Payments


Bank of England opens up RTGS service to fintech competition

The Bank of England (BoE) is opening up access to settlement accounts in its real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system with the goal to promote fintech innovation and competition. The bank says it’s extending access to non-bank payment service providers (PSPs), offering direct access to the UK’s sterling payment systems. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), […]

U.K. Bans Surcharging, Load Fees Could Be at Risk

The U.K.’s HM Treasury is banning surcharges on credit and debit card payments. For prepaid card providers, the new rules put significant fee income related to card-loading at risk, according to Polymath Consulting.

Mastercard Buys in to AI with Brighterion

Mastercard has entered into an agreement to acquire Brighterion Inc., a software company specializing in artificial intelligence. This acquisition follows Masterdard’s March acquisition of NuData Security and will further expand Mastercard’s capabilities to “deliver an enhanced customer experience and security.”

M-Wallet Roundup: Apple Pay, ANZ, CaixaBank, Starling, Samsung

It’s been a busy week for mobile wallet partnerships. Several companies announced deals to offer mobile wallets to their customers in the U.K., Australia and Europe. Challenger bank Starling says it’s the first in the U.K. to offer in-app provisioning.

Urban FT buys iParse to speed up mobile app onboarding for FIs

Mobile banking technology provider Urban FT has completed its acquisition of US software firm iParse, which, CEO Richard Steggall tells Banking Technology‘s sister publication Paybefore, will help the company provide a “mobile plug-in” for financial institutions. Steggall says the quicker, cheaper option compared with core processing integration will open up feature-rich mobile banking apps to […]

Fintech funding round-up: 18 July 2017

You’ve come to the right section for cash injection. Today’s fintech funding round-up features Contego, Privitar, Form3 and Barclays. Maven Capital Partners, a UK private equity house, has led the £3.5 million investment in Contego Fraud Solutions to support its growth plans. Maven is putting in £1.8 million, NVM Private Equity is investing £1.5 million, […]

PayPal teams with Samsung Pay

The partnerships keep coming for PayPal. Following recent news that the company is partnering with Apple for payments on iTunes and in the App Store, among other places, the company is now expanding its partnership with Samsung to enable PayPal as a payment method in any channel Samsung Pay is accepted, according to the PayPal blog. Banking […]

Worldline buys Digital River World Payments

France-based payments technology provider Worldline is expanding its global footprint with a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of the share capital of Digital River World Payments (DRWP), an online global payment service provider from Digital River Inc. Banking Technology‘s sister publication Paybefore reports that the acquisition, which is expected to close in the third quarter […]

PayPal Teams with Samsung Pay

The partnerships keep coming for PayPal. Following recent news that the company is partnering with Apple for payments on iTunes and in the App Store, the company announced July 17 that it’s expanding its partnership with Samsung to enable PayPal as a payment method in any channel Samsung Pay is accepted.

Jenius digital bank gets clever with Finastra

Jenius digital bank, part of Indonesia’s Bank Tabungan Pensiunan Nasional (BTPN), has chosen Finastra’s (formerly Misys) FusionBanking Essence Digital platform. Peterjan van Nieuwenhuizen, head of digital banking at BTPN, says it has “built a system that enables our customers to complete basic banking processes without going to the branch”; and with an “expanding middle class […]

Find Innovation in a Sandbox, Not in a Lab

For financial institutions lacking the deep pockets of the biggest competitors, investing their limited resources to develop disruptive payments solutions isn’t a viable option. Stated simply, you can never outspend the big guys. What you really need is a more effective weapon to level the playing field.

Congressman Calls for Hearing on Amazon’s Whole Foods Bid

On this heels of its record-breaking Prime Day, during which sales were up more than 60 percent over last year, Amazon is facing antitrust concerns from the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee. U.S. Congressman David N. Cicilline (R.I.) is calling for a hearing on the e-commerce giant’s $13.7 billion bid to acquire brick-and-mortar specialty grocery chain Whole Foods.

mVisa Takes on M-PESA with Free Domestic Mobile Money Transfers

Move over M-PESA, customers of a Visa-led bank partnership in Kenya will be able to send money to each other domestically without paying transaction fees using mVisa, and the payments network has added additional in-store merchant acceptance for the QR-code-based payment method.

Congressional Republicans Look to Dismantle CFPB’s Arbitration Rule

It didn’t take long for Congressional Republicans to pounce on the CFPB’s final rule on arbitration agreements, which the agency released on July 10. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling said he would support use of the Congressional Review Act to dismantle the rule, while Sen. Tom Cotton (Ark.) already has drafted a CRA resolution and is working with Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (Idaho) to introduce it “soon.”

EML Goes Global with Next-Gen Mall Cards, Gaming Payouts

More than a year into the merger with Australia-based EMerchants Limited, former Store Financial CEO Eric Mettemeyer, who now leads EML’s North America division, spoke with Paybefore about the company’s global efforts to expand beyond single-load gift and the greenfield in payout cards, gaming and more.

New partnership turns PayPal into Apple App Store payment option

One small step for consumer choice in e-commerce. One giant leap in PayPal’s quest to be the payment option of choice for shoppers online, reports Finovate (Banking Technology’s sister company). This week the company announced a partnership with Apple to allow shoppers pay for their purchases at the App Store using PayPal. The feature will be available for users […]

Top fintech stories this week – 14 July 2017

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Aktia Bank finally live with Temenos T24 core banking system “Some system repairs will be carried out during the following weeks.” HSBC and Barclays pilot banking without borders Testing use of a citizen’s national digital identity. ANZ, Westpac […]

Vote for the Best Challenger Banks

Vote for the challenger banks (licensed or not) that should make Paybefore’s top 5 Best Challenger Banks list. Share your opinions through Aug. 1. The top 5 vote-getters will be profiled on Paybefore.com. 

Apple Deal Puts PayPal One Step Closer to Ubiquity

One small step for consumer choice in e-commerce, one giant leap in PayPal’s quest for ubiquity. The company announced a partnership with Apple to enable shoppers to pay for their purchases in the App Store, iTunes, Apple Music and iBooks using PayPal.

Amex Taps Virtual Cards for Business Travel Expenses

American Express is the latest payments company to recognize the benefits of enabling virtual account numbers for business travel. The addition of virtual account numbers enables businesses to set usage dates and pre-authorize spending limits at the time of booking, helping reduce fraud and encourage compliance with company travel policies, Amex said.

Altice puts squeeze on Orange with bank move

In a copycat move that will come as a blow to Orange, rival Altice plans to launch its own online bank by early 2019 in the countries in its network footprint, according to a report from Reuters that cites a source close to the matter. Light Reading (Banking Technology’s sister publication) reports that the launch of […]

Debit cards knock off cash as No. 1 payment method in UK

Cash is no longer king in the UK, according to the British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) annual Payments Survey, which found that debit card transactions accounted for almost 43% of all retail transactions in 2016, overtaking cash, which accounted for 42% of all retail transactions, for the first time. Banking Technology‘s sister publication Paybefore reports that […]

UK watchdog backs PSR plan for merger of three payment bodies

The UK’s Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has got approval from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for its plan for the consolidation of the operators of three payment systems. As first reported in May, the PSR aimed to get Bacs Payment Schemes (BPSL), Cheque and Credit Clearing Company (C&CCC) and the Faster Payments Scheme (FPSL) […]

Debit Cards Knock off Cash as No. 1 Payment Method in U.K.

Cash is no longer king in the U.K., according to the British Retail Consortium’s annual Payments Survey, which found that debit card transactions accounted for almost 43 percent of all retail transactions in 2016, overtaking cash, which accounted for 42 percent of all retail transactions, for the first time.

Fintech Funding Roundup: Revolut, Curve, Pixoneye, Gridspace

And the money keeps rolling in for fintech. U.K. challenger bank Revolut announced a $66 million investment it will use to introduce new features and expand globally, starting with Asia and North America. Meanwhile, Santander InnoVentures, the bank’s fintech venture capital fund, has added U.K.-based Pixoneye and Curve and U.S.-based Gridspace to its portfolio.

FitPay and Mastercard take prepaid to wearables and IoT

FitPay Inc, a US-based provider of payment, credential management and authentication platform services, is planning to offer prepaid capabilities on wearable and other devices connected to its FitPay Payment Platform.

Bold statement three: statements from around the bleeding edge of innovation

Hello all and apologies it’s taken a little while to get to the third instalment of the series about “pet peeve statements”. For those who are new, I am talking about those bold, declaratory statements that puff up the chest and make people feel awfully progressive and far sighted – and as I have said before, all sound and fury, signifying stormy waters ahead!

People on the Move: Kim Sergent, InComm

Kim Sergent has joined InComm as vice president of marketing for its Financial Services division, where she will lead the marketing strategy of InComm’s consumer-facing Vanilla brand, which produces prepaid consumer products that include Vanilla Gift and MyVanilla.

Wirecard opens European POS to Chinese travellers with Tencent deal

Wirecard and Tencent are working together to give European retailers access to more than 938 million active WeChat and Weixin users by enabling QR code payments at the POS, reports Paybefore (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). The mobile payment solution, WeChat Pay, has more than 600 million active users, which is equivalent to nearly 40% of […]

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 10 July 2017

Reading doesn’t have to be a trial. Our latest blockchain and Bitcoin round-up keeps it ultra-brief. Featuring Mt. Gox, less than smooth criminals, the Council of the European Union and Coinsource. Mark Karpeles, the former CEO of collapsed Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, will go on trial in Tokyo next week on charges stemming from the […]

CFPB Issues Final Arbitration Rule

It’s difficult to say just yet who the ultimate victors will be in the battle over arbitration—trial lawyers, consumers, the financial services industry, Congressional Republicans or the CFPB—but the bureau fired the latest salvo by issuing its final rule on arbitration agreements on July 10. The move comes despite warnings from House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) that doing so could result in contempt proceedings.

Dentist unveils payments start-up for millennials

It’s not enough for the fintech world to be sick to the back teeth of the “millennials would rather visit their dentist than listen to their bank” quote – but we now have yet another UK payments start-up – this time launched by an actual dentist. On the dirt-encrusted and pothole-festooned streets of the UK, […]