Visa and TSG Release New Consumer Data Amid Pandemic
TSG and Visa teamed up to survey a representative sample of U.S. consumers, and analyzed Visa’s proprietary spend data, with the goal of understanding how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted consumer lifestyles, payment methods, and how behaviors may change after the pandemic.
Download TSG and Visa's infographic, Purchasing in a Pandemic, to understand how consumers are changing the way they pay.
Payments platform Square has purchased $50 million in bitcoin, part of its larger investment in cryptocurrency, the company announced on Thursday. Square bought a total of 4,709 bitcoins, which the company says represents about 1 percent of its total assets as of the end of the second quarter. Square said it was making the purchase because it believes “bitcoin has the potential to be a more ubiquitous currency in the future,” calling cryptocurrency “an instrument of economic empowerment” that “provides a way for the world to participate in a global monetary system.” Square has accepted bitcoin as a form of payment since 2014.
Consumers are replacing cash with payment cards during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the “Purchasing in a Pandemic” report issued by Visa Inc. and consultancy The Strawhecker Group. Among the findings is that 26% of respondents expect to use less cash following the pandemic when compared to before. That, coupled with an 18% increase in those expecting to use cash more often, means a net -8% intent to use cash.
Contrast that with card use. Twenty-seven percent say they expect to use credit and debit cards more often, while 17% expect to use them less often, for a net increase of 10%.
Venmo, the payments app owned by PayPal Holdings Inc., has introduced its first physical credit card, stamped with a prominent QR code on the front. Venmo is gradually rolling out the ability to apply for the card, which is issued by Synchrony Financial, to its app users in the U.S. starting this week, the company said. Cardholders can choose from five color schemes—from “Nightlife black” to “Cotton Candy pink”—and must scan the card’s unique QR code with the Venmo app to activate it. The main purpose of the code on the card is to bring the digital experience of splitting checks and purchases via Venmo—a big part of Venmo’s pitch to new users—into the physical world, said Darrell Esch, senior vice president and general manager of Venmo.
Talks are doing the rounds that Global Payments Inc. is looking to sell its prepaid debit card business named Netspend. This business is housed under the company’s smallest operating segment called Business and Consumer Solutions, which contributed to 4.6% of the company’s total 2019 revenues and accounted for 0.4% of the company’s operating income in the last year The business is mainly concentrated in America. Netspend is a 21-year old company offering rechargeable debit cards for personal and business usage.
A group of seven major central banks including the U.S. Federal Reserve set out on Friday how a digital currency could look like to help catch up with China's "trail blazing" and leapfrog private projects like Facebook Inc's FB.O Libra stablecoin. The central banks and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), said core features should include resilience, availability at low or no cost, appropriate standards and clear legal framework, and an appropriate role for the private sector. Bank of England (BoE) Deputy Governor and chair of a BIS committee on payments Jon Cunliffe said the rise in cashless payments since lockdowns has accelerated how technology is changing forms of money.
A senior executive from Ripple, one of the country's most prominent cryptocurrency firms, warned on Tuesday the company is close to moving its headquarters overseas in response to excessive regulation. Executive chairman Chris Larsen said San Fransisco-based Ripple has grown increasingly frustrated over what it perceives as a hostile attitude to the cryptocurrency industry by the federal government, and in particular the Securities and Exchange Commission. Ripple has been locked in a long-running battle with the SEC and investors over whether the digital currency XRP is a security.
May require account to read. The Trump administration is exploring restrictions on billionaire Jack Ma’s Ant Group as well as Tencent Holdings Ltd. over concerns that their digital payment platforms threaten U.S. national security, according to people familiar with the matter, a move that risks infuriating China and disrupting what could be the world’s largest initial public offering. Debate over how and whether to restrict Ant Group’s and Tencent’s payment systems has accelerated among senior U.S. officials in recent weeks though a final decision isn’t imminent, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity about an idea that’s still taking shape.
When it comes to doing business in today’s socially distanced COVID-19 world, just about every merchant has had to rapidly adopt new strategies. As consumers have overwhelmingly shifted to online shopping, contactless digital payments, delivery and curbside pickup options, many merchants have had to scramble to ensure they can meet these new consumer preferences. In many cases, this has literally become a survival strategy as in-person, in-store services have been greatly diminished. While contactless payments have proven to be a very safe and convenient method for consumer purchases, they have also introduced new challenges for merchants.
Nexi SpA is already hunting for its next target after agreeing a milestone payments merger with Italian rival SIA SpA, as consolidation in the sector shows little sign of easing. Milan-based Nexi has made a non-binding offer for Denmark-based Nets A/S, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Nets’s private-equity owners invited a select group of potential buyers to submit offers and could enter advanced talks with a preferred bidder as soon as this month, one of the people said. If Nexi were to buy Nets, it would extend its reach as a pan-European payments giant with operations spanning Italy, German-speaking countries and the Nordics.
Affirm, a startup focused on providing point-of-sale credit to consumers making online purchases, announced that it has filed to go public. The filing is confidential, so there’s little to be gleaned about the company’s performance from the news. That Affirm was exploring a public offering was reported by the Wall Street Journal back in July. In the aftermath of that news, TechCrunch tried to understand the valuation that Affirm was said to be targeting in its debut, which we placed at as much as $10 billion.
Jesse McWaters, Mastercard’s vice president of global digital public policy, believes the way people think about Big Tech companies entering financial services are mistaken. Big Tech companies are not looking to enter financial services from the point of view of becoming a bank or offering a credit card. They are looking for other ways to serve their customers who need financial services as part of their everyday experience. An example may be the credit card Mastercard launched last year in partnership with Apple and Goldman Sachs. “They think about financial services using a very old school legacy picture of what organizations look like,” McWaters says.
Marqeta, the global modern card issuing platform, and Mastercard announced an extended global partnership to expand into new geographies, open access to new products, and launch additional card programs together. As part of this partnership, Mastercard has also made a financial investment in Marqeta. This new agreement represents a deeper global collaboration between Marqeta and Mastercard. Since 2014, Marqeta and Mastercard have been working together to help fintechs, digital banks and commerce disruptors across North America and Europe bring innovative card products and programs to market.
Visa's B2B Payables Automation platform allows buyers to enroll, manage and pay suppliers digitally with a Visa commercial card. By plugging in to Stripe Connect, the new feature brings on board suppliers who are not connected to the traditional banking infrastructure. “When a buyer needs to pay a supplier, the enhanced Visa Payables Automation platform allows seamless digital payments experience. The supplier will be prompted to register with Stripe Connect, provide a bank account number, and start accepting payments,” says Chavi Jafa, head of business solutions, Asia Pacific, Visa.
May require account to read. In 2012 david vélez tried to open a bank account in Brazil. “It was like going to prison,” he says. He was ordered to leave his belongings in a locker before walking through bulletproof doors. After waiting an hour, he faced a barrage of questions from a hostile manager. It took five months for him to be offered a bare-bones account costing him hundreds of dollars a year and a credit card charging an annualized interest rate of 400%. The next year, in the hope of eroding Brazil’s crusty banking oligopoly, he founded Nubank, a digital lender. By early 2020 the bank was valued at $10bn.
Macy’s Inc. has invested in Klarna and will offer the payments and shopping service to its online customers through a five-year partnership. Klarna offers consumers payment options, including paying after delivery; paying in four equal, interest-free installments and direct payments. Klarna Inc., based in Columbus, Ohio, is already backed by Sequoia Capital, Bestseller, Permira, Visa and Atomico. Macy’s did not disclose the size of its Klarna investment. “With a strong focus on digital agility and innovation, Macy’s continually seeks strategic partnerships that enable us to provide our customers with the best possible shopping experience,” said Matt Baer, chief digital officer of Macy’s Inc.
In the age of eCommerce, chargebacks are on the rise. Case in point: The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the bankrupt owner of New York Sports Clubs and Lucille Roberts might have to pay out about $850,000 in chargebacks and refunds. That amount is leagues above the original forecast of $225,000. In an interview with PYMNTS, Melissa Jankowski, head of debit and ATM services at FIS, said that as cancellations and postponements mount, financial institutions (FIs) and merchants can be proactive in reaching out to customers in anticipation of disputes – and can effectively battle scammers, too.
Despite the shift to e-commerce during the pandemic, attacks against POS devices persist. For example, Visa's payment fraud disruption team uncovered recent malware attacks on POS devices used by two North American hospitality companies. The attacks happened in May and June, according to the Visa alert. In the June incident, three POS malware variants designed to scrape payment card data were found on the targeted firm's network and devices.
LexisNexis® Risk Solutions released its annual Small and Midsize Business (SMB) Lending Fraud Research Report. The report reveals that 71% of lenders surveyed report that SMB lending fraud incident levels have risen over the past 24 months, at an average of 8.3%. This is especially true for lenders that conduct more transactions online. Eighty percent of these lenders report an average of 9.7% increase in fraud amount from what they saw two years ago. “Traditional” banks and credit unions are now anything but traditional. They have moved a large portion of their SMB loan application processes into online channels.
Half of all organizations experienced security incidents associated with remote working during the lockdown period, according to a report by Tessian. The “Securing the Future of Hybrid Working” report also found that phishing remained the most prevalent threat facing employees working remotely. While remote working was a predisposing factor for cyberattacks, the Tessian report found that most employees prefer hybrid working environments, with just 11% exclusively preferring office work.
When the pandemic forced Dick’s Sporting Goods to close its hundreds of stores in March, the retailer hustled to set up curbside pickup within two days. Its initial attempt, though, was just this side of a children’s lemonade stand. “When you drove up, there was a sign in the window with a phone number, and people used the landline to call the stores and they’d deliver it out,” Lauren Hobart, president of Dick’s, said of the “very scrappy” operation. Email and text alerts would come later. Scrappy or not, curbside pickup not only rescued Dick’s sales during the lockdowns, it has also emerged as many retailers’ best strategy for long-term survival in the e-commerce age.
With the increasing chance that no broad-based help will happen before the November election, the reality now exists that a record-breaking rebound in the third quarter will be followed by little or no growth to end 2020 and begin 2021. The ramifications are tangible and brutal, according to economists and business professionals who spoke to CNBC: Billions of dollars a month siphoned out of the economy due to lowered jobless benefits, a holiday retail season shaping up to be the worst in 12 years, and an untold amount of failures from businesses that are just barely hanging on and won’t make it through what could be a coronavirus-filled and socially distanced fall and winter.
Another 840,000 Americans filed for first-time jobless benefits for the week ended Oct. 3, down from an upwardly revised 849,000 claims the week earlier in another sign that the labor market still remains far from where it was before the pandemic. The number marks the sixth straight week of claims below 1 million since the pandemic shut down the U.S. economy in late March. However, analysts noted this continues to reflect a change in the way the Labor Department makes its seasonal adjustments, which applied for the first time to the last jobless claims report for August.
The stricter the lockdown, the greater the impact on the economy, the International Monetary Fund said Thursday in a new study that nonetheless argues the restrictions may pay off in the long run for the economy. The IMF examined 52 countries, across advanced, emerging and developing economies, and a variety of economic statistics. Even controlling for how bad the COVID-19 situation is, lockdowns had a negative impact on the economy. More stringent lockdowns are associated with lower consumption, investment, industrial production, retail sales, purchasing managers’ indexes for the manufacturing and service sectors, and higher unemployment rates, the IMF found.
New research released by FIS shows that adoption and usage of real-time payments has accelerated amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and the real-time rails are now offering capabilities that extend beyond instant payments. FIS’ seventh annual Flavors of Fast report highlights key findings about real-time payments networks across the globe. “The current pandemic has highlighted the critical importance of instantly getting funds in the hands of those who need it, whether individuals or businesses,” said Raja Gopalakrishnan, head of Global Real-time Payments at FIS.
i3 Verticals, Inc., announced the acquisition of three companies that strengthen its vertical focus. The first acquisition is within the Company’s fast-growing Public Sector vertical. This business is based in the southeast and provides software and services for public safety and law enforcement customers. The second acquisition is within the Company’s Healthcare vertical and offers medical billing and other software. This business is also headquartered in the southeast but serves customers across the country. The final acquisition offers proprietary technology that will augment the Company’s existing platform across several verticals.
Fiserv, Inc., a leading global provider of payments and financial services technology solutions, has introduced a first-of-its-kind intelligent fraud detection solution for card issuers of all sizes, designed to help minimize fraud losses while maximizing legitimate cardholder spend for a full range of card types. Advance Defense from Fiserv is powered by cognitive artificial intelligence (AI), recommending tailored fraud rules based both on data from the specific card-issuing institution and a consortium through which fraud patterns can be identified at the merchant ID, state or country level.
NMI, a leading payments enablement technology company, announced the launch of ChipDNA Cloud, an API that simplifies EMV and contactless payments integration for independent software vendors (ISVs), independent sales organizations (ISOs) and merchants. ChipDNA Cloud, the newest addition to the ChipDNA payments technology stack, is designed to serve industries that require seamless card present payments, including healthcare, dental, retail and more. For decades, integrating with payment devices required the use of SDKs and device drivers that have to be downloaded on local machines. They were cumbersome for developers, and time-consuming for local IT teams and small businesses.
Bank of America is responding to the dual imperatives of cross-currency transactions – technology innovation and client demand for improved efficiency – with an omni-channel offering that now includes API (application programming interface) and mobile connectivity. “We are pleased to introduce new functionality that gives clients greater ease and control to manage their rapidly growing cross-border payments volume,” said Doug Houser, head of Transactional FX in Global Transaction Services (GTS) at Bank of America. “With the ability to mix and match different channels for trading and settling, we’re giving companies the ultimate convenience in managing cross-currency payments.”
The deal will see Paynetics work with corporate customers, who have previously relied on Wirecard infrastructure and technology for card issuing and payment services, to adopt Paynetics for the continuation of their existing card programmes, which otherwised faced termination. The sale gives Paynetics a bigger foothold in the UK and European markets. To oversee the business, the company has appointed the former chief operating officer of Omnio and president of BanTech Emea, Mike Peplow as UK CEO.
Adyen, the global payments platform of choice for many of the world's leading companies, announced that it has been selected by Foot Locker, Inc., the New York-based specialty athletic retailer, to power payments in various markets and sales channels globally. Foot Locker and Adyen have been working together since 2018. "Adyen's single platform and global reach allow Foot Locker to provide an exemplary payment experience that's tailored to the needs of our customers in various markets across North America, Europe, and APAC," said John Wompey, VP of Customer Connectivity at Foot Locker. "Adyen's ability to accelerate and simplify the implementation process has been critical to our continued success in these markets."
Payrix, the acknowledged leader in embedded fintech, announced its official launch into Australia and New Zealand - as it completed the acquisition of Brisbane-based payment service provider, IntegraPay. The company's expansion efforts will remove barriers, boost revenue and accelerate money movement for a network of growing software-as-a-service (SaaS) clients with operations overseas. A digital payments trailblazer in infrastructure-as-a-service technology, Payrix is deeply client-focused, determined to fuel stickiness and monetization for vertically-focused SaaS providers.
Agilysys, Inc., a leading global provider of next-generation hospitality software solutions and services, and Shift4 Payments, the leader in integrated payment processing, announced an extension of their long-standing partnership to better enable a seamless guest journey for hospitality operators while increasing the market presence of both companies. By adding Shift4’s end-to-end payment solution, Agilysys customers can enjoy the benefits of a fully integrated payment experience at their property, connecting everything from online reservations to check-out, on-premise dining, spa services and more.
linked2pay, a leading payment software technology provider, announced the appointment of Sarah Guckes as Chief Marketing Officer. Guckes will be responsible for building the brand and deploying go-to-market strategies across multiple channels. "We are excited to have Sarah leading our marketing strategy given her vast marketing experience and in-depth payment knowledge," said Robert "Jay" McShirley, CEO of linked2pay. "As we embark on this next chapter in our company and continue the growth of our leadership team, marketing will be a critical component to our growth strategy.”
dLocal, the leading cross-border payment platform connecting global merchants to emerging markets, announced it has expanded its payments network to include three markets in Latin America and the Caribbean: Costa Rica, Panama, and the Dominican Republic. Leveraging a proprietary and flexible API-based payments technology platform, dLocal now supports over 300 local payment methods in 23 emerging market countries, including the top five emerging markets in the world by population (Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, and Mexico).
MoneyGram International, a global leader in cross-border P2P payments and money transfers, announced a three-year extension to its relationship with Walmart, the world's largest retailer, through March 2024. MoneyGram's services at Walmart, including Walmart2World, the MoneyGram powered white label money transfer service, are available in over 4,700 Walmart locations in the United States and Puerto Rico, as well as through the co-branded digital platform walmart.moneygram.com.
ACI Worldwide, a leading global provider of real-time digital payment software and solutions, announced a strategic partnership with GOLDPoint Systems, a loan management software company offering a suite of tools for installment and specialty lenders. The companies will facilitate debit card loan payments and disbursement of loan proceeds for GOLDPoint Systems’ customers through the integration of the ACI Speedpay solution into the GOLDPoint platform.
Finastra revealed Fusion Payments To Go – its payments solution aimed at small and medium-sized banks looking to implement domestic and cross-border payment services in Europe, the US and South Africa. The solution comes pre-packaged, with reduced fixed implementation costs, and rapid, secure and scalable deployment in the cloud on Microsoft Azure. Banks will benefit from reduced costs and risks associated with system maintenance, whilst meeting changing market regulations and customer demand for frictionless and immediate payments.
P27 Nordic Payments Platform announced the acquisition of Bankgirot, Sweden's clearing house for mass payments. The merger will create a single clearing and settlement platform across the Nordic region. P27 expects to close the acquisition in Q1 2021, depending on regulatory and merger approval by the European Commission and ownership assessment by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority. Bankgirot, a 60-year old company, launched a mobile payment system, Swish, in 2012, in cooperation with the Central Bank of Sweden.
