A major payments battle has come to an end: Walmart Canada and Visa said they have reached a deal that enables consumers to use Visa-branded payment cards at retail locations in that country, reports Paybefore. The companies did not disclose terms of the deal, which stems from a disagreement in 2016 involving interchange. Walmart said […]
Capital One Spark Business has announced “strategic partnerships” with two fintech companies, Bill.com and Gusto. The aim is “to build and deliver better financial management, HR and cash flow tools designed for small businesses”, Capital One says.
The Shanghai Prepaid Card Association is warning consumers about buying prepaid cards from certain merchants because of “malpractice in managing their prepaid card schemes”, reports Paybefore. According to an announcement on Shanghai’s municipal Website, the notice includes a blacklist of 20 companies in Shanghai for committing various infractions. The association is urging consumers to quickly […]
Prepaid cards accounted for 9.9 billion transactions and $270 billion in spending volume in the US in 2015 – an increase of $600 million since 2012 – but according to a study from the US Federal Reserve, prepaid growth is slowing as the products become more mainstream, reports Paybefore (Banking Technology‘s sister company). Based on survey […]
Ahead of what could be some big changes for the CFPB during the incoming Trump administration, the agency has announced new appointments to several leadership positions.
A major payments battle has come to an end: Walmart Canada and Visa said they have reached a deal that enables consumers to use Visa-branded payment cards at retail locations in that country.
Data analytics and artificial intelligence are on nearly everyone’s 2017 trend-watch lists, but Clarity Money wants to put those same tools directly into consumers hands with an app it says will improve financial well-being and increase users’ financial literacy.
E-commerce accounted for 21.3 percent of U.S. holiday retail sales this past season, up from 15.4 percent from 2015, according to First Data, a further sign that consumers continue to switch their buying and payments away from traditional retail stores. By contrast, full season holiday spending, excluding gas purchases, increased 4.7 percent from last year—still well behind the growth rate for e-commerce but better than the measly 1.8 percent growth booked in 2015.
Norway-based banking software provider Evry has signed a new five-year agreement with a domestic banking group, Fana Sparebank, to modernise its core banking and payments tech.
Banking Technology explores a less known – but a noteworthy – destination for fintech in Europe, Lithuania, and its capital Vilnius. Whilst it is realistic that it cannot compete with the European Goliaths such as London or Paris, it wants to carve its own niche in the fintech space, and has quite a lot to offer.
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! The first weekly news round-up of 2017. Happy 2017! Let it be a year of discovery and success.
President-elect Donald Trump will nominate Jay Clayton to head the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A partner with law firm Sullivan & Cromwell specializing in mergers and securities offerings, Clayton has advised on many major investment banking deals, including the record-breaking IPO of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba in 2014.
Bitcoin, which has long nursed an outlaw persona, seems to be transforming into a yuppie. In the latest sign that the digital currency is moving into the mainstream, iPayYou, a U.S.-based bitcoin platform, said its technology now will enable coffee and food purchases at Starbucks, a chain typically associated with middle- and upper-class urban and suburban lifestyles.
The federal government wants the public’s help in securing the Internet of Things, an invitation backed by a $25,000 top prize and which comes amid concerns that 2017 will bring a large-scale breach in the emerging Web-connected infrastructure.
The Shanghai Prepaid Card Association is warning consumers about buying prepaid cards from certain merchants because of “malpractice in managing their prepaid card schemes,” according to an announcement on Shanghai’s municipal Website.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has found that Mastercard’s acquisition of VocaLink gives rise to competition concerns.
The CFPB’s emphasis on fee disclosures and marketing practices was highlighted in a major way this week, as the bureau levied a $23.1 million enforcement action against credit reporting agencies Equifax and TransUnion over allegedly misstating the cost and usefulness of their products and “luring” customers into recurring payments. Although targeted at credit bureaus, the enforcement action offers key takeaways for payments providers shaping their own compliance efforts to stay out of the CFPB’s cross hairs, according to industry observers.
The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is worried that Mastercard’s billion-dollar deal to acquire VocaLink could hinder competition, and the CMA is giving the two companies until Jan. 11 to address a concern or face an “in-depth investigation,” according to the authority.
The financial services arm of car manufacturer Volkswagen Group has bought parking payments firm PayByPhone, a deal that underscores the appeal of mobile payments and bolsters the automotive company’s presence in the parking transactions space.
India-based Paytm is growing up fast. The online commerce platform, which launched its mobile wallet in 2014, has received permission from the Reserve Bank of India to operate a digital bank. The move comes as digital transaction rates in India—where the country’s popular 500 (US$7) and 1,000 (US$15) rupee notes were recently taken out of circulation—have increased as much as 1,000 percent since early November.
Look back at some of the top-read feature articles on all matters fintech published by Banking Technology in 2016.
Prepaid cards accounted for 9.9 billion transactions and $270 billion in spending volume in the U.S. in 2015—an increase of $600 million since 2012—but prepaid growth is slowing as the products become more mainstream, according to a study from the Federal Reserve.
China has made it loud and clear it intends to position itself as a global fintech leader. A group of state and privately held companies launched a $1.44 billion investment fund called the Asia FinTech Merger and Acquisition Fund of Funds (Asia FinTech FoF). The fund will focus on fintech mergers and acquisitions, and “nurture” initiatives in the fintech industry, according to a Dec. 28 announcement by Credit China FinTech Holdings Ltd., which led the investment.
Complaints about prepaid products dropped 59 percent from September through November in 2016 compared with the same period the previous year, according to the latest CFPB Monthly Complaint Report. That drop, to 183 complaints on average per month, represents the largest percentage decrease in complaints among all the products tracked by the federal agency, and comes as the CFPB in its new report focuses on debt collection.
To kick off 2017, we asked industry leaders to tell us what happened in 2016 that will most affect their businesses and where they will be investing in 2017 and why.
ICICI Bank goes for Twitter, while HDFC Bank banks on Facebook Messenger.
SIX Payment Services says it has completed the enterprise-wide upgrade of payment terminals of Swiss Post four months ahead of schedule. The new “smart” payment terminals – Ingenico’s iSC250 – are “particularly good” and “among the most innovative ones on the market”, SIX says.
A Ukrainian fintech start-up, Attic Lab, has signed a deal with a local bank, Alpari Bank, to implement blockchain-based banking system SmartMoney.
Look back at some of the major payments projects in 2016, with Banking Technology’s top ten.
Look back at some of the major digital bank initiatives across the globe in 2016, with Banking Technology’s top ten.
Look back at some of the most interesting and thought-provoking opinion pieces on all matters fintech published by Banking Technology in 2016.
It felt like there was a blockchain story every day in 2016, but we look back at some of the bigger stories with Banking Technology’s top ten! Microsoft and AMIS launch Asia’s first blockchain consortium Microsoft says it is also in “collaboration” with banks such as Ubon Financial, Cathay Financial Holdings and MegaBank to further […]
Look back at some of the major fintech events in 2016, with Banking Technology’s top ten! Sibos 2016: markets still in “Dante’s circles of hell” It’s the big one. And this is just one snippet from our extensive coverage of Sibos in Geneva. We also produced videos, published Daily News at Sibos, had fun with […]
From a technology perspective, the family home has decided to rush headlong into the 21st century. When our home was built we thought we were being extremely progressive in having a Panasonic “4 lines, 10 extensions, PBX” installed with separate lines for my wife and myself and then a line for business and yes, one dedicated line for the fax machine. Cool… but fast forward a decade and a half and with the home up for sale, we were politely advised to take out all those handsets and close the door on the PBX.
North American banking and payments tech vendor DH Corporation (D+H) has set up a committee to review its possible sale, it is understood.
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! The last weekly news round-up of 2016. Happy holidays from everyone at Banking Technology!
A proposed plan by the European Commission (EC) to combat terrorism financing would require customs declarations for prepaid cards sent in postal parcels or freight shipments into or out of the EU. Currently, cards sent or shipped across EU borders are not covered by the standard customs declaration requirement. Coming in the wake of a truck attack in Berlin that left 12 people dead and dozens wounded, the proposal is part of the EC’s action plan against terrorist financing, an initiative unveiled in February 2016, designed to help EU nations cut off the supply of funding for terrorist activity.
Growth brings the fierce attention of competitors, a lesson that India-based online commerce platform Paytm is learning. U.S.-based PayPal reportedly has filed a copyright suit against the firm, alleging that the blue color scheme of its logo, along with the fact that “pay” is the first word of the company’s name, is deceptive, according to eMarketer.
Varo Money announced it’s developing a chat bot for its mobile app. The San Francisco-based mobile-only banking startup, which is offering private-label banking services via The Bancorp, expects to launch “Val” early next year. “She” is part of a steady stream of chat bots that have been announced in 2016 by banks, merchants, tech companies and handset makers to improve customer loyalty, reduce costs and boost revenue, among other benefits.
Cross-border payments network and banking consortium PayCommerce has opened new offices in Dubai and Ontario, Canada.
