Payments


POS Security Woes: MICROS Hacked, Researchers Claim Chip Card Flaw

A pair of developments on the cybersecurity front are giving retailers more reasons to worry—as if they didn’t have enough already. Cyberthieves have compromised a customer support portal for Oracle Corp.’s MICROS POS system, which is used by more than 330,000 retail and hospitality providers worldwide. Meanwhile, payments technology company NCR claimed to have found a flaw in EMV chip technology that could enable criminals to bypass a chip’s transaction encryption.

Cyberthieves Target Brazil Banks

Cyberthieves are targeting banks in Brazil via malware that has already hit financial institutions in Europe and North America. In the Olympic host country, at least 10 banks have come under attack from “Panda Banker,” a variant of the Zeus Trojan malware.

Visa Direct expands real-time payments in US

Visa says more banks and companies in the US have chosen Visa Direct to expand their real-time payment services, including PayPal, Fiserv and Square. Visa Direct is a payments platform designed to allow financial institutions, developers and partners to offer real-time person-to-person (P2P) payments and business disbursements such as insurance claims payments, contractor payments, tax […]

Green Dot’s Active Card Metrics Propel Q2 Results

Per-card revenue for active cards and better unit economics on new products boosted second-quarter revenues for Pasadena, Calif.-based Green Dot, which beat revenue expectations for the second consecutive quarter.

Top fintech stories this week – 5 August 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! RBS scraps Williams & Glyn banking platform plans, writes off £345m Defeated by the IT challenges. W&G is now likely to be sold to Santander. Azimo “industry first” to enable money transfers via Facebook Messenger Sending money should […]

Azimo “industry first” to enable money transfers via Facebook Messenger

Azimo says it has become the first money transfer operator to enable money transfers worldwide via Facebook Messenger. “Money transfer is now social,” Azimo states. It describes its new functionality as “revolutionary”. It connects senders and receivers through their Facebook friend list, enabling them to exchange details immediately and links them to the Azimo app […]

Earthport teams with Aftab Currency Exchange Limited for payments growth

Earthport, a cross-border payments service provider, is partnering with Aftab Currency Exchange Limited (ACEL) for payments growth. ACEL wants to expand its bank-to-bank capability and will initially use Earthport’s capabilities to “strengthen” its EU offering with a view to further expansion globally over the coming months. Aftab Ashraf, founder director, ACEL, says Earthport brings it […]

ING Bank Romania launches new mPOS service with GoSwiff and MasterCard

ING Bank Romania has launched a new mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) service, underpinned by MasterCard and specialist vendor GoSwiff. ING mPOS is aimed at local merchants of all sizes. It enables them to accept card payments through mobile devices, smartphones and tablets, connected to a card reader. It also supports other added-value services, such as consumer […]

New mPOS solution for Indonesian merchants launched by Indosat Ooredoo and GoSwiff

Indonesian telco Indosat Ooredoo and GoSwiff International have teamed up for a new mobile payment acceptance solution for merchants in Indonesia, D-Pay. Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) is the acquiring bank. D-Pay is a financial service that enables merchants to accept mobile payments, allowing their customers to pay using debit/credit cards (Visa, MasterCard and JCB) and […]

Viewpoint: Who Dominates P2P?

Beware of predictions that upstarts will push aside incumbents when it comes to consumer-to-consumer remittances. The numbers tell a different story.

SEB invests $4m in blockchain payment provider Coinify

Danish blockchain payment service provider Coinify has raised $4 million in series A investment round from SEB Venture Capital, an entity within the SEB Group and SEED Capital Denmark. Mark Højgaard, co-founder and CEO of Coinify, says it plans to use the investment to sustain its position in Europe and “expand” its blockchain payment and […]

“Strong sales” send Fiserv revenue rising

Fiserv’s GAAP revenue increased 5% to $1.36 billion for the second quarter of 2016. Compared to Q2 2015, its payments segment saw 9% growth and the financial segment grew 1%. In terms of the first six months of 2016, the firm’s financial results were a similar story. GAAP revenue increased 5% to $2.69 billion, with […]

MasterCard credit card chips surge in US

MasterCard says 80% of its US consumer credit cards have chips, an 88% increase in their adoption since the 1 October 2015 liability shift started to bring EMV-secured payments to the country. The company has had to do this due to the change in law. It says it also sees 1.7 million chip-active merchant locations […]

SIA buys e-money processing unit of Unicredit

Unicredit is selling its e-money processing unit to payments vendor SIA. The unit – part of Unicredit Business Integrated Solutions (UBIS) – processes around 13.5 million payment cards and manages 206,000 POS terminals and 12,000 ATMs in Italy, Germany and Austria. SIA has also got a ten-year outsourcing contract from UBIS for the supply of […]

Report: Mobile Wallets Disappoint

Many mobile wallet users want more from their mobile wallets, such as sales offers, coupons, order delivery updates and loyalty programs, and marketing and loyalty opportunities using mobile wallets has gone largely untapped, according to a recent study, “The State of Mobile Wallet Marketing,” conducted by Urban Airship, a mobile engagement platform provider.

TransferWise gets direct access to UK Faster Payments Scheme

TransferWise has become the “first” tech firm to get direct access to the UK’s Faster Payments Scheme (FPS) as technical partner to Raphaels Bank. TransferWise and the bank sent their first Faster Payment as part of pre-launch test activity. Later this summer, TransferWise customers’ transfers will be “processed instantly” after the firm has received the […]

InComm Continues Overseas Push with ValuAccess Buy

Atlanta-based prepaid product and transaction services company InComm has acquired the Hong Kong prepaid distribution business of ValuAccess for an undisclosed sum, marking the company’s second international acquisition this year. In January, InComm, which operates in more than 30 countries, expanded its European footprint with its purchase of TibiDono.

Consumer Reports Dubs Prepaid ‘A Smart Way to Pay,’ Rates Top Products

As prepaid providers eagerly await the release of the CFPB’s long-gestating final rule on prepaid accounts, Consumer Reports is lauding the industry for reducing or eliminating fees and instituting consumer protections akin to those of a debit card. The improvements in prepaid products at large have led the magazine to dub prepaid cards “a smart way to pay with plastic,” in a new report and prepaid card buying guide.

Office Depot Sues Delaware over Unclaimed Gift Card Law

Office Depot and an associated gift card program manager are suing Delaware officials in federal court, challenging the state’s unclaimed property law. The Florida-based retail chain and Virginia-based North American Card and Coupon Services LLC, Office Depot’s gift card operator, said Delaware’s escheat law violates the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, which guards against unreasonable search and seizures.

Payza partners with NRGT for payments innovation in India

Payments platform Payza has partnered with New RAMPgreen Technologies (NRGT) in India to launch the “first” global online wallet that can be used by Indians in their local currency. Payza says prior to this local payment service Indians were not permitted to hold any rupees in any online ewallet. It says the “only way” they […]

Mastercard, PayPal Talks to Share Transaction Data

Less than two weeks after PayPal announced a strategic partnership with Visa, the digital payments provider is talking with Mastercard about ending a long-running dispute over transaction data, Mastercard’s CEO says. During an earnings call last week, Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga said the payments network was engaged in a “constructive dialogue” with PayPal over Mastercard’s concerns about being shut out from merchant and transaction data for sales made via “staged” digital and mobile wallets such as PayPal and Google Wallet.

SIA and ČSOB launch “first” NFC mobile wallet in Czech Republic

Czech bank ČSOB and Italian payments firm SIA have launched the first mobile wallet for NFC payments in the Czech Republic. The new app, NaNákupy (literally “go shopping”), supports both MasterCard and Visa, and enables ČSOB’s customers to make contactless payments by smartphone. Petr Hutla, member of the ČSOB board of directors in charge of […]

Total Merchant Services Finds ‘Groovv’ with SMEs

Payments processor Total Merchant Services has unveiled a new POS system targeted for use by small and midsize businesses, including those in the retail and restaurant verticals. Dubbed Groovv POS, the platform comes in two models: an all-in-one offering that includes a 13-inch touchscreen monitor, cash drawer, integrated barcode scanner and receipt printer; as well as a smaller “Flex” model, built around a detachable Samsung Galaxy tablet.

Midnight Deal to Buy Bitcoin Goes Bad

A Florida man should have gotten his bitcoin through a reputable virtual currency exchange instead of some guys meeting in a Boston Market restaurant parking lot in the middle of the night. Likely surprising no one, a deal to exchange $28,000 for the equivalent in bitcoin went bad, leading to one arrest.

MasterCard and PayPal mull strategic alliance

Years of friction could be over as PayPal is talking to MasterCard on a potential strategic alliance, according to the Financial Times. PayPal, with its network of 188 million active users, has been expanding at MasterCard’s and Visa’s expense. One example was its recent partnership with Mexican telecommunications giant América Móvil for growth in Latin […]

Accenture buys mobile payments start-up Mobgen

Accenture has acquired 100% of the shares in Amsterdam-based start-up Mobgen. Mobgen says with Accenture it can expand its “end-to-end mobile approach”. The Dutch firm will be part of Accenture Digital, but will keep the same brand, culture and operate from its offices in Amsterdam, London, and A Coruña and Malaga in Spain. It has […]

Payments Canada pushes for innovation drive

The Canadian payments space needs to have more flexible and secure systems to promote innovation, according to a public consultation carried out by Payments Canada (formerly the Canadian Payments Association, CPA), the operator of the nation’s payment clearing and settlement system. In its “Vision for the Canadian Payments Ecosystem” report, done in collaboration with more […]

Top fintech stories this week – 29 July 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Abcul slow on tech modernisation project Exclusive: First credit unions to go live before year-end. New mobile banking for SMEs readies for UK launch Tide will offer a “nimble small business current account”. Top ten retail banking sites […]

Monizo to launch “first” banking service for freelancers

UK-based start-up Monizo is planning to launch the “first” banking service targeted solely at freelancers. In an exclusive interview with Banking Technology, CEO and co-founder Samuel O’Connor says the firm caters for the particular needs of freelancers across the UK. He says: “The rules are getting more onerous for freelancers and by the end of […]

PSR calls for UK payments infrastructure reform

The UK’s Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) says the nation’s payments infrastructure needs to undergo reform to increase competition and to better meet consumer needs. The announcement was made as the PSR unveiled the final conclusions of its market review into the ownership and competitiveness of the infrastructure that supports three payment systems – Bacs, Faster […]