Fintech funding round-up: 29 November 2016
We’ve summed up the latest funding efforts and results in the fintech space – so you don’t have to! Featuring Billon Group, Stripe, figo and Finimize.
Payments
Young, Connected Consumers Help Drive Shopping over Thanksgiving
Holiday buying declined slightly over the Thanksgiving weekend, but more consumers were shopping, according to the National Retail Federation. The trade group estimates that some 154 million U.S. consumers shopped over the holiday weekend, up 1.9 percent from 151 million last year, but the average shopper spent about $289.19 this year, down about 3.6 percent from $299.60 in 2015.
New funding round values Stripe at $9.2bn
San Francisco-based online and mobile payments technology provider Stripe was valued at $5 billion during its previous funding round in July 2015—meaning its valuation nearly doubled in less than a year and a half.
Prepaid International Forum Argues against European Plan for Online Authentication
The European Banking Authority in January is set to release its online transaction rules in response to the revised Payment Services Directive, or PSD2, which calls for “strong customer authentication” for online payments. Visa also opposes the measure.
Report: Fraudsters Getting into Holiday Spirit
It’s the most wonderful time of the year for fraudsters, who are expected to ramp up global online fraud attempts by 12 percent over the upcoming holiday season compared with last year, according to new data from ACI Worldwide.
Eftpos Australia to unveil mobile tap and pay in 2017
Eftpos Australia, the nation’s most widely used debit card payments system, says users will be able to tap and pay via Eftpos with their smartphones next year. Paul Jennings, CTO of Eftpos Australia, says it is “now working with several members [banks] and successfully testing the token service in order to launch Eftpos as a […]
Bank of Baroda calls on fintech start-ups to help solve payment challenge
India’s second largest bank, Bank of Baroda, is calling on fintech start-ups to solve the challenge of paying blue-collar workers.
It’s time to talk ATM 2.0
The ATM is one of the most recognised and trusted pieces of technology on the high-street, but as it too has come under pressure from the wave of digitalisation sweeping almost every aspect of our everyday lives. The humble ATM is no longer a single physical touch point…
Top fintech stories this week – 25 November 2016
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
Fintech funding round-up: 24 November 2016
Let’s put the fun in funding by keeping it mercifully brief. Money seekers are PayKey, Euklid and Flender.
Paysafe Pulls Prepaid Product from 100 Countries
Paysafe Group reportedly is pulling the plug on its Neteller and Skrill prepaid Mastercard cards in 100 countries on Friday. The move, which affects a product popular with online gamblers, apparently does not apply to North America or the 34 countries that are part of the Single European Payments Area.
FDIC Recordkeeping Rule Includes Alternative for Prepaid Accounts
The FDIC’s final rule establishing recordkeeping requirements for large financial institutions offers some relief for banks that hold prepaid accounts insured under pass-through coverage, but there’s still a lot of heavy lifting to be done for covered institutions.
Visa Changes EMV Debit Card Routing Process amid Federal and Merchant Pressure
Visa has modified and clarified debit network routing rules, following recent FAQ guidance issued from the Federal Reserve and to address a Federal Trade Commission inquiry.
NRF: Gift Card Spending to Bounce Back
The holiday season is upon us and many shoppers plan to give gift cards this season, according to a consumer trends survey by the National Retail Federation. What’s more, spending on gift cards this year is expected to outpace spending in 2015.
Company on the Move: Prepaid International Forum Benefactors, Mastercard, Neopay
The Prepaid International Forum (PIF) has announced that Mastercard and Neopay have become benefactors of the 10-year-old prepaid financial services trade association.
Infographics: the fintech landscape
It’s infographics time! A great compilation of fintech companies, showing how we’ve gone from graph paper to personal data algorithms – and everything in between.
Klarna gets sweet on Cookies payments start-up
German start-up Cookies crumbled, but Swedish payments provider Klarna has rumbled into action to take on its tech assets and employees. As Banking Technology reported this month, Cookies ended its short life as a peer-to-peer (P2P) payment app and applied for insolvency. At that time, Cookies co-founder Lamine Cheloufi said the other co-founder, Garry Krugljakow, […]
Streamlining payments industry in Africa
The economy of the future will need a vastly different platform for making payments. Consumers and corporations will need access to easier, faster and flexible platforms. I have entered the market with the bold objective of bringing to South Africa and Africa, the revolutions underway in global payments infrastructure – and the necessity of re-design to keep up with the “payments Joneses”.
CFPB Fights Court’s Ruling that Its Structure Is Unconstitutional
The CFPB has filed a motion for a rehearing before the entire appellate court after a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals sent shockwaves in October when it determined the structure of the bureau is unconstitutional because it’s led by a single director who can only be removed by the president for just cause.
Visa Criticizes European Move toward Stronger Online Authentication
A European plan for new online transaction authentications has come under fire from Visa, which says the proposal will make online checkout needlessly complicated for consumers.
Survey: Small Business Like Mobile Wallets, But Fear System Upgrades
Small business might want to accept payments via mobile wallets, but most of those merchants worry about the cost of upgrading their systems to do so, according to new survey from Samsung Electronics America.
Ubiquity, Market Size Push Alipay to Top Spot in E-Commerce Payments
Alibaba’s Alipay has taken the crown of the world’s most popular online payment method, accounting for 44 percent of global e-commerce spending and projected to grow to 60 percent by 2020, according to a new report from U.K.-based payments processor Worldpay.
Apple gets Siri-ous with patent payment plans
Apple could be adding Siri’s functionality into its iMessage service for P2P payment transactions, according to a recent patent published by the US Patent and Trademark Office. The patent says that “one or more of the participant users can select to utilise a virtual assistant to assist the participant users with tasks during the communication […]
Barclays UK launches first contactless cash service
Barclays is launching the UK’s “first” contactless mobile cash service. Customers can withdraw up to £100 in-branch, with a tap of their Android smartphone or contactless debit card. Ashok Vaswani, CEO of Barclays UK, says its customers “now expect to be able to use their smartphone to make their everyday purchases” and “we want taking […]
Android Pay launches in Poland
Android Pay is now live in Poland – the first country on continental Europe to launch the service.
Leumi Card behaves with biometric mobile app
Israel-based Bank Leumi’s credit card subsidiary, Leumi Card, will launch a “first-of-its-kind” integration of a mobile security product based on behavioural biometrics. Using Israeli start-up SecuredTouch’s solution embedded in the Leumi Card app, it will eliminate the need for passwords. SecuredTouch’s technology allows user identification based on a “unique” personal usage profile within the mobile […]
Chasing the Competition: U.S.’s Largest Bank Debuts Chase Pay App
A little more than a year after the bank announced plans for its Chase Pay mobile wallet—and just in time for Black Friday—customers of the U.S.’s largest bank by assets finally can use the Chase Pay app in stores, online and for in-app payments. The industry will have to wait and see if this is the watershed moment for mobile wallet adoption, some payments experts have predicted.
Wirecard Rolls out Virtual Visa Prepaid Card in the Netherlands
Wirecard has begun issuing in the Netherlands the pay2d Visa card, a virtual prepaid card for online payments. Wirecard, which worked on the card with fintech firm 3V Benelux B.V., said this marks its first virtual prepaid card rolled out in that country.
Supreme Court Grants Consumers Standing in ATM-Fee Lawsuit
The U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 17 ruled in favor of allowing an antitrust class-action lawsuit against Mastercard, Visa and their bank partners proceed after a lower court ruled that the consumer plaintiffs had no standing, according to a Reuters report.
Viva Mobile Ticketing in Las Vegas
Consumers in southern Nevada now are able to purchase transit passes using the recently launched rideRTC app for Apple and Android smartphones.
HSBC gives the finger to UK account access
HSBC business customers in the UK can now use Touch ID fingerprint technology to access their account and balance information through the HSBCnet mobile app. The feature uses a recognised fingerprint instead of passwords. It is now available for UK businesses using the app, before the service is expanded to include business internet banking mobile […]
Bank of China launches new UnionPay Europe Card
SIX Payment Services, Bank of China and UnionPay International have joined forces for a new credit card, targeting Chinese travellers in Europe. The “Europe Card” card is aimed at Chinese consumers traveling to Europe for business or leisure purposes. SIX says as an incentive during the launch phase, cardholders are eligible for up to 5% […]
ICCREA Banca goes on the record about Misys project
Italy’s ICCREA Banca has gone public on its project to modernise its trading business ops with Misys. Misys is providing its FusionCapital Kondor and Summit treasury and capital markets (TCM) solutions to the bank. The Summit system has been running at ICCREA for over a decade. Kondor was selected by the bank in 2013, Banking […]
Creating a hyperconnected corporate bank of the future
Banks are not competing with banks anymore, but against the ubiquitous, all pervading unified digital experience, which is driving the adoption of digital across the corporate banking value chain. Fintechs are a great example of how innovations in digital can deliver speed to market, a superior customer experience and better pricing.
Top fintech stories this week – 18 November 2016
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! FNZ to build new BPO centre EXCLUSIVE. For Société Générale’s private banking business Mizuho Bank gears up for new core banking system go-live Keen to modernise after large-scale system failures in 2011. Big three explore blockchain for consumer […]
Société Générale and Oberthur reveal new card trick
Société Générale and Oberthur Technologies (OT) have teamed up to launch a new form of three-digital codes for improved card security. Following “successful” testing among more than 500 people, the solution – called OT Motion Code – replaces the three-digit security code usually printed on the back of the card with a mini-screen displaying a […]
Trump Win Results in Battle Lines Being Drawn
Republican legislators and business associations, emboldened by Donald Trump’s successful presidential bid, have set their sights on the CFPB, an agency that’s been in Republicans’ crosshairs since the day it was created as part of the Dodd-Frank Act. Meanwhile, retailers are calling on Congress to steer clear of introducing legislation that would repeal financial services reforms they say are critical to U.S. businesses and consumers.
CFSI, Core Report: Underserved Market Reaches $140.7 Billion
The size of the financially underserved market in the U.S. increased by nearly 6 percent in 2015, reaching an estimated $140.7 billion, according to a just-released study from the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) and Core Innovation Capital.
CFPB RFI, Field Hearing on Consumer Choice, Control of Financial Data
With a growing number of products and services available to help consumers manage their finances electronically, being able to do so means sharing their digital financial records.
Visa Faces FTC Investigation, Merchant Pressure over EMV Debit Routing
Now that Visa’s EMV debit card routing has come under Federal Trade Commission investigation, eight U.S. retail trade groups are pressing the payments network to say how it will fix the problem.
