đĄ ICYMI: We added a Merchant news section to NewsFilter to highlight the week's latest enterprise and SMB content as it relates to the payments industry. Enjoy!
Clashing comments have gushed into the Federal Reserve in the past two months over its proposal to clarify rules on the routing of debit card transactions, and they show familiar battle lines being drawn. The Fed in May proposed a clarification of existing rules requiring that debit card issuers ensure that at least two unaffiliated payment card networks are available for routing debit transactions. It had given interested parties until July 12 to comment and 41 comments have been filed to date, but on June 22 the central bank board extended the deadline for comments to Aug 11.
British money-transfer app Wise has made a strong debut on the London Stock Exchange. In the first ever direct listing of a tech company on the LSE, the company was valued at a market capitalization of ÂŁ8 billion ($11 billion), making a big splash in the burgeoning U.K. fintech market following the country's rocky exit from the European Union. The listing at 11 a.m. on Wednesday was met with strong investor appetite, with bids ranging from 100p to 1,000p for shares priced at 800p (about $11).
Visa Inc. said on Wednesday its customers spent more than $1 billion on its crypto-linked cards in the first half of this year, as the payments processor takes steps to make crypto transactions smoother. The company said it was partnering with 50 cryptocurrency platforms to make it easier for customers to convert and spend digital currencies at 70 million merchants worldwide. The move is in line with Visa's broader acceptance of digital currencies. In March, the company announced it will allow the use of the USD Coin to settle transactions on its payment network.
With the Covid-19 pandemic accelerating the adoption of digital payments, it was only a matter of time before payments providers began pushing the technology beyond mainstream merchants, such as retailers and restaurants, and down to professions with specialized needs, such as realtors, attorneys, and healthcare providers. DepositLink Inc., a Boston-based provider of payment solutions to real-estate firms, on Wednesday announced that RealtySouth, the largest real-estate firm in Alabama, will deploy a custom payment management system to move payments received by its agents, such as earnest money, from a payment queue and in select batch amounts, to multiple bank accounts using the DepositLink platform.
American Transaction Processors Coalition (ATPC) announces that Jamie Walker, CEO of Elavon, will succeed Royal Cole of FIS as Chairman of the board. The board of directors unanimously voted Walker in as their new chairman during the organizationâs second quarter board meeting in Miami, Florida. Walker joined Elavon in 2001 and has served as CEO since 2017. Elavon, which is part of U.S. Bank, is a leader in payments processing. Walker has led Elavonâs global growth in North America and throughout Europe, managing acquisitions and international expansion and assessing opportunities for strategic growth.
Circle, the payments company behind the USDC stablecoin, has announced that it will go public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). The SPAC taking Circle public, known as Concord Acquisition Corp, is publicly traded on the NYSE under the ticker CND. The announcement came from a blog post on the company's website from its CEO, Jeremy Allaire. In the post, Allaire said that the deal now values the company at $4.5 billion.
Google LLC is in talks to acquire Tokyo-based payment app provider Pring for $180 million to $270 million, Nikkei Asia reported today. The news comes as the search giant prepares to expand its presence in the U.S. financial technology market by launching a new digital banking platform for consumers. Googleâs reported acquisition talks with Pring suggests that its fintech strategy also prioritizes expansion in international markets.
Bank of America is launching a cryptocurrency research team as institutional interest in the digital asset space continues to rise. The new operation will be run by Alkesh Shah, who previously led the firm's global technology specialist team, according to a memo obtained by Insider. Bloomberg was first to report. Shah will report to Michael Maras, the head of global fixed-income, currency, and commodity research for BofA.
Splitit, the company empowering shoppers to use their credit cards to pay in installments, announced it is bringing its installment payments to in-store retail locations worldwide. Splitit InStore also includes Apple Pay and Google Pay to deliver an effortless in-store payment experience. Splitit InStore was built to meet the needs of the retail sales associate to deliver a better customer experience at a time when retailers are also thinking about how to optimize their omnichannel strategy.
For a year that included so much upheaval in retail, the National Retail Federationâs Top 100 Retailers list remained relatively stable. Walmart continues at the top, where it has been comfortably ensconced. Amazon remains in second place. The Top 100 roster is based on sales rankings for 2020. While pandemic-related lockdowns negatively impacted some retailers, others were able to benefit: Grocers like Publix, Aldi and H-E-B all moved up in the rankings, as did The Home Depot and Target. Those taking a hit included retailers like TJX Companies and Macyâs.
Jeff Bezos, who has served as the CEO of Amazon since founding the company exactly 27 years ago on July 5th, 1994, has officially stepped down from the role. Andy Jassy is now listed as the companyâs CEO on its investor relations website, after previously having run Amazon Web Services since 2003, while Bezos is listed as Executive Chair. The July 5th handover date was previously announced in a shareholder meeting in May.
May require account to read. The retail industry is poised for its biggest back-to-school shopping season in at least five years, buoyed by parents and students who are primed to snap up gear for the in-person classroom experience after a year of virtual learning. Spending is expected to reach $32.5 billion, up 16% from 2020 and 17% from 2019, according to forecasts. Retailers are bullish that they can benefit from shoppersâ increased comfort with online shopping, honed during the pandemic, and strong demand for everything from school uniforms to markers.
Due to the competitive labor market, the fast-casual restaurant chain is continuing to experiment with new methods of meeting potential job applicants. Chipotle is now allowing candidates to post TikTok video resumes via the TikTok app or on the dedicated TikTok Resumes site. Candidates must use #TikTokResumes in their caption when publishing their video resume. The program will accept submissions through July 31.
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren on Thursday warned of the growing risks posed to consumers and financial markets by the âhighly opaque and volatileâ cryptocurrency market and blasted its lack of regulation as unsustainable. Warren, a Democrat who chairs the Senate Banking Committeeâs Subcommittee on Economic Policy, also raised her concerns in a letter to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler on Wednesday, in an effort that could help lay the groundwork for legislation to regulate the fast-growing market.
A cybercriminal gang's spree over the Fourth of July weekend ended up infecting more than 1,500 organizations around the world with ransomware, according to the cybersecurity company Huntress. But it's not the number of victims that's keeping experts up at night. The gang used a level of planning and sophistication closer to high-level, government-backed hackers, rather than a mere criminal operation, they say.
The boss of Binance on Wednesday said the cryptocurrency exchange hasnât gotten everything right and has plenty of room to grow, following a crackdown from regulators around the world. âCompliance is a journey â especially in new sectors like crypto,â Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, said in a blog post. âThe industry still has a lot of uncertainty,â he added. âWe also recognize that with the growth comes more complexity and more responsibility.â
It's been a roller-coaster ride for lumber prices over the last year â and it's drawn outsize attention from the aisles of Home Depot to the Federal Reserve. Lumber prices surged to record highs this year on the back of booming demand from home-builders and do-it-yourself-ers with plenty of time on their hands. The price surge was so big and sudden, it became a symbol of what some economists feared: rampant inflation. But over the past two months, lumber prices have been dropping equally fast, giving weight to the central bank's argument that pandemic price spikes for many products are likely to be temporary.
Just as summer months bring warmer weather, U.S. retail sales continue to heat up, with June marking the ninth consecutive month of total retail sales growth. According to Mastercard SpendingPulse, U.S. retail sales excluding automotive and gasoline increased +11.0% year-over-year in June and increased +10.4% compared to June 2019. E-commerce growth continued to hold steady +8.3% YOY/ +95.0% YO2Y, reflecting the ongoing shift to digital, driven by the pandemic.
Despite the past week's slight bump higher, initial unemployment claims have been on the decline for months now, as vaccinations enabled re-openings that in turn fueled a need for workers across industries to keep up with consumer demand. New jobless claims are now coming in at about half the level from the beginning of 2021, and have plummeted compared to the more than 1 million claims coming in per week this time last year.
American Express has signed a partnership with Bangkok Bank to rapidly expand acceptance of its cards in Thailand as American Express accelerates its growth in the country. For Bangkok Bank, this agreement strengthens its merchant services offerings as a one-stop payment service provider. Under the partnership, Bangkok Bank will sign up merchants to accept American Express cards in Thailand and provide American Express Card Members and merchants with access to Bangkok Bankâs vast contactless Electronic Data Capture (EDC) and Point-of-Sale (POS) terminal network.
Caixa EconĂ´mica Federal and Fiserv, Inc, a leading global provider of payments and financial services technology, completed the first payment transaction for a merchant as part of the companiesâ recently signed merchant acquiring services agreement. The transaction was completed via the Caixa-branded point-of-sale terminal, âMaquininha CAIXA Pagamentos.â
Paysafe announced the global launch of its safeguarding solution for the travel industry. The new solution eliminates the need for travel operators or other travel businesses that accept payments from consumers to offer cash collateral to their acquirer to offset the risk of non-delivery of services. Instead, consumer payments are held by a third party, and released immediately and in full to the travel business upon terms agreed by the company and Paysafe being met.
BigCommerce, a leading Open SaaS ecommerce platform for fast-growing and established brands, announced a new integration with Amazon Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) that allows BigCommerce U.S. merchants to more easily fulfill their ecommerce orders using Amazonâs order fulfillment services whether they sell on Amazon or not. "Adding Amazon MCF to our best-in-class tech partner portfolio brings tremendous value to our merchants by strengthening their omnichannel strategy to enhance their competitive edge and deliver a superior online shopping experience at every touchpoint,â said Sharon Gee, general manager of Omnichannel, BigCommerce.
Worldline is partnering up with A3BC (Anything Anywhere Anytime Biometric Connection), a French fintech venture that provides with biometric digital ID and data storage protocol, to combine their patented solution with Worldline Authentication. The combined technologies are protecting mobile phones from intrusion by leveraging two-factor authentication (2FA): possession of the smartphone and inherence (biometric).
Payrix, the acknowledged leader in embedded fintech, announced it is driving over $60M in annual payments revenue to its SaaS clients. Through its white-glove customer-centric approach, first-of-its-kind payment facilitation platform and industry-leading expertise, Payrix empowers clients with flexible embedded payment solutions that are built for growth and scalability. The Company's commitment to take vertical software providers and payment facilitators to new heights is expected to drive an additional $130M+ in income to clients in 2022 â more than double the amount paid out in 2021.
Real-time payments are now as popular as cash as a payment method for consumers in Southeast Asia, according to new research from ACI Worldwide and YouGov. Three out of five consumers (61%) in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore prefer real-time payments as a favored way to pay in 2021, level with cash (61%) and higher than other payment categories, including digital wallets requiring cash or card top-ups (56%) and credit cards (30%).
Payroc, a leading merchant acquirer and payment processor, now enables pay-by-phone payment processing. Through partnership with Fluid Pay and IVR Technology Group, this launch bridges together each key element to offer businesses payment collection over the phone, along with RewardPay Choice compatibility, Payrocâs premium processing program. The IVR payment solution offers a true omni-channel platform, through multiple features for an enhanced payment experience.
Today, the biggest report into the growth of mobile wallets ever published, projects that one in two people will use a mobile wallet by 2025. At the end of 2020, there were over 2.8 billion mobile wallets in use. That number is projected to increase by nearly 74% to reach 4.8 billion mobile wallets in use by the end of 2025 â nearly 60% of the worldâs population. The fastest growing markets are Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa & Middle East where mobile wallets are displacing cash and cards for more convenient digital payments.
On July 2, Kakao Pay filed its registration statement to the Financial Services Commission (FSC) for an IPO on KOSPI and kicked off its initial public offering schedule. Kakao Pay plans to offer a total of 17 million shares at an indicative range between 63,000 won to 96,000 won per share. The company is planning to raise up to 1.632 trillion won (upper limit of the price band) through this initial public offering.
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