Payments


Fintech funding round-up: 10 March 2017

When time is tight, the reading can be light. A round-up of key events in fintech funding. Featuring Dimebox, NAB Ventures, Currencycloud and more.                          Amsterdam-based start-up Dimebox has raised €5 million in a series A round from payment processor Billpro Group. Dimebox says its modular, white label Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution includes risk management, artificial intelligence […]

CFPB Proposes Delay, Potential Tweaks on Prepaid Rule

Prepaid stakeholders scrambling to meet the Oct. 1, 2017, effective date for the CFPB’s final rule on prepaid accounts can take a breath. The CFPB has proposed delaying the effective date by six months—and has signaled it might be open to tweaking some aspects of the rule.

Monetary Authority of Singapore and R3 power blockchain payments project

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is partnering with R3, and a consortium of financial institutions on a proof-of-concept project to conduct inter-bank payments using blockchain. This project, which is seen as a rival to Swift’s network, will potentially create a payment system for participants to transact in different global markets round-the-clock. Sopnendu Mohanty, chief […]

Fidor’s digital banking right shot for Van Lanschot

Dutch wealth management firm Van Lanschot has chosen Fidor’s digital banking solution for an upgrade of its payments software and infrastructure. As part of the agreement, Fidor will manage user and account data and will process Van Lanschot’s payments flows within its fidorOS (fOS) platform, which is built using open APIs. It will also modernise […]

Not so Hot as a Commodity: Processing Tech Must Do More for Prepaid

Differentiation with new prepaid use cases is critical as the industry consolidates and change in the wider payments world and consumer behavior accelerate. Exploiting opportunities in the prepaid market demands a modern processing technology that supports new product road maps and the ability to adapt quickly.

Swift bans UN-blacklisted North Korean banks

Swift has cut off three North Korean banks from its messaging system under United Nations (UN) sanctions, after Belgium says it would no longer give authorisation for such transactions. According to Reuters, North Korea’s “intensifying provocations”, such as missile launches, led to the Belgian foreign ministry’s decision. Let’s face it – the nation behaves like […]

What Will Happen to the CFPB?

Republicans have never liked the agency, but so far, their efforts to reform it and reduce its power—or eliminate it altogether—have appeared scattershot. Echoing what a former Secretary of Defense once said: Here’s what we know and what we know we don’t know about the bureau’s future.

Misys goes gaming for banking tech

Misys is introducing gamification capabilities into its FusionBanking Essence Digital platform with Moroku’s GameSystem (also known as Gameo).

Android Pay heads down Belgium way

Android Pay is now available in Belgium – becoming the tenth country in the world to get it. It can be used at more than 85,000 retail locations throughout Belgium that accept contactless payments. Its purchase button can also be seen in apps like Deliveroo, TransferWise and Vueling, with other unspecified apps on the way. […]

Verifone Investigates Breach that Targeted U.S. Merchants

Terminal maker Verifone says it’s investigating a breach that involved an attempt to get into its corporate network and targeted U.S. merchants. The company, which sells point-of-sale technology, says the Jan. 17 incident has not resulted in any misuse of data.

Abu Dhabi, Singapore to Promote Fintech Innovation

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) have signed an agreement to assist fintech entrepreneurs and support financial services innovation in Singapore and Abu Dhabi, according to Paybefore sister publication Banking Technology.

Seconds out for Monzo tech

Mobile-only challenger bank Monzo has been hit by tech issues for the second time this week. As Banking Technology reported on 6 March, payment outages caused major problems to cardholders and fintech services provides in the UK and internationally – and Monzo was one of the affected firms reporting issues with their payment processor. Today […]

Mobile wallet users want more incentives, new study says

Payments pundits for years have been saying consumers need incentives to use mobile wallets, and a new survey report from Auriemma Consulting Group has numbers to back up the claim. Paybefore (Banking Technology‘s sister publication) reports that a survey of 1,505 consumers found that 25% of those who have an eligible smartphone use mobile pay services.Those […]

As Gifting Evolves, First Data, FLEETCOR Combine Gift Card Operations

With gifting loads hitting nearly $300 billion annually in the U.S. according to Mercator Advisory Group, First Data and FLEETCOR Technologies are banding together in a new joint venture that will consolidate each company’s gift card operations into a new, single entity, in a bid to give clients a “broader international reach and a more robust end-to-end offering.”

Corporate One Federal Credit Union tests real-time payments with D+H

North American banking and payments tech vendor DH Corporation (D+H) is helping Corporate One Federal Credit Union move to real-time payments. Corporate One FCU is using D+H’s cloud-based testing environment to simulate connectivity to The Clearing House’s (TCH) real-time payments network.

Emerging payments hot topic on social media, Mastercard study finds

Consumers are expressing interest in and enthusiasm for emerging payment methods in their social media conversations, according to a new Mastercard report. Paybefore (Banking Technology‘s sister publication) reports that Mastercard’s fifth annual Digital Payments Study analysed more than 3.5 million public interactions in 2016 between consumers on social media channels – including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter […]

Dwolla seeks more dollars with repackaged services

Capping an approximately 18-month effort to pivot into a software-as-service platform for businesses, US payments firm Dwolla has repackaged some of its services into a pair of products and pricing structures. The company’s clients now can use Dwolla technology to enable same-day ACH capabilities or to move funds between bank accounts without having to do […]

Wirecard brings mobile payment app boon to Apple Pay in Ireland

Wirecard has launched its mobile payment app boon with Apple Pay in Ireland – and the app is “independent from any bank or telecom operator”. After the initial launch to the UK, France and Switzerland, Ireland is the fourth market where people can use boon with Apple Pay. Georg von Waldenfels, EVP consumer solutions with […]

IBM and Maersk first for cross-border supply chain on blockchain

Maersk and IBM have unveiled the “first industry-wide” cross-border supply chain solution on blockchain. According to IBM, 90% of goods in global trade are carried by the ocean shipping industry each year. Their new blockchain solution will do the usual things – help manage and track the paper trail of shipping containers across the world […]

Emerging Payments a Hot Topic on Social Media, Study Finds

Consumers are expressing interest in and enthusiasm for emerging payment methods in their social media conversations, according to a new report. Mastercard’s fifth annual Digital Payments Study analyzed more than 3.5 million public interactions in 2016 between consumers on social media channels—including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter—to glean insight about consumer attitudes toward new payment technologies worldwide.

The Monday mindset: 6 March 2017

Fintech zeitgeist! Every Monday, we might look back at last week; look ahead to this week; share a few thoughts (our own or others); or discuss anything that catches our eye. This week we welcome the views of guest writer Soumik Roy as he gives us the lowdown on electronic payments in India. India’s Prime Minister […]

Hellenic Bank to launch open APIs

Cyprus-based Hellenic Bank is readying the first project by its recently unveiled innovation lab – open application programming interfaces (APIs).

Payments: looking down the regulatory pipeline

In the immediate aftermath of the 2007/8 financial crisis, measures to promote better conduct and improve customer protection and the resilience of the financial system dominated the regulatory agenda. More recently, regulators in many countries have added competition and innovation objectives to their agenda.

The big fight brewing over strong customer authentication

Late last year, Visa fired a volley – unlikely to be the last – over new rules that it and all providers of online transactions will soon need to follow as part of the EU’s revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2). It has some doom-laden predictions.

Banking Technology March 2017 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.

DeVere enters international fintech space with Lithuania launch

Financial consultancy firm DeVere Group has taken advantage of Lithuania’s ambitions to attract fintech firms and set up a new office in the capital Vilnius. The Bank of Lithuania, the country’s central bank and regulator, recently issued an electronic money institution licence which made it possible for DeVere to establish its new subsidiary DeVere E-Money. […]