“The investment values the parent company, One97 Communications Ltd., at $16 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter, making it one of Asia’s most valuable startups. The Noida, India-based company makes a smartphone app that allows users to pay for goods and services such as groceries, auto rickshaw rides, movie tickets and electricity bills. It also has an e-commerce platform and offers financial products such as mutual funds and savings accounts.”

“Southeast Asian payments platform 2C2P Pte , which helps airlines, travel companies and online shopping malls handle payments from customers in the region, has raised $52 million from investors including the World Bank’s International Finance Corp., Cento Ventures and Arbor Ventures to fund expansion.”

“EBay has owned StubHub since 2007 when it bought the business for $310 million . StubHub, one of the most popular platforms to buy and sell tickets to concerts, sports and other events, accounted for about 14% of the company’s revenue in the third quarter.”

“Whoever hacked this fuel pump was able to get inside the machine and install a Bluetooth-based circuit board that connects to the power and can transmit stolen card data wirelessly. This allows the thieves to drive by at any time and download the card data remotely from a mobile device or laptop. This kind of fuel pump skimmer, while rare, serves as a reminder that it’s a good idea to choose credit over debit when buying fuel. For starters, there are different legal protections for fraudulent transactions on debit vs. credit cards.”

“In a speech Thursday, First Deputy Governor Denis Beau issued some of France’s strongest comments yet in support of distributed ledger technology (DLT), which he said likely solves many outstanding market issues. One solution France is considering: a central bank digital currency (CBDC). Beau said the eurozone has a responsibility to at least consider a CBDC – especially because other “disorderly approaches and heterogeneous adaptations” could arise in its absence.   Cross-border payments also could be a particularly viable DLT use case, Beau said.”

“The Indianized version of Google Pay has cornered the largest chunk of India’s UPI market, piggybacking the username-based P2P payment system. Launched as Tez, Google rebranded the app to Pay following the global consolidation of its payment solutions , though the app retained its distinct functionality that contrasts with its stateside counterpart. About two years into its existence, the app is now getting a design change under Google’s refreshed material guidelines, tidying up some of its UI elements.”

“Scoring a reservation at a top restaurant is often far from an easy feat. Holders of The Platinum Card from American Express , The Business Platinum Card from American Express , and the Centurion Card from American Express have been able to take advantage of the concierge service to help them secure tables, with special access to boot, but there historically hasn’t been an easy way for US cardholders to browse and book available reservations digitally. Thankfully, that is about to change.”

“ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW), a leading global provider of real-time electronic payment and banking solutions , today announced its integration with Salesforce Commerce Cloud, which provides personalized experiences for shoppers that span web, mobile, social and in-store. The integration allows customers to quickly deploy ACI’s UP eCommerce Payments and fraud management solution in Salesforce Commerce Cloud.”

“MoneyGram (NASDAQ: MGI ), a global provider of innovative money transfer services, today announced that Ripple , a provider of leading enterprise blockchain solutions for global payments, has made the final $20 million investment in MoneyGram equity pursuant to Ripple’s original $50 million equity investment commitment made earlier this year.  Ripple purchased the newly-issued equity from MoneyGram at $4.10 per share, which represents a significant premium to MoneyGram’s current market price. This funding will support MoneyGram’s operations as the company continues to increase volume and use of On-Demand Liquidity, Ripple’s product that leverages the digital asset XRP to send money globally, instantly and reliably for fractions of a penny.”

“As consumer usage of real-time P2P services continues to grow at a rapid rate, banks and other financial institutions need advanced ways to identify and prevent fraudulent transactions on even small-dollar amounts. FIS has integrated IBM Safer Payments within its P2P payment products offered to FIS clients in the U.S. The enhanced offering uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to monitor high-volumes of P2P transactions and provide real-time detection and decisioning. Since integrating the IBM Safer Payments fraud detection solution, FIS has seen a significant reduction in attempted and completed fraudulent transactions as reported by its P2P payment services clients.”

“All eligible1 Discover cardmembers can easily pay with their Cashback Bonus or Miles using PayPal when they shop online and in apps2. Once cardmembers link their Discover card with PayPal, they can instantly redeem any amount of their rewards on eligible purchases at checkout. This latest feature stems from an ongoing collaboration between Discover and PayPal to give Discover cardmembers a rich suite of benefits and experiences with PayPal. These benefits include enabling cardmembers to easily link their Discover card to their PayPal wallet from Discover’s app and website which were recognized by J.D. Power as the best in customer satisfaction among mobile credit card apps and credit card websites. Once linked, cardmembers can enjoy the convenience and security of checking out with PayPal while shopping at millions of merchants online.”

“The move is the latest example of the declining importance of Jet, a business Walmart paid $3.3 billion to acquire in 2016 to reach urban millennials and gain the services of co-founder Marc Lore, who has taken over Walmart’s U.S. e-commerce operations. The company’s online revenue has increased — but most of the unit’s success has come from its popular curbside grocery pickup service, which is cheaper to operate than home delivery.”

“In recent years, independent sales organizations and payment processors have generated plenty of lucrative business by working with software developers and marketers—businesses usually known as independent software vendors, or ISVs . But now a report indicates the software market is getting increasingly crowded, a development ISVs fear is pressuring prices. It’s also raising developers’ demands on their payments partners. Indeed, some 41% of ISVs said they expect a “saturated” market will push pricing down over the coming year, according to the report “Lost in Transaction,” released this week by the multinational acquirer Paysafe Group. Thirty-nine percent cited “an influx of competition” as a top concern. Those fears outrank all other concerns except challenges related to integrating a full range of payment options at checkout, which registered with 39% of the 200 ISVs surveyed in September in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada.”

“In recent years, independent sales organizations and payment processors have generated plenty of lucrative business by working with software developers and marketers—businesses usually known as independent software vendors, or ISVs . But now a report indicates the software market is getting increasingly crowded, a development ISVs fear is pressuring prices. It’s also raising developers’ demands on their payments partners.”

“Thieves have devised a new way to steal payment-card data from online shoppers—or at least it’s new to the researcher who found it. Rather than infecting a merchant’s checkout page with malware that skims the information, the thieves trick users into thinking they’ve been redirected to an authorized third-party payment processor.”

“Independent software vendors (ISVs) are looking to increase the number of payment methods they offer from four to nine over the next year, but are being held back by legacy systems and a lack of internal resources, according to new research from Paysafe , a leading specialized payments platform. Revealed in the report ‘Lost in Transaction: The new relationship for ISVs and payments’, this trend suggests that ISVs that overcome these challenges to expand their payment offerings will gain a competitive advantage.”

“The majority of issued credit cards now are what are commonly called “chip cards.” That is cards with small square chip on the surface of the card that is used to send encrypted information from the card to the retail card reader and ATM. The United States has more than 842 million* credit and debit cards as of the last quarter of 2018. The world total of chip based credit and debit cards now tops more than 8.2 billion cards as of the end of 2018 *. This is over a billion card increase from the previous year. Foreseeing the growth in the use of chip-based credit and debit cards, SmartMetric over a decade ago set about to add additional security by putting a biometric fingerprint scanner inside the card that is used to turn on the card’s chip following a biometric validation of the card user.”

“Church’s Chicken today announced that it is investigating a potential incident involving credit and debit card data at some of its company-owned restaurants in the U.S. The company announced it believes the payment processing systems that services certain company-operated restaurants may have been accessed by an unauthorized third party.  Only Church’s company restaurants in the U.S. are believed to be impacted.  Church’s operates company restaurants in the following states:  Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.”

“Speaking at a meeting of the National Technical Committee, PBoC vice president Yifei Fan said the bank aims to better regulate new technologies applied across the financial industry, according to a report from state media Xinhua News Agency. Fan said blockchain is among 17 categories of financial technologies, including cloud services and artificial intelligence, to be regulated under the new standards.”

“Experts are surprised to see millions of Americans taking on so much personal loan debt at a time when the economy looks healthy and paychecks are growing for many workers, raising questions about why so many people are seeking an extra infusion of cash.  “Definitely yellow flares should be starting to go off,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, which monitors consumer credit. “There’s an old adage in banking: If it’s growing like a weed, it probably is a weed.””

“The trend toward faster payments involves several dimensions, one of which is faster card delivery to a wide array of sponsors and users who until now had little or no access to cards branded by a global network. Galileo Financial Technologies Inc. said Thursday its offering that capability with an instant-issuance service for Mastercard-branded debit cards. The cards, aimed at a markets ranging from gig workers to merchants to businesses looking for better ways to manage payroll, are available as digital or plastic versions. The former can be put into users’ hands within minutes, the latter within a matter of a few days, says Clay Wilkes, chief executive of Salt Lake City. Utah-based Galileo.”

“Fraud losses worldwide reached $27.85 billion in 2018 and are projected to rise to $35.67 billion in five years and $40.63 billion in 10 years according to The Nilson Report, the leading global card and mobile payments trade publication.  Gross fraud losses reached $27.85 billion in 2018, up 16.2% from $23.97 billion in 2017. However, fraud losses per $100 of total sales declined to 6.86¢ from 6.95¢ the prior year. Fraud losses are incurred by payment card issuers, merchants, acquirers of card transactions from merchants, and acquirers of card transactions at ATMs on all credit, debit, and prepaid general purpose and private label payment cards issued around the globe. Losses of $27.85 billion in 2018 were up from $23.97 billion the year before.”

“Mastercard has launched its first campaign for a debit product, focusing on changing payment habits. The campaign points out the increasing prevalence of contactless payment, and highlights that ‘priceless moments’ can be had every day, without the need for credit. The social-led campaign was created by McCann London. It will also feature activity across OOH, TV, and customer comms.”

“Neon , which operates a digital bank in Brazil, has reportedly raised $94 million in funding in a round led by Banco Votorantim and General Atlantic , according to a news report from Brazilian publication Estadao .”

“Bengaluru-based fintech software company Perfios has raised close to $50 million in its Series B round from a clutch of private equity investors, led by Warburg Pincus and Bessemer venture Partners . The mix of primary and secondary capital also has given an exit to a few of its angel investors.Founded by V R Govindarajan and Debashish Chakraborty, Perfios is a credit decisioning and analytics company which works with over 200 banks, non-bank lenders and fintech startups“

“Some Macy’s customer payment data was stolen when its website was hacked last month, the company wrote in a notice. In a letter sent to customers on Thursday, Macy’s informed shoppers about the breach, which the company believes occurred when a third party attached malicious computer code to Macys.com via the “Checkout” and “My Wallet” pages.”

“In a Nov. 19 letter responding to questions from lawmakers Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.) and Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.) in late September, Powell said the Fed has noted the efforts of other nations to explore a CBDC option, and that it continues to “carefully analyze the costs and benefits of pursuing such an initiative in the U.S.” In their letter to Powell, Hill and Foster had expressed concerns over the potential risks to the dollar if another nation or private company creates a widely used cryptocurrency, and asked whether the central bank is look pursuing such an option.”

“For the days that leaving your house to get snacks and supplies is just too unfathomable, there’s 7-Eleven delivery . Now, for the days when looking at a screen is equally as taxing, there’s 7-Eleven voice ordering. The company has launched 7Voice for Amazon Alexa and Google Home, which means that as long as you have the 7Now app and an account login, you can order all the stuff you want simply by asking, and it’ll be delivered to you in less than 30 minutes.”

“New York’s Omny contactless fare system is to undergo “a blitz phase of installations that will bring the popular new contactless fare payment system to all 472 stations as well as all MTA bus routes by the end of next year,” the city’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has announced. The move follows adoption rates that MTA says have “exceeded even the most optimistic of internal forecasts” with Omny surpassing 3m taps since its launch at the end of May.”

“Bank of the West, a subsidiary of BNP Paribas, and Brex, the corporate card that accelerates entrepreneurs and scaling businesses, today announced a co-branded corporate card with no security deposit and no requirement for U.S. credit history. As the first co-branded corporate card announced by Brex, this card supports Bank of the West’s focus on enhancing the business solutions available to its commercial clients and follows the recent launch of the Bank’s Innovation Hub, which offers dedicated banking services for startups.”

“American shoppers are expected to spend an average of $1,048 during the 2019 holiday shopping season. A large portion of that spending will involve using a mobile payments or rewards platform, as nearly 60 percent of shoppers say they have three or more rewards and/or payments apps on their phones, where as 15 percent of all shoppers have eight or more. And while more than half (52 percent) of these shoppers say they feel overwhelmed by the large number of mobile payments and rewards programs, nearly 60 percent of shoppers say they are likely to use a mobile payments solution for some of their holiday purchases this year. Another 39 percent are interested in learning more about mobile payments and rewards programs.”

“GIACT Systems®, the leader in the positive identification and authentication of customers, today announced the release of a new white paper, The Hidden Costs of Synthetic Identity Fraud. Due to the availability of customer data from large-scale data breaches in recent years, GIACT’s latest white paper highlights the emerging threats that synthetic identify fraud (SIF) poses to businesses and consumers. According to the white paper, new SIF tactics are being deployed across a variety of financial products and industries, widening the risk of infiltration and fallout.”

“American Express Co. wants more businesses to accept its cards. So it is paying them—sometimes in amounts approaching a half-million dollars. The company is offering sign-on bonuses to some businesses that don’t take its cards in a bid to catch up to rivals Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. The payments range from under $10,000 to about $450,000.”

“Google’s product will be a checking account and only a checking account (at least for now) that is accessed through Google Pay, which will be very similar to the way credit cards are accessed through the Google Pay app. There will be one major difference, however.  Checking accounts will be designed to work specifically with Google Pay, meaning they must be opened by Google through Google Pay. They will be accessible only through Google Pay as well as a Google branded (or possibly co-branded, with the financial institution) debit card. Google staff said they do not envision account holders having access to the financial institution’s branches with the Google checking account; It is intended to be an online account only. Google also mentioned that they want the checking account to be free.”

“When it comes to fintech plays, small and medium businesses are not often the target audience: they’re too small and fragmented compared to big-spending corporates; and they’re too demanding compared to mass-market consumer users. But as a sector, they account for over 99% of all businesses in developed countries like the UK and USA , and that means they cannot be ignored. Today, BlueVine , one of the financial services startups that has built a business specifically catering to SMBs is announcing a big round of funding, underscoring the quiet opportunity and demand that is out there.”

“As the country looks to engender more safeguards in the collection, handling and sharing of data, Kenya’s president Uhuru Kenyatta has approved legislation which complies with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation. The new law outlines restrictions on data handling and sharing by government and corporations. Any infringements of the new law will be investigated by an independent office with violators facing two-year prison sentences or fines of up to $29,000.”

“Why gift cards? Because they allow con artists to make purchases immediately and anonymously. They don’t even need the physical card itself, just the numeric code or bar code associated with the card. Also, unlike with prepaid credit cards, the transactions are difficult to reverse. There are few, if any, reasons why you would use a gift card to pay a legitimate business or government entity, but scammers can be very crafty in their pitches.”

“On launch day, face unlock on the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL was only supported by five apps , with a few more getting updated since last month. The latest is Bank of America’s Android client today. Release notes for version 8.3.11 of Bank of America for Android prominently mentions the “Ability to sign in with face unlock (Pixel 4 only).” After updating, you’ll need to enter your password one more time, and select the “Set up biometric sign-in” checkbox.”

“The partnership will provide more than 1,000 high schools and 50,000 students with free financial education courses on how to bank responsibly in the ever-changing digital era. With only 30% of college students reporting having taken a high school financial literacy course1 , Zelle and EVERFI address an acute need for more financial education, especially given the rate of change brought on by ever-evolving technologies.”

“PayByPhone, the leading global provider of mobile parking payment solutions, today announced it reached over 30 million registered users mark – a 22 percent growth from last year. Additionally, PayByPhone completed more than 102 million global transactions year to date. The volume of PayByPhone’s transactions rose 29 percent year-over-year.”

“The investments will further enable PSCU to provide an end-to-end payments platform in an integrated environment for a fully customizable and seamless experience. The focus will be on accelerating the development of technology, solutions and operational initiatives, including modernizing existing infrastructure, leveraging cloud technology and driving efficiencies through robotics and artificial intelligence. In addition, a significant investment will be made to further enhance Lumin Digital, PSCU’s industry-leading digital banking platform.”

“HSBC Bank USA, N.A. (HSBC) announced today the launch of real-time payments capabilities on the RTP® network that allow business and institutional clients of all sizes to pay and be paid immediately with enhanced convenience and security.   With this latest enhancement in HSBC’s implementation of the RTP network these clients began sending real-time payments this morning, having been able to receive real-time payments since July 2019.”

“Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) announced today that its corporate customers can now send real-time payments through the RTP® network via an application programming interface (API), enabling the immediate movement of money and expanding the bank’s faster payments offerings. Wells Fargo previously rolled out capabilities for both retail and wholesale customers to receive payments over the RTP network at the end of 2018.”

“Today, Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com company (NASDAQ: AMZN), announced that Western Union (NYSE: WU) has selected AWS as preferred long-term strategic cloud provider, as it plans to move a significant portion of its infrastructure to the cloud. Western Union will be using AWS to build a more seamless and reliable experience for its customers who send money and payments to over 200 countries and territories through its mobile application, website, and agent locations around the globe. With this move to AWS, Western Union will migrate from current datacenters to a microservices architecture, gaining the ability to build and support its applications, regardless of scale, load, or complexity.”

“ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW), a leading global provider of real-time electronic payment and banking solutions , today announced a global strategic collaboration with Microsoft via the Microsoft Partner Network to support the payments industry’s rapid adoption of technology deployed in the public cloud. As one of Microsoft’s top 10 global ISV partners in the financial services industry, ACI will support the company’s industry growth and extend the reach of its own market-leading Universal Payments portfolio through Microsoft Azure.”

“Brex, the corporate credit card that accelerates entrepreneurs and scaling businesses, today announced a first-of-its-kind integration with Rippling, the all-in-one employee management system that centralizes payroll, benefits, computer, and app management for businesses. This integration makes Rippling the first HR platform that allows companies to automatically issue corporate cards to new employees as part of their onboarding process, and automatically disable cards during their offboarding process, making corporate card management easier and reducing the administrative burden across teams.”