Fintech start-up Configo has launched a project to aggregate the API portals launched by financial players around the world. It is not commercial driven but is “just a small project to put everything in order”, says Yosi Dahan, co-founder and CEO of Configo.
Verifone said Oct. 18 that it had adopted and deployed a new mobile API standard designed to better tie together payment and loyalty applications for customers at gas stations and convenience stores.
A group of Australia’s biggest banks have launched the latest salvo in their dispute with Apple over third-party access to the iPhone’s NFC hardware. In a joint filing to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the banks rebuffed Apple’s claims that they should not be allowed to collectively negotiate with the tech giant over making their own mobile payment apps available on iPhones.
US Bank is offering a Visa-developed geolocation service, a new, opt-in technology integrated into the bank’s mobile apps that enable the location of a card transaction to be matched to the location of the user’s phone. By matching the location, US Bank says it can help ensure that transactions on customers’ cards are approved and […]
With the U.S. rollout of EMV making it harder for fraudsters to target merchant POS systems, thieves increasingly have set their sights on ATMs. But cash machines won’t be such an easy target for long, as the same technology that has increased POS security is steadily making its way to ATMs.
Japan might remove its 8 percent sales tax on bitcoin and other virtual currency transactions, according to reports. The plan stems from the country’s Ministry of Finance and the Financial Services Agency, according to an Oct. 14 report in Japan Today. It said regulators intend to study the issue via a committee; among the questions is what constitutes a virtual currency.
Make it lean, keep them keen. A round-up of events in the payments space. Nordea is leaving the Swipp collaboration and partnering with Danske Bank’s MobilePay platform in Denmark and Norway. The shared payment solution’s plan is a reaction to “new international players” who “regularly appear in the market”. Danske says it will begin converting […]
Alipay has partnered with Zapper, the consumer insights and marketing platform, to grab a slice of the Chinese tourism market in the UK. Zapper says the partnership will allow over 250,000 Chinese tourists visiting the UK to pay using the Alipay app in over 1,000 locations nationwide. Rita Liu, head of Alipay EMEA, says merchants, […]
Vodafone customers in the U.K. now can make NFC payments funded from their PayPal accounts via Android smartphones. A new deal between Vodafone and PayPal enables PayPal to be used as a funding source for transactions made with Vodafone Pay.
A shareholder of ID verification startup Jumio Inc. has sued company officials over alleged mismanagement and misrepresentation of the firm, which filed for bankruptcy in March 2016. In a lawsuit filed in Delaware, Bloso Investments Ltd., alleges that Jumio directors, including Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, made deliberately misleading statements about the company’s prospects, duping Bloso into investing $5 million in Jumio.
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
There’s nothing better than going all the way. Challenger bank Atom is now fully open for all customers in the UK. Atom initially launched with an “invitation only” phase, but as of today (6 October) anyone can download the Atom App, both in IoS and Android, and open an account. The App is available to […]
Kohl’s on Oct. 5 launched a mobile payment option that “integrates the Kohl’s Charge private label credit card into the popular Kohl’s mobile app,” the retail chain said. Called Kohl’s Pay, the service enables some 25 million U.S. holders of that private label card to pay for in-store purchases directly from mobile devices.
The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on Oct. 5 released its final rule on prepaid accounts, and the agency’s requirements, which go into effect Oct. 1, 2017, go well beyond plastic.
Say cheese! Or at least hold still. Mastercard is rolling out its pay-by-selfie service in a dozen European countries. The move follows a similar pilot in North America.
There’s glee and a spending spree for HSBC as over $100 billion in mobile payments have been made by its corporate customers. The bank says the $100 billion sum was authorised globally through the HSBCnet mobile corporate banking platform since its launch in 2011. The total transaction value of mobile payments has more than doubled […]
Google has ended the grace period for unsupported payment cards that can be used with Android Pay. Those cards include products from such financial institutions as Citi, Discover and Wells Fargo, according to Google.
LG Electronics and Paymentwall said Oct. 4 that they will expand the online payment options available through LG’s webOS “smart” TVs. The program “will give consumers easier access to paid apps, movies, games and much more through LG’s intuitive webOS Smart TV platform,” LG said. The effort involves some 140 payment options in 200 countries.
Members of global payments network Eurogiro are now able to transfer funds to mobile money and bank accounts through a partnership with B2B mobile payment network TransferTo, the companies announced Oct. 3. Through TransferTo’s payments network, Eurogiro’s network members can expand their service offerings by providing mobile payments and, for example, accept remittances at a post office in one country and transfer the funds to a recipient’s mobile wallet in another country.
Apple Pay has launched in Russia with partners Sberbank and MasterCard. Russia is the tenth country where Apple Pay has been made available, following the US, UK, Canada, France, China and others. Alexander Torbakhov, deputy chairman of the executive board of Sberbank, says: “Apple Pay is driving the popularisation of contactless payments in Russia and […]
Western Union has unveiled its mobile platform in Canada for domestic and cross-border money transfers, available for iOS and Android. The new app allows users “instant, anytime, anywhere” access to Western Union’s physical and digital money transfer infrastructure. So people can send money face-to-face or online. “Whether on a smart phone or at a store […]
In perhaps one of the most dramatic instances of resistance to EMV since the technology began rolling out more than a year ago, Austin, Texas, public transit plans to stop accepting payment card purchases at vending machines at its nine commuter rail stations, rather than upgrade to EMV-compatible machines.
India-based HDFC Bank has selected Backbase to deliver its new digital omnichannel banking platform, running both its online and mobile banking apps. The mobile banking app, digital banking portal, and web site will run on the Backbase Omnichannel Digital Banking Platform. Backbase will combine HDFC Bank’s existing core banking and back-end applications with its platform. […]
It’s a fintech double as Equiniti has developed a digital banking platform and launched a mobile biometric authentication and identity lifecycle solution.
Blockchain, the decentralized transaction-verification system that underpins bitcoin, received a boost Sept. 27, with Microsoft and Bank of America Merrill Lynch saying they will team up to further develop the technology.
With the proliferation of smartphones among consumers, retailers have an opportunity to reach customers in thoughtful and engaging ways that could help influence the decision-making process when it comes to making a purchase. Discover offers tips on what strategies retailers should consider implementing to enhance their mobile marketing campaigns.
ACI Worldwide and Vocalink have joined forces “to offer a complete end-to-end immediate payments solution to launch a domestic or regional immediate payments network”. The partnership will combine Vocalink’s Immediate Payments System (IPS) offering for central payment infrastructures and ACI’s UP Immediate Payments solution for banks and financial institutions.
Apple Pay, Google Wallet, voice payment, payment in messaging apps, Bitcoin, merchant-led solutions, bank-owned solutions. Payment options — driven by a whirlwind of new technology and shifting consumer preferences — are changing. And banking executives are faced with sorting out if and how to respond with a mobile payment strategy that aligns to their banks […]
Enhancements are coming to Visa’s Verified by Visa (VbV) online authentication service, and the 3-D Secure messaging protocol on which it’s based, the payment network announced Sept. 20.
Singapore-based ride-hailing platform Grab has raised U.S. $750 million in financing, increasing its total capital to more than $1 billion, and will use the funds to expand its transportation services throughout Southeast Asia, the company announced Sept. 20. Grab, which offers private car, motorbike, taxi and carpooling services in six countries and 31 cities in Southeast Asia, also will also use the capital to invest in its GrabPay mobile payments platform.
Samsung wants to enable consumers to pay with their eyes. The latest update to the company’s Samsung Pay mobile wallet will include a feature that will allow payments via iris scans of consumers’ eyes, according to a Samsung spokesman.
Contactless POS terminal transactions made in-store using cards, mobile devices or wearables will total approximately $500 billion annually by next year, an increase from roughly $321 billion in 2016, according to a recent study by Juniper Research.
What were the most popular mobile banking apps (on Android) in India in August 2016? We reveal the stats for the top ten apps in India, ranked taking into account two engagement metrics – current installs and active app users.
A computer scientist appears to have broken Apple’s iPhone security by simply opening the phone and replacing the main memory chip with a cloned version. As long as the researcher kept switching the chips, it allowed an unlimited number of password attempts. The researcher said that the technique, which is known and referred to as Nand mirroring, cracked a 4-digit code in 40 hours and a 6-digit code in “hundreds of hours.”
Mastercard on Sept. 19 revealed a deal with Stripe to speed up payments via Mastercard Send, a platform enabling the rapid transfer and receipt of funds by businesses, merchants, governments, nonprofits, card issuers and consumers.
In a Sept. 19 ruling in a case over a cyberattacks against JPMorgan Chase and others, a federal judge became the latest to declare that bitcoin qualifies as legal tender. Manhattan District Court Judge Alison Nathan rejected an attempt by Anthony Murgio to dismiss charges that the bitcoin exchange he operated was an unlicensed money transmitting business.
What were the most popular mobile banking apps (on Android) in the US in August 2016? We reveal the stats for the top ten apps in the US, ranked taking into account two engagement metrics – current installs and active app users.
If the student body at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is any indication, it will be some time before bitcoin becomes a common form of payment. A study that began more than two years ago indicates that students preferred to pay with cash, payment cards or mobile wallet apps over the decentralized virtual currency.
London-based finech startup Curve continues to ramp up toward a full launch, landing £2 million (roughly U.S. $2.6 million) in post-seed investment, which the company said it’s hoping will lead to a larger Series A round later this year. Curve offers a physical smart card equipped with chip-and-PIN, magstripe and NFC technology.
UniCredit will launch “Buddybank”, a bank project exclusively designed for smartphones, in early 2017 in Italy. Buddybank will offer current accounts, credit/debit cards and “contextual” and instant personal loans, as well as a 24/7 concierge service, accessible via chat and phone, that “can help with everyday tasks such as restaurant reservations, taxi booking and travel […]
