Alibaba Receives U.S. Money Transmitter License (May 19, 2015)
Alibaba, the China-based e-commerce giant, appears to be sharpening its focus on the U.S. payments arena.
Mobile
Walmart Accepting Alipay m-Payments in China (May 19, 2015)
Walmart is making bold moves with mobile payments in China, where it’s signed on with e-commerce giant Alibaba to accept mobile payments via the Alipay Wallet in 25 of its 410 Chinese outlets, the Arkansas-based retailer announced this week.
Customers’ Coffee Costs a Latte More; Must Improve Password Maintenance (May 19, 2015)
Starbucks customers last week noticed their purchases were costing a lot more than expected after hackers exploited the Starbucks app’s auto-reload function that’s connected to consumers’ payment cards, according to reports.
Samsung Terminates Wallet, Prepares for Samsung Pay Rollout in U.S., Europe and Korea (May 18, 2015)
Samsung is terminating its mobile wallet service at the end of June, paving the way for Samsung Pay, its mobile payment service for Android devices.
Aite Study: Gathering Steam, NFC Payments Set to Skyrocket (May 18, 2015)
Proximity payment transaction volume is estimated at $7.5 billion this year and is expected to grow gradually before skyrocketing to $487 billion in 2020, according to an Aite Group report.
Mobile banking users to double by 2020
On the background of a recent study revealing that UK mobile banking users are set to double to 32.5 million by 2020, banks need to tailor their customer experience models heavily towards mobile devices, with the fundamental focus on creating a “mobile-first” strategy, if not the more radical “mobile-only” strategy
LevelUp Breaks into POS Mobile Carrier Billing via Sprint (May 13, 2015)
LevelUp is trying something it says is a first in the U.S.—enabling users of its mobile payments platform to charge in-store purchases to their mobile phone bills, beginning with Sprint customers.
Alibaba Could Open Apple Pay’s Door to China (May 12, 2015)
Two of the biggest names in global commerce are exploring a partnership that could bring Apple Pay to China.
Mitek Verifies Consumers with the Snap of a Driver’s License (May 12, 2015)
Mitek Systems has unveiled authentication technology, which it says will improve customer acquisition efforts by enabling issuers to instantly verify a consumer remotely or in a brick-and-mortar bank location using a driver’s license.
O2 Buys Weve, Ends Telco JV’s M-Payment Plans (May 7, 2015)
Weve, the U.K. telco-led mobile wallet joint venture of O2, Vodafone and EE, this week announced another major reorganization, abandoning its earlier mobile payments ambitions to focus on mobile advertising, under the sole ownership of O2.
V.me Set for Full Rollout in U.K. (May 7, 2015)
The U.K. rollout of Visa Europe’s V.me digital wallet is picking up steam, the payments network said, with support from banks representing more than half of the country’s 130 million cardholders and thousands of merchants.
Orange Cash Comes to Spain with Wirecard Support (May 7, 2015)
Wirecard Group will support the launch of mobile operator Orange’s Orange Cash mobile payments service in Spain.
Study: Pressure Intensifies on Banks to Innovate or Lose Competitive Edge (May 5, 2015)
As new payments technology seeks to disrupt the industry status quo, pressure is intensifying for financial institutions to adapt through innovation, or risk losing their existing leadership in the value chain, a new study from ACI Worldwide suggests.
Survey: More Consumers Plan to Use Mobile Payments; Security Perceptions Improve (May 5, 2015)
Consumers’ perceptions of mobile payments security have improved, along with the number of consumers who say they’re likely to use a mobile payment app in the next 90 days, according to a new survey.
BBVA Revamps Corporate Structure for ‘Digital Transformation’ (May 5, 2015)
BBVA is shaking up its corporate structure as part of what the bank calls a “digital transformation.”
Demystifying mobile payments
As mobile handsets become more prevalent as a tool for retailers, for payments, loyalty and engaging with consumers in and out of the store, security of sensitive data becomes increasingly more important.
Retail banks face falling customer satisfaction and loyalty globally
At first glance the message for banks from the latest World Retail Banking Report 2015 looks like very bad news for traditional banks. Globally, customers’ propensity to leave their primary bank is on the rise while their willingness to make referrals or buy additional products from their primary bank has decreased significantly.
Why FDIC Insurance for Google Wallet?
The recent news that funds stored in Google Wallet now are FDIC-insured might indicate the tech giant has more changes in store for the wallet—and may even begin positioning it as a checking account alternative.
APEX Europe Speakers to Tackle New Business Opportunities in Payments
When top payments and retail executives gather at All Payments Expo (APEX) Europe May 18-20, 2015 in Marbella, Spain, a key theme will be identifying and navigating new business opportunities surrounding emerging payments technologies, like mobile wallets and host card emulation (HCE).
MCX makes Mooney interim chief exec
Merchant Customer Exchange, developer of the CurrentC mobile payment platform has appointed financial services and payment industry veteran Brian Mooney as interim chief executive. Mooney succeeds Dekkers Davidson, who is leaving MCX to pursue other opportunities.
MCX Founding Member Best Buy Supports Rival Apple Pay
Best Buy Co., a founding member of MCX , surprised observers this week with news that it’s supporting Apple Pay on its Website, and adding POS support later this year. Is there a problem?
Discover Joins Apple Pay Fold (April 27, 2015)
Discover credit and debit cardholders will be able to make payments via Apple Pay beginning this fall, the companies announced today.
Apple Bumps Up Capitol Hill Lobbying Expenses (April 27, 2015)
Apple Inc. is spending more time on Capitol Hill meeting with lawmakers on topics that include mobile payments, new lobbying expense data suggest. During the first three months of this year, Apple’s expenses for lobbying rose 16 percent compared with the same period a year ago.
PayPal Fuels eBay’s Engine in Q1; M-Payments up 40 Percent (April 23, 2015)
Electronic payments were a driving force behind eBay’s first quarter, ended March 31, 2015, which saw the online auction site total $4.45 billion in revenue compared with $4.26 billion in the same quarter a year ago, according to the company’s latest earnings report.
Expert: Apple Watch Likely to Be Apple’s Most Profitable Product Ever (April 21, 2015)
The Apple Watch will be Apple’s most profitable product line ever, with gross margins exceeding 60 percent, according to some observers.
Cachet Targets Millennials with Apple Watch (April 21, 2015)
Attracting millennials requires a better banking experience and Apple Watch may hold the key, according to Minneapolis-based mobile money technology provider Cachet Financial Solutions, which today announced its prepaid mobile platform supports Apple Watch.
Samsung’s Biometrics Plans Go beyond Samsung Pay (April 21, 2015)
Samsung has even larger plans for biometrics beyond including fingerprint-based authentication as part of its Samsung Pay mobile payments service.
ICICI Bank Introduces Contactless Payments at Large Corporate Campuses (April 21, 2015)
India’s largest private bank is exploring contactless payments in a limited rollout to corporate campuses that enables employees to use a mobile prepaid account to make NFC payments at corporate canteens and shops.
Report: Apple Pay Coming to Canada (April 20, 2015)
Apple Inc. is negotiating with Canadian banks to bring Apple Pay to Canada as early as November, with details about fees and security protocols at the center of discussions.
PayPal on Security: Thinking Outside the Box, Inside the Body (April 20, 2015)
Jonathan LeBlanc, global head of developer advocacy at PayPal, says the future for mobile payments and other sensitive transactions could lay with embeddable, injectable and ingestible devices.
InstaMed Integrates Apple Pay for Consumer Health Care Payments (April 16, 2015)
Apple Pay is expanding its reach to the health care sector, where InstaMed has integrated the mobile payments service as an option for consumers making payments to hospitals, clinics, doctors’ offices and insurance companies.
World Bank Reports 20 Percent Drop in Unbanked Since 2011 (April 16, 2015)
The world’s unbanked population plummeted by 20 percent between 2011 and 2014, as 700 million adults became account holders, according to a new report from the World Bank.
Study shows 60% of banks’ digital assets on wrong side of firewalls
Security specialist RiskIQ says the growth in digital business is producing an increasing threat to banks across the world, with the largest banks owning an average of 7,500 public facing digital assets – 60% of which are outside the company firewall.
Report: American Express, Jawbone to Launch NFC Fitness Band (April 15, 2015)
American Express Co. is getting in on the expanding niche of wearable technology.
Canada’s Code of Conduct Expands to Include Mobile (April 15, 2015)
Canada’s Financial Consumer Agency this week has released amendments to Canada’s code of conduct for credit and debit card transactions that extend to mobile payments.
5 Signs Microsoft Will Launch Payments Service (April 14, 2015)
More signs point to the fact that Microsoft is preparing to brand its own payments service, but the tech giant’s approach could be much different than that of mobile wallet rivals Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Google Inc.’s Android Pay, some observers suggest.
Blackhawk GoWallet Makes Checking Balances, Redeeming Gift Cards a Snap (April 14, 2015)
With Blackhawk Network’s GoWallet mobile app, consumers now are able to determine gift card balances by taking photos of their cards.
Ingo’s Hot Streak Continues with $13.5 Million Funding Round (April 14, 2015)
Fresh off a major acquisition and a 2015 Paybefore Award for Breakout Company of the Year, Ingo Money’s big year continued with this week’s closing of a $13.5 million funding round. Baltimore-based private equity firm Camden Partners co-led the round with venture capital firm MissionOG.
Amex ‘Facing’ the Future of M-Payments with Biometrics Plan (April 13, 2015)
Biometrics continue to make inroads into payments, with American Express testing new technology that uses facial recognition to authenticate mobile transactions.
India: MobiKwik Raises $25 Million; PIF India Renews Focus on Financial Inclusion (April 8, 2015)
With a fresh infusion of cash, Indian payment startup MobiKwik plans to invest in data analytics, brand building and growing its network of mobile wallet users and merchants, according to reports.
