“As Monzo doesn’t have its own US banking license, the features will be a little different. “The main thing that will be removed is lending,” says Blomfield. “We’re not a bank [in the US], so we won’t be lending customers money.” The majority of existing Monzo features will be available in the US, including things like notifications for payments and tap-to-pay (contactless) payments. “

“PPRO , the cross-border e-payments specialist, is today announcing the acquisition of Latin American payments provider allpago to create the world’s leading platform for local payments. Allpago is the preeminent provider of payment and gateway services in Latin America covering 90% of the market1. This expansion is a transformational step for PPRO to meet its ambition of globalizing the company and build upon its recent expansion into Asia-Pacific and North America.”

“Payswiff’s SET, a mobile application, allows individuals and business owners to accept payments using more than 60 payment options, including credit cards and debit cards, e-wallets, e-payment links, UPI, Bharat QR and multi-bank EMI. Mastercard will work with Payswiff on an omnichannel distribution strategy to provide the app, services and support in regional languages, especially in areas where Point-of-Sale (PoS) machines are not easily accessible.”

“Digital payments major Paytm Wednesday said it will invest ₹250 crore this year for the expansion of Paytm QR in tier IV and V towns. “With this investment, Paytm expects to reach more than 20 million merchants across India by the end of this fiscal,” it said in a statement. Paytm had introduced QR code-based payments to enable merchants, irrespective of the size of their business, to receive money directly into their bank account…Paytm said the cost of on-boarding a merchant in a small town is at least three to four times more compared to larger cities.”

“Swedish fintech Trustly is merging with Silicon Valley-based PayWithMyBank to create a transatlantic payment network for consumers to pay for online shopping direct from their bank accounts rather than with cards. Together, Trustly and PayWithMyBank will enable merchants with a global footprint to accept online banking payments from European and US consumers.”

“Aiming to bring the ease of peer-to-peer payments to the business class, Bento for Business announced the launch of Bento Pay, a payment service that eliminates the need for business owners to write checks. The service, which will be available in July, enables business owners to make and receive payments with an email address. The vendor gets to choose to get paid by a virtual card or ACH payment to their checking account.  Bento for Business co-founder and Chief Executive Farhan Ahmad said the service is a first for an industry that has long relied on paper checks and time-consuming processes to make and receive payments.”

“Curve , the London fintech that now describes itself an “over-the-top banking platform,” is unveiling a re-vamped cashback feature in a bid to draw in more customers for the premium versions of its Curve card. The company lets you consolidate all of your bank cards into a single Curve card and app to make it easier to manage your spending and access other benefits. With the new Curve Cash programme, customers get 1% instant cashback on top of any existing rewards cards that they have plugged into the app, potentially earning customers double rewards on purchases.”

“Fintech startup N26 just issued an update on its main metrics. The bank now has 3.5 million customers across 24 European markets. The company is about to expand to new countries, such as the U.S. and Brazil but it sounds like the company is not ready just yet. In addition to the Eurozone, N26 is currently available in the U.K., Denmark, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Liechtenstein and Iceland. If you look at past milestones, N26 announced reaching 2 million customers back in November 2018 , 2.5 million customers in February 2019 . So growth is still accelerating when it comes to user registrations.”

“The global FX market, which trades in 180 currencies and in large volumes, cannot operate without high levels of automation. With millions of confirmation messages exchanged every trading day between counterparties, discrepancies can lead to thousands of potential settlement failures. SWIFT is leading industry efforts to increase automation levels in the FX market through better standards, with the aim of removing barriers that hinder the exchange of information and to enable straight-through processing.”

“Cryptocurrency firms Circle and Coinbase are a launching bold effort to make money as easy to move around the world as internet data and content. In a press release sent to CoinDesk on Thursday, Circle said that, since the initial launch of the CENTRE consortium’s US Dollar Coin (USDC) stablecoin, the two firms have been working to build and finalize what it’s calling a “membership-based framework and governance scheme for the development and growth of money on the internet.” More formally called the CENTRE Network, the scheme is envisioned as a provider of new open standards to facilitate this dream.”

“The card allows users with Coinbase accounts to spend cryptocurrencies like bitcoin , ethereum and litecoin in stores and online at any merchant that accepts Visa .   Coinbase U.K. CEO Zeeshan Feroz told CNBC in an interview the goal of the card is to make payments with digital currencies as seamless as paying with cash. “You can buy groceries on bitcoin and then coffee on litecoin right after,” he said.”

“The proposed card will be available to customers who might otherwise not have good enough credit to obtain a credit card. It carries a 28 percent interest rate. In May, Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez introduced legislation that would cap interest rates on consumer loans at 15 percent.”

“European financial technology firms, including TransferWise Ltd. and German banking startup N26 Bank GmbH, are embracing plans by U.S. tech giants like Facebook Inc. to push into digital currencies and payments, brushing off potential rivalries.    Speaking at Bloomberg’s Sooner Than You Think conference in London, Taavet Hinrikus, the chairman and co-founder of TransferWise, said he welcomed plans by Facebook to develop a new digital currency that could let users transfer money on its WhatsApp messaging app.”

“A group of investors this week set plans in motion to take Hudson’s Bay Co. HBC 0.76% private, hoping to fix the business out of the public eye. But going private won’t solve the company’s biggest problem: It owns department stores, a segment of retailing that has been losing share for years to discount chains, e-commerce companies and other upstarts.”

“Cubic Corporation (NYSE: CUB ) today announced its Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) business division will upgrade the existing TAP retail network point of sale device with its Cubic Mobile for Merchants Android app. Cubic Mobile for Merchants is an Android-based mobile app designed for both transportation agencies and retail. It allows agencies to sell TAP regional fare products through a dedicated network of participating retailers – making it convenient for travelers to purchase regional fare products for LA Metro and 24 partner agencies.”

“Under the agreement, WEX and ChargePoint have developed and deployed an EV payment system that allows up to 11 million WEX Fleet card holders to pay for charges at more than 66,000 places to charge on the ChargePoint network.”

“H&R Block, a tax preparation company, is acquiring Wave Financial, a free invoicing and accounting software, for CA$537 million ($398 million). Wave started in 2010 in Toronto, with a focus on simplifying the lives of small business owners. According to the firm, Wave has more than 200 employees and serves more than three million entrepreneurs and freelancers around the world. “But this isn’t the end – it is the start of an exciting new chapter,” says Kirk Simpson, co-founder and CEO.”

“Online-payments provider Stripe Inc. made good on its promise to offer its processing software to in-store merchants with the release Wednesday of a slew of software and two pre-certified devices. Founded in 2011 as an online payments company, San Francisco-based Stripe announced in September it would add in-store payment acceptance. At that time, Stripe said the ideal customer is one that already uses Stripe for online payments. Prior to that, Stripe purchased Index Inc. , a company that specialized in point-of-sale technology, including software that speeds up EMV transactions.  “

Translated: “This weekend, 150 local members of the Restaurant Association of Paraguay will not accept Visa and Mastercard credit cards. This is due to a claim to the card brands for the percentage that they discount to the businesses.”

“Uber is looking to hire dozens of staff in New York, drawing from the city’s pool of engineers with experience in financial services, according to CNBC , citing unidentified sources. The team could, over time, expand to more than 100 workers and may focus on payments (reducing transaction costs) and providing financial services for drivers and contractors. Even more radically, the company is debating the feasibility of launching bank accounts, according to the report. Uber already operates the Uber Cash app and launched a branded credit card a few years ago.”

“And one of the first things it will need to do is define ‘appropriate’ free access to cash. UK Finance is building on the Access to Cash Review, chaired by Natalie Ceeney. The independent Access to Cash Review considers consumer requirements for cash over the next five to 15 years. Specifically, the review examines future trends in cash usage and ATM coverage. Last year, the number of ATMs worldwide fell for the first time, by 1% to around 3.2 million according to research from RBR. Notably, the number of UK ATMs is down by around 1,500 in the first half of 2019 to about 68,400. But cash remains the UK’s second most frequently used payment method despite the ongoing growth of card and mobile payments.”

“The growing access to foodservice delivery has garnered lots of attention from the marketplace and media, but while delivery grabs the spotlight, digital restaurant orders overall steadily grow by double-digits, reports The NPD Group . Restaurant digital orders, which are defined by meals or snacks ordered via mobile app, internet, or text message, have grown by 23 percent over the past four years and now represent 3.1 billion visits and $26.8 billion dollars.  NPD forecasts digital orders to continue to grow by double-digits through 2020 with growth across all service modes including delivery, on premises, and carryout, according to NPD’s Delivering Digital Convenience report.”

“No sooner than Apple announced iOS 13 with enhanced Core NFC read/write support than developers are quickly preparing to use it. Engadget Japan and Nikkei both report that the Japanese government will add support for iPhone NFC tag reading Individual Number Cards this fall. Individual Number Cards are a fairly recent development for the Japanese national and local governments to gradually tie various social services and income tax filing to a single personal ID number for better management and control. It’s evolving into a general purpose national ID card.”

“In-store financing fintech Sunbit will target a range of new retail markets following a $26 million Series B equity funding round, reports Jane Connolly. The round was led by Oren Zeev, founding partner of Zeev Ventures. An early investor in innovative companies such as Audible and Houzz, Oren will join Sunbit’s board of directors. Sunbit was launched to disrupt the process of financing in-store purchases for customers across the credit spectrum, including the unbanked or underbanked.”

“By design, subscription services are primarily tools for customer retention, but new research indicates they deliver other benefits as well: encouraging shoppers to try additional channels and new product categories, and increasing the spend levels of already valuable customers. These benefits are derived from the way subscription services build relationships between shoppers and retailers, a process Amazon encourages across its offerings.”

“A common assumption among merchant acquirers and retailers is that merchants are the ones who ultimately are liable for network fines after a merchant’s data breach. But a recent decision by a federal appellate court that ruled against First Data Corp., the nation’s largest payment processor, sends a message that such assumptions aren’t always valid. The unanimous June 7 decision by a three-judge panel of the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati involves a Houston-based liquor-store chain, Spec’s Family Partners Ltd., which sued its acquirer, First Data’s First Data Merchant Services unit. Malware on Spec’s payment system in 2012 and 2013 compromised about 550,000 cards, according to court filings and press reports at the time.  “

“Bento for Business (“Bento”), a leading B2B payments solutions provider, today unveiled Bento Pay™, the first-of-its-kind digital payment solution that eliminates the need to write checks and gives businesses the ease and security of paying any supplier confidentially, regardless of their digital payment preferences.”

“Leading digital money transfer company WorldRemit ( www.WorldRemit.com ) has launched WorldRemit for Business (https://bit.ly/2wNtMPh), a new service that enables small and medium-sized business owners to quickly pay their employees and contractors in 140 countries worldwide, including fast-growing emerging markets such as Kenya, Ghana, and South Africa. The platform will first be available to U.K.-registered businesses.”

“Whitepages Pro, the leader in global digital identity verification data, today announced that it is spinning off its B2B business from the US-focused direct-to-consumer operations of Whitepages.com. Whitepages Pro will change its name to Ekata to better differentiate the company’s global B2B APIs and SaaS tool that serve the growing worldwide need for identity verification, a market projected by McKinsey to reach $20 billion in 2022. To further these efforts, the business opened a new HQ for European operations earlier this year in Amsterdam, Netherlands. This second EU office will support sales, account management and marketing efforts in EMEA.”

“PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL) announced today that it welcomes the United Kingdom Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) decision to provide final and unconditional approval of the company’s previously completed acquisition of iZettle. PayPal will now begin to integrate iZettle’s products and teams in the UK and around the globe, significantly strengthening PayPal’s in-store presence and platform.”

“The Y Combinator graduate, which provides corporate cards tailored for startups, is also announcing the launch of its third product: a card made specifically for life sciences companies. With a focus on pharmaceutical, biotech and cosmetic businesses, Brex has customized its underwriting model for the life sciences sector and crafted targeted rewards, including cash back on lab supplies and conference fees.”

“Phalen said that B2B Connect will look to offer businesses an advantage in speed, with a goal of completing the funds transfer on the transaction day or the day after. In many cases, high-value cross-border transfers take three to five days using alternative methods, he said. Visa hopes its hyperledger technology will also prove attractive in terms of security and transparency. The company has made B2B Connect a “permissioned” network, meaning that only approved parties can join. Phalen said that the platform’s infrastructure also allows financial institutions to transmit information about payments between one another so that companies can determine what a specific transfer is meant to cover.”

“PayU’s successful Kenyan operation has been approved by the Central Bank of Kenya, cementing its standing and local approval. The launch of PayU in Kenya provides organisations with on-the-ground local liaisons, strong relationships, improved stability and reduced downtime, and localised customer support. With PayU Kenya, users are able to transact in volume at the approval rates certified by PayU, and are assured of robust, ongoing security.”

“Speaking at the Business Insider Ignition Finance event today, Goldman’s head of consumer digital finance in its Marcus division, Omer Ismail, said the company isn’t worried Apple Card’s profitability. Ismail explained that Marcus doesn’t buy into the idea that in order to do what’s right for consumers it must be less profitable. He also pointed out that by doing right by the consumer earns their loyalty in the long run:”

“Citigroup has teamed up with Singapore-based ride-hailing firm Grab to launch co-branded credit cards, as it looks to boost its Asian customer base by about 13% via partnerships with digital firms, a senior Citi executive said. The new cards mark the latest step in Grab’s big push into the financial services sector, an area it has earmarked for growth. For the U.S. bank, it is in line with its strategy to offer its products within online ecosystems as consumers spend more time on smartphones.”

“Contactless payments are one of the most secure ways to pay, cutting out the credit card entirely and reducing the chance that a card will be cloned or have its data skimmed. For charging stations — often in the middle of nowhere and unmonitored — relying on contactless payments can reduce device tampering and credit card fraud. But several states are proposing EV charging stations install magnetic stripe credit card readers, which the researchers are prone to abuse by fraudsters.”

“In order to interconnect the different systems, the Horizon 2020-funded project, ‘European Travellers Club (ETC)’, has developed and tested a new technology that could potentially deliver a solution for interoperability in the field of cross-border ticketing in public transport across Europe. Based on the concept of account-based ticketing, nationally differing ticketing systems can be linked without the need to change existing national standards. Key to the success of this is letting different systems coexist, but while introducing an interoperable layer that can connect the different existing national systems.”

“The Amazon Credit Builder card will function as a secured credit card, but with the same benefits as Amazon’s Store Card. When opening the card, as with any secured card, consumers must make a refundable security deposit with Amazon’s partner on the financial product, Synchrony Bank. That deposit will then represent the card’s credit limit. Consumers can establish credit lines ranging from a minimum of $100 to a maximum of $1,000.”

Ripple, the global leader in enterprise blockchain solutions for cross-border payments, launches operations in Brazil to expand its footprint in South America. In addition, Ripple is also bringing on seasoned fintech entrepreneur and executive Luiz Antonio Sacco as managing director to drive strategy and build the Ripple ecosystem in the region.

“In a study commissioned by Transaction Network Services (TNS) consumers expressed their openness to embracing alternative payment options, including the use of wearables and smartphones. However, acceptance of cashless payments comes with a high degree of concern surrounding the ability to secure these devices.

• 44% of respondents are willing to make a payment using a wearable device like a ring or a bracelet;
• Just under two-thirds (65%) expressed that security concerns would stop them from using a wearable device to make a payment;
• Australians are most concerned about security (68%), versus Americans (64%) and Britons (63%);
• More than half of male smartwatch owners have used it to make a payment;
• A majority of respondents (55%) like using mobile payment apps on their smartphone to make payments because they are quick and easy. US adults are the highest adopters here with 59% preferring the convenience of mobile payment apps;”

“With more options for shopping than ever before, consumers aren’t just replacing one method for another, they’re shopping everywhere. A new study from Adyen (AMS: ADYEN), the global payments platform of choice for many of the world’s leading companies, in partnership with 451 Research, reveals that the most important thing shoppers prioritize is convenience in North America. As the lines between physical and digital shopping experiences continue to blur, consumers are asking more from retailers. In North America alone, 84% of retailers have seen a rise in consumer expectations. To avoid leaving significant revenue on the table, retailers must embrace a unified commerce strategy to create a cohesive shopping journey across sales channels.”

“InComm , a leading payments technology company, today announced it has partnered with DFS , the world’s leading luxury travel retailer, to launch barcode payment solutions in Japan. DFS customers can now conveniently pay for duty-free purchases at T Galleria by DFS, Okinawa as well as the DFS Naha and Kansai airport locations by scanning a barcode on their phones at the point of sale.”

“Borica AD, the owner of Bcard, the national payment system in Bulgaria, announced an agreement with Discover Financial Services to provide acceptance of the card outside of the country using Discover’s global payment network. Bcard will collaborate with the payment network to develop integration of Discover’s EMV contact, contactless and mobile solutions as well as D-PAS for international payment, according to a company release.”

“Amazon is finding a way to get its rewards credit card in the hands of more people. The e-commerce giant partnered with publicly traded bank Synchrony Financial to launch “Amazon Credit Builder” — a program that lends to shoppers with no credit history or bad credit, who would otherwise be exempt from Amazon’s loyalty cards.”

“Synapse, which operated under the radar prior to (that) Series A deal, is focused on democratizing financial services. Its approach to doing that is a platform-based one that makes it easy for banks and other financial companies to work with developers. The current system for working with financial institutions is frankly a mess; it involves myriad different standards, interfaces, code bases and other compatibility issues that cause confusion and consume time. Through developer- and bank-facing APIs, Synapse aims to make it easier for companies to connect with banks, and, in turn, for banks to automate and extend their back-end operations.”

“Under the agreement, signed at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the companies intend to partner in card acquiring and a number of other more innovative areas such as using technical systems to analyze data, developing consumer behavior analysis systems, speeding up bank card payments, developing a payroll project for employees, and the opening of a pilot branch of the bank in a McDonald’s outlet.”

“Latin America is one of the fastest-growing regions in the world for mobile usage. In fact, the region ranks third for smartphone adoption globally, behind North America and Europe In 2017, the percentage of the Latin American population with smartphones hit 61% , and LAVCA predicts it will reach 76% by 2025. In Brazil, for example, there are almost as many smartphones as there are people. There are approximately 198 million smartphones in use in Brazil, while the current population is just over 200 million.”

“Uber ( UBER ) may be looking to branch out into the financial technology (fintech) industry, which includes a hiring push in New York City and may eventually include banking, CNBC reported on Monday. The ride-sharing giant, fresh off of its IPO , is looking to hire a team focused on the creation of new financial products, according to the report. The team will be based in the Big Apple, where Uber already maintains a large presence, and could ultimately exceed over 100 employees.”

“Data from ForgeRock found that cyberattacks to U.S. financial services organizations cost the industry more than $6.2 billion in Q1 2019 alone, up from just $8 million in Q1 2018. Even though investments in information security products and services have been on the rise, with $114 billion invested in 2018, cybercriminals continue to attack organizations across a wide spectrum of industries to gain access to valuable consumer data. According to the research, personally identifiable information (PII) was the most targeted data for breaches in 2018, comprising 97 percent of all breaches. By targeting PII, cybercriminals prove that they’re hungry for consumer data and the research also found the most frequent attack method was from unauthorized access, encompassing 34 percent of all attacks. Healthcare, financial services and government were the sectors most largely impacted by cyberattacks.”

“iPhone users will soon be able to read a full array of ISO 7816 contactless smartcards and tags, including passports, transit and access cards, Apple has revealed. “However, for the time being, reading payment cards will not be supported.” Gordon Scott from the Apple NFC Software team revealed the information during a WWDC 19 session on the company’s latest Core NFC framework enhancements.”

“The six mobile wallet providers, Bluecode, ePassi, momo pocket, Pagaqui, Pivo and Vipps are working together to develop a unified QR code to unify what officials say has been a fragmented marketplace. When completed, users of these six mobile apps will be able to make QR code payments in 10 European countries where these apps are accepted, and Alipay users will be able to make payments at merchants that accept these various payment systems.”

“New data from Juniper Research has found that international digital remittances will reach $525 billion by 2024, up from an estimated $332 in 2019. According to the new research, Digital Money Transfer & Remittances: Domestic & International Markets 2019-2024 , the mobile channel will become increasingly popular; accounting for 41% of international digital money transfers by volume in 2024, up from 33% in 2019.”

“Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS ) and PayCargo , LLC, a provider of electronic invoicing and settlement solutions for the shipping industry, today announced an agreement to integrate Unisys’ award-winning Digistics™ cargo software solutions with PayCargo payment processing capabilities to deliver enhanced cargo processing to airlines, freight forwarders and importers.”

“PayTollo was recently acquired by Automatic, a SiriusXM company that brings the power of connectivity to most cars on the road with its easy to install adapter and app. As an alternative to the PayTollo app, drivers can also use PayTollo’s tolling solution with an Automatic adapter, which is available for purchase at the low price of $99.99. For more information on the many benefits of Automatic, and to purchase an Automatic adapter and subscription, go to www.automatic.com . The Automatic adapter will soon also be available at several national and major online retailers.”

““Consumers know less about credit scores but think they know more,” said Stephen Brobeck, CFA senior fellow. “Taking our online credit score quiz provides an easy way for consumers to update their credit score knowledge,” he added. More than 230,000 individuals have taken the Credit Score Quiz , developed and maintained by CFA and VantageScore.”