News


Barclaycard pilots Alipay payments in eight retail stores across UK

EXCLUSIVE: Barclaycard is launching a pilot that enables merchants in the UK to accept in-store Alipay transactions. The pilot will commence on 14 August 2017 in eight retail stores across the UK, with Barclaycard providing the POS solution for payments via Alipay.

WhatsApp to introduce payments feature

Facebook-owned messenger app WhatsApp submitted a new update through the Google Play Beta Programme, which will make payments available in the app’s new version.

Regtech Supplier Performance Report: ignorance is no longer bliss, it’s now criminal offence

The second edition of Regtech Supplier Performance Report, featuring some 50 regtech suppliers, published by Market Fintech Limited and supported by Banking Technology, says that with over 50,000 regulatory documents published across the G20 since 2009, and an average of 45 new documents every week, we must assume that the future of banking will be driven by technological developments.

Lowe’s rolls out FIS BizNow prepaid solution for SMEs

Home improvement chain Lowe’s has a new payments tool in its toolbox to help small businesses, contractors and construction professionals—a prepaid card and companion mobile app to manage business expenses.

Ben Jackson Joins NBPCA as COO

Ben Jackson, who previously led Mercator Advisory Group’s prepaid advisory service, has joined the Network Branded Prepaid Card Association as chief operating officer. 

Socure raises $14m in new funding

In a Series B round led by Commerce Ventures, digital identity verification specialist Socure raised $13.9 million in new funding. The investment, which also featured the participation of Flint Capital, Santander InnoVentures, Synchrony Financial, Two Sigma Ventures, and Workbench, takes Socure’s total funding to $27.5 million.

NBPCA requests more changes and time to comply with CFPB’s prepaid accounts rule

US-based Network Branded Prepaid Card Association (NBPCA) submitted its comment letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) on the bureau’s proposed changes to the final prepaid accounts rule. The trade group is calling for additional revisions to the rule as well as an extended implementation period.

HSBC digitises global trade with IBM

HSBC and IBM are working on a project “to develop a cognitive intelligence solution combining optical character recognition with advanced robotics to make global trade safer and more efficient”.

HooYu brings identity confirmation technology to BCRemit

Better onboarding and fewer fraud incidents are the goals of online money transfer platform BCRemit. The UK-based company has partnered with identity confirmation specialist HooYu to help them reach both of those critical objectives.

Vantiv and Worldpay agree on $10.4bn merger

Vantiv and Worldpay each reported double-digit profit growth on Aug. 9 and announced that their respective boards have agreed to an £8 billion (US$10.4 billion) merger. The combined company, which will be called Worldpay, will be valued at approximately £22.2 billion (US$28.8 billion). 

Yandex and Sberbank plot joint venture for e-commerce

Russia’s tech heavyweight Yandex and the country’s largest bank, Sberbank, are planning a joint venture to “boost e-commerce development”. The new venture will be based on the Yandex.Market platform.

Blackhawk Network Takes Lotto Tickets Mobile

The chance to win big is going mobile. Using live ticket technology from Linq3, Blackhawk Network will give grocery shoppers the ability to purchase mobile-enabled tickets for big jackpot games, such as Powerball and Mega Millions, in the checkout line.

Oracle Unveils New Global Payments Solution for Banks

Oracle has unveiled its brand new development, Oracle Banking Payments. Built from the ground up, the service uses the ISO 20022 messaging standard and supports global and local payment standards, including SEPA, Swift 2017, Fedwire, U.S. ACH and Swift’s gpi.

LGT in regtech revamp with Wolters Kluwer

Liechtenstein’s private bank and asset manager LGT is working on a regtech project with Wolters Kluwer. LGT is implementing the vendor’s OneSumX platform for the regulatory reporting and risk management of its Asian operations – in Singapore and Hong Kong.

CFTE brings fintech education initiative to Asia with MAS

UK-based Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CFTE) is looking to expand to Asia and plans to set up its first international hub in Singapore. The newly launched organisation says it “has been working closely with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to formalise plans to expand CFTE’s education initiative to ASEAN”.

Linedata acquires outsourcing firm QRMO

Linedata has expanded its outsourcing business into Asia with the acquisition of Quality Risk Management & Operations (QRMO), a provider of outsourced middle-office, shadow accounting and risk monitoring services to the asset management and securities industries.

The Monday mindset: 7 August 2017

Fintech zeitgeist! 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, Devie Mohan, founder of fintech research and data company, Burnmark, examines the ethics of artificial intelligence (AI). I was asked to speak […]