Top fintech stories this week – 7 July 2017
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
Payments
Mastercard Makes Digital Payments Push in Asia-Pacific Transit
Mastercard is making headway in advancing digital payments for transit passengers in Australia and bike-sharing consumers in Singapore.
Card payments problems bring down the fintech house
A whole swathe of fintech firms and challenger banks have been hit by tech issues – with card payments failing. The names include mobile-only challenger bank Monzo, Revolut, Starling Bank, Curve and payments start-up Fire. The problem is understood to be due to provider Global Processing Services (GPS), which as usual offers no updates on […]
More banks nuzzle up to Swift’s nostro blockchain project
Swift has revealed that 22 additional banks have joined its blockchain proof of concept (PoC), designed to validate whether the technology can help banks reconcile their international nostro accounts in real time. The PoC is part of the Swift gpi (global payments innovation) service, its new standard for cross-border payments. As reported previously, gpi has […]
TfL Tops 1 Billion Contactless Journeys
Transport for London revealed July 6 that its passengers have made more than 1 billion pay-as-you-go journeys using contactless payment cards, with 40 percent of all pay-as-you-go trips paid for with contactless payment, up from 25 percent a year ago.
Banking Technology July/August 2017 issue out now
Set sail for fintech! The latest edition of our flagship magazine – Banking Technology – is out now, packed with news, analysis and insights, case studies, research and expert commentary.
Vantiv and Worldpay agree on key points of potential merger
Vantiv, a US-based payment processing and technology provider, and Worldpay, its counterpart in the UK, have reached “an agreement in principle on the key terms of a potential merger”.
M&A Update: IDT’s New Owner; ScanSource Buys POS Portal
Two recent deals further demonstrate the fertile M&A field in the payments space worldwide. London-based JAR Capital Limited has announced plans to acquire Gibraltar-based e-money issuer IDT Financial Services. Meanwhile, technology provider ScanSource Inc. has agreed to buy POS Portal, a Sacramento-based payment terminal and P2PE encryption technology provider that focuses largely on the SMB market.
Just in case you need a reason: why participate in Banking Technology Awards?
This year’s Banking Technology Awards are taking place on 13 December in London and there are plenty of reasons why you and your team should be a part of this prestigious event. Besides having a good chance at winning, entering the Awards also allows you to: Make global headlines in the industry if your entry […]
Planet Payment, ACI Launch UnionPay’s SecurePlus
Processors Planet Payment Inc. and ACI Worldwide are working together to bring UnionPay International’s SecurePlus solution to merchants eager to accept the Chinese issuer’s debit and credit cards with less customer friction and more currency options.
Fintech funding round-up: 4 July 2017
There’s no lacking of backing. Our latest fintech funding round-up features Tide, Instarem and IntellectEU. UK-based mobile banking firm Tide, which launched in January, has raised $14 million in its Series A investment round. The round has been led by specialist fintech investor Anthemis, alongside Creandum, the Scandinavian fund that has backed companies including Spotify […]
Curve Takes Users ‘Back in Time’
Payments startups usually boast about their ability to future-proof their technology. For U.K. payments startup Curve, a big part of its appeal is helping users go back in time.
Fed Payments Study: Noncash Payments Soar amid Check Decline
Consumers wrote nearly two-thirds fewer checks per household in 2015 than in 2000, while total noncash payments per household, which includes checks, card payments and electronic transfers via ACH, expanded almost 95 percent, according to additional results released June 30 from the “2016 Federal Reserve Payments Study.” While the numbers are encouraging to those facilitating electronic payments, prepaid providers have some work to do to gain market share.
Compliance Titans: Jeff Ross, Green Dot Corp.
Nearly a decade after jumping from the public to the private sector, Green Dot’s Jeff Ross remains as enthused as ever by the new challenges and complexities he faces every day as compliance head for one of the biggest players in an industry with a constantly shifting regulatory landscape and technology that’s advancing at a breakneck pace.
SEC Files Fraud Charges in Bitcoin, Office Space Scams
A U.K. citizen living in New York is facing fraud charges brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in relation to two bogus investment schemes. Renwick Haddow allegedly reaped millions of dollars from investors in his supposed bitcoin platform Bitcoin Store Inc. and in Bar Works Inc., which offers office space in renovated restaurants and bars.
New trade body UK Finance launches
New trade association UK Finance – created as a result of the merger between six domestic associations in the banking and payments space – has officially launched. As reported in March, UK Finance brings together the Asset Based Finance Association (ABFA), British Bankers’ Association (BBA), Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), Financial Fraud Action UK (FFA […]
Alfa-Bank buys Misys Equation source code
Alfa-Bank, a top ten bank in Russia by assets and profit, has purchased the source code of its core banking system, Misys Equation. The solution is provided by Finastra (formerly Misys).
Orange Puts Bank on Hold amid Struggle to Get it Right
Orange has put the brakes on its ambitious plans to venture into the world of mobile banking after finding the proposition doesn’t quite meet its standards.
Fintech funding round-up: 30 June 2017
A handy round-up of who’s investing in what in the fintech space. Featuring Revolut, Tango Card and ClauseMatch.
PayPal makes strategic investment in online lender LendUp
Is PayPal’s investment in online lender LendUp a hint that the underbanked may not remain the underserved for long?
Top fintech stories this week – 30 June 2017
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
Cennox acquires Diebold UK & Ireland business
Following the ruling of the UK’s Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA), Diebold Nixdorf has shed some of its business. Diebold UK & Ireland has been sold to Cennox.
PFS deal to provide Moneymailme users with prepaid cards
Users of Moneymailme will have the option of using physical and virtual prepaid cards to make purchases with the funds in their e-wallets. The new feature, announced June 28 at the Money 20/20 Europe conference, is the result of a partnership between the London-based social money transfer provider Moneymailme and Prepaid Financial Services, a U.K.-based payments technology provider.
P2P Is Gaining Steam, but Security Concerns Remain
Consumers prefer to use P2P payments for retail purchases, paying back relatives and friends, and settling bills—but not so much for contributing to group gifts or paying housing costs, according to a new report from NerdWallet. It also found that that while only 35 percent of U.S. consumers use such P2P products as Venmo, PayPal and Square Cash, 63 percent are interested in the payment technology.
Investment Roundup: Visa Buys Stake in Klarna; Revolut, Tango Land Financing
Investors continue to show strong interest in fintech-based payments services providers, as Visa acquires an equity share in fast-growing Swedish e-commerce specialist Klarna, and startups Revolut and Tango Card land significant financing rounds.
Six Key Themes from Money20/20 Europe
After a frantic few days in Copenhagen for Money20/20 Europe, Paul Butterworth, strategic marketing director at Trustonic, used the time during his flight home to digest the discussions and presentations and come up with the key takeaways from the fintech event.
Money20/20 Europe: a finale for financial inclusion
For the finale of the final day of Money20/20 Europe, financial inclusion was discussed with resolute optimism for a bright future.
People on the move: Jean Douchey, i2c Inc
Payments processor i2c Inc. has appointed Jean Douchey as senior vice president of operations.
Company on the Move: Cardtek, OSPT Alliance
Payment solutions provider Cardtek has joined the OSPT Alliance, a global association chartered to help the transit, mobile and loyalty markets move toward an open infrastructure for fare collections.
Company on the Move: Digiliti Money, Russell Microcap Index
Mobile fintech provider Digiliti Money Inc. has joined the Russell Microcap Index.
Company on the Move: Payworks, German Enterprise Award
Global POS services provider Payworks has received a 2017 German Enterprise Award from Worldwide Business Review.
Company on the Move: TSYS, Civic 50 List
TSYS has been recognized by Points of Light, the world’s largest organization dedicated to volunteer service, as one of the most community-minded companies in the U.S.
Nets and Sthaler team up for finger-vein enabled payments
London-based biometric tech vendor Sthaler is working with Nordic payments provider Nets to introduce finger-vein enabled payments to the consumer market in Europe.
Association of Banks of Singapore launches PayNow mobile payments service
The Association of Banks of Singapore (ABS) has unveiled a new funds transfer service – PayNow – that requires only a mobile and identity card numbers to enrol.
Alipay comes to Spain with BBVA
BBVA has signed an agreement with Chinese tech giant Ant Financial to enable Chinese tourists to pay in Spanish stores using the Alipay mobile wallet. BBVA is the first Spanish financial institution to be working with Alipay.
Money20/20 Europe: Asia in the ascendant
Denmark took a back seat at Money20/20 Europe as the lively fintech scenes in China and India fell under the spotlight with a wealth of information and stats.
Money20/20 Europe: advancing APIs to a happy place
The interest from the fintech community in APIs burns brighter than a thousand suns, but where will this technology and the spirit of open banking take us?
CFPB Snapshot: California Leads Nation in Complaints to Agency
The CFPB receives more than 20,000 complaints every month, according to Director Richard Cordray, and the bureau’s latest installment of its Monthly Complaint Report highlights consumer complaints at the state level. As of June 1, the CFPB has received more than 1.2 million complaints across the country since it began accepting them in 2011. The top three states with the most complaints are California, Florida and Texas with 159,158, 111,559 and 93,472 complaints, respectively.
CFPB Clamps down on Credit Repair Companies, Leadership
The CFPB on June 27 filed two complaints and proposed final judgments in federal court against four California-based credit repair companies and three individuals for “misleading consumers and charging illegal fees.”
Money20/20 Europe: PSD2 Creates More Questions than Answers
On June 26, artificial intelligence captured the imagination of some at Money20/20 in Copenhagen. But during the June 27 sessions on the second day, it was like I had stepped back in time to November 2016, reported Deputy Editor Antony Peyton. Last year, at the Payments International conference in London, PSD2 left some in the payments industry confused as to where the risks and opportunities lie.
