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.
Payments
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.
Visa invests in paytech firm and bank Klarna
Visa is investing in Klarna, a Swedish payments and banking firm, and the two firms intend “to develop a future strategic partnership”.
Payscout Launches Virtual Reality Commerce with Visa’s Help
Retail payments have taken another step into the future. Payment processor Payscout has launched a virtual reality system that employs Visa Checkout and enables consumers to examine products before ordering them for delivery to shoppers’ homes.
Flywire Snags PayPal for Cross-Border Payments
Cross-border payments and receivables specialist Flywire has added PayPal to its platform as a funding option, enabling businesses, students and patients to fund cross-border payments via PayPal accounts. PayPal now is available as a payment method for Flywire users in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and European Union, Flywire said.
Study: Americans Uneasy about Finances Provide Opportunity for Financial Service Providers
One-fourth of Americans say they have too much debt, with 96 percent of them reporting they are financially stressed, according to a survey by the Center for Financial Services Innovation to gauge Americans’ financial well-being. While those statistics are bleak, they should signal an opportunity for banks, credit unions, fintechs and other companies to provide products, services and guidance to improve consumers’ financial stability, according to Jennifer Tescher, founder and CEO of CFSI.
Money20/20 Europe: PSD2 creates more questions than answers
The second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) is creating more questions and issues than the answers it ultimately should offer.
Mobile-only bank Pepper now live
Israel’s Bank Leumi has launched its new digital banking subsidiary, Pepper.
Wirecard’s New POS Suite Offers Merchants Power of Data
Wirecard AG has launched a new POS service that integrates self-learning technology to help retailers increase customer conversion, reduce attrition rates, predict future consumer behavior and link points of sale with e-commerce.
U.K. Regulator Calls for More Competition in Payments
The U.K. needs more competition in its retail payments infrastructure. That’s the conclusion of a new report from the country’s Payment Systems Regulator.
Starling Bank expands to Ireland, eyes “the whole world”
London-based challenger bank Starling has received a banking passport into Ireland. The bank says this is “its first step in its plans to provide services to European markets”.
Venmo tests physical debit card
Venmo is planning to introduce a physical debit card to supplement its payments app.
Starling Bank preps for future with new features
UK challenger bank Starling has launched a “Spending Insights” tool and an online community for its users – and it is setting out its future plans. Spending Insights is probably self-explanatory. It works in the app and the bank says it gives users ideas about where they can save money. It shows customers how much […]
ZineOne is the one for HDFC digital banking hub
India-based HDFC Bank has selected Silicon Valley start-up ZineOne to improve its digital banking offerings. The bank will deploy ZineOne’s Customer Interactions Hub (CIH), which will establish a single customer identity and “bring real-time, contextual, and omni-channel functionality” to interactions across businesses, applications and digital properties including web applications, mobile apps, digital wallets, website, kiosks […]
Top fintech stories this week – 23 June 2017
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
Treasury’s Walt Henderson Wins Terrence P. Maher Award
The NBPCA’s Power of Prepaid Conference kicked off in Washington, D.C., on June 22, with discussion of the prepaid industry’s most pressing challenge, regulatory uncertainty. One of the highlights of the morning sessions, however, was the presentation of the third annual Terrence P. Maher Prepaid Influencer Award to Walt Henderson, director of EFT strategy division at the U.S. Department of Treasury. Henderson has managed the Treasury’s benefits disbursement prepaid program from its inception, overseeing substantial growth and consistently high customer satisfaction.
Study: Apple Wallet Users Love Sharing Digital Coupons, Loyalty Cards
A new report indicates that retailers and brands have a powerful channel to distribute digital coupons and loyalty cards via mobile wallets: wallet users themselves. An analysis of Apple Wallet users by mobile engagement specialist Urban Airship found that every digital coupon or loyalty card a user installed on the wallet was shared to an average of 3.3 other mobile devices.
Curve Hits 50-50 Milestones; Consumer Card to Come
Curve and its all-cards-in-one Curve Mastercard and accompanying banking app apparently has struck a chord with small businesses and freelancers. More than 50,000 SMEs have signed up for the London-based startup’s program, which recorded £50 million (US$63.3 million) in user spending since the beta period began last year.
Danes gain easier mobile way to pay for groceries
Dankort, the national debit card of Denmark, has made shopping easier for consumers using iPhones.
ECB to develop service for settlement of instant payments
The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) says it will develop a new service for the settlement of instant payments. The new service, Target instant payment settlement (TIPS), will enable citizens and firms to transfer money between each other in real-time and will be available around the clock, 365 days a year. The […]
Case study: Valley National Bank – cloud atlas
Valley National Bank, a $23 billion regional bank holding company headquartered in northern New Jersey, is undertaking a widespread technology refresh to improve customer experience and profitability.
Mastercard launches competition for African financial inclusion
The Mastercard Foundation Fund for Rural Prosperity (FRP) has launched a new competition to find financial products and services that improve the lives of poor people in rural areas of Africa. The 2017 competition will follow a rolling format and will be open throughout the year with applications submitted and evaluated periodically. The first submission […]
SIX’s payments offer cashless waltz for Vienna Life Ball
SIX Payment Services (SIX) has enabled the Vienna Life Ball in Austria to be cashless for the first time in its history. The Life Ball is an annual AIDS charity event, and 110 cashless point of sale (POS) terminals were installed, configured and serviced by SIX, across the whole arena. There were also 30 top-up […]
Mastercard, Western Union Designing Digital Solutions for Refugees
Mastercard and Western Union have teamed up to help refugees around the world access goods, services and financial services within refugee settlements. Announced on June 20—World Refugee Day—the partnership will explore ways to use a digital model to serve the more than 65 million people around the world currently displaced from their homes due to political conflict and natural disasters.
SoftBank Invests $100 Million in Cybersecurity Firm Cybereason
Cybereason, a Boston-based cybersecurity startup, continues to rake in the cash, with the latest capital infusion coming from SoftBank Corp. The Japanese telecom and Internet service provider has invested $100 million in Cybereason, according to a June 21 announcement.
Top Payments Consultants: Rick Oglesby, AZ Payments Group
Even when serving in senior manager and director roles with the likes of American Express and TSYS early in his career, Rick Oglesby, AZ Payments Group president, always felt he was destined to be a payments consultant. That vision came true in 2011, and you don’t have to spend too much time with him before his love of consultancy work—helping companies succeed while establishing and nurturing relationships—becomes apparent and likely is the reason why he was selected as one of the industry’s Top Payments Consultants.
Money’s the honey for Swift global payments innovation challenge
Swift is offering funding of up to €200,000 for the two winning fintech finalists of its industry challenge to develop new overlay services that use its global payments innovation (gpi) platform. The winners will work with banks on collaborative concepts that solve additional industry challenges in cross-border payments on top of gpi. As reported previously, […]
Rabobank builds cross-border payments hub with Finastra
Rabobank is modernising and centralising its cross-border payments operations. The software supplier for the new payments hub is Finastra (formerly Misys and D+H).
Colu launches local digital currency for London
Colu, a blockchain-powered platform provider, has unveiled its second currency in the UK – the “Local Pound, East London”. The firm’s idea is to provide people in East London with a digital, localised currency and so create a “closed-loop economy”. It uses Colu’s digital wallet app, and individuals can pay from a smartphone. It is […]
PayPal unveils speedier money transfers to bank accounts
PayPal users in the US will soon be able to speed up money transfers to their bank accounts via eligible debit cards linked to their PayPal account. Bill Ready, EVP, COO, PayPal, says it expects that funds “will typically be available in your bank account in a matter of minutes, although some banks may take […]
Bank to the future: five ways financial apps are changing banking
Less than half a year from now, PSD2 will revolutionise consumers’ access to their own financial information. In fintech hubs across Europe, bright young people are planning a consumer revolution. Their financial apps and tools are helping customers manage their money far more easily than they have before. Here are five important ways in which they are changing the face of banking.
Wirecard Lends Speed, Functionality to Partner VEON
Amsterdam-based mobile network operator and technology company VEON has partnered with Wirecard AG as part of a global payments and processing agreement. Wirecard, a Germany-based provider of global payments solutions, now manages third-party payments functionality and airtime top-up on VEON’s Internet platform, enabling customers to upload funds and update mobile payment accounts within seconds, according to an announcement.
Report: How Banks Can Beat the Fintech Threat
Facing disruption from fintech providers, traditional banks must embrace APIs and the open-source model to avoid losing their place at the center of consumers’ financial lives, a new report warns. Capgemini’s 2017 World Retail Banking Report polled thousands of retail banking customers around the world to gauge how the rise of fintech-based financial services has changed the game when it comes to banking.
Eight Fledgling Fintech Providers Win Capital with CFSI Awards
Eight fledgling fintech companies have won $250,000 each from the Center for Financial Services Innovation. Each FinLab winner in this third annual competition from the CFSI receives $250,000 in capital, along with resources to test, enhance and scale their products, in part via the expertise of JPMorgan Chase, a founding lab partner.
