“Facebook has set up a new financial technology company in Switzerland focusing on blockchain and payments as well as data analytics and investing, Geneva’s commercial register shows.  Libra Networks, with Facebook Global Holdings as stakeholder, was registered in Geneva on May 2 to provide financial and technology services and develop related hardware and software, plans submitted on the Swiss register reveal.”

“Payments is an extremely buzzy corner of the financial sector right now, and JPMorgan Chase wants to dominate it, Credit Suisse analyst Susan Roth Katzketold clients Friday following a meeting with the bank’s management.”

“The POS solution is designed to bring together selling, customer engagement, store inventory and fulfillment functionalities to help store teams deliver customer experiences with a single omnichannel system of record. Additionally, the move allows Lamps Plus to choose from among numerous hardware manufacturers, form factors and operating systems.”

“PayMaya is now the preferred payment option in some of the merchants in Boracay where users can pay using their app via PayMaya QR, including restaurants like Spice Bird in D’Mall, Titos near Station 2, and Sunny Side Café in Station 3; convenience store like Budget Mart; and Epic Bar, among many others. This is on top of the initial batch of merchants that have been offering PayMaya QR as a payment method in Hue Hotels and Resorts as well as small merchants in Station X, which was launched in January of 2018, including other nationwide key merchants such as McDonald’s, Army Navy, Yellow Cab, Shakey’s, and Mercury Drug, among others.”

“We teamed up with researchers from New York University and the University of California, San Diego to find out just how effective basic account hygiene is at preventing hijacking. The year-long study, on wide-scale attacks and targeted attacks , was presented on Wednesday at a gathering of experts, policy makers, and users called The Web Conference .Our research shows that simply adding a recovery phone number to your Google Account can block up to 100% of automated bots, 99% of bulk phishing attacks, and 66% of targeted attacks that occurred during our investigation.”

“Several of the world’s largest banks are in the process of investing around $50 million to create a digital cash system using blockchain technology to settle financial transactions, according to people familiar with the plans. The previously disclosed project, known as the “utility settlement coin,” was first proposed by Swiss bank UBS Group AG and London-based technology startup Clearmatics in 2015. It aims to develop a system to make clearing and settlement in financial markets more efficient.Around a dozen banks are investing in a new entity called Fnality which would run the project, one of the people said.”

“Support for NFC mobile ticketing forms part of SafeTix, a new Ticketmaster service that the company said “leverages new technology to give event owners control over their tickets by tying a unique, identifiable digital ticket to each fan’s mobile phone through an encrypted barcode that automatically refreshes every few seconds”.”

“The number of ATMs around the world fell for the first time last year as banks closed branches and redirected resources toward digital payments, consulting firm RBR said in a study released Monday. Declines in four of the world’s five largest markets — China, the U.S., Japan and Brazil — drove the 1% drop in ATMs in 2018. In the fifth, India, “growth slowed considerably,” London-based RBR said.    Bank customers are increasingly turning to their mobile phones for routine financial services, forcing banks to rethink the balance between physical and digital strategies. JPMorgan Chase & Co. , the biggest U.S. bank, cut back its branches by 2% last year while earmarking $10.8 billion for technology. The lender saw a 5% increase in active digital customers, and an 11% gain in active mobile customers.”

Key Findings:

• 75% expect all delivery options to be displayed on product pages
• 75% have purchased more items to take advantage of a minimum spend ‘free delivery’ option
• 70% expect to pay extra for one-hour, same day, next day or Sunday delivery
• 54% of consumers expect to be able to choose which carrier delivers their online purchases
• 55% expect one-hour delivery in metropolitan areas

“Modulr , the Payments as a Service API Platform for digital businesses, today announced that it has completed an investment of £14m. The investment round has been led by new investors Frog Capital as well as further investment from existing investors including Blenheim Chalcot .”

“Geoswift, a leading provider of cross-border payment solutions between China and the rest of the world, announced today that its Hong Kong entity has been granted a coveted Stored Value Facilities (“SVF”) Licence by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. With the SVF licence, Geoswift can provide greater convenience and a better experience for consumers and merchants and move closer to providing a seamless cashless, digital payment world. Stored value facilities are changing the fintech landscape in Hong Kong, and as more companies such as Geoswift hold SVF licences, it is creating a competition which is innovating the marketplace. This increase in diversity will result in new services which will bring more convenience and choice to both consumers and merchants.”

“Technology giant Apple is set to launch its mobile payment platform Apple Pay for cardholders in 16 additional countries in Eastern Europe, MacRumors has reported. As per the plan, the mobile payments service will now be launched in Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Latvia, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.”

“Amazon is taking a slice of Europe’s food delivery market after the U.S. e-commerce giant led a $575 million investment in Deliveroo . First reported by Sky yesterday , the Series G round was confirmed in an early U.K. morning announcement from Deliveroo, which said that existing backers, including T. Rowe Price, Fidelity Management and Research Company and Greenoaks also took part. The deal takes Deliveroo to just over $1.5 billion raised to date. The company was valued at more than $2 billion following its previous raise in late 2017 , although no updated valuation was provided today.”

“Cryptocurrency companies shunned by banks often turn to shadowy middlemen for payment processing and other financial services. One of those companies is at the center of the mystery surrounding Bitfinex’s missing customer funds. Bitfinex, a cryptocurrency exchange that controls the popular digital currency known as tether, lost access to $850 million in customer funds after handing it over to Panama-based Crypto Capital Corp. to process customer withdrawals, the New York attorney general said last month.”

“Despite greater than ever use of smart devices for banking and payments and a desire for the latest technologies, Europeans are some of the most cautious adopters, according to a survey of 15,000 consumers in Europe, America and Australia.”

“In this blog post, we describe the proceedings of a recent workshop where leading risk managers, academics, and policy makers gathered to discuss proposals for countering cyber risk. This workshop is part of a joint two-phase initiative run by the Federal Reserve Banks of Richmond and New York and the Fed’s Board of Governors to harmonize cyber risk identification, classification, and measurement practices.”

“The Pareto Principle tells us that 80% of revenue comes from the top 20% of customers; therefore, should these top customers be treated differently? The hospitality industry gets it. So does the financial industry. But in general, the retail industry is still issuing generic loyalty cards to the masses, when they should be offering customized, tailored experiences to their most loyal customers.”

““Our customers and Fintech Partners need financial technology tools that align with their personal and business needs. Providing real-time payments is an important step for us, allowing us to deliver important new functionality to our customers.” said Robert Conery, COO, EVP, Avidia Bank. “Avidia Bank has strategically committed to providing Payment Services comprised of innovative solutions. As existing payment channels evolve and access to faster payment alternatives become ubiquitous in the digital era, we shall leverage this opportunity by partnering with TCH to provide products to both local and national markets.”

“While some retailers have closed or seen sales sputter in recent years with the rise of online shopping, quarterly comparable sales have risen consistently in Walmart’s primary U.S. business for over four years. Walmart has shifted strategies, significantly reducing spending on building new stores in favor of growing online, lowering prices and adding more services in physical stores like online grocery pickup. Last week Walmart said it has invested in its online delivery network over the past two years to speed delivery times.”

“Google is gunning for India’s payment companies. The U.S. search giant entered India’s payment space in 2017 , and now it is hatching an initiative that could boost usage of its Google Pay service by tying it tightly to Android apps in the country. The company has built an in-app engagement rewards platform that promises to help developers and businesses retain users and drive engagement on their apps, two sources familiar with the matter said. It plans to formally launch the project through partners using an SDK later this year, TechCrunch understands.”

“Singapore-based startup YouTrip thinks consumers of Southeast Asia deserve a taste of the challenger bank revolution happening in the U.S. and Europe, and it has raised $25.5 million in new funding to bring its app-and-debit-card service to more parts in the region. Challenger banks have sprung up in Europe in recent years. Unicorns Monzo, Revolut and N26 are among those that offer their customers a debit card linked to an app and various levels of banking services, including savings and overdrafts. Brex — another billion-dollar-valued startup — is bringing that approach across the pond to the U.S. market.”

“Consumer-payments services are starting to garner attention among businesses, with 76% of banks having corporate customers asking for automated business-to-consumer payment services. That’s the word from Bottomline Technologies Inc. in its 2019 B2B Payments and Working Capital Management Strategies Survey, released this week. They survey of more than 300 financial professionals across North America and Europe also found that while interest from corporations is growing in B2C payments, many are not using them. Only 18% said they were using or interested in using PayPal Holdings Inc. products. That was followed by Zelle , the person-to-person payment service, 16%; Visa Direct, 15%; and Mastercard Send, 13%. The latter two are the respective card brands’ immediate push-payment services.”

“Since restructuring in 2016, Visa’s chargeback and fraud programs have undergone some changes, and we recently learned that further changes will become effective October 1, 2019. Our goals here are to outline these new changes and to provide a singular resource for all your Visa program-related needs. Please bear in mind that Visa’s chargeback and fraud program rules are subject to change at Visa’s discretion.”

“The GozNym operation was simple but successful: hack into Windows PCs, wait for users to enter banking passwords into their browser and hoover them up. They would then break into users’ bank accounts and attempt to shift funds to their own accounts. They tried to pilfer $100 million in total, but it’s unclear just how much they successfully transferred.”

“Line and Alibaba Group Holding are among five major internet businesses from Japan and China that will standardize QR codes that are scanned to make payments via smartphones in Japan, Nikkei has learned. The others joining this undertaking are online flea market operator Mercari and mobile carrier NTT Docomo from Japan and Tencent Holdings ‘ WeChat Pay from China. Smartphone payments have grown in popularity, and there are many services available as information technology companies, banks, retailers and others have entered the market. There are more than 10 services in Japan alone. But each service uses its own QR code standard, so participating merchants need to install payment apps or readers separately for each service.”

“Mexico’s central bank Banxico has begun trials of its cashless QR and NFC Cobro Digital (CoDi) electronic payment system with employees of financial institutions including BBVA Bancomer , Citibanamex , Santander , Banorte , Banregio and Fincomun . The system works by using QR codes to make electronic transfers through mobile phones which are linked to a user’s bank account. For counter sales, the merchant generates a collection message in the form of a static or dynamic QR code or NFC message which is sent to the customer’s mobile.”

“Founded in 2010, the company has developed an operating system that enables financial institutions to more easily create and upgrade their computer applications, similarly to how consumer apps are updated on smartphones. This can help large firms cut down on the time and money needed to modernize the software they use for a wide array of both front- and back-office functions, such as trading or risk management. It would otherwise take between 6 to 18 months for a financial institution to deploy or update an application, OpenFin said. “

“MoneyGram International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MGI ) announced a new partnership to provide consumers with enhanced choice and convenience in Bangladesh – one of the largest remittance receiver markets in the world. Jamuna Bank seamlessly integrated with the API-driven MoneyGram platform to provide consumers in Bangladesh the ability to receive money straight into their bank accounts.”

“The survey revealed 43% of finance professionals work for companies that have either already implemented accounts payable automation technology (24%), or plan to within one year (19%). This represents a 30% increase over the number of companies responding similarly in last year’s survey, reflecting the increasingly mainstream adoption of automation technology by finance professionals.”

Today, Mastercard announced a partnership with ZIVELO, a leader in self-service kiosk technology, to enhance the drive-in and drive-through ordering experience for quick service restaurants (QSRs) with a first-of-its-kind AI-powered voice assistant and personalized dynamic menu. Sonic Drive-In will be the first partner to pilot the new experience at selected Sonic locations in the U.S. this year. The technology will first be showcased at the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago from May 18-21, 2019.

“American Express has today announced its intentions to acquire Resy , the CRM and reservation platform based out of New York. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Resy launched back in 2014 as a platform that allowed users to buy reservations from restaurants in situations where they’d usually have to book months in advance. For restaurants, it allowed them to offload unused inventory.”

“It suggests that mobile payment users are more open to tapping their cards because they have been used to tapping with their phone and are more enthusiastic about their adoption, too. The company’s research showed that three-quarters of mobile payment users have used a contactless card to make a contactless payment, compared with four in 10 non-users. Similarly, 60% of mobile payment users expressed an interest in using contactless cards compared with just over 25% of non-users of mobile payments. Others argue the opposite – that the process of tapping a card at the checkout will increase users’ comfort in tapping their phone, a view supported by a recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston .”

“While larger brands have taken a proactive approach to achieving GDPR compliance, smaller retailers are more passive — observing the trends and waiting for precedent-setting public cases to provide more clarity on the actual financial and reputational risks of poor compliance. But now that GDPR is about to hit the one-year mark in tandem with California’s Consumer Privacy Act, a new law that will enhance privacy rights for residents of California, retailers will need to rethink their lax data protocols to avoid penalization and the risk of losing customer trust altogether.”

“Of all e-commerce markets, grocery has long lagged behind in consumer adoption. But now there are signs that may be changing fast. In the year since early 2018, the proportion of U.S. consumers who had bought groceries online in the prior 12 months jumped from 23.1% to 36.8%, according to survey results released Tuesday by New York City-based Coresight Research. Correspondingly, those who had not bought any groceries online in the prior 12 months declined from 75.4% of respondents in 2018 to 61.4% this year (less than 2% could not recall in both years).”

“This functionality is rolling out as a server-side change in the United States, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Russia, Ukraine, and the United Arab Emirates, so it is not available for all users yet. In the United States, users can also link an Apple Pay Cash card to an Apple ID account. There are a handful of benefits to Apple Pay billing for Apple ID account-tied purchases, including the ability to conveniently add multiple credit or debit cards, the improved security of Apple Pay, and the ability to better manage Apple Music and iCloud storage subscriptions from the Wallet app.”

“Some 8.05% of outstanding credit card debt among Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 was delinquent by at least 90 days, the highest level since early 2011, according to data released this week by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. That’s by far the highest share among age groups and up from 5.37% at the end of 2013. Obviously, the FICO scores for a large chunk of this group didn’t suffer during the downturn.”

“Today, Mastercard announced an expanded partnership with Lyft to bring Lyft drivers the tools they need to thrive in the ever-changing gig economy. Lyft Direct Debit, a new co-branded debit card and bank account issued by Stride Bank and powered by Payfare, strengthens drivers’ economic security with hand-picked benefits, including immediate access to their earnings, secure, no-fee bank accounts and cashback on everyday purchases. The program will first launch in eight U.S. cities, including Atlanta, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego, Tampa, and Washington D.C.”

“The round was led by by New York growth fund Stripes with participation from prior backers Kinnevik, Creandum and the aforementioned Founders. Pleo’s mission is to completely upend the arduous business expense process and making it simpler, faster, more secure and transparent by virtually eliminating the manual aspect. The startups offers corporate cards paired with software/mobile apps to automatically match receipts and track all spending company-wide in real-time, with analytics and accounting software integrations to boot.”

“Facebook’s decision to discontinue its peer-to-peer (P2P) Messenger payments option in the UK and France next month is due to poor adoption of the service by consumers, according to new figures from data analytics company GlobalData . It was revealed in April that Facebook was scrapping the service – which enabled users to exchange money with friends and family – on 15 June. The company said at the time that it was switching its focus to other payment concepts. GlobalData cites poor take-up by consumers for the abandonment of Messenger payments, despite major UK banks embracing it at its launch in 2017.”

“The firm, operated by One97 Communications, today unveiled Paytm First Credit Card with lofty benefits as it races to bulk up its financial offerings. The cards, issued by Citi Bank, will be the first in the country to offer unlimited, one percent cashback on purchases, Paytm claimed in a statement. The company is hoping to rope in about 25 million credit card customers in the coming months.”

“Mastercard has collaborated with tech firm Amadeus and global payments company Elavon to deliver a payments platform for Thai Airways. The Amadeus B2B Wallet Partner Pay solution is currently on trial with Thai Airways and Sweden-based travel agency Select Travel. As a result, it has already reduced cost and complexity for making payments. When the agency initiates payments with Thai Airways, it uses a virtual Mastercard card. Elavon is the acquirer in the process so the airline can accept payments from a variety of issuers within Mastercard’s network.”

“Today, Adobe announced that it is working with Amazon on a new program called Branded Stores for Amazon Sellers, to create what they are describing as “branded storefronts” (not described specifically as websites) aimed at smaller merchants that have already been selling through Amazon (and possibly other marketplace platforms) to build their own first-party commerce experiences — while still using some of the transaction and fulfilment tools of the Amazon ecosystem. For now, those tools don’t appear to include Prime, although from what I understand expanding Prime beyond the Amazon.com ecosystem is on the roadmap. Instead, it covers Amazon Pay, fulfilment and hosting on AWS.”

“Payday lenders have been mobilizing their customers to push the federal government to ease Obama-era regulations of the industry, according to research by a consumer advocacy group that favors the rules. Since the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau began soliciting public comment on a proposed rule governing small-dollar, high-interest consumer loans, the lenders have organized thousands of customers who have sent in duplicated comments in support of the change, said Allied Progress, the consumer group.”

“NACHA’s Payments Innovation Alliance and the U.S. Faster Payments Council (FPC) have launched a partnership to develop an “educational and online decisioning platform” called the Faster Payments Playbook. Its objective is to help credit unions and other payments organizations create their own faster payments strategies by addressing developments in faster payments and identifying opportunities for stakeholders.”

“Bitcoin is now trading at around $8,130, up a whopping 60.84 percent over the past month, with the price surging $3,086.14 over the period. The cryptocurrency’s meteoric rise is reminiscent of its rocketing growth in the latter half of 2017, when prices reached over $18,400 on the back of buoyant capital markets, rampant speculation, and a turbulent political climate in Northern Asia spurred by saber rattling between President Donald Trump and North Korea’s dictator, Kim Jong-un.”

“Right now, physical Apple Pay transactions require bulky terminals like those you find at retail store checkouts. With the new support, an iPhone will know how to read a specially-encoded NFC tag (that can be as inert as a sticker) and automatically show the Apple Pay purchase interface when a user holds their device near it. No third-party apps or other set up required. The obvious example is a user can ad-hoc top up their miles on a hired electric scooter simply by tapping their phone or watch to a NFC sticker on the bike. For Bonobos, it will enable simpler self-service shopping with the ability to place NFC tags directly onto clothing rails. The new Apple Pay features will be rolling out later this year, presumably with more partners onboard now that the news is public. This is yet another step towards Apple’s goal of replacing the wallet.”

“Brazilian transit operator MetroRio, which runs the Rio de Janeiro Metro, has begun the rollout of contactless payments in partnership with Visa , Banco do Brasil , Bradesco and Cielo , becoming the first transit operator in the world to use the new Visa Secure Access Module (SAM) technology as part of the project. The company’s plans were first revealed in March .”

“Walmart is firing back. The biggest retailer in the world will now offer shoppers the option to have their online orders delivered the next day, following Amazon , which on April 25 announced plans to spend $800 million for one-day delivery for all Amazon Prime members .”

“Companies use the CashPro platform to manage their everyday treasury and lending needs. CashPro has more than 487,000 active users among the bank’s corporate, commercial, and business banking clients. The CashPro Mobile app’s popularity continues to grow. In the first quarter of 2019, clients used the app to approve more than 300,000 payments, representing over $30 billion in value, a jump of 904 percent from the same period in 2018.”

“Alipay, the world’s leading payment and lifestyle platform operated by Ant Financial, has connected more than 300,000 Japanese merchants as of early 2019 with tourists from Chinese mainland paying through the Alipay app…This was an increase of about 500 percent compared with the beginning of 2018, when 50,000 merchants in Japan accepted Alipay, amid a push by the Japanese government to drive greater adoption of mobile payments.”

“The first solution built leveraging the Mastercard Innovation Engine focuses on contextually-relevant and personalized digital engagement and servicing. Created in collaboration with Flybits and Kasisto, the Mastercard Contextual Engagement Solution provides U.S. issuers and merchants a seamless digital channel for consumers to understand, interact and maximize their card benefits and rewards.”

“Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are beginning negotiations to develop new rules for cross-border e-commerce, under an agreement announced early in 2019. The talks aim to bring global trade rules into the 21st century, negotiators say, and include a wide-range of issues such as customs barriers, cross-border data flows, intellectual property, and consumer protection. Also on the table is extending the current moratorium on customs duties for electronic transmissions, which would otherwise expire in 2019.”

“ACI’s UP Real-Time Payments solution provides BMO with connectivity to real-time payment networks from a single hub, which allows the bank to deliver faster and more efficient payment experiences for customers. In addition, BMO has also deployed Zelle, which allows businesses to capitalize on real-time B2C payments using a consumer’s email address or U.S. mobile phone number.”

“IDology’s Second Annual Consumer Digital Identity Study found that for first time, consumers opened more new accounts on mobile phones than on computers. The study also found a 19% increase in abandonment during account openings compared to last year due to high consumer expectations for convenience and low tolerance for friction. The study also found that consumers desire higher levels of security without additional burdens.”

“Adyen (AMS: ADYEN), the payments platform of choice for many of the world’s leading companies, announced today that it has been selected by Uber to be its initial solutions provider for 3D Secure (3DS).”