“Business-to-business payments platform Nium announced Monday that it raised more than $200 million in Series D funding and saw its valuation rise above $1 billion. The company, now Singapore-based but shifting to the Bay Area, touted the investment as making it “the first B2B payments unicorn from Southeast Asia.””

“Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) contribute heavily to the economic success of many countries, particularly those in the developing world. They are the backbone of most economies: Globally, SMEs represent about 90% of existing businesses and create more than 50% of employment. In South Africa, these businesses contribute around one-third of the country’s GDP. Last year, the coronavirus pandemic threatened the existence of some of these SMEs, and its effects linger as owners worry about revenue, sales and cash flow.”

“The operators of cryptocurrency exchanges Huobi and OKCoin are closing their respective subsidiaries in Beijing, dealing another blow to investors in bitcoin and other digital tokens in mainland China amid the latest crackdown on this sector. Beijing Huobi Tianxia Network Technology Co applied last Thursday to cancel the company’s registration after its “resolution of dissolution”. Creditors must declare their claims to the liquidation group within 45 days of that announcement, according to company records on the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System’s website.”

“The Omani Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion (MoCIIP) is making the acceptance of cash-free payments mandatory as part of a plan to reduce the amount of cash circulating in the country. “The first phase of rolling out cashless payment options will cover all activities in industrial areas, shopping complexes, commercial establishments, gift stores, companies involved in the sale of food, jewellers, restaurants and cafes, fruit and vegetable shops, electronics stores, shops selling construction materials, and tobacconists,” Times of Oman reports .”

“A new report from Juniper Research has found that global contactless card transaction values will reach $2.5 trillion in 2021, from $1.7 trillion in 2020, with cards retaining the majority share of overall contactless transaction values at 79% in 2021. The pandemic has significantly accelerated an existing contactless card usage trend, and these value increases will be sustained beyond 2021 and into the future. The new research, Contactless Payments: Trends, Opportunities and Market Forecasts 2021-2026 , found that the combination of accelerated card issuance and usage during the pandemic with a series of global transaction limit increases have unlocked significant growth potential for contactless payments, fundamentally changing the payments paradigm.”

“Robust growth continued for the modern ACH Network in the second quarter of 2021. Payment volume climbed 9.9%, with particularly strong growth in business-to-business (B2B) payments. The ACH Network processed 7.3 billion payments in the second quarter, 655 million more than the same time in 2020. The value of those payments was $18.4 trillion, an increase of 24.6% from a year earlier.”

“Mastercard announced today a new Start Path global startup engagement program dedicated to supporting fast-growing digital assets, blockchain and cryptocurrency companies. As a continuation of Mastercard’s digital assets work, seven startups have joined the program, including GK8 , Domain Money , Mintable , SupraOracles , STACS , Taurus , and Uphold , and together with Mastercard seek to expand and accelerate innovation around digital asset technology and make it safer and easier for people and institutions to buy, spend and hold cryptocurrencies and digital assets.”

“PayQin, a cross-border payment startup that operates a comprehensive e-wallet service for the underbanked in West Africa, is announcing a new €300K seed investment round that takes the company’s funding up to $1 million. The company aims to reach one million daily transactions in a year and envisions a single payment area for the West African countries.”

“MUMBAI: Fino Payments Bank on Monday said it is facilitating person-to-merchant (P2M) payments through QR code-based unified payments interface (UPI) solution. Fino’s initiative comes amidst a surge in QR-code based payment solutions riding on increased smartphone penetration, usage of high-speed internet and Aadhaar-linked bank accounts.”

“Ever since the Covid pandemic set in more than a year ago, the payments industry has been abuzz with talk about its various impacts on merchant acceptance. What hasn’t received as much attention is how the pandemic has affected merchant acquiring. It turns out processors and independent sales organizations have seen some surprising results.”

“Driving the improved results was steady improvement in the company’s vital travel-and-entertainment business and increased usage from younger cardholders, the company said. “We saw Card Member spending accelerate from the prior quarter and exceed pre-pandemic levels in June, with the largest portion of this spending growth coming from Millennial, Gen Z, and small business customers,” said Stephen Squeri, AmEx’s chairman and chief executive, in a statement.”

“Venmo, the popular mobile payment service, has redesigned its app. That’s normally news you could safely ignore, but this announcement is worth a closer look. In addition to making some navigational tweaks and adding new purchase protections, the PayPal-owned platform is finally shutting down its global social feed, where the app published transactions from people around the world. It’s an important step toward resolving one of the most prominent privacy issues in the world of apps, but the work isn’t finished yet.”

“The People’s Bank of China in recent months has accelerated the testing of its digital yuan, putting the operators of Alipay and WeChat Pay in a difficult spot: They have little choice but to take part, despite the risk of eroding the huge user bases they have grown over years. Most of China’s 1.4 billion people use at least one of the private services to make mobile payments.”

“Amazon has plans to accept the cryptocurrency bitcoin by the end of 2021, according to an anonymously sourced report in the London newspaper City A.M. And while this is just the word of one anonymous “insider” at the Seattle-based mega-retailer, bitcoin’s price skyrocketed overnight and it’s creating a lot of buzz in the world of cryptocurrencies—a world built on little more than buzz.”

“QR codes — essentially a kind of bar code that allows transactions to be touchless — have emerged as a permanent tech fixture from the coronavirus pandemic. Restaurants have adopted them en masse, retailers including CVS and Foot Locker have added them to checkout registers, and marketers have splashed them all over retail packaging, direct mail, billboards and TV advertisements.”

“Global analytics software provider FICO today released its analysis of UK card trends for May 2021, which suggests that some consumers are practicing pragmatic financial management, as well as continuing to make use of savings accrued during the pandemic. There are, however, warning signs of the financial pressure growing for those already in debt. Whilst the effects of a full month of retail and hospitality re-openings were reflected in a further rise in card spend, the increase was just 4 percent compared to the 12 percent increase seen in April. This suggests that consumers foresee future pressure on income with the prospect of furlough support and payment holidays ending.”

“BioCatch, the global leader in behavioural biometrics announced it has entered the implementation stage of its offering that will enable financial institutions to leverage BioCatch’s behavioural biometric-based solution to support their journey to compliance with PSD2’s implementation of Strong Customer Authentication (SCA), a regulation that requires multi-factor authentication for online transactions. BioCatch’s behavioural biometrics industry best-practices solution improves banks and financial institutions’ customer experience by applying machine learning to provide superior consumer protection while reducing friction in the digital journey.”

“Through a seamless integration to Oracle MICROS RES 3700 and Simphony platforms, Appsuite and TableSafe offer gift cards, loyalty and CRM together with pay-at-the-table in a premium end-to-end solution for dine-in restaurants. The integrated experience allows restaurants equipped with Oracle MICROS to maximize their existing POS and deliver next-generation hospitality features to strengthen their bottom line.”

“RocketFuel (OTC: RKFL) (“RocketFuel” or the “Company”), a global provider of one-click online payment options using Bitcoin and 50+ other cryptocurrencies, today announced that it will be making its payment solution available to be used by licensed cannabis dispensaries and merchants. Integrating RocketFuel into the merchant’s payment checkout will ensure that, unlike the typical cash transactions which come with security and logistical problems, merchants can accept crypto payments from users who have cryptocurrencies in a private wallet or in certain crypto exchange accounts. This service will even cover online delivery orders if they fall under permissible local regulations. RocketFuel will be compliant with FinCEN guidance on providing financial services to the cannabis industry.”

“It’s pretty easy for individuals to send money back and forth, and there are lots of cash apps from which to choose. On the commercial side, however, one business trying to send $100,000 the same way is not as easy. Paystand wants to change that. The Scotts Valley, California-based company is using cloud technology and the Ethereum blockchain as the engine for its Paystand Bank Network that enables business-to-business payments with zero fees.”

One of the biggest players in Britain’s fast-growing ‘buy now pay later’ finance sector will announce on Friday that it has secured funding from Goldman Sachs and the owner of the Daily Mail.

Sky News has learnt that Zilch has struck a deal to raise $110m (£80m) in debt and equity from Goldman’s asset management arm’s private credit team and DMG Ventures, a division of Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT).

“The Canada-based company got its start in 2008 as the payment processing company Zomaron, and rebranded itself as Paystone in 2019. Today it provides electronic payments and customer engagement technology to businesses, particularly those that provide services, CEO Tarique Al-Ansari told TechCrunch.”

“Consumers in Poland will soon be able to use their Android NFC device to make tokenized contactless payments at the point of sale (POS) directly from their bank account via their mobile banking app without needing a debit or credit card. Polish mobile payments service provider Blik is making the contactless functionality available in the apps of six of the 17 banks that support its mobile payments solution.”

“In a brief email to customers, Amazon said anyone using its products would now have to pursue disputes with the company in federal court, rather than go through the private and secretive arbitration process, which critics say puts consumers at a huge disadvantage . “This is a big deal,” said Florencia Marotta-Wurgler, a professor at New York University Law School who focuses on consumer law. “For so long, the tide had been going the other way, with companies adding arbitration clauses to their contracts.””

“Stellar Development Foundation has contacted MoneyGram International about a potential purchase of the 81-year-old remittance giant, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. Stellar is partnering with private equity firm Advent on the possible deal, according to unnamed sources cited in the article. Stellar and Advent could decide not to push forward with the acquisition. In May, San Francisco-based Stellar, a non-profit that supports a blockchain-based platform enabling consumers and institutions to move money, made a $15 million investment in AirTM, a digital wallet and peer-to-peer exchange platform based in Mexico.”

“UnionPay International (UPI) announced today the cooperation with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to launch multiple UnionPay payment products on the IATA Financial Gateway (IFG). UnionPay cardholders can now make easy reservations via all airline distribution channels including travel agents and mobile apps of international airlines that accept UnionPay products.”

“This isn’t the first time Rosenthal — who estimated he receives about 30 Venmo deposits from customers every month — has had to rethink his approach to cashless payments. He started using Venmo after leaving PayPal because of its hefty fees. Now, he’s considering going back to paper checks.”

“Russia’s card payment system Mir, which was set up in 2015 after the West imposed sanctions on Moscow, is now connected to Apple Pay, the card issuer said on Tuesday. More than 95 million Mir cards have been issued by Russia’s National Card Payment System (NSPK), accounting for about a third of Russia’s card market which was previously dominated by international payment systems Visa and Mastercard.”

“India’s central bank is considering launching a digital currency, according to a top executive, giving a clear indication of its intentions for the first time after previously stating that it was studying the idea. T Rabi Sankar, the deputy governor of Reserve Bank of India, said at a conference today that the central bank is considering introducing the nation’s digital currency in a “phased” manner while legal changes are made to the South Asian nation’s foreign-exchange rules and IT laws. The digital currency, which will be backed by sovereign, will lower the economy’s reliance on cash, enable cheaper and smoother international settlements, and protect people from the volatility of privacy cryptocurrencies, he said.”

“Global financial settlement network EMQ today announced that it has significantly augmented its real-time cross-border payments across Southeast Asia by adding Thailand’s PromptPay to the network. This major enhancement further expands our global payment capabilities into Thailand, providing global enterprises with the most comprehensive financial solutions to capture new opportunities across the markets.”

“Barclaycard Payments today announces it has agreed to join Mastercard Track™ Business Payment Service, making new services available to Barclaycard Payments’ customers later this year. The innovative, open loop network delivers value to both Buyers and Suppliers by simplifying and automating the set up and execution of business payments using multiple payment rails and enhancing the exchange of payments-related data. In turn, it enables Buyers and Suppliers to utilise the best available option for paying each-and-every invoice.”

“As many Americans were without access to employer facilities for over a year, the latest doxoINSIGHTS report shows consumers shouldered a large bill pay burden to account for long hours worked from home. The categories most impacted by remote work – Utilities, Cable & Internet, and Mobile – were therefore the most likely to have shown an increase since March of 2020.”

“TableSafe, Inc. , a leading innovator of pay-at-the-table technology designed for the hospitality industry, today shared insight into customer payment transaction data indicating that the recovery of the full-service restaurant industry continued in the second quarter of 2021. TableSafe’s data, gathered from full-service restaurants across the United States, reveals that customer transaction volume increased 47% over the first quarter of 2021. Additionally, transaction revenue increased 55% from the first quarter of the year.”

“Since nearly three years ago when the first USD Coin (USDC) entered circulation, Circle, together with Centre Consortium, have prioritized trust, transparency, and accountability. These priorities have helped USDC grow widely within the global blockchain ecosystem… With this latest reserve attestation, we are now including a breakdown of dollar-denominated  reserve assets, which are all held in the care, custody and control of U.S. regulated financial institutions and in line with laws and guidelines from our U.S. state money transmission regulators.  Indeed, as pioneers in the digital currency industry, Circle, together with Centre Consortium, have evolved a reserve management model that is more conservative and transparent than comparatively regulated digital payments systems and financial technology (FinTech) organizations.”

“Fintech startup Yapily has raised a $51 million Series B funding round led by Sapphire Ventures . The company has been working on a single, unified open banking API for several European markets. Developers can leverage that programming interface to interact with third-party bank accounts directly from their own products…Another difference is that Yapily focuses exclusively on API integrations. Due to recent regulatory changes in Europe (PSD2), banks now have to offer official APIs to integrate with third-party services. While some still don’t offer APIs, many of them are now complying with the rules.”

“The payments space — amazingly — remains up for grabs for startups. Yes, dear reader, despite the success of Stripe, there seems to be a new payments startup virtually every other day. It’s a mess out there! The accelerated growth of e-commerce due to the pandemic means payments are now a booming space. And here comes another one, with a twist. WhenThen has built a no-code payment operations platform that, they claim, streamlines the payment processes “of merchants of any kind”.  It says its platform can autonomously orchestrate, monitor, improve and manage all customer payments and payments ops.”

“Bolt, a San Francisco-based startup that offers software for online shopping, is raising $333 million in Series D funding at a post-investment valuation of $4 billion, nearly five times its valuation in December, according to three people familiar with the matter. London-based venture firm Hedosophia is leading the round, said one of the people. Six-year-old Bolt has six million registered users and next year expects 50 million people to use Bolt’s one-click checkout service through merchants such as Forever 21 and Brooks Brothers, according to a person familiar with the business. The startup makes money by charging merchants a 2% fee on purchases made through Bolt.”

“Fintech companies offering digital payments have been rapidly growing their customer bases across the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region in recent years.  The Big Five of ASEAN — Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia are a hotbed for non-banks building regional electronic e-wallet platforms. In fact, they are so popular that fintech apps have seen massive demand since last year.”

“A majority of U.S. consumers in all age groups—76%—would like to decrease their use of credit cards as they seek to avoid debt, are wary of their ability to pay off their balances each month, and have concerns about making the minimum payments, according to a survey from GoCardless Ltd., a London-based recurring-revenue specialist…What do they want to use instead? Debit cards and no-interest installment payments found a lot of favor. In the 18-25 age group, 89% would rather use a debit card as would 87% in the 25-40 group. That dips to 54% for those 57 or older. Regardless of age group, 78% would choose a debit card instead of a credit card.”

“Super app Grab has boosted customers’ buy now, pay later (BNPL) choices in Singapore and Malaysia by expanding its partnership with payment company Adyen . The announcement comes as the region sees increased transactions through deferred payments, with buyers opting to pay installments interest-free through platforms rather than use credit cards for purchases.”

“PayU, the payments business of the investment group Prosus, has formed a partnership with decentralized payments protocol Celo. The pair plan to launch new stablecoin payment options for PayU’s 450,000 merchant customers using cUSD, Celo’s dollar-pegged stablecoin. Together, PayU’s clients serve millions of people across Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.”

“Iberpay in concert with 16 Spanish banks has successfully concluded proof-of-concept trials that tested different design options for a future digital euro. The Smart Money project compared and contrasted different approaches currently under investigation by the European Central Bank, such as token-based and account-based models, DLT technology, online digital money payments and the possibility of making offline payments without internet connection.”

“Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told regulators Monday that the U.S. government must move quickly to establish a regulatory framework for stablecoins, a rapidly growing class of digital currencies. A group of U.S. regulators plans to issue recommendations in the coming months for fixing any regulatory gaps around stablecoins, the Treasury Department said in a statement.”

“Inviting the world to ‘ Meet Visa ,‘ the global payments technology company today unveiled the initial phase of its brand evolution spotlighting the diverse capabilities of its network and commitment to enabling global economic inclusion. Aligned closely with the company’s business strategy, this phase includes the debut of a dynamic global marketing campaign and a preview of a modernized look for Visa’s iconic brand.”

“Cross-border payments leader Thunes today announced the acquisition of Limonetik, a European Payment Methods Platform. This move will complement existing Thunes Cross-Border Payments solutions by enabling businesses to get paid in 70 countries, using over 285 local payment methods such as mobile wallets, payment by instalments (BNPL), QR code payments and more. The solution will be known as Thunes Collections. Limonetik is one of the earliest developers of an alternative payment methods platform suitable for international merchants and marketplaces. And like Thunes, the firm closely partners with payment service providers and financial institutions.”

“Dwolla , a modern payments platform, today announces a $21 million venture round led by Foundry Group to drive innovation for today’s B2B payments. Additional investors include Park West Asset Management LLC , Union Square Ventures , Detroit Venture Partners, Firebrand Ventures and Next Level Ventures. and Jeremy Andrus, the CEO of Traeger, also joined the round as an individual investor.”

“InComm Payments , a leading payments technology company, today announced that it has made an undisclosed investment in Instant Financial , a leading provider of fee-free earned wage access (EWA) solutions. Established in 2015, Instant is a financial wellness company that helps employees bridge the gap between workday and payday by allowing them to access a portion of their wages immediately after their shift, simply with the tap of their smartphone.”

“Accounting automation software leader BlackLine , Inc. (NASDAQ: BL) and Kyriba , a global leader of cloud-based finance and IT solutions, today announced that they are joining forces to streamline the digitalization of the Office of the CFO and improve collaboration between Finance and Treasury departments. The partnership offers enhanced capabilities for mutual customers through their integrated solutions to accelerate bank connectivity, increasing cash visibility and enabling greater automation within the financial close and accounts receivable processes.”

“Fiserv Inc. , a leading global provider of payments and financial services technology, today announced the integration of a cutting-edge fraud prevention solution into its e-commerce payment gateway to reduce the fraud-related chargeback risk for Mexico’s online commerce. The Vesta fraud prevention platform helps secure online payment transactions, reduces the decline rate, and includes a “Zero Chargeback Guarantee.”

“Veem, a leading provider of online payment solutions, today announced the release of a suite of products including Veem Invoicing and Veem Collections to help small businesses Pay and Get Paid. The new suite of products provide an end-to-end, industry-first payment solution that enables small businesses to collect and receive payments in local and multi- currencies from 40 countries.  From invoicing to payment collections, the new offering removes friction from the process by allowing small businesses to build, customize, and send invoices, as well as the unique built-in ability to cost effectively collect any payments from around the world, including zero-fee payments in domestic markets. On the payer’s side, the product suite gives them the choice to pay from multiple methods, including bank account, credit card, check or through their Veem Wallet.”

“Finicity, a Mastercard company and leading provider of open banking solutions, announced today that it has signed a data access agreement with Green Dot (NYSE: GDOT), a digital bank and fintech focused on delivering trusted, best-in-class banking and payment solutions that seamlessly connect people to their money…The Finicity direct API experience will first be available through Green Dot’s flagship digital bank GO2bank and will allow customers to link their accounts to third-party apps that use Finicity’s secure data network and financial data – further enabling them to connect, manage and move their money in a secure and seamless environment.”

“Upgrade, Inc. , a fintech company that offers affordable and responsible credit to mainstream consumers, today launched the Upgrade Bitcoin Rewards Card a new version of Upgrade Card featuring bitcoin rewards. Under the new program, users earn unlimited 1.5% bitcoin rewards on every purchase as they make payments.”

“Nacha’s Afinis Interoperability Standards announced today it has released three new APIs to assist corporate customers of financial institutions with accessing and reviewing their own financial transaction data to better help them with cash management analysis and informed decision-making. Afinis is a membership-based organization that focuses on the rapid delivery of APIs and other financial services standards across the U.S. and globally.”

“Pay Theory , a Cincinnati-based startup that provides payment solutions for school districts, childcare, and families, is excited to announce the launch of its cash payments tool to simplify the burden of making school-related payments for the roughly 30 percent of K–12 families in the US who are un- or underbanked. The Pay Theory in-person cash payments function allows users to complete digital payment transactions in the analog world without having to have a credit card. When making a school-related payment online, users can select the “pay cash” option. They will then be issued a barcode that can be scanned by a cashier just like any other coupon. The bill can be paid in cash right along with groceries or a prescription pickup.”