Payments


Epipoli Acquires Social Shopping Company

Epipoli, the Pay Award-winning Italian gift card distributor with a network of 50,000 stores, has acquired 100 percent of social shopping and offers company Groupalia from entrepreneur Andrea Gualtieri.

Square wants to be a bank, sort of

Mobile point-of-sale pioneer Square Inc. is applying for an Industrial Loan Company (ILC) charter to support the expansion of its lending business, the volume of which grew 68 percent year-over-year in Q2 to $318 million.

Report: Mobile Wallets Reach ‘Tipping Point’

This week Apple Pay celebrated its third birthday, and ACI Worldwide and Aite Group released data on rising mobile wallet usage, indicating that consumers in the U.S. and Europe are starting to catch up with those in Asia and Latin America where mobile wallets dominate.

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 7 September 2017

From immaturity to security, our latest blockchain and Bitcoin round-up features the European Central Bank, Bank of Japan, the People’s Bank of China, Bank Hapoalim and Microsoft. It’s happened before and it will happen again, but distributed ledger technology (DLT) has come into some criticisms in relation to payments. In a dark duet, the European […]

Amazon’s Alexa speaks to US Bank customers

More than a year after Capital One unveiled the feature, US Bank customers still are among the first in the US to be able to complete banking tasks, such as checking an account balance or paying a credit card bill, by speaking a command to an Amazon Alexa device.

The future of cross-currency payments

The landscape of cross-currency (FX) payments is taking on a whole new look – creating challenges for corporate financial managers and the need for new banking solutions.

Payments Industry Steps up to Help Harvey Victims

Several payments companies have announced efforts to help the victims of Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Louisiana, including monetary donations, interchange fee waivers and m-POS equipment.  

Alexa Speaks to U.S. Bank Customers

More than a year after Capital One unveiled the feature, U.S. Bank customers still are among the first in the U.S. to be able to complete banking tasks, such as checking an account balance or paying a credit card bill, by speaking a command to an Amazon Alexa device.

SolarisBank selects SIA to launch contactless payment cards in Germany

Banking platform SolarisBank has chosen Italy-based SIA to support the launch of new contactless debit cards and to contribute to the development of electronic payment solutions in Germany. SIA’s technology platform will manage the processing of transactions made using payment cards issued by the bank for its clients. The infrastructure, supporting the launch of new […]

Factors in the Long Wait for EMV and Contactless in the U.S.

As some celebrate 10 years of contactless payments, Bastian Knoppers discusses why cards (not mobile wallets) are still king outside the U.S. and what it will take for the U.S. to catch up to the rest of the world on tap-and-go payments.

WhatsApp mulls business revenue stream

Facebook-owned IM service WhatsApp reckons it might finally be able to make some money by charging businesses for clever access to their punters, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology’s sister publication). Apparently quite a lot of people already use WhatsApp around the world to interact with shopkeepers and other relatively simple business transactions such as placing orders, […]

Mashreq Bank revamps with NCR tablet and video banking tech

Dubai-based Mashreq Bank will revamp its banking services in the UAE with the help of NCR technology over the next six months. NCR says Mashreq will be the first in the region to deploy its tablet-based Interactive Banker, which lets tellers come out from behind their counters to help customer’s complete transactions. Sandeep Chauhan, head […]

Funding Circle Joins CFSI

Small-business lending platform Funding Circle has become a Financial Health Network member of the Center for Financial Services Innovation.

Wirecard Helps Austrian Federal Railways Go Digital

Austrian commuters with a sweet tooth may be able to save some money on their next train or bus fare thanks to Wirecard’s new digital voucher platform and a partnership between Austrian Federal Railways and Toffifee candymaker Storck.   

Top 5 Best Challenger Banks: Spotlight Profiles

Our Top 5 Challenger Bank spotlight series is complete. Get to know the challengers—Cashplus, Varo Money, Revolut, Capital on Tap and Fidor Bank—looking to shake up the status quo with tech and a superior customer experience.

The Monday mindset: 4 September 2017

Fintech zeitgeist! This week Loraine DeBonis, editor-in-chief of Banking Technology’s sister site Paybefore, muses on all the money changing hands in the payments industry.

Banking Technology September 2017 issue out now

Welcome to fintech central! Good service operating on all lines. The latest edition of our flagship magazine – Banking Technology – is out now, packed with news, analysis and insights, case studies, research and expert commentary.

Banks, are you a passive data donor or a proactive data seeker?

With the arrival of new regulations, there are two main options for banks: they can choose to become either “data donors” or “data seekers”. These two positions imply opposite approaches to the new banking market that is in prospect, and sharply contrasting mentalities.

ShopKeep Expands into SMB Lending

ShopKeep doesn’t just want to help small businesses accept payments, it wants to help them grow with a new merchant cash advance service. 

Six new banks join UBS-led utility settlement coin plan

The UBS-led effort to create a digital cash model for payments and settlement on blockchain has got six new banks onboard, according to the Financial Times. As Banking Technology reported in August last year, BNY Mellon, Deutsche Bank, ICAP and Santander joined UBS and Clearmatics to advance their utility settlement coin (USC) concept, and plan […]

Top 5 Best Challenger Banks: Fidor Bank

Our final spotlight article for our Top 5 Best Challenger Banks list is the only actual bank in the bunch. See how Germany-based Fidor Bank stacks up against the high street banks and its nonbank competitors.

Japanese start-ups fire up in force

The land of the rising sun is seeing a rising number of start-ups power up as they hunt for fintech glory. According to Nikkei Asian Review, 46 tech companies have gone public in Japan so far in 2017, with the full-year total seen reaching 80 to 90. The highest tally in the last decade was […]