Payments


Top fintech stories this week – 23 September 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Harrods Bank in search of new core banking system EXCLUSIVE. The FIS Profile project is dead. Long live a new project! Deutsche Bank GTB builds new payments platform EXCLUSIVE. Dovetail to deliver? Misys unveils Platform-as-a-Service strategy Opens up […]

Viewpoint: What Tipping Means For EMV

As the U.S. payments industry marks the first year of the EMV rollout, questions abound about the spread and use of the technology. Among the concerns is how restaurants will handle tipping.

Viewpoint: Why Fintechs Want More Regulation

As regulators increase their focus on financial technology firms, some of those companies are eager to welcome more rules, which could lead to less expensive and complicated businesses. Much depends on one fintech’s application before U.S. regulators for a national charter.

Deutsche Bank GTB builds new payments platform

Deutsche Bank says it is building a new “state of the art” payments platform for its global transaction banking (GTB) business. It will be rolled out across the bank’s operations worldwide, supporting trade finance, securities and cash management businesses. The software is supplied by a specialist payments provider – Banking Technology understands this is Dovetail. […]

Budapest Bank chooses SIA for new payment cards system

Budapest Bank, a payment cards issuer in the Hungarian market, has selected Italian firm SIA to create and implement a new payment cards management system. The agreement covers the migration of the full debit and credit cards portfolio of Budapest Bank to SIA’s card processing technology platform and the integration of the SIA solution to […]

Fintech funding round-up: 21 September 2016

Too many words can be absurd. A round-up of some key events in fintech funding. UK payments start-up Curve has announced a further tranche of fundraising taking its total investment to $5 million. The firm says this puts it on a “trajectory for a sizeable” Series A round by the end of December ahead of […]

Visa Amps up Authentication Tools

Enhancements are coming to Visa’s Verified by Visa (VbV) online authentication service, and the 3-D Secure messaging protocol on which it’s based, the payment network announced Sept. 20.

Grab Nabs $750 Million in Latest Funding Round, Will Focus on Indonesia

Singapore-based ride-hailing platform Grab has raised U.S. $750 million in financing, increasing its total capital to more than $1 billion, and will use the funds to expand its transportation services throughout Southeast Asia, the company announced Sept. 20. Grab, which offers private car, motorbike, taxi and carpooling services in six countries and 31 cities in Southeast Asia, also will also use the capital to invest in its GrabPay mobile payments platform.

Mastercard Litigation Could Provide Example for Future U.K. Class Actions

One of the U.K.’s first-ever class action lawsuits is targeting Mastercard, providing a potential preview of future class actions in the country. The case stems from a 2007 finding by the European Union (EU) Commission that the network’s interchange fees were too high, in breach of EU rules.

Samsung Offers Payments via Consumers’ Eyes

Samsung wants to enable consumers to pay with their eyes. The latest update to the company’s Samsung Pay mobile wallet will include a feature that will allow payments via iris scans of consumers’ eyes, according to a Samsung spokesman.

Misys Connect Forum – London: proud of the cloud

Hey! You! Get onto my cloud. This was the main message from the Misys Connect Forum in London as the vendor held a one-day conference of panel debates, Q&As, presentations and demos. At yesterday’s (20 September) event – “the largest Misys conference ever” with 600 attendees – at The Mermaid in Blackfriars, the morning began […]

IBM Power8 infrastructure to support US real-time payments system

The Clearing House (TCH), the driving force behind the real-time payments modernisation in the US, has opted for IBM’s hardware. IBM’s Power8 based system infrastructure – running Linux and AIX operating systems – was selected as the hosting platform.

Computer Scientist Cracks Security of Phone Model Used in San Bernardino Shooting

A computer scientist appears to have broken Apple’s iPhone security by simply opening the phone and replacing the main memory chip with a cloned version. As long as the researcher kept switching the chips, it allowed an unlimited number of password attempts. The researcher said that the technique, which is known and referred to as Nand mirroring, cracked a 4-digit code in 40 hours and a 6-digit code in “hundreds of hours.”

Mastercard and Stripe Enable Quicker Payments

Mastercard on Sept. 19 revealed a deal with Stripe to speed up payments via Mastercard Send, a platform enabling the rapid transfer and receipt of funds by businesses, merchants, governments, nonprofits, card issuers and consumers.

New Cybersecurity Rules on the Way in New York

The New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) has proposed new regulations designed to protect against the rising threat of cybercrime targeting financial systems and consumer data. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo unveiled the plan, which would require banks, insurance companies and other financial services providers regulated by the NYDFS to establish a cybersecurity plan that meets standards set by the agency.

Manhattan Judge Latest to Rule that Bitcoin Is Money

In a Sept. 19 ruling in a case over a cyberattacks against JPMorgan Chase and others, a federal judge became the latest to declare that bitcoin qualifies as legal tender. Manhattan District Court Judge Alison Nathan rejected an attempt by Anthony Murgio to dismiss charges that the bitcoin exchange he operated was an unlicensed money transmitting business.

Commerzbank processes first live BPO between Germany and China

Commerzbank has processed its first transaction settled by a bank payment obligation (BPO) between Germany and China. The BPO covers the export of chemicals between Commerzbank’s customer (the buyer), Trigon Chemie in Germany. The seller is an unnamed customer of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in Beijing. Trade business between the two was previously […]

MIT Project Indicates Bitcoin Unpopular Form of Payment with Students

If the student body at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is any indication, it will be some time before bitcoin becomes a common form of payment. A study that began more than two years ago indicates that students preferred to pay with cash, payment cards or mobile wallet apps over the decentralized virtual currency.

Bank of England to Update Settlement Technology

The Bank of England, hoping to better fend off cyber-attacks and better serve smaller financial services providers, will upgrade its Real-Time Gross Settlement system. The system, which handles transactions worth about $659 billion per day, will undergo a “comprehensive rebuild” by 2020, according to a provisional goal issued by the bank.

Curve Nets Investment to Fuel Growth

London-based finech startup Curve continues to ramp up toward a full launch, landing £2 million (roughly U.S. $2.6 million) in post-seed investment, which the company said it’s hoping will lead to a larger Series A round later this year. Curve offers a physical smart card equipped with chip-and-PIN, magstripe and NFC technology.

Regulators Put Marketplace Lenders on Notice

Federal regulators are planning to tighten the screws on marketplace lenders over concerns about consumer protections and reckless lending. At a marketplace lending policy summit, U.S. Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry told lenders to expect a new regulatory framework this fall that would support “responsible innovation.”

Six more in the mix for Ripple’s payments network

Standard Chartered, National Australia Bank, Mizuho Financial Group, BMO Financial Group, Siam Commercial Bank and Shanghai Huarui Bank are the latest banks to join Ripple’s blockchain-powered network for cross-border payments. “2016 has proven to be the year where the most forward-thinking financial institutions are actually using blockchain technologies for payments and settlement rather than as […]

Unicredit to launch smartphone-only bank in Italy

UniCredit will launch “Buddybank”, a bank project exclusively designed for smartphones, in early 2017 in Italy. Buddybank will offer current accounts, credit/debit cards and “contextual” and instant personal loans, as well as a 24/7 concierge service, accessible via chat and phone, that “can help with everyday tasks such as restaurant reservations, taxi booking and travel […]

PSD2: 5,000 banks, 15 months and lots of work to do

In a mere 15 months, approximately 5,000 financial institutions across Europe will be required to provide open access to customer, transaction and payment information via APIs. “This is a massive amount of work,” said James Whittle, director of industry policy for Payments UK, the representative body for the country’s payments industry, speaking at the EBAday […]

Opening up may be good for you: making PSD II access to accounts work in practice

A new open ecosystem – where banks can enable third parties to develop mobile banking apps and cash management solutions for them – has many advantages over the previous closed world, where everybody tried to do everything themselves. The key to successful “opening up” is to provide a standard interface, such as a smart phone to a bank account, that is accessible to third parties whilst retaining the necessary control.

Varo Money Partners with The Bancorp, Others for Mobile-Only Banking Services

A San Francisco-based mobile-only banking startup announced Sept. 14 new partnerships as it prepares to launch a beta of its mobile banking product in the U.S. later this year. Varo Money Inc. has signed an agreement with The Bancorp, in which The Bancorp Bank will be providing private-label banking services for Varo’s mobile checking and savings accounts.

Five Ways Retailers Can Leverage APIs to Boost Profits

Retailers are increasingly faced with the need to provide a seamless omnichannel experience in order to succeed. One way to achieve this is via APIs that help integrate the in-store experience with Web and apps. Discover highlights five key areas that retailers can quickly and easily address with the right publicly available APIs.

Chase Cuts Deal With Best Buy, Loses Mobile Password

Look for Chase Pay at the POS at your local Best Buy, just in time for this year’s U.S. holiday shopping season, Chase announced Sept. 14. Chase this week also made a noteworthy security move. On Sept. 12, JPMorgan Chase—without announcing it—reversed its security position on its mobile app, removing the need to type in a password once a customer has already been authenticated by either Apple’s Touch ID or an Android biometric scan.

Siri gives N26 payments a voice

Digital bank N26 (formerly Number26) is now offering voice-powered payments via Siri – the “first” bank in Germany to do so. Users can transfer money by talking to Siri; and can also request money from their N26 contacts using Apple’s instant messaging service iMessage. Valentin Stalf, founder and CEO of N26, says: “Our customers can […]

Finovate: innovation, collaboration and ten-year anniversary

Finovate – now ten years old (or young) – has celebrated its anniversary with over 1,600 attendees at its New York show. Banking Technology was a media partner, and FinTech Futures Series, Banking Technology’s sister company, took part in the event.

Tramonex teams with Saxo Payments for cross-border transfers

Finserv provider Tramonex is partnering with Saxo Payments for segregated client accounts in 25 currencies, and foreign exchange (FX) liquidity. Tramonex has joined the Saxo Payments Banking Circle, and says it is now able to offer its clients individual, physical and virtual accounts with their own unique International Bank Account Numbers (IBANs). Tramonex previously offered […]

CIBC completes phase one of transaction banking tech revamp

Intellect iGTB, the global transaction banking software business of Intellect Design Arena, has implemented its products at CIBC. The project is part of a multi-stage transaction banking and payments tech overhaul at the Canadian banking group.

PayU acquires India’s Citrus Pay for $130m

PayU has bought Citrus Pay for $130 million – the “largest ever M&A cash deal” in India’s fintech space. The deal is part of PayU’s growth plans and it claims its number of customers in India will grow to more than 30 million, processing a forecasted 150 million transactions in 2016 worth a combined $4.2 […]

Harmonising high-value payments

While it sounds like something for which you’d need to visit a doctor, Swift’s HVPS+ will likely be a talking point during the payments industry panels at this month’s Sibos. Announced in mid-August, the high-value payments system task force is an important component of Swift’s ISO 20022 harmonisation initiative. A number of central banks, market infrastructures and banks from around the world are members of the task force.