After a hot 2015, fintech investment is off to a strong start in the New Year. In recent days, U.K. digital financial services provider Starling Bank and European retail banking disruptor Deposit Solutions each landed new financing, while global asset manager BlackRock acquired at least a 5 percent stake in New York City-based Square.
As U.K. banks begin offering no-frills accounts that could compete with prepaid products, London-based prepaid specialist Prepaid Financial Services (PFS) is looking to elbow further onto traditional banks’ turf by expanding its banking offerings across the Eurozone.
The European Union’s initiative to create a Capital Markets Union in Europe is currently stuck in a quagmire of political debate. That shouldn’t discourage politicians and regulators from taking the necessary steps as soon as possible, according to a new report by the International Capital Markets Association.
On 12 January new EU regulations on securities financing will take effect. Local regulators including France’s AMF have warned financial institutions to be ready for the new rules, which require greater transparency.
The holiday shopping season may be over, but Blackhawk Network remains in a buying mood.
Commuters hailing a cab in Singapore now can use MasterPass, MasterCard’s digital wallet, to pay their fares.
Smartphones accounted for 17 percent of online sales in the U.S. last year, beating out tablets, at 14 percent, according to the State of Retailing Online 2016, a widely cited annual report from Forrester Research Inc., Bizrate Insights and Shop.org, the e-commerce arm of the National Retail Federation trade group.
The People’s Bank of China (PBC), the country’s central bank, this week has revoked the license of Shanghai Chang Gou Enterprise Services, a prepaid card-issuing company, preventing it from selling prepaid cards, according to Reuters.
Samsung, one of the world’s largest electronics companies, this week gave its latest boost to the so-called Internet of Things (IoT) by showing off Web-connected TVs and other products.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch has launched an automated US dollar cross-border cash pooling services for corporations operating in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone. ZF TRW, a division of ZF Friedrichshafen, manufacturers of automobile safety systems, has implemented the working capital solution and is serving as the pilot client.
Prepaid product and transaction services company InComm has expanded its European footprint with yesterday’s acquisition of TibiDono, a Salzburg, Austria-based marketing and gift card distribution company.
MasterCard wants consumers to use its cards and payment network to buy goods through their refrigerators and fitness devices, going by announcements made this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Two payday lenders have settled Federal Trade Commission charges over allegedly hitting customers undisclosed and inflated fees.
To kick off the New Year, we asked payments industry thought leaders to tell us what happened in 2015 that will most influence payments in 2016 and to discuss their hottest priorities for the next 12 months. Responses run the gamut from a combined Visa/Visa Europe to compliance, wearables and the impact of Chase Pay.
UK building society Nationwide has signed BT to provide the network infrastructure for its digital transformation strategy, as part of a six-year deal between the two firms.
Orange’s new partnership with Groupama enables the French telco to offer banking services with the launch of Orange Bank while beefing up Groupama’s online banking business. The partnership also could lead to Orange acquiring a 65 percent stake in Groupama Banque.
Prepaid could have a new competitor in the U.K. with several banks there opening their doors to consumers who weren’t previously eligible for accounts due to poor credit histories. The so-called “basic accounts” are being offered as of Jan. 1, by nine major banks, after an agreement in late 2014 between the U.K. government and the country’s banking industry that was part of a larger push by British authorities to expand financial access for the underbanked.
Latin American consumers will have more access to mobile payments through a deal between ABnote and MeaWallet. The move comes as more consumers in the region turn to mobile devices to access the Web.
French telecoms firm Orange is to create a new bank called Orange Bank together with French insurer Groupama, in a move the two firms say will help to break open the banking market using mobile phone technology.
The 2015 holiday shopping season ended on a high note with a post-Christmas shopping surge fueled by a friendly calendar and shoppers looking to redeem gift cards in stores and online. Sales figures were higher than many observers expected after a somewhat sluggish start to the season—especially in the brick-and-mortar sector, which saw store visits plummet as consumers opted to do their holiday shopping on the Web.
Will the recently launched Mike Tyson Digital Wallet for bitcoin users be crowned the champ when other celebrity-endorsed payments products have failed to take hold? Bitcoin Direct is banking on Tyson’s endorsement of its digital wallet to become as synonymous as former boxing champ George Foreman and his grill.
Hot on the heels of its December Walmart Pay launch, retail giant Walmart is taking additional steps to speed up payments for shoppers. MasterCard announced today that Walmart will accept MasterPass in 2016 across its domestic online properties. The partnership suggests that even as retailers launch proprietary ways to pay, giving consumers more payment options will win out over exclusivity.
India’s Post Bank is to begin processing payments in March 2017, according to the government’s communications minister. The move is part of long-standing plans to use India’s Post Office network to spread financial inclusion in the world’s largest democratic nation.
With tech giants investing in P2P payments—and millennials driving usage—a promising niche may finally be ready for the mainstream.
Millennials continue to show high interest in GPR prepaid cards and other alternative financial services—but they’re not turning their backs on banks, according to a new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Payment Cards Center.
Closed-loop gift cards appear poised for growth for the second consecutive holiday season after 2012 and 2013 declines, thanks in part to last-minute shopping and young consumers, according to a new report from Mercator Advisory Group Inc.
Idaho’s Department of Agriculture is the first government department to launch the eGovExpress digital wallet developed by Olathe, Kan.-based NIC Inc., provider of official government Web portals and digital government services for more than 3,500 federal, state and local government agencies.
CPI Card Group, a global provider in financial and EMV chip card production and related services, announced that Diane Fulton has been appointed to the board of directors.
The CFPB has announced that Mary McLeod will join the bureau as general counsel, upon the departure of Meredith Fuchs, current general counsel and acting deputy director, in early 2016.
FinCEN Director Jennifer Shasky Calvery has announced the selection of Andrea M. Sharrin as associate director for the agency’s policy division.
Green Dot Corp. has appointed Mark Shifke chief financial officer.
GlobalPlatform, an association which standardizes the management of applications on secure chip technology, has announced its board of directors for fiscal year 2016.
Lindquist & Vennum LLP has hired Andrew R. Toftey to join the firm’s financial institutions practice.
Online money transfer service WorldRemit has announced the hiring of Ian Cole as group chief financial officer.
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PayPal’s One Touch, a fledgling mobile payments tool that enables quick purchases, has attracted 10 million users since its April launch, just as other mobile payment programs strive for dominance.
Rumors are beginning to swirl around Target developing its own m-wallet, but like Walmart, the retailer says it’s still committed to MCX’s CurrentC.
Global spending on cybersecurity will top $75 billion worldwide this year, 4.7 percent higher than 2014—and by 2020, the global cybersecurity market is projected to be worth $170 billion. The surge in spending is being driven by companies seeking to fortify their systems against the ever-evolving threat of data breaches and other cyberattacks. Government security initiatives and new legislation also have contributed to the upswing.
US payments body Nacha has set out to dispel myths about the ISO 20022 financial messaging standard with a new white paper published as part of an education programme as the US looks to convert its ACH network to the standard.
An “Implementation Playbook” detailing the timeline, milestones and dependencies involved in migrating the US equities, fixed income and unit trust markets to a two-day settlement cycle has been published by the T+2 Industry Steering Committee.
