PayTech


Intense Industry Reaction Quickly Follows CFPB Prepaid Rules

The CFPB might have taken two years to release its final rules on prepaid accounts, but it took little time for payments industry players and observers to weigh in on them. Within a day of the rules’ release, which go into effect Oct. 1, 2017, prepaid services giant Green Dot Corp., the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), the Consumers Union and the Network Branded Prepaid Card Association (NBPCA) all had issued official comments, covering the spectrum of support for the new mandates.

Wirecard Launches Prepaid Card for European Truck Drivers

A new European prepaid product from Wirecard will help truck drivers pay for repairs and fuel. The program, launched in Germany, involves Europe Net, a subsidiary of ADAC Truck Service. Its European Net Service Card also enables fleet mangers to add value to the card so that drivers can make emergency payments.

Vodafone, PayPal Team for U.K. Contactless Payments

Vodafone customers in the U.K. now can make NFC payments funded from their PayPal accounts via Android smartphones. A new deal between Vodafone and PayPal enables PayPal to be used as a funding source for transactions made with Vodafone Pay.

Facebook Co-Founder among Targets in Jumio Lawsuit

A shareholder of ID verification startup Jumio Inc. has sued company officials over alleged mismanagement and misrepresentation of the firm, which filed for bankruptcy in March 2016. In a lawsuit filed in Delaware, Bloso Investments Ltd., alleges that Jumio directors, including Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, made deliberately misleading statements about the company’s prospects, duping Bloso into investing $5 million in Jumio.

Lloyds can hear a Pindrop with anti-fraud tech

Lloyds says it is set to become the “first” organisation in Europe to introduce new fraud prevention technology, helping protect its 30 million customers from telephone fraudsters. The patented “Phoneprinting”, developed by call centre fraud firm Pindrop, creates an “audio fingerprint” of each call by analysing 147 unique call features – such as location, background […]

SIBOS Interview: Instant Payments

Alain Vansnick, Head of Payments International Business, TAS Group, explains how banks can get ready for instant payments.

Payments round-up: 10 October 2016

Wasting your time is a crime. Here’s a round-up of key events in the payments space. Absa has teamed up with South African start-up Walletdoc to let its Absa Rewards customers earn cash rewards each time they use Walletdoc to pay their monthly accounts. Walletdoc works by sending reminders when payments are due, notifying users […]

Sibos 2016: future proofing payments

The global payments industry faces more challenges than ever before – fiercer competition, more regulations, an increasing threat from cybercrime and new demands from customers. Thierry Chilosi, head of markets & initiatives, EMEA at Swift, talks to Daily News at Sibos about the steps market participants can take to future proof their payments infrastructure.

Sibos 2016: De-risking in Africa

Correspondent banking enables banks to access products and services which might otherwise be unavailable. By enabling cross-border transactions and access to overseas products, correspondent banking plays an important role in the global payments landscape, states Swift.

Fintech funding round-up: 6 October 2016

When time is tight, the reading can be light. A round-up of key events in fintech funding. US-based Payoneer has completed the first closing of a growth equity financing. Proceeds from the $180 million financing will be used to “accelerate global growth”. This year, the firm opened new offices in India, Japan and the Philippines, […]

Bank of Lithuania and Revolut team up for payments

Bank of Lithuania, the country’s central bank and regulator, has signed a memorandum of understanding with UK-based payments and fintech start-up Revolut. Revolut intends to set up a financial institution in Lithuania and obtain a banking licence. Bank of Lithuania will provide Revolut with access to its managed payment systems enabling cross-border payments in euro. […]

Kohl’s Launches Mobile Payments Tied to Private Label Card

Kohl’s on Oct. 5 launched a mobile payment option that “integrates the Kohl’s Charge private label credit card into the popular Kohl’s mobile app,” the retail chain said. Called Kohl’s Pay, the service enables some 25 million U.S. holders of that private label card to pay for in-store purchases directly from mobile devices.

Swift smart modules seek stronger security

Swift has published a series of eLearning modules as it ramps up its cybersecurity defences in the face of hacking threats. The SwiftSmart modules will help its customers operate their Swift environment “securely and in-line with best practice”. The move is also a “critical part” of its Customer Security Programme launched in May 2016. That […]

CFPB Includes Mobile Wallets in Final Prepaid Rule

The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on Oct. 5 released its final rule on prepaid accounts, and the agency’s requirements, which go into effect Oct. 1, 2017, go well beyond plastic.

Mastercard Brings Selfie Payments to Europe

Say cheese! Or at least hold still. Mastercard is rolling out its pay-by-selfie service in a dozen European countries. The move follows a similar pilot in North America.

HSBC hits $100bn mobile payments mark for corporates

There’s glee and a spending spree for HSBC as over $100 billion in mobile payments have been made by its corporate customers. The bank says the $100 billion sum was authorised globally through the HSBCnet mobile corporate banking platform since its launch in 2011. The total transaction value of mobile payments has more than doubled […]

CFPB Issues Final Prepaid Rules; Expanded Definition Worries Industry

The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on Oct. 5 released its final rule on prepaid accounts, a move that sharply expands the definition of prepaid—to the distinct displeasure of prepaid industry players. The new rules, which take effect Oct. 1, 2017, are quite similar to what CFPB had initially proposed, with provisions tweaked in the final rule, rather than major additions or deletions.

Standard Chartered customers taken for an Uber ride

This time we have a genuine Uber moment in fintech. Standard Chartered and Uber are partnering to offer the bank’s credit cardholders cashbacks on Uber rides. This is the “first ever multi-market partnership” for both of them. The deal is for six markets – Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, India and the United Arab Emirates – […]

Merchant Lawsuit over Fraud Liability Shift Moves Forward

A federal judge has ruled that a lawsuit alleging payment networks colluded over fraud liability can go forward, denying the networks’ motion to dismiss the lawsuit. Filed in March 2016 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California by two Florida retailers, the lawsuit accuses American Express, Discover, Mastercard and Visa of engaging in “a conspiracy” when shifting liability for transaction fraud to merchants that failed to upgrade their POS systems to accept EMV chip technology by Oct. 1, 2015.

LG Expands Payment Options for ‘Smart TVs’

LG Electronics and Paymentwall said Oct. 4 that they will expand the online payment options available through LG’s webOS “smart” TVs. The program “will give consumers easier access to paid apps, movies, games and much more through LG’s intuitive webOS Smart TV platform,” LG said. The effort involves some 140 payment options in 200 countries.

Eurogiro, TransferTo Partner to Expand Mobile Money

Members of global payments network Eurogiro are now able to transfer funds to mobile money and bank accounts through a partnership with B2B mobile payment network TransferTo, the companies announced Oct. 3. Through TransferTo’s payments network, Eurogiro’s network members can expand their service offerings by providing mobile payments and, for example, accept remittances at a post office in one country and transfer the funds to a recipient’s mobile wallet in another country.

MasterCard brings biometric payments to Europe

It’s a European roll-out as MasterCard has launched Identity Check Mobile, a new payment technology app that uses biometrics to verify a cardholder’s identity. The technology is now being introduced across 12 markets in Europe – including the UK, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden, following a […]

Apple Pay launches in Russia

Apple Pay has launched in Russia with partners Sberbank and MasterCard. Russia is the tenth country where Apple Pay has been made available, following the US, UK, Canada, France, China and others. Alexander Torbakhov, deputy chairman of the executive board of Sberbank, says: “Apple Pay is driving the popularisation of contactless payments in Russia and […]

Western Union launches mobile payments app in Canada

Western Union has unveiled its mobile platform in Canada for domestic and cross-border money transfers, available for iOS and Android. The new app allows users “instant, anytime, anywhere” access to Western Union’s physical and digital money transfer infrastructure. So people can send money face-to-face or online. “Whether on a smart phone or at a store […]

Arizon moves financial messaging to Bottomline’s cloud solution

Arizon Sourcing has migrated its financial messaging traffic to Bottomline Technologies’ cloud-based solution GTExchange, hosted in Switzerland. Arizon, a joint venture between Raiffeisen Group and Avaloq, says the cloud offers cost transparency and cost reduction. On top of this, the Bottomline Swiss Service Bureau will support all of Arizon’s domestic (SIC) and cross-border (Swift) transactions. […]

Austin Public Transit Not Onboard with EMV

In perhaps one of the most dramatic instances of resistance to EMV since the technology began rolling out more than a year ago, Austin, Texas, public transit plans to stop accepting payment card purchases at vending machines at its nine commuter rail stations, rather than upgrade to EMV-compatible machines.

Meta Beefs Up its Presence in Tax Refund Space

Meta Financial Group, the parent of MetaBank and Meta Payment Systems, said Oct. 3 it will buy EPS Financial LLC, which sells tax-related financial transaction products, for $42.5 million. The half stock, half cash deal will close in the fourth quarter, Meta Financial said.

CFPB/Amex Study Indicates How to Motivate Consumers to Save

In a study conducted by the CFPB, with assistance from American Express, researchers found that offering a monetary incentive was most effective in motivating consumers to set money aside in savings accounts. The research results from the study, “Tools for Saving: Using Prepaid Accounts to Set Aside Funds,” also indicate that having a savings option reduced consumers’ use of payday loan services.

U.S. Reps Urge CFPB to Rethink Short-Term Lending Rules

A bipartisan group of federal lawmakers has asked the CFPB to reconsider some of the agency’s proposed restrictions on short-term lenders, arguing that such loans provide much-needed access to credit for those who have few other alternatives.

Top fintech stories this week – 30 September 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place – and all with a Sibos touch! Blockchain: be ready to ‘fail fast and fail cheap’ Wouldn’t it be better to succeed in the first place? Innotribe plots rise of new fintech hubs A tribe calling for a […]

SCOTUS to Hear Credit Card Surcharge Case

The U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 29 agreed to hear arguments from a group of New York merchants who want the right to impose surcharges on purchases made with credit cards. The outcome of the case could have an effect on laws in 10 states that restrict such surcharges.