Bitcoin may be a step closer to going mainstream now that Coinbase is partnering with Shift Payments to launch a Visa-branded bitcoin debit card that lets users spend the funds in their bitcoin wallets anywhere Visa is accepted.
The payments world is contracting a bit more as U.S. ATM manufacturer Diebold is getting significantly larger, announcing its plan to acquire German-based Wincor Nixdorf for approximately $1.8 billion, or €1.7 billion, creating the largest global ATM supplier.
Five months after Apple Pay’s arrival in the U.K., the contactless payments service is working with London’s transit authority and MasterCard to drive Apple Pay usage for mass transit by offering free rides on Mondays, starting today and running through Dec. 14. Meanwhile, Visa Europe is doing its part to promote Apple Pay in the U.K. with a two-month advertising campaign touting its integration with the payments service.
The CFPB announced in a Nov. 20 blog post that it has updated its regulatory agenda, including the schedule for its final rule on prepaid accounts, which now is expected to be released in March 2016. Several lawmakers have expressed concern over the CFPB’s broad proposed rulemaking on prepaid, noting that consumers, including those that rely on overdraft and government benefits, may be harmed if the rules go too far.
After much prognostication regarding when Square would finally announce its IPO, the m-payments service provider began trading this morning on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SQ.
It may be Black Friday next week, but it’s also the deadline to comment on potentially harmful payroll card regulations pending in the state of New York.
London-based Prepaid Financial Services (PFS), an e-money issuer that specializes in acquiring, prepaid and alternative banking solutions, has sold 5 percent of the company to a strategic investor after being valued in excess of £50 million (US$76.5 million).
Funding continues to roll in for fintech startups, with a pair of firms landing investments totaling more than $21 million this week.
The convergence of social media and money transfer has taken another step forward, with China’s biggest mobile messaging app partnering with Western Union to enable users to make cross-border P2P transfers.
It should be no surprise to anyone that gift cards are forecasted to be uber popular again this holiday season. However, it will be crucial for those in the prepaid industry to be mindful of plugged-in shopper preferences to capture holiday spend.
Knowing your customer is taking on new meaning for retailers, If you want to thrive, you must give your customers a personalized shopping experience with a simple integrated payments process.
In 5 years plastic cards will be dead! A bold prediction for sure and likely one you’ve heard in any of a dozen payment mixers you’ve attended over the last year. But for our restaurant brands, we see a more nuanced picture that requires us to execute a simple, perhaps obvious, formula.
The five most important takeaways from Money20/20 that will shape payments for the foreseeable future.
The Norwegian Valyou mobile payment service started by DnB and Telenor will be closed at the end of this month as a result of slower than expected activation of NFC enabled POS terminals and a much lower than expected end user uptake.
Italian payments company SIA is expanding its P2P service Jiffy into Germany, together with IT firm GFT Technologies. The move is part of SIA’s plan to roll out real time money transfer via mobile phone to 400 million European current account holders.
Craig James explains how passporting with an e-money license allows U.S. prepaid companies to conduct business in EU countries.
Retailers argue the semantics between calling a price difference a “surcharge” or a “discount.”
Apple Pay’s availability continues to slowly cover the globe with the latest addition—Canada. American Express today announced the availability of Apple Pay for cardholders with cards issued by Amex Bank of Canada.
Users of Vodafone’s mobile wallet soon will be able to add their MasterCard-branded payments cards to the wallet app and subsequently make contactless payments via NFC, the European telecom provider announced. Vodafone Wallet added support for Visa-branded payment cards earlier this year and compatibility with Visa- and MasterCard-branded payment cards could help Vodafone Wallet compete against Apple Pay, which launched in the U.K. in July.
Worker payout solutions provider Hyperwallet has launched a new loyalty program that enables its clients, particularly in the direct selling industry, to provide rewards for independent workers who opt to receive their earnings on a prepaid card.
The European Union Council has approved the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2).
Earlier this year, we recognized the Top 10 Payments Lawyers as voted for by Paybefore.com visitors. In our first profile, we feature Amy Ross Lauck, partner, in the payment systems and consumer financial services practice at Lindquist & Vennum LLP, who discusses the challenges of the CARD Act, prospects for the CFPB’s prepaid rulemaking and innovations yet to come.
The FDIC last week issued a revised financial institution letter soliciting public opinion on a proposed update to its series of FAQs related to identifying, accepting and reporting brokered deposits. The revised guidance, which has a 45-day comment period that ends Dec. 28, has far-reaching implications for the prepaid industry.
MasterCard has named the startups comprising the next class of its Start Path fintech accelerator. The four startups, which were selected from more than 200 applicants, will receive mentoring from MasterCard experts, access to the company’s commercial partners and the opportunity to integrate with MasterCard solutions for six months.
Visa Europe is exploring the use of blockchain technology to speed and simplify international remittances. Under a new partnership with Epiphyte, a startup specializing in bringing blockchain to mainstream financial services, the Visa Europe Collab innovation hub is testing the use of a distributed ledger to process remittance transactions.
In a global battle pitting two companies, Hailo and Uber, that connect drivers with riders, U.K-based Hailo announced this week that all of London’s 22,500 black cabs now accept mobile payments using HailoPay, a payment gateway for passengers to pay for black cab rides using their smartphones.
Prepaid’s ability to suit a wide range of uses was on display this week, with two new MasterCard-branded prepaid products announced, targeting two very different audiences.
Samsung Pay grabbed attention in the m-payments race with its technology enabling users to pay with their handsets at any POS terminal, whether or not it accepts NFC. Now reports suggest Samsung Pay may add P2P services.
Arroweye Solutions, a digital-on-demand payments technology firm, has named Betty Mitchell vice president of client engagement.
Ballard Spahr announced that Paul E. Harner, has joined the firm and will work in Ballard Spahr’s offices in New York and Baltimore.
Barclays PLC and Barclays Bank PLC has appointed James E. Staley group CEO.
Payments veteran Trent Sorbe, president of Central Payments, a division of Central Bank of Kansas City, testified before the CFPB on Oct. 28, as part of the federal agency’s small business advisory panel.
Thomas Scanlon has joined the financial services and payments practice groups at Davis Wright Tremaine, where he will practice mostly in the firm’s office in Washington, D.C.
MasterCard has appointed Craig Vosburg president, North America Markets, effective Jan. 1, 2016.
Meta Financial Group Inc. announced that Cindy Smith has been named executive vice president, head of technology and operations.
Mozido, a global provider of digital commerce and payment solutions, announced that Todd Bradley has been appointed CEO.
Progressive Digital Media Group Plc, has completed its acquisition of Datamonitor Financial, Datamonitor Consumer, MarketLine and Verdict from Informa plc.
Silicon Valley Bank announced that Bruce Wallace is taking on the role of chief digital officer and Michael Dreyer is joining the company’s executive management team as chief operations officer.
As part of a recent push toward enhancing cardholder security, MasterCard is extending its updated Zero Liability policy to cardholders across the globe.
Federal prosecutors have charged a trio of accused cybercriminals in a wide-ranging hacking and fraud scheme Attorney General Loretta Lynch called “one of the largest thefts of financial-related data in history.”
