Payments


Banking Technology Awards 2016 – shortlist unveiled

Our rejuvenated Banking Technology Awards have received an unprecedented amount of entries this year – from banks, financial institutions, fintech firms and individuals worldwide – and we are happy to reveal the shortlisted candidates. Now in their 17th year, Banking Technology Awards recognise and reward excellence and innovation in the use of IT in financial […]

Swift admits attacks are “here to stay” – so what can banks do?

There’s a cultural misconception that security equals lockdown in the financial sector; disclosure runs counter to that perception. Banks are less inclined to share intimate details of attacks because they don’t want to damage market confidence and that makes cyber security a major challenge for the sector. Swift has recently sent a letter out to customers […]

Rash of Email Fraud Schemes Prompt FinCEN to Issue Advisory

A spate of email fraud schemes involving stolen consumer information and financial institutions being duped into conducting wire transfers has prompted the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to issue an advisory Sept. 6 in an effort to thwart the illegal activity.

Executive Profile: One on One with Sam Shrauger, Visa

Discovering the secrets of the universe may not be part of Sam Shrauger’s day job, but exploring what’s possible in payments is. As senior vice president of digital solutions at Visa Inc., Shrauger is responsible for making sure the payments network is leading the charge into new territory—whether that’s through Visa Checkout, contactless payments, wearables or whatever comes next.

PayPal Signs Deal with Mastercard, Expanding ‘Ubiquity’ of Brand

PayPal has struck a deal with Mastercard, resulting in, among other terms, Mastercard being presented as an equal payment option within the PayPal Wallet, customers having the option to select Mastercard as their default payment method and Masterpass becoming a payment option for merchants of Braintree, a PayPal subsidiary.

Erste Bank Hungary updates retail payments hub with ACI Worldwide

Erste Bank Hungary is implementing ACI Worldwide’s UP Retail Payments solution, upgrading from the older versions of ACI’s solutions. The bank will also deploy ACI Proactive Risk Manager (a fraud management solution) and ACI Interchange (central monetary transaction manager) to calculate interchange fees. Erste and ACI have been working together since 2003. Tamás Foltányi, COO […]

Ideal Payments launches first mobile app in Iraq

Ideal Payments has teamed with Taif Money Transfer to launch Iraq’s “first” mobile payments app – Taif eWallet. The platform aims to create a “holistic payments ecosystem” used by multiple agents in the economy including retail merchants, ecommerce platforms, private companies, and government institutions. Ideal Payments’ local partner, Taif Money Transfer, will operate the service, […]

Blockchain payments start-up SnapSwap now an electronic money institution

Luxembourg-based start-up SnapSwap, which offers blockchain-based payments, has received authorisation to operate as an electronic money institution (EMI). The firm says the EMI licence, provided by the Ministry of Finance of Luxembourg, allows it to issue debit cards and other payment instruments linked to Gloneta accounts. The latter combines a mobile messenger (chat) with cross-currency […]

Payments round-up: 2 September 2016

Time flies, so we’ve devised a quick fix. Here’s a round-up of key events in the payments space. In China, Qilong and Shenzhen Qianhai Exce-card Technology (SQEC) have formed a strategic agreement to co-ordinate with banks to issue China Union Pay audio bank cards. The latter make sounds when the buttons on the cards are […]

Yes Siri, payments get pretty

Apple’s developers are previewing new Siri integrations for payments – such as asking it to send a secure payment without ever opening an app. The firm says with the introduction of SiriKit for developers, messaging apps can now tap into the “power” of Siri. Siri can be used to make a quick payment using Square […]

Top fintech stories this week – 2 September 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Tier 1 US bank live with Temenos core and payments software Part of its American dream. Swift reveals more cyber thefts Private letter goes public. PhonePe and Yes Bank unveil India’s “first” UPI-based payments app Unified Payments Interface […]

Tier 1 US bank live with Temenos core and payments software

Temenos says it has gone live with its flagship T24 core banking system at a “top 20 US bank”. Banking Technology understands this is Ally Financial. The bank is also now live with the vendor’s newly-built payments hub, Temenos Payments Suite (TPS). It is “the first tier 1 bank to do so in the US”, […]

MDM Bank launches single-tap mobile payments; OpenWay provides tech

One of Russia’s major banking players, MDM Bank, has rolled out a single-tap Mastercard Contactless mobile payments option. The service is underpinned by the WAY4 Host Card Emulation (HCE) technology from OpenWay. MDM Bank’s customers can now pay from their Mastercard account with no need to enter a password or PIN code or even activate […]

Viewpoint: Bitcoin After Brexit

A spike in bitcoin value after the U.K. voted to leave the European Union points to the digital currency being viewed as a safe haven for investors. But a recent bankruptcy case clouds the situation.

Viewpoint: Think Small to Battle Online Fraud

Too often, online merchants and their payment providers focus more on international orders than domestic transactions in the battle against fraud. But drilling down into ZIP codes and neighborhoods might be a wiser strategy.

Nationwide hit by payment glitches

Customers of Nationwide Building Society in the UK have taken to Twitter to report a host of problems – with direct debits and standing orders not being paid. According to users on Twitter, the bastion of rage and anger, mortgage bills and other payments have not been made. Nationwide’s Twitter feed is now awash with […]

Payments round-up: 1 September 2016

Brevity is the goal of this. Here’s a round-up of events in the payments space to save you time. Let’s start off small… as in Small World FS. The London-based payment service provider reached a milestone with 50 million transactions processed on behalf of its customers. The firm’s been around for ten tears and says […]

Worldpay launches IoT hackathon

Global payments provider Worldpay has teamed up with Consult Hyperion, MongoDB and Visa Europe Collab to host its first internet of things (IoT) hackathon in London in September. The event aims to foster innovation and encourage participants to apply technology to integrating payments. Two themes will flow through the 48-hour hackathon – the “Smart City” […]

Commerzbank and UniCredit complete first BPO live transaction in UK

Commerzbank London and UniCredit have “successfully” processed the first UK Bank Payment Obligation (BPO) live transaction. The banks say with the backing of the ICC Banking Commission and Swift, there has been a “growing demand for, and an increasing number of”, BPO transactions, as a “proven” digital settlement tool. Raphael Barisaac, global head of trade […]

Report: SWIFT Discloses More Attempts at Cyber Thefts

SWIFT, a Belgium-based, bank-owned co-op and provider of financial messaging services, said this week that criminals attacked the technology infrastructure of member banks even as the group sought to tighten up security in the wake of an $81 million cyber theft of Bangladesh Bank, according to an Aug. 31 report from Reuters.

CFPB: Prepaid Complaints Continue Decline in July

Prepaid card-related complaints to the CFPB ticked down in July, the bureau announced in its latest monthly consumer complaint report. The month saw 211 complaints about prepaid products, down 5 percent from 223 prepaid complaints in June and slightly below the monthly average of 215 since the CFPB began tracking prepaid complaints in July 2014.

Currencycloud and Crédit Mutuel Arkéa target faster payments

London-based Currencycloud is partnering with Arkéa Banking Services, a subsidiary of Credit Mutuel Arkea, to offer clients its Euro bank accounts and direct access to European payments systems. This partnership will enable Currencycloud to process international payments through Target2 for real-time payment settlement. It says this builds on and “enhances” existing capabilities that allow cross-border […]

Swift reveals more cyber thefts

Swift has revealed new hacking attacks on its members’ banks as it pressured them to comply with security procedures instituted after the heist at Bangladesh Bank, according to Reuters. In a private letter to clients, Swift says new cyber theft attempts – some of them successful – have appeared since June, when it last updated […]

B1NK bot brings payments “first” to Kazakhstan

Digital-only B1NK, part of Capital Bank Kazakhstan, has unveiled the region’s “first” chat and payments bot – using Telegram Messenger. The bank says its customers can send money to friends and manage their cards all via the messenger service. Gani Uzbekov, CEO, Capital Bank Kazakhstan (B1NK), says: “Today only a couple of tier-2 banks in […]

Early Warning to Promote P2P Service, Changes clearXchange to Zelle

Early Warning, a provider of real-time payments, authentication and risk mitigation services, is preparing to raise the profile of its P2P payments platform clearXchange, upping the competition with Venmo, arguably the king of the hill in P2P payments. Competing with Venmo might seem daunting, considering its parent company is PayPal and its student-popular P2P service is currently free for people on both ends of the transaction.

Apple, Aussie Bank Battle Heats Up Down Under

Apple is pushing back against a bid by a group of Australia’s major banks to be allowed to negotiate collectively with the U.S-based tech giant over contactless payments. In a filing with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) released Aug. 30, Apple called upon the regulator to reject a request by the banks to collectively bargain with Apple in negotiations to offer Apple Pay to their customers.

India’s Prepaid and Mobile Wallet Markets Keep Growing

Consumers in India made 18.29 million prepaid transactions in June, down 11 percent from 20.60 million in May but up nearly 127 percent from 8.06 in June 2015, according to figures from the Reserve Bank of India. The total prepaid transactions in June 2016 topped $342.7 million, up from approximately $252.6 million in June 2015.

Report: Indian Banks Prepare New Payments Apps

India’s fledgling mobile payments system, the Unified Payments Interface, has a head of steam behind it: An Aug. 30 story in Mashable said that some two dozen banks in the country are set to release UPI apps via Google Play in the coming days.

PhonePe and Yes Bank unveil India’s “first” UPI-based payments app

Payments firm PhonePe and Yes Bank have teamed up to launch India’s “first” UPI (Unified Payments Interface) based mobile payments app. UPI was launched in April by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) – with Yes Bank being one of the 21 banks recently going live. UPI offers instant, online bank payments, and is […]

Windsor Family Credit Union launches Eva banking solution

Canada-based Windsor Family Credit Union (WFCU) has unveiled its new line of everyday accounts – Eva – for “unlimited” daily banking. WFCU says Eva provides “unlimited” deposits, withdrawals, transfers, electronic and cheque debits, point-of-sale transactions, ATM transactions worldwide and “unlimited” bill payments online, by phone, in-branch or at an ATM. Account access through online, mobile […]