FCA kickstarts discussion on Big Tech’s impact on competition
The regulator says Big Tech firms have the potential to change market outcomes quickly.
Amazon
European Central Bank picks five partners for digital euro initiative
Five front-end companies were chosen by the ECB out of 54 applicants.
Amazon and Visa bury the hatchet over UK credit card fees
Visa says the agreement includes “a joint commitment to collaboration on new product and technology initiatives”.
Paysafe builds out digital wallets team with new exec hires from Barclays and Amazon
Rachel McShane joins as digital wallets CFO and Megan Oxman joins as SVP of new product development.
Video: fintech news pick of the week – Amazon, Visa, Bolt & Lunar
Our top pick of news from the world of finance and tech in bitesize video format, every week.
Amazon U-turns on decision to ban UK-issued Visa credit cards
The eleventh-hour reprieve comes as both companies are “working closely” to reach a longer-term agreement.
Paytech Recharge.com hires David Lindheimer as CPTO
The appointment will bolster the paytech’s global expansion plans, CEO says.
Amazon to ditch UK-issued Visa credit cards
The move is blamed on high transactions fees.
Barclays hires payments veteran Antony Stephen to boost BNPL solution
Stephen joins from Amazon and will work on scaling Barclays’ BNPL platform.
UnionBank plans total cloud migration with Amazon Web Services
It aims to be the first entirely cloud-hosted bank in the Philippines.
Safaricom mulls M-Pesa partnership with Amazon
A wider partnership with Amazon “is important”, says CEO.
French watchdog says banks risk “marginalisation” by Big Tech payment apps
The paper focuses on Big Tech-associated threats to competition.
Amazon expands pay-with-hand tech, pushes on with digital currency
Amazon hopes to contract out the pay-with-hand technology to third parties.
BBVA taps Amazon and Bloomberg for cloud-based equities platform
Spanish giant launches “BBVA C-fit” for its corporate banking division.
TrueLayer nabs former Amazon and AmEx exec as new CPO
Ossama Soliman joins TruLayer as its new chief product officer.
AmEx and Amazon launch co-branded credit cards for UK SMEs
The programme targets businesses with less than $10 million in annual revenue.
Banking Circle helps Amazon sellers avoid international fees in US
Sellers can avoid the 3.9% international transaction fee.
UK fintech Zeux lets users shop on Amazon through its banking app
The feature is currently in beta.
Amazon VP Maria Renz joins Californian fintech SoFi
For a time, Renz was Bezos’ first and only female adviser.
Inaccuracies of facial recognition: security, prejudice, pollution and fashion
The issue of accuracy is one which is often cited but rarely explained.
Deutsche Bank reaches out to Big Tech for cloud assistance
Deutsche Bank has reportedly invited proposals from Microsoft, Google and Amazon.
Goldman eyes financial cloud as new revenue stream
The bank promised investors in January that it would find new revenue streams.
PayPal users lose £1m to fraudsters posing as buyers
A total of 3,059 crime reports were submitted to Action Fraud regarding the scam.
Goldman Sachs to offer SME loans on Amazon lending platform
The product could go live as soon as March this year.
Amazon set to turn hands into cards with Visa
The bigtech is reportedly in talks with Mastercard, JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo.
BBVA trials Amazon platform for banking products
The Spanish bank is exploring options via a partnership with a Michelin star restaurant.
Financial Stability Board warns of bigtech banking risk
Tech firms’ relationship with finance could create instability, says FSB.
Klarna selects Amazon Web Services as preferred cloud provider
Swedish banking and payment firm puts AWS at the centre of new strategy.
United Bank of India launches voice banking
FSS offers the solution in partnership with Amazon.
The Amazon-ification of banking
So, what can banks learn from Amazon? In a nutshell it should have these key features.
Amazon brings money management to Prime for businesses in the UK
It also offers tailored advice when buying.
Banking Technology November 2017 issue out now
The latest edition of our flagship magazine – Banking Technology – is out now, packed with news, analysis and insights, case studies, research and expert commentary.
Whole Foods Market Reports Breach
On Sept. 28, Whole Foods Market announced it had recently received information regarding unauthorized access of payment card data used at certain venues such as taprooms and table-service restaurants located within some of its stores.
Alexa Is Making ‘Her’ Presence Known
While Google is doing its impression of a petulant child, storming home from the park with its football tucked under its arm by barring Amazon Echo Show access to YouTube, Amazon has drafted a host of reinforcements for its Alexa offensive.
Did Apple Just Reinvent Retail Again?
Forget facial scans or a watch that’s not tethered to the phone. If you’re a bank or payments company, you’d best be looking at Apple’s plans for the transformation of retail.
Alexa Speaks to U.S. Bank Customers
More than a year after Capital One unveiled the feature, U.S. Bank customers still are among the first in the U.S. to be able to complete banking tasks, such as checking an account balance or paying a credit card bill, by speaking a command to an Amazon Alexa device.
Walmart Taps Google for Omnichannel Commerce Play
Google and Walmart are teaming up to take on Amazon (and Alexa) with voice-activated commerce and more plans for 2018. Starting in late September, the retail giant will be working with Google to offer hundreds of thousands of items for voice shopping via Google Assistant.
India Payments Roundup: Paytm, Amazon and Flipkart
The battle for e-commerce and payments domination is on in India. Paytm, an e-payment/e-commerce brand and payments bank, is bringing the QR code scanning habit to the Indian masses, while rival Flipkart has raised $2.5 billion from Japan’s SoftBank and Amazon has launched its digital wallet.
Money Transfer Goes Social: What the Facebook Land Grab Means
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.
Are You Protected from Contact Center Fraud?
Payments companies are used to defending themselves against fraud from all sorts of angles, but they would do well to mind the phones. By 2020, 75 percent of omni-channel, customer-facing companies will face a targeted attack, with the contact center as the primary point of compromise, according to Gartner research.
