Say goodbye to long reads with this brief round-up of the latest buys in the fintech world. Features KPMG, Matchi, Ancoa, Cinnober, Valitor, International Payment Services and AltaPay. KPMG has acquired Matchi, a matchmaking platform that connects financial institutions with fintech companies. The pair have worked together since 2015, so the deal “cements” their relationship. […]
The U.S. purchase volume of credit, debit and prepaid cards increased 7 percent in 2016 compared with last year, according to The Nilson Report. That purchase volume hit $5.648 trillion last year, with the volume from American Express, Discover, Mastercard, and Visa credit cards increasing 8 percent year over over to reach a combined $3.059 trillion—the first time that figure has topped $3 trillion.
The Alipay online payment platform operated by Ant Financial Services Group is moving further into North America through an agreement with payments technology provider First Data. Alipay is considered the world’s largest online and mobile payment platform, with more than 450 million global active users.
A former MoneyGram compliance head will pay a $250,000 fine and be barred from performing a compliance function for a money transmitter for the next three years after agreeing to a settlement over alleged AML and fraud prevention failures that took place at the company under his watch.
Alipay is teaming up with First Data in North America as it looks to take a bite out of Apple’s market share. As Banking Technology previously reported, Alipay has been gaining plenty of traction around the globe – with HelloPay Group in Asia merging with Ant Financial (which runs Alipay); and inking deals with European […]
WorldFirst has unveiled World Account, an international payments platform for SMEs and online sellers. The company states the account offers international banking functionality on one platform. It says “many businesses waste time and money” trying to open up bank accounts in new currencies. These accounts are also often held in the UK resulting in “additional […]
Square Inc. has begun rolling out a physical plastic card for use with the company’s Square Cash P2P money transfer service—a move that could help differentiate the service from its P2P competitors by making it easier for users to instantly spend funds they receive via transfer.
Score one for London. Even as the U.K. prepares to leave the European Union through Brexit, the British capital and banking and investment center stands as the global hub of fintech, according to Paybefore readers.
U.K. challenger bank Starling is staying busy with the launch of its real-time mobile offering, Starling Payment Services. The new division of the bank will offer sponsorship access to the U.K.’s major payment schemes, enabling other banks, payment service providers and fintech companies to use real-time payments from the summer.
A group of fintech companies and associations are asking for changes to the second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) due to fears it will force them to become technologically dependent on banks. The coalition of 60 European Union (EU) based entities have signed a seven-page manifesto seeking the European Commission (EC) to make changes to the […]
Facing increased competition from financial services upstarts and tech firms, banks are doubling down on application programming interfaces (APIs) as a competitive tool, a new report shows. Paybefore (Banking Technology‘s sister publication) reports that an Aite Group study canvassed product and digital channel managers at Asia-Pacific, European and North American banks, and found that those […]
The clock is winding down for Congressional lawmakers to repeal the CFPB’s final prepaid accounts rule under the Congressional Review Act (CRA). Under that law, Congress has until May 9—60 legislative days after the law was published in the Federal Register—to repeal the prepaid rule by simple majority vote in the Senate. But with lawmakers currently in the midst of negotiations over a revised health care bill and Democratic opposition to the rollback likely to be strong, proponents of a repeal could run out of time.
With 27 percent of U.S. households unbanked or underbanked, according to the most recent FDIC report on the subject, PayNearMe continues in its efforts to make it easier for such consumers, as well as those who prefer not to use plastic or checks, to pay bills using cash.
In spirited voting, the payments industry has chosen the top five consultants who help their businesses thrive by providing perspective, research and strategic planning. Surprisingly, write-in candidates played a key role in shaping the top five list—one of them received nearly 6,500 votes.
European fintech specialist AEVI—a subsidiary of Diebold Nixdorf—has appointed Nelson Holzner as CEO.
Alenka Grealish has joined the banking practice of research and advisory firm Celent as a senior analyst, based in San Francisco.
U.S. Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry will step down on May 5, 2017, after completing his five-year term in the role.
Financial data aggregator Finicity has expanded its board of directors with the addition of Marianne Sullivan, who will assume the role of audit committee chair.
IMPACT Payments Recruiting has promoted long-time employees Marc Badalucco, Marc Keller and Brian Blume to managing directors.
Mastercard has named Ed McLaughlin president, operations and technology.
OSPT Alliance, the technical industry body behind the CIPURSE open-security standard for contactless fare collection systems, has announced its board of directors for 2017.
Credit union service organization PSCU has named Glynn Frechette as senior vice president of Advisors Plus, PSCU’s division of strategic consultants and marketing experts.
The Retail Gift Card Association (RGCA), the nonprofit trade organization representing the closed-loop gift card industry, has announced its 2017-2018 board of directors and executive committee.
Phil Gura has been named chief legal officer and executive director of fuel retail for mobile loyalty and payments platform provider Sionic Mobile.
In an increasingly globalised economy, payments have struggled to keep up and pressure is mounting on the traditional correspondent banking model.
The New York Department of Labor has fired the latest salvo in the battle over the use of payroll cards in the state. The agency has filed an appeal that could jeopardize the outcome of a petition granted to Global Cash Card to revoke the N.Y. DOL payroll card regulations, which were due to go into effect March 7, 2017. At stake are rules that are considered so burdensome by the prepaid industry that—if restored—could force some payroll card providers out of New York.
Facing increased competition from financial services upstarts and tech firms, banks are doubling down on application programming interfaces (APIs) as a competitive tool, a new report shows.
Chipotle has suffered a breach of its payment card processing system, and is reportedly analyzing transactions that took place between March 24 and April 18 for more evidence of the intrusion.
No need to pace yourself. Here’s a quick blockchain and Bitcoin round-up. Featuring Infosys Finacle, Commercial Bank of Qatar, Adel and Blockpool. Infosys Finacle and the Commercial Bank of Qatar have completed a pilot on the “first ever” cloud-based blockchain network to process international remittances. The bank, along with its subsidiary Alternatifbank (ABank) in Turkey, […]
The payroll card industry received high marks for its standards and its ability to “stretch beyond the basics,” according to a new report from the Center for Financial Services Innovation. But CFSI’s first-ever “Payroll Industry Scorecard” gave the industry an average mark for its ability to provide additional services that “improve customers’ lives.”
Less than two months after announcing a major joint venture in the gifting vertical, FLEETCOR Technologies has made a big move into the red-hot cross-border payments sector, reaching an agreement to acquire international B2B payments specialist Cambridge Global Payments for $675 million.
With retailers of all sizes seeking to harness the power of omnichannel gift cards to drive revenue and engage customers, a pair of prepaid industry veterans have formed a new company aimed at helping midsize merchants expand gift cards sales. Dubbed nthCard, the company is the brainchild of Wayne Chatham—a serial prepaid entrepreneur who most recently served as CEO of Card Compliant—and fellow industry veteran John Bechard.
Legislation that would overhaul the CFPB and end taxpayer-funded bailouts of large financial institutions, among other mandates, moved one step closer to law May 4.
Israeli payments start-up PayKey was voted as Temenos’ Innovation Jam winner by the attendees of the 2017 Temenos Community Forum in Lisbon. Another payments start-up, Austria-based Blue Code, was crowned the winner of the Judges Awards (the judges panel consisted of three Temenos’ senior execs, two representatives from banks and a consultancy). The prize is […]
Temenos has launched open banking and Payment Services Directive (PSD2) targeted services on its MarketPlace. The aim, says the vendor, is “to facilitate the exchange of value between banks and fintech companies”. MarketPlace is “customer driven”, says Ben Robinson, group chief strategy director of Temenos – i.e. the vendor proactively seeks out solutions that customers […]
With MoneyGram and Western Union betting that Facebook-loving consumers will use “sendbots,” the old guard of remittance providers may have an edge on startups.
Prepaid providers are at a crossroads: They can create products that carry relative high fees, or craft consumer-friendly programs that promote financial health. Here’s a case for doing the latter.
To coincide with its just released and first “Payroll Industry Scorecard,” CFSI is separating fact from fiction when it comes to payroll cards, which continue to face scrutiny by state regulators and the media.
Sure, convenience remains vital. But to reach digitally savvy consumers—including millennials—new entrants in the payments arena will need to think socially, and be ready to chat.
Ten more financial institutions have jumped onboard Ripple’s blockchain network for cross-border payments. The new faces are MUFG, BBVA, SEB, Akbank, Axis Bank, YES Bank, SBI Remit, Cambridge Global Payments, Star One Credit Union and eZforex.com – representing a mix of banks and payment service providers (PSPs). “The world’s largest banks have been the first […]
