“A new independent study on the state of accounts payable conducted by Levvel Research and commissioned by Tipalti , the leading global payables automation solution, highlights the ongoing challenges in dealing with fraud as cross-border payments increase in frequency. Levvel Research found that the majority of companies (83%) made cross-border payments in 2019 – a 10% increase over the prior year. However, fraud remains a top concern as firms expand their global reach.”

“A report by the Aite Group (1) predicts losses due to false credit and debit card declines will grow to $443 billion by 2021. This dwarfs the losses from card fraud alone. Despite the online industry’s best efforts, new data reveals that both e-commerce fraud and the constant incidents of false declines continue to seriously impair retailer revenues and profits.”

“New technology and payments innovation are transforming the way Canadian consumers and businesses make payments, according to data from Payments Canada’s annual Canadian Payments Methods and Trends report.  In pursuit of more convenient, faster and secure payment experiences, Canadians are rapidly adopting newer digital channels, such as contactless (tapping card or mobile), e-commerce, mobile and online transfers, in favour of more traditional ‘paper and coin’ payments. The newly released 2019 report analysed the 21.1 billion payment transactions made in 2018, totalling more than CA$9.9 trillion in value. The study points to insights and trends that continue to transform the payments landscape.”

“The “Perspectives from Main Street: Bank Branch Access in Rural Communities” report released Monday says that while banks opened some branches in the study period, 2012 to 2017, they closed many more, leading to a net loss of 6,764, or 7% of all branches. More than 5,400 of these closures occurred in urban counties, while 1,332 occurred in rural counties. The U.S. has 3,141 counties or county equivalents, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.”

“The new research, Digital Domestic Mobile Transfer: Key Trends, Player Innovation & Market Forecasts 2019-2024, found that mobile transactions will drive growth; accounting for 86% of total value in 2024. The research found that in emerging markets, service rollouts by mobile network operators are pushing growth, via mobile money solutions. Juniper Research therefore recommends that financial institutions should proactively engage with operators to access important future revenue streams.”

“In recent years, independent sales organizations and payment processors have generated plenty of lucrative business by working with software developers and marketers—businesses usually known as independent software vendors, or ISVs . But now a report indicates the software market is getting increasingly crowded, a development ISVs fear is pressuring prices. It’s also raising developers’ demands on their payments partners.”

“The majority of issued credit cards now are what are commonly called “chip cards.” That is cards with small square chip on the surface of the card that is used to send encrypted information from the card to the retail card reader and ATM. The United States has more than 842 million* credit and debit cards as of the last quarter of 2018. The world total of chip based credit and debit cards now tops more than 8.2 billion cards as of the end of 2018 *. This is over a billion card increase from the previous year. Foreseeing the growth in the use of chip-based credit and debit cards, SmartMetric over a decade ago set about to add additional security by putting a biometric fingerprint scanner inside the card that is used to turn on the card’s chip following a biometric validation of the card user.”

“Independent software vendors (ISVs) are looking to increase the number of payment methods they offer from four to nine over the next year, but are being held back by legacy systems and a lack of internal resources, according to new research from Paysafe , a leading specialized payments platform. Revealed in the report ‘Lost in Transaction: The new relationship for ISVs and payments’, this trend suggests that ISVs that overcome these challenges to expand their payment offerings will gain a competitive advantage.”

“American shoppers are expected to spend an average of $1,048 during the 2019 holiday shopping season. A large portion of that spending will involve using a mobile payments or rewards platform, as nearly 60 percent of shoppers say they have three or more rewards and/or payments apps on their phones, where as 15 percent of all shoppers have eight or more. And while more than half (52 percent) of these shoppers say they feel overwhelmed by the large number of mobile payments and rewards programs, nearly 60 percent of shoppers say they are likely to use a mobile payments solution for some of their holiday purchases this year. Another 39 percent are interested in learning more about mobile payments and rewards programs.”

“Spending for goods and services initiated by credit, debit, and prepaid cards issued in the United States, which totaled $7.266 trillion in 2018, is projected to reach $10.086 trillion in 2023 according to statistics released this week from The Nilson Report, the leading card and mobile payment industry trade publication.  At the end of 2018, there were 6.96 billion credit, debit, and prepaid cards in circulation in the U.S. That total is expected to reach 8.02 billion at the end of 2023.”

““ Over 90 percent supported the Federal Reserve operating a round-the-clock real-time payment and settlement service alongside services provided by the private sector,” the Fed said. Almost every comment — from community banks, regional banks, retailers, associations of convenience stores and gas stations, and e-commerce giants, favored a Fed real-time payment system. The main exceptions were TCH and its member banks plus, oddly enough, the corporate treasury group, the Association of Financial Professionals (AFP).”

“InComm , a leading payments technology company, today released its 2019 Holiday Index, which for the second year in a row found that in-store shopping will be the most popular retail channel among consumers this holiday season. Based on survey responses from nearly 2,500 U.S. consumers, the report also concluded that gift cards are the top-ranked item on holiday gift lists, with a majority of shoppers planning to supplement these gift cards with additional items to provide a personal touch for recipients.”

“The Playbook is a co-branded industry resource developed by the two groups that will help stakeholders level-set on faster payments developments, assess the benefits and requirements of faster payments, and navigate the process of developing a faster payments strategy. While the current iteration of the Playbook focuses on developing a faster payments strategy for financial institutions, the next version will focus on business end users.”

“Digital wallets and other forms of digitized payments may be poised to take over the most-favored position for some consumers. Sixty-six percent of consumers, if offered rewards, discounts and cash-back incentives similar to those offered by credit cards, would switch to alternative ways to pay, finds the 2019 edition of the Deloitte Center for Financial Services payments survey. That doesn’t mean credit cards are losing favor any time soon. A plurality of Deloitte’s respondents—47%—said they are more likely to use credit cards than other payment instruments in the next two years. Next were debit cards at 40%. Cash, at 7%, was a distant third, followed by bank transfers, 5%, and checks, 1%. The survey canvassed more than 2,500 consumers.”

“The survey of more than 2,000 U.S. and U.K. adults, conducted by Propeller Insights on behalf of Marqeta, also found that digital banks are gaining strong market traction as secondary banking options used in tandem with traditional banks but still face some significant hurdles to mass adoption as primary banking solutions.”

“ovation , a TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) company, today announced the results of its “ 2019 Financial Services Fraud and Consumer Trust Report ” at Money 20/20 USA . The report includes the analysis of tens of billions of global online financial services transactions that iovation and TransUnion have screened for fraud , as well as a survey of 1,604 consumers.”

“Early Warning Services, LLC, the network operator behind Zelle®, today announced $49 billion was sent through the Zelle Network® on 196 million transactions during Q3 2019. Year-over-year payment values increased by 58%, while transaction volume increased by 73%. Currently, more than 600 financial institutions are contracted to participate on the Zelle Network, including 254 that are online today and processing transactions.”