Africa is becoming a very interesting fintech innovation hub (in particular South Africa, Nigeria and Egypt). As much as 80% of the continent is unbanked, opening the door to a breadth of opportunities for fintech companies to seize market share.
Turkey’s largest bank Isbank has launched a new P2P money transfer service, called “social account”, available for the “first time” in the republic. The launch quickly follows on from the release of its new app, IsCep, to allow “for the first time” banking and stock exchange transactions through one application with real-time data. With the […]
The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) is the first Middle East bank to introduce real-time cross-border payments on Ripple’s blockchain network. Ripple says its tech fits within NBAD’s existing infrastructure and offers an end-to-end payment flow providing “transaction immutability and payment integrity”. Vineet Varma, managing director and head of global transaction banking, NBAD, says […]
The FDIC has appointed 30-year veteran Kathy Moe regional director for the San Francisco region.
Mastercard can put a notch in the win column after a High Court judge ruled in the payment card network’s favor regarding a lawsuit brought on by retailers disputing cross-border interchange fees on debit and credit cards.
Swift Innotribe has partnered with the Russian National Swift Member and User Group (Rosswift) comprising the Bank of Russia, the National Settlement Depository, Sberbank, and Alfa-Bank, to launch its first start-up challenge in the region.
Swift Innotribe’s “Start-up Challenge for Africa” is open for applications. For the third year running, the challenge will be part of Swift’s African Regional Conference (ARC) held in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, from 16-18 May 2017. ARC typically attracts up to 500 delegates from around 40 countries, according to Swift. It offers the usual mix of […]
It’s official: Green Dot will spend at least $167 million to buy UniRush.
Mastercard can put a notch in the win column after a High Court judge ruled in the payment card network’s favor regarding a lawsuit brought on by retailers disputing cross-border interchange fees on debit and credit cards.
The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority has fined Deutsche Bank £163 million (US$204.7 million) for failing to maintain adequate anti-money laundering controls between Jan. 1, 2012, and Dec. 31, 2015, according to Paybefore sister publication Banking Technology.
Paybefore’s first-ever payments year-in-review report, sponsored by The Bancorp, is available now. Offering an in-depth look at key trends and the Top 10 payments stories from 2016 that will continue to shape the industry in 2017 and beyond, this must-have resource examines everything influencing the industry from the CFPB and Uber to Brexit and Trump and much more.
Mastercard saw faster growth than Visa in the Americas in 2015 but, with 43%, Visa still has significantly the largest market share, according to research by Retail Banking Research (RBR). According to RBR’s Global Payment Cards Data and Forecasts to 2021 study, the number of Mastercard cards grew by 6% in the Americas in 2015, […]
Green Dot reportedly wants to buy competitor UniRush—a deal that would unite two of the biggest companies in the GPR space and give Green Dot a “foothold” in the payroll card business. The deal, if it comes to fruition, could suggest that the industry, which has been contracting through consolidation for the past several years, isn’t done yet.
Ant Financial Services Group, the online and mobile financial services affiliate of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, has just become a competitive juggernaut in the remittance business with the acquisition of MoneyGram, the second-largest provider of money transfer services based in the U.S. The transaction of approximately $880 million for all of MoneyGram’s common and preferred shares announced Jan. 26, not only helps MoneyGram compete with Western Union, it helps the combined company compete with startups that have been trying to shake up the market for years.
The rise of the chat bots continues as Cleo, a virtual money assistant described by its creators as the “Siri of personal finance,” has launched on Facebook Messenger for users in the U.K. Developed by the London-based fintech startup of the same name, Cleo is an artificial-intelligence-powered chat bot the companies say will help users manage their finances.
A 2-year-old Federal Reserve plan to improve the speed, efficiency and security of the U.S. payments system has made significant strides toward those goals, but there’s more work to do, according to the Fed’s latest progress report on the initiative. First announced in a January 2015 document titled Strategies for Improving the U.S. Payment System, the plan includes several strategies to enhance the U.S. payment system to “meet the changing demands of American consumers and businesses.”
Fintech zeitgeist! Welcome to the third in a new series of brief reports. Every Monday, we might look back at last week; look ahead to this week; share a few thoughts (our own or others); or discuss anything that catches our eye. This week we welcome the views of guest writer Soumik Roy. Last week, […]
Barclaycard is trialling contactless donations as it says charities may be missing out on more than £80 million each year by only accepting cash donations. According to its research, four in ten (42%) Brits say they carry less cash now than they did three years ago. While, one in seven (15%) people admit to walking […]
Your organisation’s satisfaction with its virtual card provider is the single most important factor determining the return you will receive on your investment. So when you choose a supplier, set your expectations high.
Alibaba’s affiliate Ant Financial is splashing out $880 million for money transfer operator MoneyGram International. This is Ant Financial’s first acquisition of a US-listed company.
Experts from Blackhawk, Cachet, Arroweye, i2c and more explain what loyalty strategies are moving the needle with consumers and why.
Even if President Trump puts the brakes on federal regulation of the payments industry, state regulators are poised to swerve into the open lane that creates.
The technology that underpins bitcoin has received increased attention in recent months from corporate heavyweights. Here’s how blockchain can further revolutionize payments and related industries.
Payments companies hoping to gain market share in the exploding cross-border payments market must be able to meet demands for security, customer service, low costs and simplicity.
While many traditional tech giants have been struggling to come to terms with the connected economy, SAP’s latest earnings indicate it is adapting well to the world of cloud computing.
Luxembourg-based Rakuten Europe Bank, a subsidiary of Japan’s e-commerce and internet company, Rakuten, has gone live with Temenos’ T24 core banking system and Temenos Connect for digital channels.
TSYS-owned NetSpend is negotiating with the Federal Trade Commission over the agency’s allegations that the prepaid provider deceived cardholders and denied or delayed their access to funds, TSYS Chairman and CEO Troy Woods told analysts this week in a fourth-quarter earnings call. TSYS also announced that NetSpend is working on diversification, including the launch of a demand deposit account later this year.
Add Target to the retailers stepping up their mobile payments game: The retail chain plans to improve at least one of its mobile apps by enabling in-store payments through it. What that means is that consumers could use their smartphones and Target app to pay for purchases inside the chain’s stores instead of relying on Apple Pay, Android Pay or other providers’ digital payment systems.
Austria’s Erste Bank und Sparkassen can now verify new customers via video—a form of customer onboarding that is gaining popularity among financial institutions because of its relatively low cost.
Fintech start-up Railsbank has signed its first partner, Arkéa Banking Services (Credit Mutuel Arkéa’s subsidiary), to use its platform to deliver SEPA payment services and IBANs across Europe.
The National Retail Federation has announced members to its board of directors. Among them is prepaid veteran Don Kingsborough, president, Westfield Retail Solutions.
Contis Group, a U.K.-based alternative payments and banking services provider, appointed Fiona Wilkinson to its board as an independent, non-executive director. Contis also hired Jason Ollivier to a newly created executive role, chief disruption officer.
Global payment services provider Currencycloud has appointed Ed Addario chief technical officer.
Discover Bank has been named one of the Best Banks of 2017 as part of the fifth annual banking survey by GOBankingRates, a personal finance Website.
Finicity, a provider of real-time financial data aggregation and information, has expanded its executive team with the hire of Tim Laukka to the position of chief financial officer.
Raphaels Bank has appointed Janet Johnston head of payment services.
RentMoola Payment Solutions Inc., an online global payment network for the rental and condo fee business, has named David Borecky to its board of directors.
Mexico-based CIBanco has signed for a compliance services suite from Swift, which comprises compliance analytics and sanctions screening tools and KYC Registry.
Prepaid providers—along with P2P and mobile wallet providers that fall under the CFPB’s final prepaid accounts rule—might have cheered to learn that President Donald J. Trump issued a freeze on forthcoming regulations on Jan. 20. Further examination of the White House memo detailing the freeze, however, suggests that it may not delay the Oct. 1 effective date for the final rule on prepaid accounts. But, it’s implications for the CFPB and some of its other regulations are unclear.
In an attempt to take its share of the exploding cross-border payments market, which hit about $600 billion last year according to some estimates, Wirecard is launching a new mobile money remittance service in Europe, targeting consumers including unbanked migrants sending funds home.
