Facebook confirms it’s testing a new QR code feature and payment links for use with Facebook Pay to make it easier for people in the U.S. to send or request money from one another. The QR code feature, similar to Venmo’s QR codes and others, will allow a user to scan a friend’s code with their smartphone’s camera to send or request money, while the sharable payment links will let you publish your payment address outside of Facebook itself. The addition was first spotted on Monday by MacRumors, which noted that users were being presented with a new “Scan” button in the Facebook Pay carousel at the top of the screen.
Jamie Dimon, who built the biggest and most profitable U.S. bank in history, is warning shareholders his industry’s disruption by technology is finally at hand. Shadow lenders are gaining ground. Traditional banks are being consigned to a shrinking role in the financial system. “Banks have enormous competitive threats — from virtually every angle,” the JPMorgan Chase Chairman and CEO wrote in his annual letter to shareholders Wednesday. “Fintech and Big Tech are here… big time!”
Fintech company Plaid raised a new round of capital that nearly triples its valuation a few months after a deal to be bought by Visa fell apart. The company announced a $425 million Series D funding round on Wednesday, led by Altimeter Capital with participation from new investors, Silver Lake and Ribbit Capital. Earlier investors Andreessen Horowitz, Index Ventures, Kleiner Perkins and New Enterprise Associates also added to the round. The new financing boosts Plaid’s valuation to $13.4 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the details were private. The Information first reported that Plaid was in the process of raising money.
i3 Verticals, Inc., announced the April 1 acquisition of two software companies that further strengthen its focus in the Company’s Healthcare vertical. The first acquisition is of a business based in the upper Midwest that provides both proprietary and third party software and services in multiple states primarily to healthcare customers. The software improves operational efficiencies and work-flow process while breaking down barriers so customers can securely access patient information and streamline the process from admittance to discharge.
If merchants must be nimble enough to meet the demands of their end customers, so too must merchant service providers, such as independent sales organizations (ISOs) and agents that typically serve as the intermediaries between firms and financial institutions. It’s an issue that has caught the attention of Adam Oberman, the new president of payment facilitator Payroc (from chief revenue officer). Oberman told PYMNTS in a recent interview that any strategy to serve those ISOs and agents as they look to expand internationally alongside their merchant clients must focus on transparency.
As Covid-19 kept consumers around the world at home, nearly everything from groceries to gardening supplies was purchased online. According to Mastercard’s latest Recovery Insights report, this amounted to an additional $900 billion being spent in retail online around the world in 2020. Put another way: in 2020, e-commerce made up roughly $1 out of every $5 spent on retail, up from about $1 out of every $7 spent in 2019. For retailers, restaurants and other businesses large and small, being able to sell online provided a much-needed lifeline as in-person consumer spending was disrupted.
Visa announced that it has processed one billion additional touch-free payments, where previously consumers would have needed to enter their PIN, as consumer confidence in contactless payments continues to grow. This milestone has been reached in less than a year since contactless payment limits were increased in 29 countries across Europe in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The growth of contactless payments has been a key trend during the pandemic, as touch-free payments have gone from being a convenience to a necessity for both consumers and retailers. Research from Visa shows that two-thirds (65%) of consumers globally would prefer to use contactless payments as much as, or more than, they are currently.
The Brink’s Company, the global leader in total cash management, route-based secure logistics and payment solutions, announced its acquisition of PAI, Inc., the largest privately-held provider of ATM services in the U.S., for $213 million. On a current full-year basis, PAI is expected to generate revenue of approximately $320 million and adjusted EBITDA of approximately $30 million. Given the acquisition’s closing date of April 1, PAI is expected to add approximately $240 million of revenue and $22 million of adjusted EBITDA to the company’s 2021 results and is expected to be accretive this year.
May require account to read. A thousand years ago, when money meant coins, China invented paper currency. Now the Chinese government is minting cash digitally, in a re-imagination of money that could shake a pillar of American power. It might seem money is already virtual, as credit cards and payment apps such as Apple Pay in the U.S. and WeChat in China eliminate the need for bills or coins. But those are just ways to move money electronically. China is turning legal tender itself into computer code.
Walmart’s financial technology venture, still shrouded in mystery, now has a possible name: Hazel by Walmart. The world’s largest retailer filed for a trademark on the name on March 29, in the process giving clues as to what the startup might actually do. The application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office includes a slew of financial services that the startup could potentially offer, from issuing credit cards to offering credit-repair services. The list even includes financial-portfolio analysis and consulting, which suggests that Walmart may target wealthier customers along with its traditional lower-income clientele.
U.S. grocery delivery app Instacart Inc and food delivery firm DoorDash Inc are planning to launch their own credit cards, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Both companies have witnessed a surge in order volumes over the last few months as consumers, hesitant to step out during the COVID-19 pandemic, take to their phones to get essential items delivered to their doorsteps. JPMorgan Chase & Co will issue Instacart's card and is also bidding to partner with DoorDash, which has received offers from more than 10 large banks, according to the report.
Financial institutions, tech providers and fintechs have high hopes for the rollout of the Federal Reserve's real-time payments system FedNow, which the central bank says is on track to debut in 2023. For First Internet Bank, one of the program's participants, the ability to offer early input and feedback was a motivator to apply for the program. "It's really the Fed's effort to get into the instant payments space," said Anne Sharkey, senior vice president of operations at the $4.2 billion-asset First Internet Bank.
Just one year after launching, corporate credit card startup Ramp has become fintech's latest unicorn, amassing an eye-popping $1.6 billion valuation as it received $115 million in new funding led by D1 Capital Partners and $95 billion payments goliath Stripe. Announced on Thursday, Ramp's all-equity round brings the New York City-based company's total funding to $320 million, including $150 million in debt financing from Goldman Sachs in February. Goldman doubled-down with an equity investment in this latest round, alongside Founders Fund, Coatue Management and Thrive Capital.
Fidelity, Square, Coinbase and investment firm Paradigm are joining together to form a new council to lobby policy makers to support the burgeoning Bitcoin and cryptocurrency industry, according to The Wall Street Journal. The formation of this council, called the Crypto Council For Innovation, aims to ensure that policymakers understand the importance of cryptocurrency innovation and create favorable regulatory conditions for the industry to flourish. “Crypto is at a mainstream inflection point,” said the cofounder of Paradigm and former Coinbase president Fred Ehrsam, per the Journal.
When it comes to safeguarding the U.S. payments system, the Biden administration is keenly focused on ransomware and infrastructure threats, a top cybersecurity official from the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told an industry trade group yesterday. Eric Goldstein, an executive assistant director at the department's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), made the comments in a conversation with the American Transaction Processors Coalition's cyber council. He has been in the post since February, but has experience in both the public and private sectors, including as the former head of cybersecurity policy, strategy and regulation at investment banking giant Goldman Sachs.
Ledger and Shopify, which handles the online sales of Ledger's wallets, have been hit with a class action over last year's data breach. Ledger produces some of the most popular cold wallets on the market. The summer of 2020 saw news spread of phishing attacks against Ledger users, with the firm ultimately disclosing that it suffered a data breach that June during which customer contact and order information was compromised. In December, a database containing the personal information for more than a quarter-million Ledger customers was posted online.
Same Day ACH payments will be further enhanced with a new $1 million per transaction limit. Nacha members approved a measure to increase the per-payment maximum from the current $100,000 to $1 million effective March 18, 2022. It will apply to all eligible Same Day ACH payments, including credits and debits for both businesses and consumers. “Nacha has made a significant enhancement to Same Day ACH every year since it was introduced in 2016,” said Jane Larimer, Nacha President and CEO.
Since Saturday, a massive trove of Facebook data has circulated publicly, splashing information from roughly 533 million Facebook users across the internet. The data includes things like profile names, Facebook ID numbers, email addresses, and phone numbers. It's all the kind of information that may already have been leaked or scraped from some other source, but it's yet another resource that links all that data together—and ties it to each victim—presenting tidy profiles to scammers, phishers, and spammers on a silver platter.
President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus package will boost the US economy and drive faster global growth this year, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday, though it warned that many countries continue to suffer from the pandemic and are at risk of being left behind. The US economy will surpass its pre-pandemic size as growth reaches 6.4% this year, the IMF said, up 1.3 percentage points from the group's forecast in January. The rebound will help the global economy expand 6% in 2021, an upgrade of 0.5 percentage points from the IMF's previous outlook. The estimates are broadly in line with Wall Street's expectations.
U.S. consumer borrowing surged in February by the most since late 2017 as a broader reopening of the economy from pandemic restrictions helped spark an increase in credit card balances. Total credit jumped $27.6 billion from the prior month, the largest gain since November 2017, after a revised $94 million January gain, Federal Reserve figures showed Wednesday. On an annualized basis, borrowing rose 7.9% in February.
New weekly jobless claims unexpectedly held above 700,000 last week to extend a rise from late March, despite other signs that rehiring has been taking place across the recovering economy. New weekly jobless claims data have generally been following a downtrend over the course of 2021, though they still remain elevated relative to historical trends. At 744,000, initial jobless claims remained well above the high of 665,000 new claims filed at the worst point of the Great Recession in March 2009. And the data continue to be choppy, with each of the last two weeks' worth of new claims unexpectedly rising off a pandemic-era low.
Afterpay the leader in "Buy Now, Pay Later", and Adyen, the global payments platform of choice for many of the world's leading businesses, are joining forces to offer Afterpay's leading "Buy Now, Pay Later" (BNPL) service to retailers, kicking off with Hunter, the premium British footwear brand. Leading iconic British outdoor lifestyle brand, Hunter, is among some of the first retailers to offer Afterpay with Adyen.
Brazilian payments firm Elo has chosen six banks to manage its initial public offering, four sources close to the matter said, in the first concrete sign it is proceeding with a move first proposed by shareholders in August. The payments network - launched a decade ago to compete with Visa Inc and Mastercard Inc - is planning an IPO on Nasdaq, the sources said, following recent successful listings by Brazilian financial services firms such as XP Inc and StoneCo Ltd.
Stripe, a global technology company that builds economic infrastructure for the internet, announced its official launch in the United Arab Emirates. This launch represents Stripe’s first expansion into the Middle East. Stripe is also opening a new UAE office, in Dubai Internet City, which will be the company’s first office in the region. Businesses operating online in the UAE can use Stripe to accept online payments, make payouts, mitigate fraud, and expand globally to reach customers all around the world.
Lightspeed, a leading provider of cloud-based, omnichannel commerce platforms, announced the initial availability of Lightspeed Payments for hospitality merchants in the United Kingdom and Europe. Lightspeed Payments will be rolled out to hospitality merchants in the United Kingdom, followed by retail. This will continue for Lightspeed merchants throughout France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland. The United Kingdom is an underserved market when it comes to payments, especially in the hospitality sector, and Lightspeed is thrilled to support these businesses as they begin to re-open for full-capacity dining.
Concerned about threats to financial success outside of their control, 46% of affluent Americans have been getting their financial lives in order during the last year, according to a recent study from Bank of America. The research also found that, despite challenges imposed by the pandemic, most survey respondents believe they are on track to reach several financial milestones earlier in life than their parents. The Bank of America Preferred Insights: Hindsight is 20/20 Personal Finance Report explores more than 2,000 affluent1 Americans’ financial decisions and reflections over the last two decades, and changes in financial behaviors and priorities over the last year.
CardFlight, a leading SaaS payment technology company serving small businesses today announced the expanded availability of its SwipeSimple product in order to reach more U.S. merchants. Through a partnership with Global Payments, a leading provider of payment technology and software solutions, SwipeSimple will be integrated into the lineup of products that Global Payments’ indirect channels offer small and medium sized businesses seeking more flexible and contactless payment options of its SwipeSimple product in order to reach more U.S. merchants.
Alkeon Capital led the round alongside BOND, D1 Capital Partners, and Tiger Global. It follows a $200 million round in September and puts a valuation on the Uruguayan-based company of $5 billion. The firm specializes in connecting global merchants to emerging markets, enabling clients to accept payments, send payouts and settle funds globally without the need to manage separate pay-in and payout processors, set up numerous local entities, and integrate multiple acquirers and payment methods in each market.
North American Bancard Holdings, LLC (NAB), a payments technology company with an advanced product platform, and HAWK:AI (HAWK AI GmbH), a global leader in real-time transaction screening and monitoring solutions for financial institutions, announced a partnership that will strengthen NAB’s Anti-Money-Laundering (AML) compliance through real-time transaction monitoring, applying machine learning in combination with classic rule-based approaches.
The Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) announced that it has added Seemin Qadiri to its team as Vice President of Product Development & Marketing and Joe Feese as Senior Director of External Communications. In her new role, Qadiri will lead the product vision and strategy for all ETA products. In parallel, she will oversee the Communications team as it transforms its strategic branding, marketing, and outreach efforts.
Klarna, a leading global retail bank, payments and shopping service, announced that it has partnered with luxury beauty retailer Bluemercury to offer flexible payment solutions at checkout, both online and in-store. Shoppers across the United States can now purchase the beauty items they love using Klarna’s four equal, interest-free installments on bluemercury.com and in 183 Bluemercury stores around the country. Shoppers can pay with Klarna in Bluemercury stores by downloading the Klarna app, creating a digital one-time card, and adding it to their Apple or Google wallet. The payment can then be made with a simple phone tap for a secure and contactless payment.
Worldline, the European market leader in payment and transactional services, accelerates the digital transformation of commerce with its new AXIUM platform, comprising innovative Android POS and an unrivalled suite of payment and business services. Worldline, through its Ingenico brand, announces the launch of its POS AXIUM platform, the latest development in Ingenico’s evolution as an ecosystem enabler and the most trusted technology partner in the new world of payments acceptance.
SpotOn, a leader in software and payments solutions for small and midsize businesses, announced the hiring of two leaders in payment technology to address the evolving payments landscape. These appointments come on the heels of growing to more than 1,200 employees in the past year to meet the needs of small business customers. Austin Trombley joins SpotOn as Executive Vice President of Alternative Payments. With a background in fintech and a deep knowledge of cryptocurrency, Trombly is focused on giving SpotOn customers access to the most advanced technologies for payments.
First American Payment Systems, a leading payment technology company, announced Steve Eazell has joined the company as Senior Manager for the ISO/Strategic Partnership channel. Eazell has led successful teams among technology sales organizations for more than 20 years, building brand loyalty and increasing revenue for both ISOs and ISVs across dozens of business verticals.
IRIS CRM adds Dispute Responder features via API to its industry-leading CRM solution, empowering clients and third parties to increase merchant retention. Timely dispute responses with appropriate evidence submissions will result in more disputes won and revenue recouped for your merchants. IRIS CRM’s Dispute Responder provides Fiserv First Data ISOs with the ability to manage and respond to chargebacks and retrievals directly from their IRIS CRM site. Dispute Responder’s powerful functionality has now been added to IRIS CRM’s API, which will allow clients and third parties to build and use customized external software solutions utilizing Dispute Responder features.
Forter, a leader in e-commerce fraud prevention, announced that the company has joined the Adobe Exchange Partner program as an Accelerate partner, thus enabling Magento customers to increase their approval rates by reducing false declines, deliver a friction-free shopping experience and instantly identify and block fraud. Forter’s ecosystem of trust made up of merchants, banks and payment providers committed to fighting fraud together processes over $200 billion in online transactions and protects close to a billion users.
TreviPay, a global business-to-business payments company, announced the launch of its payments solution with Digital River, an experienced global commerce enabler for established and fast-growing brands. The technology will allow Digital River to further automate and develop a consumer-like purchasing experience for its B2B clients to quickly scale their business on a global level. "Digital River is always looking to add new and innovative payment methods to our Global Seller Services to help brands scale in markets across the world," said Eric Christensen, chief payments officer at Digital River.
FLEETCOR® UK announced it has made a minority investment in Mina, a cloud-based digital software platform that simplifies charging and payments management for commercial fleets with electric vehicles (EVs). The Mina platform integrates with home and work charging points throughout the United Kingdom to accurately capture energy costs. Mina is the UK’s only EV charging solution which credits payment for the drivers’ energy used while charging at home for business purposes to their energy provider, eliminating cumbersome expense reimbursement processes.
