People on the Move: Shafi Shaikh, Mastercard
Mastercard has appointed Shafi Shaikh executive vice president, customer delivery, Asia-Pacific. Shaikh oversees customer support, product delivery and customer relationships.
Payments
Companies on the Move: International Regtech Association Forms
International Regtech Association, a global nonprofit association focusing on regulation technology has been formed, with more than 100 founding members.
OCBC Bank unveils first standalone mobile payments app
Singapore’s OCBC Bank has launched its first standalone mobile app for QR code cashless payments at nearly 2,500 NETS terminals. The new OCBC Pay Anyone app brings together all its Pay Anyone services – peer-to-peer e-payments, QR code payments, and integration with Siri and iMessage – into one place. Pranav Seth, OCBC Bank’s head of […]
NCR makes it nice and Eazy for Bahrain’s biometric payments
Bahrain-based Eazy Financial Services will launch the region’s “first” biometric payment network powered by NCR. Consumers will be able to register their fingerprint through any bank linked to Eazy’s network and then use that at any device (ATM or POS) to start a transaction rather than using a card. In the first phase, NCR will […]
House Balks at Repealing Interchange Reform amid Dodd-Frank Overhaul
Retailers are claiming victory in the battle, if not the war, regarding proposed legislation that would have repealed interchange reform included in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Full House set to vote on amended Financial CHOICE Act June 9.
First Data Buys Payment Processor CardConnect for $750 Million
First Data will buy U.S.-based payments processor CardConnect for about $750 million in cash, including the repayment of debt.
Chipotle Blames Malware for Payment Card Data Breach
Chipotle Mexican Grill said that whoever hacked into payments system used malware that searched for consumer track data read from the magnetic stripes of cards.
Till left with no part in Barclaycard pocket checkout
Barclaycard has begun trialling a new payment concept that lets consumers scan and pay for their shopping using their smartphone, without the need to visit a physical checkout. Called Grab+Go, it’s the firm’s plan to turn a smartphone into a “pocket checkout”, allowing users to scan the items they want to buy as they pick […]
DLT not yet delightful for Canada’s payment system plan
The results from phase two of Canada’s plan for a blockchain-powered interbank payment system reveal that it still faces many obstacles. The Bank of Canada, Payments Canada, R3 and seven commercial banks, have disclosed their report from Project Jasper, an experimental wholesale interbank payment system. First launched in 2015, the results so far show that, […]
Android Pay to launch in Canada
Android Pay is set to launch in Canada on 31 May, according to sources that gave news site MobileSyrup internal documents. MobileSyrup says there are still a number of questions that need to be answered regarding the payment service, “including specific bank partners and how setting up the payment platform with a Canadian debit and […]
Top fintech stories this week – 26 May 2017
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
HSBC plots to stop rise of the technophobe
A lack of understanding and trust in technology is stalling mainstream adoption of innovative new fintech services, according to HSBC’s research. The bank’s report, “Trust in Technology”, shows that technologies such as fingerprint recognition, voice recognition and robo-advice “hold enormous potential” for uses from bank security to mobile payments and investment advice. John Flint, global […]
InComm Survey: How Retailers Can Tap into Prepaid Popularity with Themes
With graduation and wedding season upon us, InComm is advising retailers to take advantage of these occasions, among others, and improve sales by offering themed open-loop gift cards and promoting them with corresponding displays.
BitPay’s Visa-Branded Prepaid Card for Bitcoin Reaches Global Scale
BitPay, a 2017 Pay Award winner, said this week that it has released its BitPay Visa Prepaid Debit Card in 131 countries. The card “makes it possible for users to convert bitcoin into a spendable dollar, euro or pound balance” on the card in a matter of minutes, the company said.
U.S.-Based Ebix Buys Majority Stake in India’s ItzCash
Indian payment solutions provider and Pay Award-winning ItzCash Card Ltd. has a new main backer. U.S.-based Ebix, which sells on-demand software and e-commerce services, has taken an 80 percent stake in the company for $120 million.
Security Roundup: Fiserv, Intellicheck, InAuth
Retailer Target recently agreed to pay $18.5 million as part of a settlement with 47 states and the District of Columbia that stems from 2013 data breach. The news is a stark reminder of how costly and prolonged the process of recovering from a breach can be, which is why security continues to be at the forefront of payments news with three companies making significant announcements this week.
Worldpay marks the PoC for VR payments
Researchers at Worldpay are investigating how shoppers can pay using a credit or debit card while remaining within a virtual environment. As part of its real ambitions, the payments firm has created a proof of concept (PoC), with the aim to provide the “same levels of convenience, and security” that shoppers have in-store and online, […]
Payments UK predicts debit cards to overtake cash in 2018
Rapid growth in the use of contactless cards means cash will be overtaken as Britain’s most frequently used payment method by the end of 2018, according to trade association Payments UK (soon to become UK Finance). Despite this surge, its latest forecast still does not herald the demise of cash – even in ten years’ […]
Amsterdam Trade Bank revamps tech with Misys and Sentia
Amsterdam Trade Bank (ATB) is undergoing a major technology overhaul with Misys as a key partner. The bank is implementing Misys’ solutions from the Fusionbanking and Fusioncapital portfolios to modernise its corporate banking, treasury and capital management (TCM) and trade finance operations.
Gemalto bus-ts a move with GDPR double decker delight
Should you hear a vehicle trundling down your litter-strewn UK street don’t all rush out assuming it’s an ice cream van. Calm yourself and your desires for a gigantic calorie-drenched concoction, and instead prepare for Gemalto’s GDPR Clinic. Before you ask WTF? (i.e. what the fintech) – this is payments firm Gemalto and its double […]
Travelex kills off Supercard
Supercard, a new card and mobile product launched by Travelex and Wirecard last June, is now being sunsetted.
Form3 teams with Apply Financial for payments validation
Form3, a cloud-based fintech firm launched last year, has partnered with payments validation company Apply Financial. The deal enhances Form3’s Payments-as-a-Service platform with “automation services to validate, enrich, and fix single and bulk payments”, Form3 says.
Android Pay launches in Russia
Android Pay has now landed in Russia and can be used with an eligible Visa or Mastercard credit or debit card from a supported bank. The supporting banks are AK BARS, Alfa-Bank, B&N Bank, MTS Bank, Otkritie, Promsvyazbank, Raiffeisen Bank, Rocketbank, Russian Standard Bank, Russian Agricultural Bank, Sberbank, Tinkoff Bank, Tochka, VTB24 and Yandex.Money. There […]
Fly Away: Netspend Prepaid Card Offers United Airlines’ MileagePlus Rewards
Netspend has launched a Visa-branded prepaid card that enables cardholders to earn miles good for travel through United Airlines’ MileagePlus loyalty program. The product addresses one of the main issues facing prepaid providers—long-term cardholder retention.
FIS Details How Younger Consumers—and Some Older Peers—Are Driving Digital Banking
Nearly half—49 percent—of millennial consumers had paid a bill via mobile within 30 days of a survey conducted for a new report from FIS. That data point underscores the growing importance of digital financial services and payments not only for younger consumers but their older counterparts.
Target to Pay $18.5 Million to States in Data Breach Settlement
Target Corp. has agreed to pay $18.5 million in a settlement with 47 states and the District of Columbia that stems from a November 2013 data breach of the Minneapolis-based retailer. The breach affected more than 41 million customer payment card accounts and exposed contact information for more than 60 million customers.
Compliance Titans: Jani Gode, Payoneer
Jani Gode’s knowledge of payments compliance reaches to parts of the globe that are about as far away from the small Minnesota farm where she grew up as you can get. Gode leads the global compliance program as chief compliance officer at Payoneer, an online payments company founded in 2005 that enables businesses to send and receive cross-border payments.
Comdata Adds Spend Escalator to ePayables to Save Clients Time, Money
Comdata is making it easier for clients who use the B2B payment and financial technology provider’s virtual credit cards, or ePayables, which it says will drive adoption. The company is so convinced its new Spend Escalator technology is beneficial, it has applied for a patent.
Games without frontiers via TransferWise borderless account
TransferWise has unveiled its “Borderless” account with the promise that it works like a local bank account in different countries. The account is its plan to replace “old-fashioned” money transfers. TransferWise says local bank details in the UK, Eurozone and US are available, and other unspecified countries are on the way at some point in […]
CKB in digital channels modernisation project with Misys
Montenegro-based Crnogorska Komercijalna Banka (CKB), member of Hungarian financial services group OTP, is implementing a new digital channels banking platform, Misys Fusionbanking Essence.
Swift unveils “first ever” cross-border payments tracker
Corporate treasurers have a moment to treasure as Swift has unveiled its new cross-border payments “Tracker” for real-time tracing. Swift says Tracker is the “cornerstone” of its global payments innovation (gpi) initiative – which went live in February – with the aim to deliver greater speed, transparency and end to end tracking. Tracker provides a […]
Nasdaq and Citi team up for blockchain-powered payments reconciliation
Nasdaq and Citi’s Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS) have unveiled a new payment solution for automating reconciliation using Chain’s blockchain infrastructure platform. The solution enables straight through payment processing by using a distributed ledger to record and transmit payment instructions. A number of payment transactions have been done including Citi’s automated processing of cross-border payments […]
InComm’s Asia-Pac Expansion Continues with Sony Deal
InComm and Sony Interactive Entertainment HK Ltd. have teamed up to provide promotional programs in the Hong Kong market. The initiative is part of InComm’s continued investment in promotional tools that change how gift cards are purchased by connecting physical and digital channels.
Google Casts a Wider Net for Payments
Google has a new plan to become a bigger player in payments. The search engine and web marketing giant said that it’s enabling merchants and developers to “turbocharge checkout conversion” by making it easier for consumers to use the credit cards and debit cards stored with Google.
Innovation Day: Fast-Growing Prepaid Market Offers Rewards, Risks
New growth estimates for prepaid are encouraging to say the least, but providers gathering in London for the Prepaid International Forum’s annual Innovation Day said the industry must remain focused on compliance and the customer proposition to safeguard its success.
State Bank of India revamps e-commerce payments gateway
State Bank of India (SBI) has deployed the “largest payment gateway for cards’ e-commerce transactions”, according to Shiv Kumar Bhasin, CTO of the SBI group. It processes ten million transactions per day, with 2,000 transactions per second (TPS) of peak load processing capabilities. This “beats the business volumes processing capabilities of a lot of leading […]
PayPal gets its fingers all over Google Chrome’s shopping
Android Pay users on Google Chrome mobile web can now pay online using their PayPal account and their fingerprint – without needing to enter in their username or password. As reported last month, Google inked several deals with PayPal (and banks) to advance its Android Pay, and this latest partnership expands it even more. Bill […]
Payments round-up: 18 May 2017
Words cut. Time saved. A round-up of key events in the payments enclave. Featuring Australian Settlements Limited, IBM, Mastercard, UnionPay International, Visa and Wirecard. Financial services provider Australian Settlements Limited (ASL) has adopted IBM Cloud for its new payments platform (NPP) implementation. ASL provides members, including building societies, credit unions and mutual banks, with settlement […]
Payments Canada welcomes ten start-ups to its Dragons’ Den
Payments Canada has revealed the ten paytech, artificial intelligence (AI) and regtech start-ups who will compete at its “Dragons’ Den-style competition” in Toronto. Called the FinTech Cup, a collaboration between Payments Canada, 500 Startups, and the Digital Finance Institute, it wants to help innovation, find talent, and drive funding for the finalists. Money on offer […]
Trio triumph in Innotribe’s African start-up challenge
Innotribe, Swift’s innovation arm, has revealed the three winners of its third 2017 Startup Challenge for Africa in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Each start-up receives a €10,000 cash prize and will share their insights about innovation in Africa at Sibos in Toronto. The trio are: IroFit Technologies – offers small businesses processing for in-store mobile/card payments […]
