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September 23, 2022

On the web

Merchant Acquiring at the Crossroads: An Industry Reinvents Itself (Asia)

McKinsey & Company

“Historically, the merchant acquiring business has had a rather staid image: local, offline, physically intensive, processing heavy, and lacking the software element of new-age business. Bank driven, it lagged in penetration and was profitable only to those with scale. But with a surge in e-commerce and a long tail of small merchants waiting to be digitized, acquiring is newly dynamic—and increasingly attractive to banks and fintechs alike. What was once a routine processing business is now pioneering new payments models across Southeast Asia and globally.”

July 21, 2022

On the web

Airwallex Launches Online Payments App on Shopify

Businesswire

“Airwallex, a leading global fintech platform, announced the launch of its Airwallex Online Payments App on Shopify. The Airwallex Online Payments App is a payment gateway plugin that merchants can integrate on their online store to accept payments from their global customers. This new app is offered through Airwallex’s payment acceptance solution that covers a wide range of payment methods. These payment methods include Visa, MasterCard and UnionPay bank cards, and 30+ other local payment methods across the Asia-Pacific and Europe, such as GrabPay in Southeast Asia, WeChat Pay in APAC, and Bancontact and Sofort in Europe.”

June 30, 2022

On the web

Chargebacks911 Celebrates 3x Boost to its Automated Dispute Response Platform With the Addition of Data Driven AI Enablement

businesswire

“Chargebacks911, the leading dispute technology specialist that powers chargeback remediation for the largest global eCommerce businesses, as well as the world’s financial institutions, today celebrates a 3x boost to its automated dispute response platform. The addition of AI further propels Chargebacks911’s worldwide market advantage, as the leading dispute technology platform*.”

May 19, 2022

On the web

Meta Files “Meta Pay” Trademark Applications Hinting at Cryptocurrency Services

CryptoPotato

“Meta Platforms Inc. – the owner of the Meta (formerly Facebook) brand – filed for five trademark applications on Friday under the name of “Meta Pay”. They appear to be dedicated to a new digital payments platform that will integrate various cryptocurrency and blockchain-related products. According to the applications filed on May 13th, Meta Pay is described as an “online social investment network.” It will allow users to conduct trades using digital currencies, blockchain assets, and crypto tokens, while providing user authentication and identity validation services.”

April 13, 2022

On the wires

FIS Unveils Banking-as-a-Service Hub, Delivering Creative and Innovative Fintech Solutions to Financial Institutions of All Sizes

“Financial technology leader FIS ® (NYSE: FIS) today announced its Banking-as-a-Service Hub, enabling banks, credit unions, and fintechs to build the digital banking and payments ecosystems they need to deliver innovation to merchants and consumers. The FIS Banking-as-a-Service Hub provides a full suite of banking and payments capabilities for institutions of all sizes, allowing for more opportunities to deliver embedded finance solutions for superior customer experiences.”

April 12, 2022

On the wires

Finastra Collaborates With Microsoft to Bring Embedded Financing Options to Thousands of Businesses With Banking As a Service

Finastra today announced a Banking as a Service (BaaS) collaboration with Microsoft to bring new lending options to thousands of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) – a sector severely underserved when it comes to accessing finance. SMEs using Microsoft Dynamics 365 will be able to access and unlock vital financing offers without leaving their business management platform.”

April 11, 2022

On the web

Kenyan Mobile Money Gets Boost in Shift to Seamless Payments

Bloomberg

“Kenya’s cellular-phone operators agreed to allow mobile payments across their networks, joining an effort by the central bank to integrate the nation’s payment systems. The first phase of “merchant interoperability” will enable Airtel Networks Kenya Ltd. and Telkom Kenya Ltd. users to pay for goods through Safaricom Plc ’s M-Pesa, the biggest mobile-money platform in the East African country, the three companies said in a statement on Friday.”

State Attorneys General Urge CFPB Oversight on “Buy Now, Pay Later” Companies | JD Supra

JD Supra

“On March 25, the Illinois State Attorney General Kwame Raoul, along with 18 other state attorneys general (state AGs), [1] provided comments to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) related to the CFPB’s inquiry into companies that offer consumers the opportunity to divide the cost of their purchases into multiple installments, also referred to as “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) products. The 19 state AGs provide their support and offer seven recommendations in response to the CFPB’s inquiry in their comments.”

ClassPass owner targets listing as in-person fitness rebounds

FT

“Mindbody, the fitness and wellbeing tech platform that owns exercise subscription service ClassPass, plans to go public as demand for in-person workouts grows following pandemic shutdowns. A flotation would mark a return to the public markets after just four years away from the Nasdaq for California-based Mindbody, which was taken private by Vista Equity Partners in 2019 in a deal that valued the company at $1.9bn.”

Bank Deposits Could Drop for First Time Since World War II

Wall Street Journal

“U.S. banks have a streak of increasing deposits as a group every year since at least World War II. This year could break it. Over the past two months, bank analysts have slashed their expectations for deposit levels at the biggest banks. The 24 institutions that make up the benchmark KBW Nasdaq Bank Index are now expected to see a 6% decline in deposits this year. Those 24 banks account for nearly 60% of what was $19 trillion in deposits in December, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.”

Nigeria Grants MTN Licence for Mobile Money Banking Service

Fin24

“The Central Bank of Nigeria has approved the licence for MTN’s Mobile Money (MoMo) Payment Service Bank in the country, extending its services to wider banking operations, it was announced on Monday. Mobile money is a growing contributor to MTN Nigeria’s income, and the new banking licence would allow the company to explore growth opportunities presented by the country’s unbanked population. MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita said granting the final approval to commence the operations of MoMo bank was an “important milestone” for the company’s  Ambition 2025 strategy unveiled a year ago. Nigeria, the continent’s populous nation, is MTN’s largest market.”

April 8, 2022

On the wires

BankProv Partners With Synctera to Create Card Program in Support of Banking-as-a-Service Model

“Synctera allows banking institutions to build new lines of business by sponsoring FinTechs and generating new revenue streams. BankProv and Synctera share the vision for a connected marketplace filled with opportunities for FinTech developers and customers to have more access and options for managing their money. BankProv is the eleventh community bank in Synctera’s marketplace helping FinTechs to launch and scale their products. Synctera will focus on bringing a card program to BankProv’s partnerships with FinTechs that offer cryptocurrency related services including exchange, deposits, and payment services.”

U.S. Bank Expands and Enhances U.S. Bank ExtendPay™

“U.S. Bank, an industry leader in payment services, has enhanced its ExtendPay ™ offering, which provides U.S. Bank consumer and business cardmembers with the ability to buy what they want now and pay for it later, providing them with added flexibility and control over their cash flow. ExtendPay is a new payment option that allows customers to divide eligible purchases into affordable, fixed monthly payments with no added interest – just a fixed monthly fee.”

Cash Back Rewards Leader Ibotta Unveils B2B Solutions for Advertisers, Retailers, and Publishers

“Ibotta, the company that disrupted the 100 year-old paper coupon industry with digital cash back rewards, announced plans to dramatically change the advertising landscape with the Ibotta Performance Network (IPN). The IPN is an industry-leading publisher and retail network that will soon reach more than 120 million shoppers in the US. This expanded platform gives advertisers unprecedented scale to launch “pay for sale” performance marketing campaigns.”

April 7, 2022

On the wires

BlueSnap Launches Embedded Payments Suite to Help Software Platforms Maximize Revenue Globally

BlueSnap , a global payment orchestration platform committed to helping B2B and B2C businesses accept and optimize payments around the world, has launched its Embedded Payments and Payfac-as-a-Service offering for software platforms looking to scale their customer base globally. BlueSnap has been helping software platforms monetize their payments for several years with their Integrated Payments for Platforms. The new Embedded Payments and Payfac-as-a-Service suite expands and innovates on this to include three new products: BlueSnap Dash™, BlueSnap Relay™ and BlueSnap Flex™.”

Zilch Continues to Lead Responsible Lending in the Payments and BNPL Space

Zilch , the London, head-quartered fintech Unicorn, today announces it has taken another major step forward in innovating its technology to measure affordability through its latest partnership with Experian, the global information services company to begin reciprocal reporting of Buy Now Pay Later credit information. Zilch continues to pioneer the space by making use of a unique blend of CRA data, Open Banking data and its own proprietary behavioural data to make active consumer lending decisions. This creates a 360 degree view of a customer’s affordability at any given time.”

April 5, 2022

On the wires

Visa Installments Solution Eyes Expansion With Air Canada

“As consumer interest in ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ (BNPL) continues to grow, Visa announced today its intention to collaborate with Air Canada, the flag carrier and Canada’s largest airline, to facilitate the offering of Visa Installment Solution to eligible credit cardholders, giving Canadian travelers more choice and flexibility over how they pay for their airline purchases. With this collaboration, Air Canada would be among the first airlines globally to participate in Visa Installments Solution.”

April 4, 2022

On the web

March 31, 2022

On the web

Exclusive: Klarna Spins Open Banking API Strategy With Dedicated Unit – AltFi

AltFi

Klarna is best known for riding the crest of ‘buy now, pay later’ wave but its booming open banking business is its new move. In the past year, the company has stealthily created a dedicated unit devoted to open banking, including doubling its bank connectivity in the past year from 6,000 to 15,000 banks making us the largest bank aggregator in the world.”

March 30, 2022

On the wires

Finicity and Fiserv Offer More Consumer Choice Through Secure Data Access – Fiserv, Inc.

“Finicity, a Mastercard company, and Fiserv, Inc., both leaders in open banking technology, are advancing the future of open finance through secure data sharing. A data access agreement between the companies will allow thousands of Fiserv financial institution clients to enable consumers to provide clear and explicit permission to securely share their account information with apps that use Finicity’s open banking platform, offering more payment choices, access to an expanding range of financial services experiences, and improved overall financial literacy and wellbeing.”

March 28, 2022

On the wires

Joint Statement by HM Treasury, the CMA, the FCA and the PSR on the Future of Open Banking

“The Government and regulators are committed to maintaining the UK’s leadership in the field and sustaining this momentum. We want to build on the initial success of UK Open Banking to help unlock and realise further benefits for consumers, businesses and the wider economy. Open Banking should continue to support innovation and greater competition for consumers and businesses. Critical to this will be establishing an appropriate successor to the Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE), which has played a central role in developing the UK’s Open Banking ecosystem. It is important that its successor is overseen effectively, as the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has done since 2017.”

March 16, 2022

On the web

EBay and Klarna Partner to Bring Flexible Payment Options to Germany – AltFi

AltFi

“eBay is partnering with Klarna to bring new flexible payment options to German shoppers.   The two new Klarna payment options being added to eBay.de will supplement the existing payment methods, which include Klarna’s Pay Now service (Sofortüberweisung).  Customers will now also be able to access Pay Later (Invoice) and Financing, giving them several options to choose from on every purchase, whether that’s paying immediately or at a later time.”

Fifth Third Part of $50 Million Settlement in Telemarketing Suit

News AKMI

“The lawsuit in question was filed in December of 2016 on behalf of merchants in California that received sales appointment setting calls from two independent sales organizations — International Payment Services and Ironwood Financial. The lawsuit alleges that Fifth Third and two payments processing companies were in a “principal-agent relationship” with IPS and Ironwood and, through that relationship, violated California’s privacy laws “by recording telemarketing calls without any warning that the recording was occurring,” according to the filing.”

On the wires

Mastercard Drives Scale of Buy Now, Pay Later With Raft of New Partners

“Mastercard today announced a growing list of leading partners, including BNPL specialists and globally recognized brands, further expanding Mastercard Installments, the unique BNPL program that delivers greater choice at checkout, both in-store and online.Amount, Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s, Deserve, H&R Block, i2c, Lithic, Saks Fifth Avenue, Sutton Bank and Walgreens join the wide array of partners already working with Mastercard on the BNPL program. They are the latest brands to embrace the benefits of adopting Mastercard Installments’ innovative open loop model.”

March 15, 2022

On the wires

Green Dot and Plaid Partner to Give Customers Seamless Access to Their Money Through Secure Open Finance Solutions

Green Dot Corporation (NYSE: GDOT) today announced it is partnering with Plaid, the data network powering the digital financial ecosystem, to bring secure open finance solutions to GO2bank customers. Launched in 2021, GO2bank is Green Dot’s flagship digital bank designed to give all people the power to bank seamlessly, affordably and with confidence.”

March 11, 2022

On the web

March 10, 2022

On the web

New BNPL Study Raises Concern About ‘Debt Spiral’

Payments Dive

“Nearly 20 percent of U.K. credit cards were used last year to make buy now-pay later payments, a “warning flag” for regulators concerned about consumers taking on more debt than they can afford, said new research from three British economists. The working paper , published online last month though not yet in an academic journal, examined the transactions of one million credit cards held by U.K. consumers and discovered 19.5% of active U.K. credit cards were used for charges covering buy now-pay later (BNPL) transactions last year.”

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