Nets roping in 15,000 cabbies to nudge hawkers to go cashless — The Straits Times — “To coax hawkers to go cashless, e-payment giant Nets is going to enlist the help of an unconventional army: ComfortDelGro’s 15,000 cabbies. The cabbies will get a ‘monetary reward’ for every hawker they get to sign up to use the Nets QR code system… This Hawker Champion programme is now being tested by 100 cabbies, and will be rolled out to the full fleet in the next few months. The tie-up will help hasten the national effort to get more transactions to go cashless.”
Archive for February 2018
US regulators simplify licensing process for fintechs
State regulators take first step to standardize licensing practices for Fintech payments — Conference of State Bank Supervisors — “Seven states have agreed to a multi-state compact that standardizes key elements of the licensing process for money services businesses (MSB). The agreement: If one state reviews key elements of state licensing for a money transmitter — IT, cybersecurity, business plan, background check, and compliance with the federal Bank Secrecy Act — then other participating states agree to accept the findings… Other states are expected to join this compact.”
Mastercard issues timeline for contactless card and POS terminal mandates
Betting on contactless: Mastercard pushes chips to center of table — Mastercard — “After October 2018, all new acceptance terminals in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia Pacific will have EMV chip and contactless enabled; After April 2019, all new cards issued in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia Pacific will have EMV chip and contactless technology; and by April 2023, all merchant terminals in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America will be EMV chip and contactless enabled.”
Over half of US consumers are now using a P2P payments service
US consumers and debit: Shift to online may inhibit use — Mercator Advisory Group — “57% of all respondents and 78% of young adults aged 18 to 34 use person-to-person payment services such as PayPal, Venmo, Google Wallet, Facebook Messenger, and others accessible online and in-app by mobile devices and nearly half of them use a P2P service at least once a month.”
Chinese mobile payment platforms are now used by 527m people
China’s mobile payment users hit 527 million in 2017 — ECNS — “China had a total of 527m mobile payment users at the end of last year, up by 57.8m from a year before… WeChat Pay, one of China’s major mobile payment service providers, attracted over 800m validated users by September 2017. The number of monthly offline payments was 280% higher than that from a year ago… Alipay, the online payment platform under ecommerce giant Alibaba, launched in 36 overseas destinations, benefiting hundreds of thousands of merchants. Overseas transactions surged by 306% in the last year when compared with 2016.”
Adidas produces limited edition sneakers with a built-in transit pass
Shoe-Bahn: Berliners queue for sneaker with sewn-in annual transit ticket — The Local — “The sneaker bearing the design of seat covers on Berlin’s U-Bahn trains that has an annual ticket sewn into its flap was priced at only €180. An annual BVG ticket costs upwards of €761… The sneakers are valid until the end of 2018 as a ticket on Berlin U-bahn (subways), trams, buses and ferries — but only if they are worn at the time of travel.”
GlobalPlatform explains the role of standards in an increasingly diversified payments landscape
The increasing diversity of devices, services and players in the mobile payments ecosystem has led to the need for standards and certification to manage fragmentation, prevent fraud and ensure consistent user experience, GlobalPlatform’s Gil Bernabeu explains in a new paper now available to download from the NFC World Knowledge Centre... More
Mobile payments gain ground in China’s 600,000 villages
China’s village people fast to adopt mobile payments — South China Morning Post — “The mainland market for mobile payment transactions, which reached US$5.5tn in 2016, is poised for further expansion as many consumers and businesses go cashless in more than 600,000 villages across the country… These villages are administratively categorised below townships, counties, cities and provinces.”
Singapore Airlines to issue blockchain wallet that lets frequent flyers redeem loyalty points in stores
KrisFlyer to launch world’s first blockchain-based airline loyalty digital wallet — Singapore Airlines — “The SIA Group’s KrisFlyer frequent-flyer programme is to launch a world-first blockchain-based airline loyalty digital wallet capability that will help unlock the value of KrisFlyer miles to enable everyday spending at retail partners… It will allow the extensive KrisFlyer membership base to use ‘digital KrisFlyer miles’ for point-of-sale transactions at participating retail merchants.”
Apple Pay to launch in Brazil ‘soon’
Apple Pay expanding to Brazil soon — MacRumors — “Apple Pay is set to expand to Brazil later this year, Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed in today’s first quarter earnings call. While Apple didn’t provide an exact date for the launch of Apple Pay in Brazil, Cook did say it would come soon… Apple Pay grew 50% year-over-year, and it is now accepted at more than half of all retail locations in the United States, and at two-thirds of the country’s top retailers. Global Apple Pay purchase volume was also up.”
eBay to replace PayPal as its main payments provider
eBay to intermediate payments on its Marketplace platform — eBay — “eBay intends to further improve its customer experience by intermediating payments on its Marketplace platform. In doing so, eBay will manage the payments flow, simplifying the end-to-end experience for buyers and sellers… eBay will move as quickly as possible to complete this process within the parameters of the operating agreement with PayPal, which remains in place through mid-2020.”
Alibaba takes 33% stake in Alipay operator Ant Financial
Alibaba agrees to 33% stake in Ant Financial — Alibaba — “An equity stake in Ant Financial will bring key strategic benefits to Alibaba, including advancing its New Retail strategy with mobile payments, increasing user acquisition and retention through collaboration with the Alipay digital wallet (“Alipay Wallet”), and enhancing the execution of the international expansion… Upon closing, the companies will terminate the current profit-sharing arrangement under which Ant Financial pays royalty and technology service fees in an amount equal to 37.5% of its pre-tax profits to Alibaba.”