PayTech


Q&A with Colleen Dorwart, RGCA board chair

As we reflect on 2017 and look ahead to 2018, we spoke with Colleen Dorwart, Retail Gift Card Association (RGCA) board chair, about the most popular gifts in America.

What a Swell Sibos we had

One of the more entertaining aspects of this year’s Sibos in Toronto was the continuation of the rivalry between the event’s host, Swift, and distributed ledger technology (DLT) firm Ripple.

All aboard the Amex blockchain payments express

American Express has launched blockchain-enabled, business-to-business cross-border payments with Santander using Ripple’s network. The Amex FX International Payments (FXIP) business is working with Ripple to make blockchain payments commercially available, “reducing the time and cost of settlement”. Santander UK is the selected partner to initiate this new transaction channel. Marc Gordon, EVP and CIO at […]

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 16 November 2017

Coming straight after yesterday’s (15 November) action, here’s our latest blockchain and Bitcoin round-up. Features Mastercard in a patent place, ING Bank opening up, and another warning from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority. Let’s start with yet another patent. Mastercard has jumped on the blockchain payments bandwagon by filing “Method and System for Instantaneous Payment […]

Give donations better with Betterment

Robo advisory platform Betterment says it is not only making it easier to give to charities, it is also giving consumers more reasons to do so, reports Julie Muhn at Finovate (Banking Technology’s sister company). Starting 28 November, on “Giving Tuesday”, Betterment investors will be able to donate shares of long-term investments from their taxable accounts directly to […]

EyeLock docks with ViaTouch for iris-powered payments

Iris-based biometric authentication specialist EyeLock has signed an agreement with ViaTouch Media that will integrate EyeLock’s technology within ViaTouch’s smart-shelf vending solution, Vicki. David Penn at Finovate (Banking Technology‘s sister company) reports that EyeLock CEO Jim Demitrieus says the agreement was the culmination of years of working with firms from a variety of industries to bring embedded […]

TransferTo and Fern Software get UN funding for payments push

Cross-border mobile payments network TransferTo and banking software provider Fern Software have both been awarded a grant as a part of the United Nations Capital Development’s Shaping Inclusive Finance Transformation (Shift) Challenge Fund, reports Julie Muhn at Finovate (Banking Technology’s sister company). The goal of the fund is to use remittances to improve the economic power of women […]

Q&A with Joe Daly, Paysafe

Joe Daly, COO payments processing North America, Paysafe, talks to us about all things paytech.

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 15 November 2017

Following on from yesterday’s (14 November) news, here’s our latest blockchain and Bitcoin round-up. Featuring Trustology, Accenture, Monetary Authority of Singapore, Association of Banks in Singapore, Square and London Block Exchange. Another day, another new firm. Trustology has emerged from stealth and revealed it is building a peer-to-peer network of smart contract compute services. Trusted […]

Boku to raise $60m ahead of London IPO

Carrier billing company Boku plans to go public on the London Stock Exchange’s alternative investment market (AIM), an international market for smaller growing companies, reports Julie Muhn at Finovate (Banking Technology’s sister company). Ahead of next week’s public debut, the company announced it expects to raise $60 million on a post-money valuation of $164 million. Of the […]

E-book: How Digital Lenders Can Win the Fight Against Fraud

Ready for the truth about fighting fraud? It’s not as futile as you might think. Yes, fraud is hitting digital lenders of all sizes… Pretty sizably. But recent research shows that with the right approach, it is possible to stop the bad guys and stem the losses—without slowing opportunity.

Rambus partners with Eftpos for Android Pay in Australia

Eftpos, the Australian domestic debit network, is using Rambus’ token service provider (TSP) technology to digitise payment cards to support Android Pay. Rambus says TSP enables Eftpos to maintain consumer data securely through tokenisation, which allows the replacement of sensitive data with unique reference numbers so information is not compromised. In turn, Android Pay lets […]

The Clearing House makes history with new US payments system

The Clearing House (TCH) has launched its 24×7 real-time payments (RTP) system, the first new core payments infrastructure in the US in more than 40 years. RTP was designed and built through the “collaborative effort” of TCH’s 25 owner banks and meets the objectives of the Federal Reserve Faster Payments Task Force. RTP is open […]

Standard Chartered unveils chatty banking chatbot

Standard Chartered plans to deploy a chatbot on its online and mobile banking platforms powered by Kasisto’s conversational artificial intelligence (AI) platform, KAI Banking. The chatbot will act as a virtual personal assistant to help clients manage money, make payments and analyse their spending, via conversations in English and other unnamed languages. The service will […]

Myanmar gets first corporate credit card

A trio of financial organisations have launched the AYA Universal Corporate MPU-JCB co-branded card in Myanmar – the nation’s first corporate credit card targeted for business payment use. Ayeyarwady Bank (AYA Bank), Myanmar Payment Union (MPU) and JCB International (JCBI), the international operations subsidiary of JCB, have teamed up for the new card which has […]

Why mobile wallet acceptance is key to retail growth

A young woman has made plans to join a friend for dinner at a restaurant across town, and with a few clicks on a mobile device she sets her night in motion. Her go-to ride-sharing service has sent a car, she’s ordered a cappuccino from her favorite coffee shop – this one is free because she’s a loyalty member –  and her social app pings her friend to let him know her ETA.

Token and Envestnet | Yodlee team up for open banking

Open banking platform provider Token has partnered with Envestnet | Yodlee, a data analytics platform, for payments and financial data aggregation. The partnership will use Token’s operating system, TokenOS, which offers PSD2 compliant payments and gives access to banks for third-party service providers, via an API. In addition, the deal will use Envestnet | Yodlee’s […]

Crime moves upmarket as fraud becomes UK’s number 1 offence

New research from Experian claims fraud is now the UK’s most common criminal offence, much to the dismay of thugs and hoodlums everywhere, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). The company’s Annual Fraud Indicator 2017 estimates the annual cost of fraud in the UK is £190 billion, exceeding the total gross domestic product of 148 […]

ACI powers Malaysia’s real-time payments network plan

Payments Network Malaysia (PayNet), the national financial market infrastructure provider, will build Malaysia’s real-time retail payments platform (RPP) using ACI Worldwide’s UP Immediate Payments solution. RPP is an initiative to modernise the country’s infrastructure to all participants in the ecosystem, including banks, institutions, businesses, consumers and the government. PayNet resulted from the merger of Bank […]

Barclays in Flux for instant digital receipts

Barclays is trialling itemised digital receipts to its customers via a partnership with start-up Flux, a rewards and receipt platform. The upcoming trial will take place with around 10,000 users of the Barclays Launchpad app, its platform for testing new features with “real customers to learn more about how best to meet their needs”. Matty […]

Mastercard, Bank Asia and a2i team for financial inclusion in Bangladesh

Access to Information (a2i, an innovation lab supported by the Bangladeshi government), Bank Asia and Mastercard have signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) to facilitate financial inclusion in Bangladesh by making digital payment services accessible countrywide through the Union Digital Centres (UDCs).

Cheddar on mission to help software developers monetise faster

It’s a tale as old as tech start-ups – a software developer creates a new app and is convinced it will take the world by storm. The only problem? No idea how to monetise the brilliant creation. Xconomy (Banking Technology‘s sister publication) reports that a US fintech start-up based in Bloomington, Indiana, called Cheddar aims […]

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 9 November 2017

Whether it’s AI to bridge cryptocurrencies or someone accidentally losing it, something is always going on, whether right or wrong in the world of blockchain and Bitcoin. Our latest round-up features Parity, AiX, R3 and SIA.

Payments round-up: 9 November 2017

We got a trilogy folks. Following the payments round-ups on 8 November and 7 November, here’s more paytech action. Features PayPal, NCR, Samsung, Scotiabank, Mastercard and Eftpos. It’s been offering cross-border payments in India for a decade, but PayPal has now launched domestic operations in the country as it looks to take on Paytm and […]

Over-regulation and career politicians could spell disaster for tech

Government intervention has been a hot topic all week at AfricaCom, and it doesn’t seem like there is going to be a resolution to the problem anytime soon, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). Of course there will always be a need to regulate any industry; commercial entities should not be left by themselves, they […]

UK banks join the iPhone X Face ID rush

Customers of TSB and Tesco Bank are now able to use facial recognition technology, Face ID, for mobile banking app and make payments. The new technology is exclusive to Apple’s iPhone X. Carlos Abarca, TSB’s chief information officer, says: “Providing customers with biometrics logon to their mobile banking, such as Face ID, means all of […]

Mobey Day Barcelona: disruption, money and forward thinking

This year’s Mobey Day continues with the consistent collaboration between banks, start-ups and fintechs. Focusing on the development of technology during a time of disruption, the biggest players drew attention to leading in future challenges and trends.

UK start-up secures inevitable Hollywood movie sequel

With unerring predictability, the Hollywood movie machine has churned out a sequel for the energetic and eventful life story of a UK-based payments start-up. As reported in May, the rise of Charon Ferries, the creation of the husband and wife team of Michelle and Mark Morrison (who have defied all known laws of the universe […]

Payments round-up: 8 November 2017

Just yesterday (7 November) was a payments round-up, but here’s more action from the lively paytech place. Features Apple, Coinsilium Group, UMT United Mobility Technology, Visa and even the Olympic Winter Games. Apple, which is rarely out of the news, has set up Apple Pay Cash for person-to-person (P2P) payments in Messages. This feature is […]

ICICI Bank sets the tone for voice-based payments in India

ICICI Bank has unveiled India’s first voice-based international remittance service to enable non-resident Indians (NRIs) to send money to any bank in the country. With the new feature in its Money2India (M2I) app, an NRI customer can make a remittance to existing payees in India with a voice command to Apple’s virtual voice assistant, Siri. […]

Payments round-up: 8 November 2017

A distinctly European feel in the latest payments round-up by Banking Technology (Paybefore’s sister publication). Stars Facebook Messenger, the UK’s Payment Systems Regulator, Concardis and AliPay.

Payments round-up: 7 November 2017

A distinctly European feel in our latest payments round-up. Stars Facebook Messenger, the UK’s Payment Systems Regulator, Concardis and AliPay. The UK will be the first country outside the US to get the Facebook Messenger payments service. Messenger was launched in the US in 2015 and lets people transfer cash during any conversation within the […]