Boku Acquires Rival mopay (Oct. 7, 2014)
Carrier billing specialist Boku Inc. has acquired one of its largest competitors, Germany-based mopay.
Mobile
Boku Provides Leading MNOs with Direct Carrier Billing in U.K.
A trio of major U.K. mobile network operators—including O2, EE and Vodafone—has partnered with carrier billing specialist Boku Inc. to enable mobile phone customers in the U.K. to charge the purchase of physical goods and services up to £30 (US$48) to their phone bills.
Square Raises $150MM, Yodlee IPO Yields $75MM
Mobile payment provider Square has landed $150 million in new venture capital in a funding round valuing the company at around $6 billion, and financial app developer Yodlee Inc. raised $75 million in its initial public offering last week.
Report: Mobile-Centric ‘Moneyhawks’ a Huge Potential Market for FIs (Oct. 2, 2014)
A segment of tech-savvy, mobile-minded consumers comprising more than $1 trillion in deposits could represent a major opportunity for FIs, according to a new report.
Consumers Soon Can Use Softcard to do Laundry (Oct. 1, 2014)
Softcard has extended its reach to the self-serve laundry business.
Report: Emerging Markets Driving Noncash Payment Growth (Oct. 1, 2014)
Noncash payments are estimated to have increased by 9.4 percent last year, reaching 366 billion transactions, according to a new report from Capgemini and Royal Bank of Scotland.
PayPal, eBay Going Their Own Ways; Becoming Independent, Publicly Traded Companies (Sept. 30, 2014)
eBay Inc.’s board of directors will separate the online auction Website from subsidiary PayPal next year, making two independent, publicly traded companies.
InComm Joins MCX Fold (Sept. 30, 2014)
Prepaid product and technology provider InComm has partnered with Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX), the retailer-led consortium that recently unveiled its new mobile payments network, CurrentC.
Cachet Financial Integrates Ingo Money Check Guarantee Services for Banks, Credit Unions (Sept. 30, 2014)
Minneapolis-based remote deposit capture specialist Cachet Financial Solutions has expanded its partnership with Ingo Money Inc.
EU Lawmakers Propose Tighter Regulations for Mobile Wallets (Sept. 29, 2014)
The Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the European Union law-making body, has recommended tightening regulations regarding customer authentication and protection of sensitive payment data related to mobile wallets, according to its recently released proposal of the revised Payment Services Directive.
Visa Boosts Technology Strategy with Recruitment, Tech Facility (Sept. 25, 2014)
Visa Inc. is bolstering its technology resources by creating 2,000 full-time technologist positions and opening a technology development center in India next year.
MPIW Backs Tokenization, Calls for Coordination (Sept 25, 2014)
A key payments industry group is throwing its support behind tokenization—with a few caveats as to the hurdles that remain before broad industry adoption can occur, including coordinating different tokenization models.
Clinkle a Clunker? (Sept. 25, 2014)
After three years in “stealth mode”—and $30 million in venture funding—once-hot mobile payments startup Clinkle has finally launched, but with a drastically scaled back platform.
Citi Mobile Challenge Launches to Fuel Innovation (Sept. 23, 2014)
Citi this week launched Citi Mobile Challenge, a global competition to facilitate new concepts among technology developers surrounding mobile banking and payments.
E-Payments Surge in Nigeria, but Challenges Remain (Sept. 23, 2014)
Electronic payments are growing fast in Nigeria, with the total volume of e-payments reaching a new high of N10.85 trillion (US$ 62.2 billion) in 2013, according to data from the country’s central bank.
Citi seeks developers in global mobile banking challenge
Citi has launched a global mobile challenge that it says will help to inspire technology developers to reimagine mobile banking and payments. The bank plans to host a series of events in Miami, New York and Silicon Valley in November, after which finalists will get the chance to bring their product to market with help from Citi.
Simple Adds Touch ID, Support for Android Wear (Sept. 18, 2014)
Electronic banking provider Simple has added support for Apple’s Touch ID and Android wearable devices.
Apple Pay Coming to China (Sept. 17, 2014)
Apple and China UnionPay Co. have struck a deal to bring Apple Pay, the wallet app featured on the new NFC-enabled iPhone 6 and Apple Watch, to China.
Kalixa, Millicom Form JV to Serve Africa and Latin America (Sept. 17, 2014)
Luxembourg-based telecom Millicom and Kalixa, a London-based payments service provider and 2014 Paybefore Awards Europe winner, have created a joint venture to develop a payments service provider to operate in Africa and Latin America.
SUBWAY Deploying Softcard-Branded Payment Terminals at 26,000-Plus Stores (Sept. 16, 2014)
Starting next month, Softcard users will be able to pay for food at SUBWAY using their mobile phones, as the quick service restaurant announced today it will launch Softcard-branded NFC payment terminals at its 26,000-plus locations in the U.S.
Amazon Getting Out of P2P—at Least for Now (Sept. 16, 2014)
Amazon is shutting down its WebPay P2P money transfer service next month, the online retail giant announced this week.
The brave new world of mobile banking
The digital era is changing your bank rapidly. Is your mobile testing & assurance practice ready? P Venkatesh, director of the product division, and Srivatsan TT, vice president of the solutions group, at Maveric Systems discuss the issues
NBPCA, Gov’t, Consumer Groups Weigh In on Mobile Financial Services (Sept. 15, 2014)
Mobile financial services can play an important role among a large group of American consumers. That much the Network Branded Prepaid Card Association, the FTC and consumer organizations, including U.S. Public Interest Research Group and the Center for Digital Democracy, agree on.
Reports: Weve Pulls Plug on Mobile Wallet (Sept. 15, 2014)
Weve, the mobile payments joint venture from mobile operators Vodafone UK, Telefónica UK’s O2 and EE, has abandoned plans to develop its own mobile wallet product after the U.K.’s three largest mobile telecom providers failed to agree on how to run the wallet.
The mobile movement driving multi-channel banking
Despite the significant challenges faced by the UK’s banking sector over the last decade, there has been a dramatic evolution in the customer experience following the introduction of online, telephone and mobile banking. While the branch remains an important channel, especially for older customers, mobile technology is rapidly redefining how customers interact with their banks.
Apple’s arrival will change the payments landscape – eventually
Apple may have lined up the chief executives of Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase to laud the launch of Apple Pay, but reaction from the wider industry was more muted – disappointed, even.
Will Apple Pay and Its Backers Ignite Mobile Wallets? (Sept. 11, 2014)
Numerous payments providers, financial institutions and merchants have thrown their support behind Apple Inc.’s new Apple Pay service—and if the tidal wave of early backing is any indication, the Apple and iPhone brands already may have overcome one of the most vexing issues hindering mobile wallet adoption—lack of widespread support by stakeholders in the value chain.
Visa Launches Token Service for Safer Online, Mobile Transactions (Sept. 11, 2014)
Visa Inc. has launched Visa Token Service to provide more security for e-commerce transactions, including online and mobile, by replacing payment account information with a digital account number, or token, which can be stored safely by online merchants or on mobile devices.
MasterCard Sets Contactless Payments Deadlines for European Merchants (Sept. 11, 2014)
MasterCard has given European merchants accepting MasterCard and Maestro a deadline of no later than 2020 to update their POS systems so consumers will be able to tap to pay with their contactless cards and NFC-enabled devices at all POS terminals throughout the continent.
Barclaycard to Fold Quick Tap, Making Room for Wearables
Quick Tap, the U.K.’s first NFC-based mobile payment app, will go down as a casualty of the speed of change in mobile payments technology when it folds next month, and it likely won’t be the last.
Twitter Testing ‘Buy’ Button in Latest E-Commerce Play (Sept. 9, 2014)
Twitter is testing a “buy” button that merchants embed in their tweets.
New Skrill App Benefits Consumers, Retailers (Sept. 9, 2014)
Online payments and digital wallet provider Skrill USA Inc. has launched a mobile app enabling its U.S. customers to manage their digital wallets more conveniently and to send and receive payments, whether they are paying for goods and services or transacting on gaming sites.
All Aboard for Apple’s NFC Payments Launch (Sept. 8, 2014)
Apple’s new iPhone 6 to be announced tomorrow is almost certain to shake things up in the fledgling mobile wallets ecosystem, with an NFC-based mobile wallet that will debut with the support of major retailers, payments networks and banks.
Getting ready for mobile payments
With the penetration of mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets constantly growing, attention is increasingly turning to mobile marketing, mobile commerce and mobile payments. It is still the case, however, that these trends are largely played out in specialised media, and do not influence the actual behaviour of consumers. This is especially true for mobile payments, with consumers very sceptical about this concept
Google Wallet Pact Is Blackhawk’s Latest Mobile Move (Sept. 4, 2014)
Blackhawk Network has integrated its gifting platform with Google Wallet, enabling wallet users to manage and spend gift cards on their mobile devices.
MCX Unveils Network Brand (Sept. 4, 2014)
Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX), the retailer-led mobile payments consortium formed in 2012, has unveiled the name of its new mobile payment network.
Isis Becomes Softcard (Sept. 3, 2014)
Isis Wallet is now Softcard. The NFC-based mobile payment initiative backed by AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile, was snakebit earlier this year when a jihadist militant group adopted the name Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and the acronym ISIS.
Innovators’ Spotlight: SimplyTapp
The startup behind three little letters that could be a very big deal in contactless payments.
iPhone 6 to Feature NFC Payments, Says Report (Sept. 2, 2014)
Apple Inc.’s next iPhone reportedly will include mobile wallet functionality—as has been rumored for some time.
Visa Adds Big Partners to Checkout Shopping Service (Sept. 2, 2014)
Visa Inc. has added top acquirers and e-commerce platform providers for its Visa Checkout service, expanding the service’s reach by nearly 4 million online merchants, according to the payments network.
