Google says it is looking to partner with banks, not be their rival — The Irish Times — “Florence Diss, head of commerce partnerships for Google in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), said the company is actively working with a number of banks to explore opportunities arising from the payments services directive 2 (PSD2)… Ms Diss’s comments come as Google joined with KBC Bank Ireland at Finovate to demonstrate the latter’s mobile app, which allows users to open a current account in less than five minutes using a selfie for identification purposes.”
Archive for March 2018
Bain & Co explains how a Bank of Amazon could save the retailer $250m a year in interchange fees
Banking’s Amazon moment — Bain & Company — “Amazon could avoid more than a quarter of a billion dollars in annual interchange fees in the US alone. This estimate is based on three assumptions: Amazon achieves the bank account penetration our consumer research suggests; 15% of its e-commerce customers pay directly from their Amazon bank account instead of through a credit card; and those customers spend at the same level as Amazon Prime customers.”
Danske Bank partners with S-Bank to expand its MobilePay service to Finland
The revolution of mobile paying begins here: MobilePay to be introduced at S Group shops — Danske Bank — “In the autumn, all Finns will be offered the possibility to pay for their shopping and collect Bonus using a mobile phone. This becomes a reality as S Group and S-Bank enable payment with MobilePay at all S Group’s grocery shops around Finland… In Denmark, MobilePay is already used by 65 banks and more than 90% of all Danes.”
Square lets users deposit their wages in its Cash app
Square’s Cash app now supports direct deposits for your paycheck — Techcrunch — “This feature combined with the Cash app’s debit card now means that the app can essentially provide all the basic functions of a bank account.”
Google adds chat feature to Tez mobile payments app
Google integrates chat option on Tez payments app — Economic Times — “Google has integrated a chat option in the Google Tez application and is slowly rolling it out to its 13.5 million active users, taking the competition directly to WhatsApp… The payment application which runs on the Unified Payments Interface railroads will now allow consumers to not only send money to each other but also open up an option for conversation around the transaction.”
Japanese banks to roll out blockchain-based instant payments
Ripple powered mobile app to provide on-demand domestic payments in Japan — Ripple — “MoneyTap allows the bank consortium customers to make instant domestic payments and only requires a bank account, phone number, or QR code… The Japan bank consortium, led by SBI Ripple Asia, is comprised of 61 banks covering more than 80% of all banking assets in Japan… Three members of the Japan bank consortium: SBI Net Sumishin Bank, Suruga Bank and Resona Bank will be the first to go live on the mobile app in autumn of 2018. This will be followed by a staggered roll out to the rest of consortium.”
UK supermarket rolls out in-aisle checkout and rewards
Convenient future in store as Co-op dials-up pay in aisle technology — Co-op — “The innovative move, which harnesses the latest technology, allows customers to scan products on their own device as they walk around the store — known as a ‘frictionless shopping experience’. When they have finished shopping, the amount they owe will then be deducted from their account with a single click… The technology also links information from a customer’s Co-op Membership account — telling shoppers how much they have saved and, how much the Co-op will donate to local good causes following the transaction.”
Apple Pay to add support for transit cards?
Apple Pay is set to add support for closed loop transit cards, issued by public transportation operators, information found in the code of the latest version of iOS suggests... More
Barclaycard reports rapid rise in mobile and wearable payments volumes
Next phase of contactless revolution sees rapid growth in mobile and wearable payments — Barclaycard — “The amount spent using Barclaycard’s Android Contactless Mobile facility has increased 365% year-on-year, while spending via bPay — a unique, flexible payments chip that can be embedded into a variety of products such as watches and jewellery — jumped 129%… Overall, contactless payments, including those made on a credit and debit card, have seen continued growth over the last 12 months, with a 79% uplift in spending.”
Rakuten to use blockchain for global loyalty and payments program
Rakuten will roll its $9bn loyalty program into a new blockchain-based cryptocurrency, Rakuten Coin — Techcrunch — “The company is planning a new cryptocurrency called Rakuten Coin — built on blockchain technology and the company’s existing loyalty program, Rakuten Super Points — which it plans to use to encourage loyalty services globally and to help customers to buy goods across different Rakuten services and markets… The news was announced by Rakuten’s CEO Hiroshi “Mickey” Mikitani on stage at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, where he described Rakuten Coin as a ‘borderless’ currency.”
Google to add NFC to its Tez audio QR payments platform
Google pay app Tez to add ‘tap n pay’ option — The Times of India — “Users of Google’s Tez will soon be able to load their cards and enable ‘tap and pay’ in the payments app. The internet giant also plans to make Tez payments available for other Google products as well, which means that users in future will be able to make payments through email and see shops accepting Tez on Google Maps.”
Insurance giant Allianz to offer mobile payments service with built-in cover for purchases
Allianz and Visa launch mobile payment and loyalty app — Allianz — “The mobile payment and loyalty app is the first of its kind in the insurance industry and enables customers to make fast, safe and easy payments with their mobile device online and in stores… Allianz Prime users also benefit from an attractive loyalty program, a smart spend tracker to simplify money management as well as Allianz Partners’ Digital Payments Protection… The Allianz Digital Payments Protection provides coverage against fraud, safeguards and supports customers in case of defective or damaged online purchases and provides financial compensation in case of a loss.”
US carriers set out joint mobile authentication platform plans
AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon unveil next-generation mobile authentication platform details — AT&T — “This highly secure solution will deliver a cryptographically verified phone number and profile data for users of authorized applications with their consent. Authentication security is strengthened by processing unique attributes such as a network verified mobile number, IP address, SIM card attributes, phone number tenure, phone account type and more. In addition, advanced analytics and machine learning capabilities will be used to help assess risk and protect customers. Registered developers will be able to submit applications through a system using private and permissioned blockchain technology to help ensure application integrity.”
Chinese banks report 28% increase in mobile payment volumes
Chinese banks see surging mobile payments in 2017 — Xinhua — “Chinese banks saw a surge in mobile payments last year, official data showed Monday. Banking institutions handled 203tn yuan (US$32tn) in mobile payments in 2017, up 28.8%, according to the People’s Bank of China (PBOC).”
GSMA: 690m people now use mobile money services
Launch of the 2017 State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money — GSMA — “The mobile money industry is now processing a billion dollars a day and generating direct revenues of over US$2.4bn. With 690 million registered accounts worldwide, mobile money has evolved into the leading payment platform for the digital economy in many emerging markets.”
Acer adds donations and discounts to prayer beads
Buddhists go high-tech: Acer to launch smart prayer beads — EJ Insight — “The smart product looks just like traditional Buddhist prayer beads except that one of the beads has an embedded chip which can connect with the user’s smartphone and show the number of times a mantra is recited on the mobile app…. The smart Buddhist beads also come with fintech functions for electronic payments, facilitating donations and offering discounts at certain shops and restaurants in the Buddhist community.”
KBC adds third-party services to its mobile banking app
KBC first to incorporate non-banking apps in mobile app — KBC Group — “Starting this summer, customers can use their mobile banking app directly to start a car parking session and pay via the 4411 parking service; check the balance on their meal and eco vouchers (Monizze card) and monitor payments made using the card… In the future, as well, we’ll be continuing to actively seek out partners that can help enhance our banking apps and applications and help increase added value for our customers.”
PayPal patents faster cryptocurrency payments system
Expedited virtual currency transaction system — USPTO — “The systems and methods of the present disclosure practically eliminate the amount of time the payee must wait to be sure they will receive a virtual currency payment in a virtual currency transaction by transferring to the payee private keys that are included in virtual currency wallets that are associated with predefined amounts of virtual currency that equal a payment amount identified in the virtual currency transaction.”
Study finds consumers are losing interest in digital-only banks
Banking sector continues to evolve as digital-only banks are losing appeal globally — RFi Group — “While consumers showed substantial interests in digital-only banks in previous studies, global appetite for digital-only providers fell from 74% in H1 last year to 63% in H2, and appetite for digital-only main bank has also dropped from 50% to 44%… The findings suggest that traditional banks which continue to ‘up their game’ in engaging consumers digitally will likely be the ones to benefit in the near future.”
NXP puts eSIM, secure element and NFC on a single chip
NXP ushers in new era of eSIM-enabled devices for 5G and IoT with industry’s first single NFC and secure element monolithic chip — NXP — PARTNER NEWS — “The new NXP SN100U is the world’s first single-die chipset featuring an embedded secure element (SE), near field communications (NFC), and eSIM for added advanced functionality, cellular connectivity, and security. The company also introduced the SU070 standalone eSIM solution, which offers the industry’s smallest footprint and is ideal for smartphones, tablets, laptops, and other IoT devices that require cellular connectivity with low power consumption.”