93. This was...

The growth in mobile banking parallels the broad proliferation of smartphones across American society, as well as a desire for convenience. The report is the Fed’s fifth annual study of mobile banking in America.In the online survey 43 percent of adults with mobile phones and bank accounts reported...

Welcome to the Lobster Shift.  Also known as the graveyard shift, it's when you live your life backwards, or contrary,  to everyone else.  Here you'll find interesting analysis and commentary on business issues in the tech sectors, especially payments and healthcare,  that may be...

Hiring a ConsultantThere are many reasons to hire a consultant. Here are a few of them. As well as Information on finding a good consultant, selecting a consultant who is the best fit for your organization, how to budget for a consultant’s fees, and how to unpack a consultant’s bill to understand the...

History was made April 17 when American Martin Frey became the first person to climb the highest summit on each of the seven continents and sail the seven seas of the world.56-year old Martin Frey finished his quest to climb the highest mountains and sail the deepest seas by skippering a sailboat across...

You could be the next victim of a $2 billion criminal enterpriseAnother unintended consequence of fraud-fighting. As banks issue more and more EMV-compliant cards in order to reduce the counterfeiting of credit and debit cards, fraudsters are turning to other less protected avenues to get their hands...

Why consumers continue to resist mobile paymentsBanks, retailers, phone and tech companies have spent millions of dollars developing and marketing systems that will allow us to make purchases using our mobile phones. All of this effort rests on a belief that buyers will arrive at the conclusion that...

The State of Working MomsWith Mothers Day fast approaching, examining how working moms fare from state-to-state is a timely exercise. According to WalletHub moms who are the sole support of their families make up almost three-quarters of all working women. WalletHub offers the following state-by-state...

The recently released Federal Reserve report on mobile banking shows a significant increase in adoption of the mobile channel for banking.The growth in mobile banking parallels the broad proliferation of smartphones across American society, as well as a desire for convenience. The report is the Fed’s...

Who’s Watching You While You areWatching TVAs connected TVs, smart thermostats and smartphone-controlled door locks proliferate in American homes so do concerns about exactly how secure and private those connections are. According to a post on Mediapost’s Internet Of Things Daily Connected Thinking...

Has Oberthur Technologies cracked the code on combatting online credit card fraud?Oberthur, a global provider of payment card security products, says that 80 percent of respondents in a survey covering online fraud expressed a preference for a card which could provide dynamic card security,...

Are Holders of Unused Gift Cards Left Holding the Bag When The Retailed That Issued Those Cards Declares Bankruptcy?  When a retailer goes out of business, are consumers who are holding outstanding gift cards issued by that retailer just another class of creditor? Does the retailer’s...

Forcing Small Business to Be Good Corporate Citizens The City Council of Los Angeles recently voted 15-0 to explore the feasibility of compelling farmers markets in the city to accept food stamp EBT cards as a form of payment. This would require all farmers markets to purchase a debit/credit card...

Issue Facing the EBT Industry in 2016 In November it was my pleasure to moderate a discussion at the EBT-The Next Generation conference about the biggest issues facing the EBT industry. I worked with a panel of federal officials and processing companies including Xerox State Government Services...