Viewpoint: Good First Impressions Make for Profitable Relationships
The time has come for financial institutions to truly reap the benefits mobile connectivity offers, and the place to begin is with customer onboarding.
PayTech
Viewpoint: Apple Pay Usage Report
Despite Apple Pay’s high-profile U.S. launch, recent First Annapolis primary consumer research suggests that only one in five iPhone 6 users has actually made a purchase with Apple Pay. But, that’s not the only stat that matters.
People on the Move: Himanshu Patel, First Data
Payments processor First Data has appointed Himanshu Patel chief financial officer.
People on the Move: New Board Members, CFPB
The CFPB has appointed new consumer finance experts from outside the federal government to the Consumer Advisory Board, Community Bank Advisory Council and Credit Union Advisory Council.
Company on the Move: Gemalto, Digital Payments Award
Digital payments security provider Gemalto has won the Juniper Research 2015 Award for Digital Payments for its Allynis Trusted Services Hub.
People on the Move: David Hunter, Kerv Board
Kerv, a London-based fintech startup, has announced that David Hunter has been appointed chairman of its board of directors.
People on the Move: William Fields, NXT-ID Inc.
NXT-ID Inc., a biometrics authentication company focused on mobile commerce, announced that William Fields has joined its advisory board.
People on the Move: Ted Chaney, Payveris LLC
Payveris LLC, a digital payments company serving banks and credit unions across the U.S., has hired Ted Chaney as senior vice president, strategic alliances.
People on the Move: Brian Brunner, PeoplesBank Board of Directors
Brian Brunner has joined the board of directors of PeoplesBank, Codorus Valley Company.
Companies on the Move: R3, Distributed Ledger Initiative
Financial innovation firm R3 announced that an additional 13 of the world’s leading banks have joined its partnership to design and apply distributed ledger technologies to global financial markets.
People on the Move: Hervé Pierre, SIMalliance Board
Hervé Pierre, embedded software and products senior director, strategy, at Gemalto, has been reelected as chairman of SIMalliance throughout the 2015-16 term.
People on the Move: Eileen Burbidge, Tech City UK
Eileen Burbidge, founding partner at venture capital firm Passion Capital, has been appointed the chair of Tech City UK, a publicly funded, nonprofit group launched in 2010 by U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron to support the East London tech cluster known as Silicon Roundabout.
People on the Move: Jeffrey W. Jones, U.S. Bank
Jeffrey W. Jones has been named president of U.S. Bank Corporate Payment Systems, which helps organizations reduce payment costs and improve efficiencies through the use of travel, purchasing, fleet and aviation cards, as well as virtual accounts and other payment products.
People on the Move: Bryan Murphy, YapStone
YapStone, a global provider of Web and mobile payments technology solutions for large vertical markets and online marketplaces, has appointed Bryan Murphy president.
Green Dot CEO Steve Streit: Consumers Demand ‘Great’ Mobile Experience (Sept. 29, 2015)
Green Dot Corp. sees continued strong demand for the mobile features of its iconic prepaid card and its GoBank checking account. And though the company hasn’t embraced Apple Pay or Android Pay, adding mobile payments access is on the company’s horizon, Steve Streit, Green Dot’s CEO, told attendees at PayThink in Las Vegas today.
Kerv Kick-Starts Fundraising Effort for Ring Enabling Contactless Payments (Sept. 29, 2015)
London-based fintech startup Kerv has turned to crowd-funding site Kickstarter to raise mass-production capital to enter the field of wearables with an NFC-enabled ring that allows consumers to make contactless payments. The Kickstarter campaign launched Friday in an effort to raise nearly $117,000 and as of this morning, the company already has raised more than $52,000.
Report Cites Vulnerabilities in Voice Authentication (Sept. 29, 2015)
Voice-based user authentication systems are vulnerable to “voice impersonation attacks,” where criminals gain access to a sample of a user’s voice and use that sample to build a model of the user’s speech pattern with voice-morphing software, University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers say.
Alibaba, Ant Financial Invest in Paytm (Sept. 29, 2015)
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and its affiliate Ant Financial announced today an agreement with India’s One97 Communications Ltd. to invest in Paytm, an m-commerce platform and One97 subsidiary. The capital infusion will enable Paytm to achieve greater scale and develop its m-commerce and payment ecosystem in India and invest in marketing, technology and personnel. The companies did not disclose specifics of the deal, however it’s believed the investment is worth approximately $600 million.
Reports: Square Preparing for IPO? (Sept. 28, 2015)
Square Inc. may be getting ready to file an initial public offering within the next two weeks, according to a report in Fortune magazine, adding weight to rumors going back more than two years about the m-POS company’s desire to go public.
Nearly 90% of Cybersecurity Experts Expect Uptick in M-Payment Data Breaches (Sept. 28, 2015)
As the mobile wallet providers battle for market share—the most recent being today’s expansion of Samsung Pay to the U.S.—a sobering percentage of cybersecurity experts expect mobile payment data breaches to climb over the next 12 months.
EC Seeks Input on Simplifying Cross-Border VAT Payments (Sept. 28, 2015)
With European Union law now requiring merchants to tax digital goods based on which country the buyer is located in—instead of where the seller is located—the European Commission (EC) is canvassing interested parties for feedback on the system of reconciling and paying taxes to national governments.
Samsung Pay Boasts $30MM Transaction Volume, U.S. Launch Monday (Sept. 24, 2015)
Samsung is hailing its mobile payment service Samsung Pay a success in South Korea a month after it launched in the country, citing more than $30 million in transaction volume and over 1.5 million transactions.
Barclays, Verifone Partnership Adds Pingit as Checkout Option in U.K. (Sept. 24, 2015)
Barclays’ Pingit app, which began as a U.K. P2P service in 2012, now is available for users to make online purchases at tens of thousands of e-commerce Websites via mobile devices through a new partnership with Verifone, and Barclays says it hopes to extend the service to POS locations.
Australian Banks Give Boot to Bitcoin Companies (Sept. 24, 2015)
Australia’s major banks reportedly are closing the accounts of more than a dozen of the country’s digital currency providers, claiming AML concerns.
The CFPB to Host Arbitration Hearing in Denver (Sept. 24, 2015)
The CFPB has announced a field hearing on arbitration, which will be held in Denver on Wednesday, Oct. 7 at 11 a.m. MDT.
The emerging threat of trade-based money laundering in trade finance
Money laundering is a global phenomenon, evident in many parts of the world. Techniques have ranged from simple bulk cash movements across borders to more sophisticated techniques hidden in trade transactions. As trade between the Middle East and the rest of the world continues to grow, the threat of trade based money laundering becomes more […]
Money20/20 Founders, Kingsborough Launch Shoptalk (Sept. 23, 2015)
Next-generation commerce is the focus for Money20/20 founders Anil Aggarwal and Jonathan Weiner, who have partnered with Don Kingsborough, entrepreneur and a Blackhawk Network founder, to launch a new conference called Shoptalk.
First Data Exec: With Android Pay Launch, U.S. Mobile Payments Ubiquity ‘A Couple of Years’ Away (Sept. 23, 2015)
This month’s launch of Google Inc.’s Android Pay, just weeks before the U.S.’s Oct. 1 EMV liability shift date, is a key milestone in expanding mobile payments access to the majority of consumers, but we’re still “a couple of years” away from mainstream m-payments with ubiquitous support from banks, merchants and handset makers, predicts Dom Morea, senior vice president of business development for First Data Corp.
MasterCard Program with Singapore University Focuses on Financial Inclusion, Innovation (Sept. 23, 2015)
MasterCard and Singapore Management University (SMU) today announced a two-year program to drive research on social entrepreneurship, innovation and financial inclusion. The Social and Financial Inclusion Program features an annual forum, a seminar series and funding toward student projects.
PayNearMe, 7-Eleven Offer Bill Pay Services (Sept. 23, 2015)
Financial services provider PayNearMe has partnered with 7-Eleven Inc. to launch the PayNearMe Bill Pay app, enabling consumers in the U.S. to pay more than 17,000 national and local billers, such as cable companies, utilities providers and insurance companies, with cash using a barcode scan at participating 7-Eleven stores.
New BBVA Compass GPR Card Focuses on Budgeting Mobile App (Sept. 22, 2015)
BBVA Compass yesterday announced the launch of a new Visa-branded prepaid card and budgeting mobile app, ClearSpend, which the bank says will appeal to prepaid card users across all ages and income levels who want better control of their finances.
New York State Issues First BitLicense (Sept. 22, 2015)
After much debate over whether New York Department of Financial Services’ (NYDFS) state-level framework for licensing digital currency companies is too restrictive, the state agency has issued its first regulatory license, the so-called BitLicense, to Boston-based mobile payment company Circle Internet Financial.
Shift4 Touts Service Expanding M-POS Capabilities for Larger Merchants via Software (Sept. 22, 2015)
Shift4 Corp., a merchant payments gateway provider, today announced a software-based m-POS service enabling larger merchants to accept all types of payments anywhere—via any mobile device—without disrupting existing relationships with processors and acquirers, which analysts suggest is an example of a new breed of payments services.
Starbucks Mobile Order-Ahead Now Available Throughout U.S. (Sept. 22, 2015)
Starbucks has rolled out its mobile ordering and payment service to all 7,400 of the coffee giant’s U.S. locations.
Roundtable: a world of real-time payments
Call it immediate, instant, fast(er) or real-time, the drive to speed up payments is being discussed in almost every country. As part of that discussion Banking Technology and ACI Worldwide brought together international participants from Australia, Europe, the UK and the US review the opportunities and challenges ahead.
Singapore slings (and arrows)
For those who attend Sibos every year, it can seem as though the conference never actually ends – it simply adjourns until the following year. This year, the rise of distributed ledgers and the role of non-bank players in financial services look set to top the agenda – but there will also be a strong focus on innovation, women in finance and millennials.
Worldpay Hopes to Reap $1.4 Billion in IPO
With several companies vying to acquire Worldpay Group Ltd., Advent International Corp. and Bain Capital, owners of the U.K.-based payment processor, have decided to proceed with their planned IPO of the company with the hopes of raising $1.4 billion.
Apple Pay Registers for Business in China (Sept. 21, 2015)
Apple Inc. is making good on its plan to bring Apple Pay to China, with news that it’s registered a subsidiary, Apple Technology Service (Shanghai) Ltd. in Shanghai’s free-trade zone, with permission to operate Apple Pay, but it’s already late to the m-payments party in China, say observers.
Stratos Kicks off Partnership Program with Eastern Bank (Sept. 20, 2015)
Stratos Inc. is kicking off a new partnership program with Eastern Bank, making it the first financial institution to distribute the company’s Bluetooth Connected Card, which combines multiple payment, loyalty, membership and gift cards into one.
RBC Goes Live with HCE-Based M-Payments (Sept. 17, 2015)
Royal Bank of Canada this week introduced a new—and still somewhat rare—approach to connecting its customers to its RBC Wallet mobile payments service via host card emulation (HCE), so it works with any NFC-based Android handset, regardless of its brand or the user’s wireless carrier.
