What's New in Payments

Israeli banks balk at Apple Pay fees

Turbulent entry into the payments market: Apple Pay requires high commission in Israel — Calcalist (translation) — “Apple representatives have begun a round of meetings with banks and credit companies to formulate agreements to begin Apple Pay’s operations in the country… Some players were surprised to find that Apple requires a fairly high fee estimated at 0.15% to 0.25% of any transaction made through Apple Pay… ‘It is disproportionate, and constitutes an exploitation of its status and power,’ says a source close to the talks between the parties.”


What's New in Payments

Visa to introduce variable interchange rates in the US

Visa is planning the biggest changes to swipe fees in a decade — Bloomberg — “The company’s interchange rates — fees charged every time a consumer uses a card — will go up or down depending on the merchant and the way a consumer pays for their purchases, according to a document Visa sent to banks that outlines the changes. Higher rates are looming for transactions on e-commerce sites, while retailers in certain services categories, such as real estate and education, will see fees decline.”



What's New in Payments

Mastercard to let cardholders pay with loyalty points at any Mastercard merchant

Mastercard logo

Mastercard’s Pay with Rewards service is to relaunch at the end of this year with a new app that will allow cardholders to pay with the points or miles they have collected from any card, airline, hotel or retail rewards program that has signed up to use the service at any Mastercard merchant worldwide... More


What's New in Payments

Line sets out plans to roll out mobile payments in Japan

Chat app Line plots finance ‘revolution’ with mobile payments — Nikkei Asian Review — “Line, the operator of Japan’s leading chat app, is pushing hard into the banking sphere with plans to aggressively expand in mobile payments, aiming to get its 75 million users hooked on transactions without the fees imposed by conventional banks… Line is rolling out a version of its app that will let small and midsize merchants accept QR code-based payments via Line Pay. Transaction surcharges will be waived for the first three years, and the system costs nothing to set up.”


What's New in Payments

SoftBank to enter Japanese mobile payments market with Paytm technology and three years’ free processing offer

SoftBank and Yahoo Japan JV to launch ‘PayPay’, barcode-based smartphone payment services in collaboration with India’s Paytm in the fall — SoftBank — “PayPay Corporation, a joint venture established by SoftBank Corp and Yahoo Japan Corporation, today announced that the company will launch ‘PayPay’ smartphone payment services using barcodes (QR code) in fall 2018. PayPay Corporation will team up with India’s largest digital payment company Paytm, a SoftBank Vision Fund portfolio company, to utilize Paytm’s technology and expertise in mobile payments… The service will be free to affiliate stores for the first three years from its launch.”


What's New in Payments

Australian banks ordered to cut contactless transaction fees

‘Let shoppers choose Eftpos’: Banks ordered to overhaul paywave systems by April — news.com.au — “Australia’s banks have been given a deadline of April next year to reduce fees charged on tap-and-go payments by giving customers the option of choosing Eftpos instead of credit… ‘It’s estimated that processing tap-and-go transactions through credit cards instead of Eftpos costs businesses A$290 [US$220m] million a year.'”


What's New in Payments

Venmo moves into merchant payment processing

Venmo will allow users to pay at merchants like Williams-Sonoma — Recode — “Venmo oversaw US$8bn in transactions in Q2 of 2017, double what it did the year before, but has yet to find a way to monetize since the regular service is free. Merchant processing fees from partnerships like Williams-Sonoma would be the first step in making money from transactions… Earlier this year, Venmo started testing a physical debit card in which Venmo customers could use their balance toward purchases at all retailers.”




What's New in Payments

Seqr promotes mobile payments with cashback offers to users

Seamless CEO Peter Fredell

Sweden-based mobile payments provider Seamless is offering users of its Seqr mobile payments service up to 3% cashback on their purchases, “valid on all purchases and effective on top of any other loyalty program or discount.” The offer is designed to persuade more consumers to adopt mobile payments, CEO Peter Fredell has told NFC World, and is financed via a mixture of revenue streams. More




NFC World

Call for contributions: New report on mobile payments and the future of merchant transaction fees

The Mobile Wallet Report

The NFC World team has identified ten pressure points that suggest the arrival of mobile payments will result in a fundamental change in the overall cost of processing payments and the way in which merchants transaction fees are calculated — and we’d like to hear from anyone who is working on ways to use mobile technology to cut the cost of processing transactions at the point of sale. More