Insights

Latest Insights

Insights on payments, fintech strategy, and operational resilience from E&S Consulting.

The Quantum Threat to Your Data Is Already Happening: You Just Won’t See It Yet

Here’s the uncomfortable part about quantum computing: an attacker doesn’t need a quantum computer today to put some of your data at risk.

Quantum Computing Won’t Stop Account Takeover Tomorrow: But It’s Already Being Tested to Try

Fraudsters don’t necessarily need to guess a password. They can use credentials that already work. A system built primarily to flag the wrong password has very little to flag when the password is correct.

MoneyPass Just Went Independent. Here's Who Actually Benefits.

On August 5, MoneyPass stopped being part of Fiserv and became an independent company. That is a pretty significant change for a network with more than 37,000 surcharge-free ATMs and 160 million cardholders.

Brass Tax: The Real ROI of Rethinking Gift Card Security

The conversation around retail-acquired card fraud often focuses on the consumer who loses money or the retailer dealing with a frustrated customer. But the financial impact reaches much farther across the ecosystem.

Why Numberless NFC Cards Are the Best Way Forward

I’ve spent the last three posts digging into the retail physical gift card issue: physical packaging cannot win an arms race against organized crime syndicates, and any security fix we attempt has to clear the register in the exact same heartbeat as a standard credit card tap. That leaves us with one question: What does a fast, secure, and compliant gift card actually look like in the real world? The answer really seems quite simple: remove sensitive payment credentials from the physical card.

The Checkout Lane Has Exactly Zero Room for Error or Slowness

We’ve already established in our first two posts that physical packaging changes alone aren’t enough to stop organized crime rings. But whatever solution we put on the table has to survive a brutal reality check: retail throughput. If a security fix kills lane speed, it's D.O.A.

The True Cost of Tampering: Erasing Consumer Trust

When a gift card is compromised on the shelf, the financial loss is immediate — but the long-term damage to retail trust and impulse purchasing is far worse.

Is 2026 the Year We Kill the Gift Card Mall?

Between Project Red Hook, state compliance laws, and organized draining rings, five competing forces are deciding whether the gift card mall survives the decade.