Digital


PayPal Doubles Down on P2P with Skype

PayPal is on a tear in terms of taking on new partners and is looking to significantly boost its P2P payments volume, which grew 103 percent in the second quarter, reaching $8 billion in Venmo transactions. The company announced in a blog post on Aug. 2 that any of the more than 1 billion people who’ve downloaded the Skype mobile app will be able use it to send money across borders.

Banks Look to Immediate Payments to Drive Revenue

Banks are investing in immediate payments to drive revenue, while focusing their IT investments on fraud prevention and operational efficiency, according to new benchmark data from ACI Worldwide and London-based consultancy Ovum.

Samsung shows how big its IoT aaS is

Samsung has launched its latest assault on the world of internet of things (IoT), launching a brokering service for hardware manufacturers and service providers on its Artik IoT platform, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). It’s a trend which we are likely to see more of as the digital economy takes hold, but Samsung has […]

New in regtech: digital ID verification

It’s no secret that increased regulations are a significant pain point for commercial and community banks. According to Thomson Reuters Global Cost of Compliance 2016 Survey, more than one-third of participating financial institutions reported spending at least an entire day each week keeping track of regulatory changes. The good news? Regtech, or regulatory technology, is […]

paysafecard Enters UAE to Enable Online Payments with Cash

Prepaid pioneer paysafecard, part of Paysafe Group plc, announced its entrance into the United Arab Emirates. With its flagship prepaid solution, paysafecard will enable consumers to pay cash at vending machines and in retail stores for a prepaid PIN they can use to shop online.

Fintech earnings round-up: 31 July 2017

Several major payments companies have released Q2 earnings, including The Bancorp, Discover, Mastercard and PayPal. Overall, payments volume is on the rise and partnerships are proving particularly important for PayPal, which has been on tear with recent strategic announcements.

Earnings: Q2 Results for The Bancorp, Discover, Mastercard, PayPal

Several major payments companies released second-quarter earnings this week, including The Bancorp, Discover, Mastercard and PayPal. Overall, payments volume is on the rise and partnerships are proving particularly important for PayPal, which has been on tear with recent strategic announcements.

Facebook looks to Messenger for future growth… but not yet

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has cast his sights on monetising his OTT platforms Messenger and WhatsApp, but don’t expect miracles any time soon, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). The financial performance of the company is exactly what you would expect; another quarter of monstrous growth. Total revenues hit $9.164 billion, a year-on-year increase of […]

Digital currency: the future or the biggest flop?

From Bitcoins to even newer (and lesser known, but rising) forms of currency, will this level the playing field for people in the future, or is this all just a sham that will die down? As things get digitised, what do we need to know about digital currencies, and does this mark the demise of traditional forms of currencies?

Open letter to EU decision makers on PSD2 RTS – figo

This open letter from German fintech figo is not about the usual pros and cons of this debate, but intends to provide the European Council with actual solutions, i.e. smart trade-off ideas that could mean an end to the everlasting screen scraping debate and eventually the RTS process.

Layer’s new messaging design system gets conversational

FinovateSpring 2017 alumnus Layer has released a new customer engagement-enabling solution as the latest reminder of a trend toward more and better engagement options for businesses, reports Finovate (Banking Technology’s sister company). The San Francisco-based company has launched its Conversation Design System, giving enterprises new tools to build and customise conversational experiences for their customers “in […]

IBM launches security testing services for IoT developers

IBM’s security arm is launching testing services for the internet of things (IoT) – with Watson IoT offering configuration and management capabilities for IoT environments, reports Finovate (Banking Technology’s sister company). IoT technologies are on the rise – in fact, Gartner predicts that connected things will reach 20.4 billion by 2020. This flood of new capabilities comes with the […]

Payably and CardConnect want to simplify mobile payments for small businesses

Payably, which offers a platform that integrates mobile payments with QuickBooks Online data in real time, is working with CardConnect to “simplify and speed up” mobile payments for merchants, including initial onboarding and processing and receiving payments, reports Paybefore, Banking Technology‘s sister publication. The strategic partnership also gives Payably the ability to offer “competitive” card […]

Google makes loads of money, but cloud is real story

Googlers are still swimming in cash as the latest quarter brought in $26.01 billion, and not even a $2.74 billion fine from the European Commission could dampen the mood at this party, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). The uplift in revenue, accounting for a 21% year-on-year boost, should not really come as a huge […]

Microblink’s Photopay expands to new European markets

Photopay, the payment receipt scanning solution from Microblink, is now available in more countries including France, Norway, Spain and Sweden, reports Finovate (Banking Technology’s sister company). The news is the latest step in Microblink’s European expansion – begun four years ago – and brings the company’s data extraction technology to an even wider range of SME customers. […]

Banking Technology and FemTechGlobal looking for inspiring women in fintech

Do you know any special women in technology who have made a huge contribution to fintech? Then we want to know! Banking Technology and FemTechGlobal, a global diversity and inclusion organisation, are again on the look-out for all amazing women who deserve the Woman In Technology (W.I.T.) Award, part of Banking Technology’s 2017 annual Awards show. […]

The Monday mindset: 24 July 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, Claire Calmejane, director of innovation at Lloyds Banking Group, presents “Digital Zero to Hero: Myth Debunking”. (This is part of a series […]

An Ant Can Teach A Big Lesson To U.S. FIs

Ant Financial created the world’s largest money market fund in four years by enabling mobile wallet users to move money to the fund simply within the mobile app. The program’s meteoric rise shows that consumers are willing to adopt financial services from new players and the mobile device can supercharge that consumer shift of assets if incumbents don’t react quickly enough.

Mobile wallet round-up: 20 July 2017

It’s been a busy week for mobile wallet partnerships – and this round-up can help. Features Apple Pay, ANZ, CaixaBank, Starling and Samsung Pay. Banking Technology’s sister publication Paybefore reports. Australia and New Zealand-based banking group, ANZ, is rolling out Samsung Pay to customers in Australia. The bank says it’s the only major Australian bank […]

More human than human: banking’s AI future is all in the voice

Aditya Challa of IMImobile takes a look at some current and future applications of artificial intelligence (AI) for customer experience in the financial and banking sector, as well as the challenges that still need to be overcome. Beyond the current race to build chatbots, he predicts that voice-driven AI services will ultimately become the main […]

PayPal Teams with Samsung Pay

The partnerships keep coming for PayPal. Following recent news that the company is partnering with Apple for payments on iTunes and in the App Store, the company announced July 17 that it’s expanding its partnership with Samsung to enable PayPal as a payment method in any channel Samsung Pay is accepted.

mVisa Takes on M-PESA with Free Domestic Mobile Money Transfers

Move over M-PESA, customers of a Visa-led bank partnership in Kenya will be able to send money to each other domestically without paying transaction fees using mVisa, and the payments network has added additional in-store merchant acceptance for the QR-code-based payment method.

New partnership turns PayPal into Apple App Store payment option

One small step for consumer choice in e-commerce. One giant leap in PayPal’s quest to be the payment option of choice for shoppers online, reports Finovate (Banking Technology’s sister company). This week the company announced a partnership with Apple to allow shoppers pay for their purchases at the App Store using PayPal. The feature will be available for users […]

Apple Deal Puts PayPal One Step Closer to Ubiquity

One small step for consumer choice in e-commerce, one giant leap in PayPal’s quest for ubiquity. The company announced a partnership with Apple to enable shoppers to pay for their purchases in the App Store, iTunes, Apple Music and iBooks using PayPal.

Altice puts squeeze on Orange with bank move

In a copycat move that will come as a blow to Orange, rival Altice plans to launch its own online bank by early 2019 in the countries in its network footprint, according to a report from Reuters that cites a source close to the matter. Light Reading (Banking Technology’s sister publication) reports that the launch of […]

Fintech Funding Roundup: Revolut, Curve, Pixoneye, Gridspace

And the money keeps rolling in for fintech. U.K. challenger bank Revolut announced a $66 million investment it will use to introduce new features and expand globally, starting with Asia and North America. Meanwhile, Santander InnoVentures, the bank’s fintech venture capital fund, has added U.K.-based Pixoneye and Curve and U.S.-based Gridspace to its portfolio.

Bold statement three: statements from around the bleeding edge of innovation

Hello all and apologies it’s taken a little while to get to the third instalment of the series about “pet peeve statements”. For those who are new, I am talking about those bold, declaratory statements that puff up the chest and make people feel awfully progressive and far sighted – and as I have said before, all sound and fury, signifying stormy waters ahead!

Finicity and JP Morgan Chase pair for data share

Data aggregation provider Finicity has signed an agreement with JP Morgan Chase to let the bank’s customers choose data to share with apps. The companies will use a direct API to allow Chase customers to share information with the apps and services that Finicity supports. According to the firms, this tokenised access will eliminate the […]

Quantum of solace with Atos simulator launch

Prepare for cybersecurity impact! IT services corporation Atos has launched the “world’s first commercially available” machine-system capable of simulating up to 40 quantum bits (Qubits). The simulator, named Atos Quantum Learning Machine (Atos QLM), is powered by an ultra-compact supercomputer and a universal programming language. Its uses naturally extend far beyond fintech, such as for […]

Just in case you need a reason: why participate in Banking Technology Awards?

This year’s Banking Technology Awards are taking place on 13 December in London and there are plenty of reasons why you and your team should be a part of this prestigious event. Besides having a good chance at winning, entering the Awards also allows you to: Make global headlines in the industry if your entry […]

Fintech funding round-up: 4 July 2017

There’s no lacking of backing. Our latest fintech funding round-up features Tide, Instarem and IntellectEU. UK-based mobile banking firm Tide, which launched in January, has raised $14 million in its Series A investment round. The round has been led by specialist fintech investor Anthemis, alongside Creandum, the Scandinavian fund that has backed companies including Spotify […]