Many mobile wallet users want more from their mobile wallets, such as sales offers, coupons, order delivery updates and loyalty programs, and marketing and loyalty opportunities using mobile wallets has gone largely untapped, according to a recent study, “The State of Mobile Wallet Marketing,” conducted by Urban Airship, a mobile engagement platform provider.
Czech bank ČSOB and Italian payments firm SIA have launched the first mobile wallet for NFC payments in the Czech Republic. The new app, NaNákupy (literally “go shopping”), supports both MasterCard and Visa, and enables ČSOB’s customers to make contactless payments by smartphone. Petr Hutla, member of the ČSOB board of directors in charge of […]
A Florida man should have gotten his bitcoin through a reputable virtual currency exchange instead of some guys meeting in a Boston Market restaurant parking lot in the middle of the night. Likely surprising no one, a deal to exchange $28,000 for the equivalent in bitcoin went bad, leading to one arrest.
Accenture has acquired 100% of the shares in Amsterdam-based start-up Mobgen. Mobgen says with Accenture it can expand its “end-to-end mobile approach”. The Dutch firm will be part of Accenture Digital, but will keep the same brand, culture and operate from its offices in Amsterdam, London, and A Coruña and Malaga in Spain. It has […]
UK-based start-up Monizo is planning to launch the “first” banking service targeted solely at freelancers. In an exclusive interview with Banking Technology, CEO and co-founder Samuel O’Connor says the firm caters for the particular needs of freelancers across the UK. He says: “The rules are getting more onerous for freelancers and by the end of […]
They want permission from national anti-trust regulators to negotiate as a bloc with Apple over putting their own mobile payment technologies on iPhones.
Venmo also announced additional merchant partners have come on board, bringing the number of merchants now accepting Venmo payments within their mobile apps to 11.
UK-based Tide will offer a “nimble small business current account”, with a swift set-up and no monthly fees. It claims to be among the “world’s first” mobile-first banking services for SMEs. Tide’s CEO George Bevis says the company will open its virtual doors for business in autumn this year. Tide is currently in the “private alpha […]
Who is leading the digital way among the US retail banks? We have put together some nifty stats for the top ten online banking sites in the US for the past month (data courtesy of SimilarWeb). We’ll be publishing regular updates on a monthly basis, to track the changes, developments and trends – to bring you a fuller […]
Who is leading the digital way among the retail banks in India? We have put together some nifty stats for India’s top ten online banking sites for the past month (data courtesy of SimilarWeb). We’ll be publishing regular updates on a monthly basis, to track the changes, developments and trends – to bring you a fuller picture of […]
EBA Clearing, a provider of payment infrastructure solutions owned by 53 major banks in Europe, has published the specifications for its future pan-European real-time payments solution. The new solution is set to go live in November 2017. It will comply with the SCT Inst Scheme of the European Payments Council (EPC). The document, which can […]
With digital banking (and particularly mobile) sharply on the rise in the UK – according to the latest figures released by the British Bankers Association – who is leading among the UK retail banks? We have put together some nifty stats for the top ten online banking sites in the UK for the past month (data […]
Mastercard on Tuesday (July 26) was granted a patent for a device that sidesteps PINs and biometrics for quick consumer payment authorization. The idea is that consumers would authenticate themselves before making the purchase, thereby enabling much faster checkout in-store.
Square Inc. reportedly wants to set up shop in the U.K. That would put the mobile payments service up against such players as PalPay and Germany-based SumUp—among many others—for the loyalties of merchants.
It has been a couple of weeks of important announcements in the challenger banking space, with some interesting long-term trends emerging in the sector. Two new challenger banks have received their banking licences in the past week. Berlin-based Number26 renamed itself N26 and received its full banking licence from the European Central Bank and German […]
Telefónica Germany, in association with Fidor Bank, has launched its mobile banking offering, “O2 Banking”, in Germany. As Banking Technology reported in May, Matthias Kröner, CEO of Fidor Bank, said the collaboration offers “the best of two digital worlds” – banking services via a mobile app and additional services from an O2 mobile contract. The […]
With nearly 40 million Americans using wearables—and that number expected to more than double by 2018, retailers are looking for ways to capitalize on wearable popularity by using these devices to push personalized offers and provide payments capabilities to improve the shopping experience.
Mobile banking is catching on in a big way in the U.K., with payments via mobile banking apps reaching £347 (about US$456 million) in 2015, up a whopping 54 percent over the previous year, according to a new study. The Way We Bank Now, a report from the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) and professional services organization EY, found that U.K. consumers used mobile banking apps—ranging from those of major banks to full-featured mobile-centric accounts—more than 4 billion times last year.
Absa has launched a MasterCard-powered digital wallet and ChatBanking for Facebook Messenger. ChatBanking will let customers conduct banking without having to leave the social media platform; and follows on from the recent introduction of Absa ChatBanking on Twitter in May. Ashley Veasey, group CIO and chief digital officer at Barclays Africa (Absa is majority owned […]
Soumik Roy, Banking Technology’s editorial contributor based in India, explores India’s digital banking landscape, examines innovative players like DBS digibank, and ponders what’s next for the nation’s fast-paced fintech sector. Electronic banking and payments are rapidly picking up pace in India; citizens love the convenience, the government hopes it will drive transparency and reduce the […]
British Bankers Association (BBA) says digital banking is in a “consumer-led revolution”. Its latest report – Way We Bank Now – shows a drastic increase in consumers using digital channels to manage their money. Changing customer habits and major technological advances in banking have resulted in the following: Customers are using mobile banking apps more […]
For those wondering if the post-eBay PayPal would act differently, July 21 gave us the answer: Yes. On Thursday, PayPal announced a strategic partnership with Visa where Visa would get preference—in both PayPal and Venmo apps—and PayPal said that it would “not encourage Visa cardholders to link to a bank account via ACH” and “PayPal will also support and work with issuers to identify consumers who choose to migrate existing ACH payment flows to their Visa cards.”
Mastercard is set to gain control of a major chunk of the U.K. transaction processing market, entering a definitive agreement to acquire 92.4 percent of VocaLink in a deal that could total up to $1.14 billion. A bank-owned consortium, VocaLink’s technology underpins the British direct debit and credit payments system, as well as the LINK ATM network and the Faster Payments Scheme for real-time mobile and Internet payments.
Société Générale has acquired a stake in TagPay, a French mobile banking firm, as it looks to develop mobile banking in Africa. Société Générale says the deal will support the development of TagPay on the market and it will roll out the service to its African subsidiaries. TagPay’s mobile-centric core banking system, also called TagPay, […]
German digital bank Number26 becomes N26 and has received its banking licence, 1.5 years after launching. After applying for the licence nine months ago; Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) and the European Central Bank gave the bank regulatory approval to conduct operations across Europe. “This banking licence is an important additional step for us […]
Visa has been granted a patent that could help in a big way by identifying and “blacklisting” a device that’s been used to perpetrate fraud.
Apple Pay is now available in France – with Visa debit and credit cardholders from Banque Populaire et Caisse d’Epargne (BPCE group) getting immediate access. Apple Pay can be used to touch and pay wherever Visa contactless payment is accepted. Visa says France already has over 400,000 merchant locations live with contactless payment today (19 […]
Canada’s first mobile wallet suretap is now one of the latest casualties in the mobile wallet wars. Citing market changes and an increasing number of mobile payment and banking options, among other factors, the Toronto-based company will shut down the mobile wallet as of Aug. 26. But it’s not alone. Semble, a New Zealand-based joint venture created by several telecoms and banks, discontinued its mobile payment service July 15.
Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Note 7 reportedly will include an iris scanner that enables consumers to unlock their phones, one of the first major smartphones in the U.S. to include such technology. Although there was no immediate indication that Samsung plans to use iris authentication for payments, biometrics authentication is gaining momentum as providers seek to eliminate security-challenged passwords.
Samsung Electronics will roll out Samsung Pay in Brazil tomorrow (19 July), the first market in South America to introduce its mobile payment service. The service will launch with “major issuers” including Banco do Brasil, Brasil Pré-Pagos, Caixa, Porto Seguro and Santander. Additionally, Samsung says it is working with other bank partners including Banrisul, Bradesco, […]
Japanese operator group Softbank has successfully bid £24.3 billion to buy UK mobile chip designer ARM in a bid to position itself at the centre of the IoT revolution, reports Scott Bicheno at Telecoms.com. The bid represents a 43% premium to the ARM share price at close of trading on Friday last week and the […]
BMO Bank of Montreal has introduced a new service that allows customers to open an account using their smartphone, without having to go to a branch or download an app. The bank says this “first-of-its-kind account opening capability” allows customers to search, select and open a new account with BMO “in minutes”. Niti Badarinath, head […]
FIS and Payment Alliance International (PAI) have teamed up to offer cardless cash services across the US. The partnership connects mobile solution FIS Cardless Cash to PAI – the nation’s “largest”, privately-held provider of ATM processing and maintenance services. FIS says the deal will “ultimately” expand to 70,000 ATMs in the PAI ATM network. Anthony […]
According to new research from Visa, consumers across Europe are interested in using biometrics when making a payment – especially when integrated with other security measures. About 73% of the 14,000 European consumers surveyed see two-factor authentication, where a biometric is used in conjunction with a payment device, as a secure way to confirm an […]
Mastercard is expanding its Masterpass digital payment service to enable users to make in-store purchases, adding a major competitor to the increasingly crowded field of mobile payment services—and one that boasts a roster of 250,000 merchant partners and a built-in base of existing users. Meanwhile, two other high-profile mobile payment apps—Starbucks and Android Pay—are expanding in Asia-Pacific.
Issuers are beginning to put the fight against fraud into cardholders’ hands with mobile app controls, such as on/off switches and geolocation. Elan Financial Services is the latest to help issuers give debit and prepaid cardholders the ability to control their cards from their smartphones.
Transport for London (TfL), the city’s transit authority, and Cubic Transportation Systems have consummated a £15 million (US$20 million) licensing deal enabling Cubic to tailor London’s contactless system technology for other world cities’ transport systems.
TIM, the single brand of Telecom Italia Group, has teamed with SIA (through its subsidiary TSP), to make POS MultiPay terminals operative in over 2,200 stores in its sales network across Italy. The aim is to extend the methods of e-payment for its offers; and SIA says TIM’s prepaid mobile phone customers will be able, […]
Australia and New Zealand-based banking group, ANZ, is the first bank to launch Android Pay in Australia. ANZ chief executive officer Shayne Elliott says: “Being the first major bank in Australia able to offer Android Pay is another important milestone for ANZ.” Google senior director product management Pali Bhat adds: “Using Android Pay is more […]
Standard Bank in South Africa has launched its existing banking app to four additional African markets. The app is now available in Uganda, Namibia, Ghana and Botswana; with plans to roll it out to Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia and Zimbabwe by the end of 2016. The latest development is part of its drive to “enhance its […]
