💡 VARs, ISVs Look Toward the Future at Inspire 2022- we are a proud sponsor of RSPA and recently attended Inspire to learn about what the future holds for software and payments. Read about some of the key topics and trends.
Amazon will continue to accept Visa credit cards after reaching a global deal, just weeks after the retail giant threatened to stop accepting Visa credit cards in the UK. Bloomberg reports that Amazon will also stop charging Visa credit cardholders an extra fee on purchases made in Singapore and Australia. At the core of the dispute were the payment fees Visa charges Amazon each time a customer makes a purchase with one of its credit cards. In the UK in particular, Visa’s interchange fees on credit cards had risen from 0.3 percent to 1.5 percent after the UK left the European Union and was no longer bound by EU fee limits.
Financial technology leader FIS® announces it has enhanced its embedded payments strategy with the acquisition of Atlanta-based, Payrix. This acquisition aligns with FIS’ strategy to expand its e-commerce offerings to companies of all sizes, and in any industry, by embedding payments capabilities within Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platforms. This acquisition will also enable FIS to unlock the value of its broad solution portfolio by delivering embedded finance capabilities in addition to its e-commerce offerings to small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).
President Biden is expected to issue an executive order next week directing agencies across the government to study cryptocurrencies and a central bank digital currency (CBDC), and come up with a government-wide strategy to regulate digital assets. According to an administration official familiar with the matter, the forthcoming directive will commission a study of a CBDC and ask a range of agencies – including the Departments of Treasury, State, Justice and Homeland Security – to develop a report on the future of money and payment systems.
Those Super Bowl ad spots paid off for a number of tech companies not just in terms of exposure, but also app installs, a new report indicates. But Coinbase’s viral ad — which just bounced a QR code around on a black screen like the old DVD screensaver — outperformed the group, with installs jumping 309% week-over-week after the ad’s airing Super Bowl Sunday, February 13, and it continued to climb by another 286% the following day.
Shares of Shopify Inc. were tumbling toward their worst day on record Wednesday, after the e-commerce company beat expectations with its most recent results but signaled that its growth could slow as some pandemic-era benefits subside. “While we believe that the COVID-triggered acceleration of e-commerce that spilled into the first half of 2021 in the form of lockdowns and government stimulus will be absent from 2022 and there’s caution around inflation and consumer spend near term, for the full year we see economic growth supporting the continued penetration of retail by e-commerce,” she said on the company’s earnings call Wednesday morning.
Digital payments platform provider Buy It Mobility Networks Inc. is betting its new BuyPass application will further reduce the complexities around connecting to its platform for merchants that want to offer branded payment options that debit a consumer’s bank account. Launched Wednesday, the application drops a URL into a merchant’s payment application that connects the application directly to the Buy It Mobility platform on the front end and to the Discover Financial Services network on the back end.
Looking to streamline the buy now-pay later process for merchants, payment software firm ACI Worldwide is launching ACI PayAfter, a tool that acts as a gateway and integrates multiple BNPL options for consumers, according to a Tuesday news release. ACI PayAfter, available for both e-commerce and in-store point-of-sale, streamlines the checkout process and yields higher approval rates for consumers looking to go the BNPL route, said Debbie Guerra, ACI's head of merchant payments.
MoneyGram International, Inc., a global leader in the evolution of digital P2P payments, and Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC ("MDP"), a leading private equity firm based in Chicago, announced a definitive agreement under which funds affiliated with MDP will acquire all outstanding shares of MoneyGram for $11.00 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $1.8 billion. The purchase price represents a meaningful premium of approximately 50% to MoneyGram's unaffected closing stock price on December 14, 2021, the last trading day prior to media speculation regarding a possible transaction.
Marqeta and Plaid are making it easier for consumers to authenticate bank accounts and move funds between them, the first official product partnership between two fintech trailblazers that already share some business customers. Marqeta, which issues cards for companies like Block and Uber, will use Plaid’s data-aggregation software to enable faster ACH transactions and account verification for Marqeta cardholders, the company said Tuesday.
JPMorgan has dipped a toe into the metaverse, becoming the first bank to open a lounge in the Decentraland virtual world. The bank opened its Onyx lounge - complete with roaming tiger - in blockchain-based Decentraland to coincide with the publication of a paper on the opportunities presented by the metaverse. With Facebook changing its name to Meta as Mark Zuckerberg bets bid on the Metaverse, JPMorgan's paper suggests that the "opportunities presented by interactive, digital worlds seem limitless".
Maybe cryptocurrency isn’t “rat poison” after all? Those were once the words of Warren Buffett, the famous investor called the “sage of Omaha” for knowing things before the rest of the market. Now his money is saying otherwise. Specifically, his company Berkshire Hathaway has bought $1 billion worth of stock in a digital bank that focuses on crypto. Berkshire Hathaway made its crypto investment public with a SEC filing earlier this week. It revealed that Buffett’s company had purchased $1 billion in shares of Nubank, a digital bank based in Brazil, and the largest of its kind in Latin America.
Cryptocurrency company Circle has announced that it has terminated its previous agreement with Concord Acquisition Corp., a publicly-traded blank-check company — a SPAC. At the same time, it has reached a new deal with Concord Acquisition Corp. for a new merger. If the transaction goes through, Circle would become a public company at a $9 billion valuation. Originally announced in July 2021, the merger was supposed to close in Q4 2021. And it sounds like Circle wasn’t satisfied with its original deal that valued Circle at $4.5 billion.
Flutterwave Inc., an Africa and emerging markets-focused payments firm, more than tripled its valuation in less than a year to over $3 billion following its latest fund-raising. B Capital Group led the $250 million round, with participation from Alta Park Capital LP, Whale Rock Capital and Lux Capital, Flutterwave said in an emailed statement on Wednesday. The investment has enabled the company to become the “highest-valued” African startup, it said.
In fact, Target is outpacing Walmart when it comes to customer visits, while both retailers are facing ongoing challenges exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Walmart saw visits down 2.5% in November, up 0.3% in December last year and down 3.1% in January 2022. That’s compared to the same months in 2019 and 2021. Walmart’s record was impressive compared to the greater retail industry, with far more limited declines and an actual visit gain in December, according to Placer.ai.
Supply chain threats are translating into rising prices for consumers. That’s according to BDO’s 2022 Retail CFO Outlook Survey, which polled 100 retail industry CFOs with revenues ranging from $250 million to $3 billion in October 2021. To boost revenue amid an inflationary environment and ongoing supply chain issues, 55% of retailers will raise prices in 2022 — 38% already have. Some retailers are taking more drastic measures: More than 25% are planning to restructure or reorganize this year.
Walmart on Thursday said shoppers turned to its stores for gifts and groceries during the holiday season, pushing company’s quarterly earnings beyond Wall Street’s expectations despite supply chain pressures and rising costs. The retailer said it is focused on value and new ways to make money, especially as tries to woo customers with low prices and attract investors with higher profits during a period of inflation.
Hermès Birkin bags start at $12,000 and stretch into the stratospheric from there. In December, an artist sold a nonfungible token (NFT) featuring an image of a reimagined Birkin for $42,000. That could explain why payments players might be taking another look at NFTs and their disputes and chargeback policies. Last week, PayPal announced that it would cap fraudulent claims about the sale of NFTs containing art, media or collectibles at $10,000.
Barclays is calling for more robust regulation of all buy-now-pay-later products as it releases new research which suggests the lack of consistent affordability assessments has led shoppers to take on more debt than they can afford to repay. Barclays' study, conducted among 2000 BNPL shoppers, found that a quarter of respondents are concerned about their ability to repay their bills. This figure rises to over a third among 18-34-year-olds. A further three in 10 say they are overwhelmed by the amount coming out of their account in BNPL bills.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warned financial services companies Tuesday about a longstanding prohibition on using prepaid debit cards as the sole method for distributing government benefits. Companies that get hired by government agencies to distribute payments to consumers may be extracting illegal fees that would be considered an abuse of their exclusive contracts, the agency said.
LexisNexis® Risk Solutions released its latest Small and Midsize Business (SMB) Lending Fraud Study. The survey of risk and fraud executives at financial institutions reveals that SMB lending fraud in the United States has increased 6.9% since 2020. SMB lending fraud losses account for a significantly higher percent of financial firms' annual revenues year-over-year at an 6.2% increase overall, with larger banks with more than $10 billion in revenue and fintechs/digital lenders seeing the sharpest year-over-year increase.
Consumer spending bounced back sharply in January as rising inflation and a post-holiday surge kept cash registers ringing, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. Retail sales for the month rose 3.8%, much better than the 2.1% Dow Jones estimate. The numbers are not adjusted for inflation; the 0.6% rise in the consumer price index for the month helped push a reversal from the 2.5% sales decline in December, which was revised lower from the initially reported 1.9% drop. CPI was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis in January.
The Russia-Ukraine crisis is taking place thousands of miles away from the closest major US city. And yet millions of American families would feel the economic consequences of a full-blown conflict. That's because the world economy and financial markets are interconnected. As Covid demonstrated, events on one side of the planet can set off shockwaves on the other side. In this case, an invasion of Ukraine by Russia would likely drive up the already-high cost of living in the United States, rattle investment portfolios and perhaps even slow down the economic recovery.
Rapidly rising prices have caused economic hardship for millions of Americans. But drastic action to rein in prices could lead to even more pain, including job losses. Overall prices jumped 7.5% during the last year, according to the January consumer price index reading, the fastest pace in nearly 40 years. The increases have squeezed household budgets for consumers, caused political problems for Joe Biden and resulted in calls for the Federal Reserve to take relatively severe action, such as its first half-percentage-point hike since 2000.
New weekly jobless claims unexpectedly rose last week, ending a three-week streak of improvements. The Labor Department released its latest weekly jobless claims report Thursday. Even with the rise in filings last week, jobless claims hovered near pre-pandemic levels, given that 2019's weekly average of new claims was approximately 220,000. In February last year, jobless claims were still coming in at a weekly rate of about 800,000 as virus-related pressures weighed on the labor market.
FIS, a global leader in financial services technology, reported its fourth-quarter and full-year 2021 results. “By all metrics, our colleagues delivered a historic operational performance for FIS in 2021,” said FIS Chairman and CEO Gary Norcross. “Our strategy continues to resonate with our clients and prospects, and our team continues to execute at an exceptionally high level. Our ability to develop flexible, new technologies and to deliver differentiated customer experiences continues to drive strong value for our clients. I'm proud of our accomplishments and excited about the positive momentum carrying us into the new year.”
Bank of America announced its latest online payment solution called Pay by Bank. Launched in conjunction with Banked Ltd., this new feature allows customers of e-commerce companies, initially in the UK, to pay directly from their bank account. Pay by Bank transactions, which are based on the concept of Open Banking, take place in real-time and require no credit or debit card details. This makes online checkout simpler, faster and more secure.
The business world is facing an influx of innovation: changing consumer preferences, rapid digital transformation and geopolitical shifts. To help businesses evolve and supercharge their growth enterprise-wide, Mastercard announced that it is expanding its preeminent payments-focused consulting service with new practices dedicated to Open Banking, Open Data, Crypto & Digital Currencies, and Environment, Social & Governance (ESG).
Payroc Holdings, LP, (“Payroc”), a global payments leader, has announced the appointment of Henry Helgeson to the Payroc Board of Managers, effective February 7, 2022. "We are very excited to welcome Henry to the Payroc Board," said Jim Oberman, Chief Executive Officer of Payroc. "Henry is a pioneer in the fintech, payments and technology sectors with expertise that will be invaluable to Payroc. He has a deep understanding of the application of technology to create the most innovative solutions in payments and has a broadly respected reputation for building cutting edge approaches that best serve merchants.”
Leading specialized payments platform, Paysafe, has announced two leadership appointments to its Digital Wallets team as it continues to transform the business line under new Digital Wallets CEO, Chirag Patel. Rachel McShane is appointed as the division’s Chief Financial Officer, and Megan Oxman takes on a newly created role as Senior Vice President of New Product Development. With 15 years’ experience across the professional and financial services industry, McShane is a commercially focused finance leader who brings a wealth of expertise to the position.
Audi Field announced the venue has partnered with Shift4, the leader in integrated payments and commerce technology, to bring the company’s suite of next-generation mobile payments and customer engagement solutions to enhance the fan experience at D.C. United matches and all other entertainment offerings at the downtown Washington, D.C. stadium. As the Official Payment Solutions Partner of Audi Field and D.C. United, Shift4 will power all commerce transactions at the venue, from mobile food and beverage ordering, point of sale, concessions, retail, and more with a single unified platform.
Billtrust, a B2B accounts receivable (AR) automation and integrated payments leader, announced it has acquired Netherlands-based Order2Cash, a leading B2B order-to-cash platform provider. The acquisition follows the October 2021 purchase of iController, broadening the company’s European footprint, global presence and ability to expand its innovative Business Payments Network (BPN). For over 20 years, each company has pursued a similar vision to streamline and accelerate B2B payments for its customers.
F1 Payments, a fintech company focused on making the complex simple by complementing world-class technology with strong business and regulatory acumen, announced it is changing its name to Corvia. Recognizing a strong and exciting growth trajectory, the name change, along with new visual identity and brand story, better reflects how the company aspires to represent itself in the payments industry today and into the future. “Our new name relates to our journey as a company,” said Chad Anselmo, chief executive officer of Corvia.
VizyPay, an industry-leading payment processing company for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), today announces it has surpassed the $2 billion milestone in payments processed since its founding in 2017. Impressively, over half, approximately $1.2 billion, of payments were processed in 2021 alone. The company is projected to double that number in 2022 to process over $2 billion by year’s end, achieving a collective $4 billion in processing since 2017.
Galileo Financial Technologies, a leading financial technology company owned and operated independently by SoFi Technologies, Inc., announced that its API-enabled financial technology powers Spruce℠, the mobile banking platform1 built by H&R Block, which launched on January 20, 2022. Spruce includes a spending account with a debit card, a connected savings account that allows for specific budgeting goals, early paycheck availability and overdraft protection―all of which are delivered seamlessly through Galileo’s award-winning platform.
BHMI, a leading provider of enterprise software applications and creator of the Concourse Financial Software Suite®, announced Donna Blum has rejoined the company as Concourse Sales Director. Donna Blum has over 20 years of experience in various marketing and business development roles, including eight years previously working with BHMI. She has returned to the company to help support the sales efforts and initiatives of the Concourse Financial Software Product Division.