Has Death Knell Sounded for MCX’s CurrentC?
MCX, led by a consortium of large retailers such as Walmart, Target and Best Buy, has announced it’s ending the beta test of its mobile payments service CurrentC, and accounts will be deactivated June 28.
Mobile
Four UK banks sign up for VocaLink’s Zapp app
Four of the UK’s biggest high street banks have signed up to launch Zapp’s “Pay by Bank app” mobile payment service. Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Halifax and Lloyds Bank are working with Zapp, VocaLink’s payments innovation team, to deliver the service. David Yates, CEO VocaLink, says the gang of four join a “growing number of […]
Olympic Athletes Hope for Medal, Guaranteed Visa Payments Ring
Not all Olympic athletes will be coming home from the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games with medals around their necks, but they’ll be coming home with rings on their fingers. The first contactless payments ring linked to a Visa-branded GPR account will be given to approximately 45 athletes that are part of Team Visa.
Green Dot, Uber Partnership Goes Nationwide
Ride-hailing service Uber has expanded a pilot partnership with Green Dot to all markets in which Uber operates in the U.S.
How to keep mobile app users engaged
With two thirds of people now owning a smartphone in the UK, demand is high amongst consumers to have connectivity at their fingertips. Add to this the fact that 39% of adults have at least one banking-based app, and it presents a real opportunity for banks to serve engaging content to the many consumers who are […]
New instant payments platform for PSPs comes to Italy
Nets and Istituto Centrale delle Banche Popolari Italiane (ICBPI) have joined forces to launch an instant payments solution in Italy. The new offering is set to go live in Q1 next year. It will be based on Nets’ RealTime24/7 platform and will serve the Italian payment service providers (PSPs). “We will provide to the Italian […]
Viewpoint: MCX Has Been a Big Success, Really
We’ve been hearing a lot about the demise of MCX since it announced yet another launch delay of its CurrentC app to focus on deals with financial institutions. While this move is clearly a pivot for MCX, it’s way too early to call the organization dead. In fact, we should be calling MCX a roaring success.
Nucleus Software launches mobile lending solution in Australia
Nucleus Software has released its mobile loan self-sourcing solution – mApply – for the Australian market. The firm says mApply helps banks digitise their loan origination lifecycle. Customers and mortgage brokers can view pre-approved loan offers from a bank, select the best offer and submit a paperless loan application “within minutes” and “without any need […]
Banking Technology June 2016 issue out now
The latest edition of our flagship magazine – Banking Technology – is out now, packed with news, analysis and insights, case studies, research and expert commentary.
Q&A with Steve Montross, CPI Card Group
For card manufacturers like CPI Card Group, the U.S. transition to EMV continues to be a top priority. But broader trends like the rise of e-commerce and wearables also are shaping a business that goes well beyond plastic.
Can Blockchain Save the U.S. Postal Service?
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS), striving to overcome inefficiencies and profitability that’s historically been much more often in the red than in the black, is exploring the use of blockchain technology to improve current services, provide new services and improve operations.
Webinar: Social Media, Fraud Worries Could Boost Prepaid Growth
Consumer fraud concerns and the popularity of mobile messaging apps likely will secure prepaid a firm spot in future commerce, according to Martin Koderisch, a manager at Edgar, Dunn and Company (EDC) during a recent Webinar entitled “Prepaid Payments in the Digital Age.”
PayPal Will Shut Down in Turkey After Regulators Reject New License
PayPal will shut down its business in Turkey on June 6 after regulators there denied the online payment processing service a new license.
Standard Chartered unveils mobile and online banking in Africa
Standard Chartered is bringing its mobile and online banking platform to eight countries in Africa. After the roll-out to Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe in the first half of 2016, the bank will launch fingerprint recognition technology in these markets later in the year. Karen Fawcett, Standard Chartered’s CEO for retail […]
Top fintech stories this week – 27 May 2016
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Swift hacks sees 12 more banks under attack A fast moving chain of events. High five for Apple Pay in Singapore Big banks onboard include OCBC and Standard Chartered. NYSE launches new trading tech platform, NYSE Pillar The […]
Santander UK pilots blockchain app for payments
Santander says it is the “first” UK bank to introduce blockchain for international payments through a new app. It is currently being rolled out as a staff pilot, with the intention to expand the technology “at a later date”. Sigga Sigurdardottir, head of customer and innovation at Santander, says: “The need for finance has evolved […]
Wells Fargo Joins the Mobile Wallet Race
Wells Fargo will launch its mobile wallet this summer, giving consumers using Android devices a new way to pay with their Wells Fargo debit and credit cards.
Invisible apps: removing friction from the online banking experience
A new stage of interactive banking is here. Santander recently announced a new app that will let consumers speak to their phone about their spending habits. Lloyds announced a video interview mortgage service, allowing customers to apply without setting foot in a branch. And HSBC released an app which replaces a pin number for voice biometrics. This […]
High five for Apple Pay in Singapore
Apple Pay support is expanding beyond American Express to Visa and MasterCard credit and debit cards from five of Singapore’s major banks. The big banks include POSB, DBS, OCBC, Standard Chartered and UOB. This latest deal is a significant development for Apple as it now has more than 80% of the Visa and MasterCard credit […]
MasterCard and Pizza Hut Will Use Robots for Payments in Asia
The robot, called Pepper, represents only one emerging payment method that seems to be inspired by science fiction.
Survey: U.S. Banks Earn Top Marks Globally, But Have Opportunity to Better Reach Younger Consumers
Consumers with bank accounts are four times more likely to use mobile apps from their primary financial institutions than from other sources, according to an FIS survey.
Wirecard, Curve Aim at SMEs with Smart Card, Mobile Combo
The Curve card functions as a prepaid MasterCard, which acts as a conduit for payment from the chosen card. A companion mobile app provides account management, transaction history and other functions.
Webinar: Part of Europe’s PSD2 Promises to Change the Handling of Payment Data
Data provisions for access to accounts in the PSD2 likely will spark the launch of new payment and fintech firms to handle the new data demands from consumers and to create new products, according to presenters.
VPBank revamps omnichannel banking with SAP; plans new digital bank
Vietnam’s mid-tier banking player, Vietnam Prosperity Bank (VPBank), has implemented a new digital solution, SAP’s Omnichannel Digital Platform. Omnichannel Digital Platform stems from the Sybase 360 product that came SAP’s way with the acquisition of Sybase in 2010. The new solution was deployed in one year at VPBank, with online and mobile components for retail […]
Bangkok Bank enhances mobile banking ops with Fiserv’s Mobiliti Edge
Bangkok Bank has launched new mobile banking functionality, based on Fiserv’s Mobiliti Edge mobile banking and payments platform. The bank’s mobile solution is known as Bualuang mBanking. It enables Bangkok Bank’s customers to access financial services via a mobile phone, tablet or the Apple Watch. Fiserv and Bangkok Bank have been working together for a […]
Shoptalk: Payments Change Breeds Excitement, Confusion
With excitement often comes confusion, and that was true Tuesday at the Shoptalk conference in Las Vegas, where executives offered an optimistic view of the future of commerce and payments, albeit a vision that carried more than a bit of uncertainty.
Shoptalk: New Ways to Pay, Attract Millennials
At Shoptalk in Las Vegas this week, young companies showcased their contributions to the evolution of commerce and experts discussed how retailers and payments providers can attract the coveted millennial shopper.
Fitbit Nabs Wearables Tech, Staff from Coin
Fitbit Inc. is acquiring the wearable payments platform of startup Coin, with an eye on developing contactless payment features for future Fitbit fitness bands. The deal includes “key personnel and intellectual property” related to Coin’s wearables business, but does not include Coin’s core product—an electronic smart card that can be loaded with multiple payment, gift or loyalty cards, Fitbit said.
Android Pay now in the UK; Australia and Singapore are next
Android Pay is now available in the UK, and more countries are on the way. Banking Technology first reported on this initiative in March this year. UK consumers can now pay for goods and services with their Android smartphones. Retailers like Boots, Waitrose and Starbucks are already onboard, and so is Transport for London (underground, […]
MCX Delays CurrentC, Shifts Focus to FI Partnerships
Retailer consortium MCX said it will postpone the rollout of its CurrentC mobile payments service and shift its focus to partnering with financial institutions. Results from its pilot in Columbus, Ohio, led to the strategy move as well as the decision to cut about 30 jobs.
Study: Only a Quarter of U.S. Consumers Trust Banking Websites
Well, this might hurt: Only 25 percent of U.S. consumers trust banking Websites, and 23 percent of consumers point to POS systems as the top device for fraud risk.
MyState in digital banking transformation
Australia-based financial services group, MyState, is gearing up to launch a new digital banking system, provided by domestic vendor Rubik Financial. The new solution is set to go live in August and promises to transform MyState’s digital channels and customer experience, according to Rubik. It will provide “superior digital experience” to customers, the vendor says, […]
Walmart Pay Rolls out in Texas, Arkansas
Five months after unveiling its own in-store mobile payment service, Walmart has begun rolling out Walmart Pay in Texas and the retail giant’s home state of Arkansas. Available through the Walmart smartphone app for iOS and Android, Walmart Pay can be loaded with any major credit, debit or prepaid card or a Walmart gift card.
Sen. Durbin Wants Answers on EMV Terminal Certification Delays
More than seven months after last October’s EMV liability shift in the U.S., customers “are forced to continue using fraud-prone magnetic stripe technology” because chip-reading payment terminals remain idle, charged U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin in a letter to Federal Trade Commission Chair Edith Ramirez.
UK challenger banks: who’s who
With so many new banks trying to muscle into the UK banking sector, spurred on by the reduced barriers to entry and calls for competition, Banking Technology wonders: will this boom be followed by a bust? In the meantime, make hay whilst the sun shines! Here is our guide to who’s who in the UK […]
Barclays swerves Android Pay with smartphone NFC payments
Banking giant Barclays has announced the launch of its own mobile contactless on Android, and confirmed it will not be joining Android Pay, reports Tim Skinner at Telecoms.com. The bank has been one of the UK’s more innovative financial institutions harnessing mobile payments, and specifically the integration of payment technology into wearable or alternative devices. […]
M-Payments Heat up in India, but Will UPI Make Wallets Redundant?
As the country’s Unified Payments Interface threatens to leapfrog mobile wallets in the country, one mobile wallet provider wins a capital gain, while another wallet program launches.
Fidor Bank and Telefónica Germany to launch O2’s first mobile bank account
Telefónica Germany, in association with Fidor Bank, will be launching its mobile banking offering, “O2 Banking”, in Germany in late summer 2016. Matthias Kröner, CEO of Fidor Bank, says the collaboration offers “the best of two digital worlds”. Namely, banking services via a mobile app and additional services from an O2 mobile contract. Fidor says […]
Apple Pay Expands in Canada
The mobile payment service, once confined to American Express cardholders, now is available to MasterCard, Visa and Interac customers. Apple has signed deals with four banks for Apple Pay.
Can Password Manager Dashlane Race ahead in Wallet Wars?
Dashlane, a password manager with offices in New York City and Paris, announced on May 9 that its digital wallet has surpassed $5 billion in online consumer spending. Could this digital identity company become a leader in the wallet wars?
