Urban FT taps Sunrise Banks for prepaid partnership
White-label digital banking services provider Urban FT is joining forces with Sunrise Banks.
Mobile
CFSI, Chase Seek Fintech Startups for Financial Health Awards
Fintech entrepreneurs still have a few weeks left to win financial backing from two big players in the payment space. The Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) and JPMorgan Chase’s Financial Solutions Lab (FinLab) plan to award $250,000 to programs that help consumers build financial health, “with a special focus on those communities that are frequently underserved, such as older Americans, communities of color, people with disabilities and products that address the gender wealth gap.”
Starling Bank developer portal goes live
UK challenger bank Starling has unveiled its developer portal to enable third parties to access customer data and build on top of its platform using APIs. As Banking Technology previously reported, Starling launched its mobile app and is welcoming the first customers through its digital doors to join a beta testing programme. It also recently […]
Executive Profile: Walt Granville, Digiliti Money
From his current role as senior vice president of mobile innovations at Digiliti Money (formerly Cachet Financial Solutions), Walt Granville has the perfect vantage point to see the transformative power of mobile for prepaid programs. Find out more from the former pro runner, including which apps are on his must-list, where he sees prepaid in five years and the trend he’s watching most in 2017.
Top fintech stories this week – 7 April 2017
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
Western Union App Integrates Apple Pay
Facing increased competition from mobile P2P services, money transfer giant Western Union has made a move to bolster its own mobile offerings. U.S.-based users of Western Union’s mobile app now can use Apple Pay to send money from within the app domestically, or to more than 200 countries and territories.
Cachet, CBKC Take Mobile, Prepaid to Rebar Customers
Cachet Financial Solutions is working with Central Bank of Kansas City again. The two companies, which in March announced a partnership to bring mobile-optimized prepaid programs to community banks, now are working with Rebar Interactive to provide Select Mobile Money-Express, a platform that includes a Mastercard-branded prepaid card.
Virtual Cards Could Displace Checks in the Travel Market; WEX Expands in Asia
With the B2B virtual card market estimated at more than $95 billion in gross spending in 2016, payment providers would do well to target the travel sector, which represents the largest single vertical volume of that spending, according to Mercator Advisory Group. One such company, WEX Inc., has found that moving to virtual payments offers travel suppliers, such as hotels, car rental agencies and tour operators, distinct advantages, including getting paid faster, easier reconciliation across borders and improved analytics.
Protecting porous perimeters via identity access management
With the growth of “mobile working” and an increasing number of business applications migrating to the cloud, the corporate perimeter has become more porous and vulnerable, driving demand for solutions that manage access and user identities securely and efficiently. This is where identity access management (IAM) technologies come into play. ING’s Sicco Boomsma explores.
Banking Technology April 2017 issue out now
The latest edition of our flagship magazine – Banking Technology – is out now, packed with news, analysis and insights, case studies, research and expert commentary.
2017’s Top Launches so Far: Mobile Mania and More
As mobile payments continue to move into the mainstream globally, new services are rolling out on a steady basis to fill the growing demand for general and more specific use cases. Meanwhile, there’s been a recent surge of activity around “mobile” in a slightly different sense, as providers test drive car-based payments services.
Fintech funding round-up: 31 March 2017
Lighter and brighter – catch up with fintech funding news in our brief round-up. Features Monzo, Quint and Lidya. Mobile-only challenger bank Monzo has raised another £2.5 million from more than 6,000 investors – the highest-ever number of any Crowdcube campaign. This follows its crowdfunding record of £1 million round last year, which closed in […]
Mastercard launches safer payments guide for children
Child & Youth Finance International (CYFI) and Mastercard have released a guide on banking and payment products for minors. The “Safer Payment Products for Minors” guide offers recommended practices on how financial service providers (FSPs) can develop age-appropriate payment products for minors; promoting responsible spending and financial decision-making. Walt Macnee, vice-chairman Mastercard, says: “Today’s minors […]
Waves of Change for Payments
At this week’s Smart Card Alliance Payments Summit, experts looked to mobile and transit for a view of how payments will evolve. Here is a dive into the trends that likely will keep making news in the years to come.
Vroom, Vroom: Vehicles Accelerate the Future for Payments
A drive through the emerging landscape of in-vehicle transaction projects shows a wide variety of services that could appeal to consumers and push payments forward. But there’s still work to do before automakers are off to the races.
Mastercard Bolsters Authentication with NuData Acquisition
Mastercard is beefing up its transaction security and authentication capabilities in the age of connected devices, entering an agreement to acquire NuData Security, a Pay Award-winning provider of anti-fraud technology that uses session and biometric indicators to verify online transactions.
Blackhawk Renames Incentives Division
Blackhawk Network has given its incentives business a new identity, renaming it Hawk Incentives, which includes products and services formerly part of Blackhawk Engagement Solutions and the prepaid and payments company’s B2B digital incentive teams, according to a March 28 announcement.
Samsung’s Newest Payments Push Aims to Bring Contactless to the Masses
Hoping to bring “digital cash to everyone,” Samsung has introduced a chip platform that can enable contactless payments in watches, wristbands, key fobs and perhaps even clothing.
Raiffeisen Bank Romania in digital tech revamp with Backbase
Raiffeisen Bank Romania, a subsidiary of Austria’s Raiffeisen Group, is modernising its channels delivery with Backbase.
Top fintech stories this week – 24 March 2017
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
Proposed M-Wallet Rules Don’t Hinder Samsung Pay Launch
While the Indian government works toward a digital economy, the Reserve Bank of India is soliciting feedback through March 31 on guidelines for prepaid payment instruments that could adversely affect issuers of prepaid products, including mobile wallets.
Samsung moves on Siri with Bixby AI
Watch out Siri and Alexa, Samsung has unveiled its own artificial intelligence (AI) solution called Bixby. This will be a new interface on Samsung’s devices – with the imminent Galaxy S8 getting it first – and when an application becomes Bixby-enabled, it will be able to support “almost every task” that the application is capable […]
Walmart Pushes Omnichannel Shopping with New Tech Incubator
Walmart recently announced another step toward further developing its e-commerce business with the creation of a technology incubator called Store No. 8 to create new retail online businesses as well as help the retail giant better compete against Amazon.com.
Illinois Regulator Joins Global Virtual Currency Consortium
The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation has become the first U.S. regulatory agency to join the R3 Consortium, a global partnership of banks and other parties working to develop distributed ledger-based applications for financial services. The agency oversees the regulation and licensing of banks and financial institutions, among other businesses, in the state.
Faster Loans for Consumers with Little Credit History? Experian and Finicity Think So.
New underwriting technology developed by Experian and financial data aggregator Finicity could speed up borrowing and enable millennials and other consumers with thin or no credit files to receive money. The product emerges amid a federal call for more work on helping those potential borrowers build credit scores.
Top fintech stories this week – 17 March 2017
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
India to Open Payment Interface, Ease Transactions between M-Wallets
As India’s war on cash wages on, mobile wallets continue to reap the rewards. Although some experts suggested the advent of the Reserve Bank of India’s Unified Payment Interface platform could make mobile wallets obsolete, a new plan for interoperability could be a boon for Paytm, MobiKwik, Freecharge and other mobile wallet providers.
Consumers Are Open to Payment Innovation, But First Improve Existing Tools
Retail transactions promise to become more vocal and mobile in 2017, according to a new U.K. survey report. Even so, the mainstreaming of chat bots and other new tools appears a while off, given the relatively low level of awareness enjoyed by those innovative technologies.
Fill ’Er Up: Samsung Pay Is Now Good at ExxonMobil Stations
Samsung Pay took another stride this week, with ExxonMobil announcing that its customers can now use the mobile wallet at the pump to pay for gas. This expansion comes only months after Samsung launched a points-based rewards program for Samsung Pay.
Cachet Prices Public Offering, Looks toward a $9.3 Million Payday
Cachet Financial Solutions expects to raise nearly $9.3 million in its public offering this week, according to an SEC filing. The Minneapolis-based financial technology provider and Pay Award winner, which priced its offering at $4.50 per share, plans to use the proceeds for working capital, to pay down debt and other, unspecified purposes.
Barclaycard gets Uber momentum
Barclaycard and Uber have agreed a new commercial agreement that will see Barclaycard customers get “exclusive offers” when they use their personal card to pay for their Uber rides. The deal means Barclaycard’s personal credit card customers can get a free Uber ride, up to the value of £15, for every ten that they take […]
Alexander Graham Bell’s influence on tech innovations in today’s financial services
“Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you.” These were the first words ever spoken over a telephone line and said by the man fondly described as the father of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, who would have turned 170 on 3 March this year.
Chase Pay Acquires MCX Mobile Payments Technology
Another bell has tolled for the mobile payment service operated by the nearly 3-year-old MCX, a consortium of large retailers. JPMorgan Chase, whose own Chase Pay mobile wallet has been making serious strides, has acquired the technology that underpins CurrentC, the MCX mobile payment product that never went beyond pilot stage.
Acquisitions Drive Record Start for Meta’s Tax Business
Meta Financial Group’s heavy investment in the tax refund space is paying dividends, with the company’s MetaBank subsidiary originating a record $1.26 billion in interest-free tax advance loans between Dec. 12, 2016, and Feb. 28, 2017—up from less than $100 million in advance loans during last year’s tax season, according to the parent company.
The Monday mindset: 13 March 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 we welcome the views of our editor, Tanya Andreasyan, as she gives us the lowdown on going digital.
Top fintech stories this week – 10 March 2017
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
Mobile wallet users want more incentives, new study says
Payments pundits for years have been saying consumers need incentives to use mobile wallets, and a new survey report from Auriemma Consulting Group has numbers to back up the claim. Paybefore (Banking Technology‘s sister publication) reports that a survey of 1,505 consumers found that 25% of those who have an eligible smartphone use mobile pay services.Those […]
Will 2017 be the year financial services improve their UX?
2016 has been a big year for user experience (UX). The web, as a whole, became easier to use, apps became more intuitive, and services became a lot more engaging and purposeful. But could the same be said for financial services? Perhaps…
More Incentives! That’s What Mobile Wallet Users Want, New Study Says
Payments pundits for years have been saying consumers need incentives to use mobile wallets, and a new survey report from Auriemma Consulting Group has numbers to back up the claim.
Emerging payments hot topic on social media, Mastercard study finds
Consumers are expressing interest in and enthusiasm for emerging payment methods in their social media conversations, according to a new Mastercard report. Paybefore (Banking Technology‘s sister publication) reports that Mastercard’s fifth annual Digital Payments Study analysed more than 3.5 million public interactions in 2016 between consumers on social media channels – including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter […]
