PayTech


Rep. Salmon’s Bill Latest to Push ID Requirements for Tax Refund Prepaid Cards

A U.S. Congressman from Arizona is the latest lawmaker to set his sights on prepaid cards in a bid to combat the growth of tax refund fraud. Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.) recently introduced a bill that would ban tax refunds from being loaded onto a prepaid card unless the identity of the accountholder has been “verified by an office or employee of the Department of the Treasury.”

Will Wirecard Be a ‘boon.’ for Apple Pay in U.K.?

Wirecard’s boon. mobile payments service has launched for Apple Pay in the U.K., opening the mobile payments service to consumers, regardless of bank affiliation. By offering a digital prepaid MasterCard, boon gives Apple Pay a way to reach customers without having to go through a traditional bank.

Paytm partners with Wipro for new payments bank

India-based Paytm has teamed with IT services integrator Wipro for its new payments bank, as it gets ready for an August launch. Wipro will be implementing the new core banking system, and Banking Technology understands that Infosys, Oracle FSS and TCS Financial Solutions were in the running to provide their core banking solutions to Paytm. […]

Turkey launches new card payment system, TROY

Turkey has introduced its own card payment system, called TROY, and the nation is setting its sights on becoming a cashless society by 2023. Speaking at the launch, Dr Soner Canko, general manager of the Interbank Card Center (BKM) in Turkey, said: “Many countries around the world, from Canada and Italy to South Korea and […]

VocaLink signs UK’s largest ever ATM processing deal with LINK

VocaLink, the payment systems provider, has signed a five-year deal to provide “exclusive” processing for the LINK ATM network. The deal is the UK’s largest ever ATM processing deal and is expected to deliver over 16 billion transactions. Under the five-year contract with LINK Scheme and its 38 members, VocaLink will provide ATM switching and […]

FTC Investigating Venmo for ‘Deceptive or Unfair Practices’

The Federal Trade Commission is investigating Venmo, the popular P2P payment app owned by PayPal Inc. In its quarterly earnings report, PayPal said it received a Civil Investigative Demand from the FTC on March 28, as part of an investigation into whether PayPal through its Venmo service is “engaged in deceptive or unfair practices,” according to the filing.

UniCredit to unify global transaction business on one platform

Italian banking heavyweight, UniCredit, is working on standardising its global transaction business (GTB) on one platform, underpinned by D+H’s Global PayPlus (GPP) system. GPP is supplied by D+H’s Global Transaction Banking Solution (GTBS) unit, formerly known as Fundtech. UniCredit’s GTB business covers 17 countries – the bank has accrued it via an aggressive M&A strategy […]

Instant Payments Framework launched by Icon Solutions

The new framework – available worldwide – is set to open up access to real-time payments for banks. UK-based Icon Solutions, an IT payment consultancy and specialist technology provider, describes its Instant Payments Framework (IPF) as “an agile yet robust software product that expedites financial institutions’ transition to instant payments”. The vendor emphasises that “IPF […]

Money20/20 Europe Recap: No More ‘Us Vs. Them’

When more than 3,700 people gather in one place to talk about payments, you never know what you’re going to get. But the inaugural Money20/20 Europe conference in Copenhagen earlier this month left me with one major theme—partnership.

Calastone gets new live site for settlement service, Hargreaves Lansdown

Hargreaves Lansdown, a financial service company based in Bristol, UK, has gone live with Calastone’s funds settlement system, Calastone Settlements. Danny Cox, head of communications at Hargreaves Lansdown comments that “automatic matching of trades and the netting of settlement positions early in the day will improve the efficiency of our operational and treasury teams”. He […]

Canadian Payments Association moves to ISO 20022

The Canadian Payments Association (CPA) has adopted ISO 20022, as it looks to modernise Canada’s payment system. Gerry Gaetz, president and CEO of the CPA, says ISO 20022 will “enable the Canadian financial community to provide better service, both domestically and across borders, to their customers”. The CPA says recent research indicates that cost savings […]

Younger U.K. Consumers Are Ready to Replace Cards with Phones

A survey from the Prepaid International Forum finds that nearly half of young consumers already make payments via mobile phones. Checking balances and not having to carry wallets or purses are among the main reasons for mobile’s growing popularity.

San Antonio Credit Union to Offer Loans via QCash

In the midst of regulatory pressure and an expected CFPB proposed rulemaking on small-dollar loans, QCash signs a Texas credit union to offer members what the company calls a less costly short-term lending product.

MasterCard Launches Faster EMV Technology

Faster EMV is coming to the U.S. MasterCard has launched M/Chip Fast, which “brings some of the principles successfully implemented for contactless cards and mobile wallets around the world to point-of-sale terminals,” the payments network said.

Ant Financial Lands Record-Setting $4.5 Billion Funding

As Alibaba-affiliated financial services provider Ant Financial seeks to expand in markets in China and around the globe, the company has landed $4.5 billion in new funding that values it at a whopping $60 billion.

FDIC Approves New Assessment Rule for Small Banks

The FDIC board of directors has approved a rule that changes how banks with less than $10 billion in assets and have been FDIC insured for at least five years are assessed for deposit insurance.

Infographics: seizing the mPOS opportunity

Mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) is revolutionising the POS terminal industry. In two years, the market is estimated to be worth $43 billion. By 2019, 46% of all POS terminals in 2019 are expected to be mPOS. Over the next four years, the market is poised to grow by 400%. This nifty infographics – courtesy of FIME – […]

Cisco partners with Fiserv for communications and infrastructure

Cisco has teamed with Fiserv and its Sentry Performance Solutions to provide hosted communications and infrastructure solutions. Sentry Performance Solutions include network, hosting and network security services; hardware and software life cycle management; and unified communications services. Fiserv says its clients now have access to the Cisco workforce experience and branch solutions. The workforce experience […]

M&A Update: Visa Europe Deal Tweaked, MasterCard Eyeing VocaLink

Visa Inc. has amended the terms of its pending acquisition of Visa Europe, reducing a planned future payment in favor of additional cash up front. Meanwhile, MasterCard reportedly is in talks to acquire U.K. payments giant VocaLink in a potential £1 billion (US$1.45 billion) deal.

CFPB Schedules Arbitration Hearing for May 5, Proposed Rule to Come?

The CFPB has scheduled a field hearing on arbitration clauses in Albuquerque, N.M., on May 5 at 11 a.m., MDT. Experts are anticipating the hearing will be the forum for the bureau to release its proposed rule on arbitration, and industry groups are bracing for restrictions or an outright ban on arbitration clauses in financial services contracts.

Global Payments gets green light to acquire Heartland Payment Systems

US-based payment processor Global Payments is to acquire Heartland Payment Systems for $3.8 billion in cash and stock, as approved by the Heartland stockholders. About 29.7 million shares were voted in favour of the merger proposal. The vote represents approximately 99% of the total Heartland shares which voted on the merger proposal and 80% of […]