In this interview, TSG sat down with Paysafe CEO of U.S. Acquiring, Afshin Yazdian, to learn more about his experiences in the payments industry and his transition at Paysafe.
Excerpt How has Paysafe been able to support merchants during the COVID-19 crisis in terms of enabling contactless, mobile ordering and other solutions?
Afshin: I have been incredibly proud of how Paysafe and our ISO and Agent sales partners have responded during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The majority of our U.S. merchant partners are small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), including restaurants, mom-and-pop stores and other smaller retailers. These have been some of the hardest-hit U.S. businesses in the wake of lockdowns and stay-at-home orders.
We’ve helped these merchants to pivot and adapt to the new set of circumstances. Our support has been really broad: from upgrading their points of sale (POS) to accept contactless payments, including promotions on hardware to make the switch more cost effective; to setting them up with virtual terminals and advising on making the jump to eCommerce, online ordering, checkouts and delivery. In short, we’ve been enabling merchants to develop a truly omnichannel payments offering.
Wells Fargo is exploring selling a unit offering store-branded credit cards as the bank chooses businesses to keep or break off in a broad strategic overhaul, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The unit providing so-called private-label cards and point-of-sale financing strikes agreements with retailers so that shoppers can buy merchandise such as jewelry, appliances and furniture on credit. The bank has started reaching out directly to possible bidders, the people said, asking to not be named because talks are private. Chief Executive Charlie Scharf, who took over last year, has been poring over the San Francisco-based bank’s operations.
Paya Holdings Inc. is known for its base in integrated payments and for its processing concentration in card-not-present transactions. But what also became clear early Monday is its growing strength in bringing capability for automated clearing house payments to its roster of clients. “We have good momentum there,” said chief financial officer Glenn Renzulli during a morning conference call to discuss the Atlanta-based company’s third-quarter results, its first such meeting as a publicly traded entity. Paya’s ACH volume climbed 19% in the quarter compared to the same period in 2019, while the company’s total payment volume grew 7.6% to $8.66 billion.
A blank-check company set up by veteran investor Bill Foley is in talks to merge with online payments firm Paysafe Group Ltd, which is backed by Blackstone Group Inc and CVC Capital Partners, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. The report, citing people with knowledge of the matter, said Foley Trasimene Acquisition Corp II has begun talks with investors to raise more than $1 billion in new equity to support the merger, which would create a company valued at more than $10 billion.
India’s antitrust watchdog has opened an investigation into Google for allegedly abusing the dominant position of its app store to promote its payments service in the world’s second largest internet market. In its Monday announcement about opening an antitrust case against Google, Indian watchdog Competition Commission of India (CCI) said it is directing an in-depth investigation into the claims of whether the Android maker prominently promotes Google Pay during the setup of an Android smartphone (and whether phone vendors have a choice to avoid this); and if Play Store’s billing system is designed “to the disadvantage of both i.e. apps facilitating payment through UPI, as well as users.”
A settlement some 10 years ago between card networks and merchants over swipe fees technically granted merchants the right to surcharge consumers who pay with credit, as a means of offsetting interchange fees. But Payroc CEO Jim Oberman told PYMNTS in a recent conversation that the capability has long gone unused by the vast majority of merchants. He said that’s because laws in California, New York, Texas and other states nonetheless made it illegal for merchants to add card use surcharges. So, there wasn’t much point for processors like Payroc to build in the capacity to allow merchants to assess surcharges.
May require account to read. The everyday occurrence of patients leaving medical appointments or hospital stays with no idea what their insurance will cover, what they owe or what payment options exist would change dramatically if health care facilities turn to technology that delivers accurate billing at checkout. Such a process would address the pre-existing condition of legacy back-office operations that make it hard for providers to know how much to collect from insurers and patients and when. Plus, a patient knowing what is owed and, at the same time, provided with options to pay immediately or through installments will give medical personnel a clearer view of their revenue cycles.
Bitcoin briefly climbed above the $16,000 mark on Thursday, hitting a level not seen since early January 2018. The cryptocurrency’s price rose as high as $16,019 just after 5 a.m. ET, according to data from industry site CoinDesk. It was last trading at around $15,887, up more than 1% in the last 24 hours. The last time bitcoin breached the $16,000 level was Jan. 8, 2018, according to CoinDesk data. The reason for the move higher on Thursday wasn’t immediately clear, though some experts have suggested a link with the outcome of the U.S. presidential election.
As Ant Group seizes the world’s attention with its record initial public offering, which was abruptly called off by Beijing, investors and analysts are revisiting the fintech interests of Tencent, Ant’s arch rival in China. It’s somewhat complicated to do this, not least because they are sprawled across a number of Tencent properties and, unlike Ant, don’t go by a single brand or operational structure — at least, not one that is obvious to the outside world. However, when you tease out Tencent’s fintech activity across its wider footprint — from direct operations like WeChat Pay through to its sizeable strategic investments and third-party marketplaces — you have something comparable in size to Ant, and in some services even bigger.
May require account to read. When Federico Suárez made an overnight trip to Valencia last month to visit his boyfriend, the 24-year-old Caracas-based lawyer was in the mood to splurge. Over the course of a weekend, the couple enjoyed an empanada breakfast, shopped for imported cheeses and pasta, and then went out for a romantic sushi dinner. All were purchased using Zelle, the money transfer service owned by a group of seven of the largest U.S. banks. “I can pay for things everywhere. The only problem is, I buy more than I should,” says Suárez. PayPal and Venmo may have achieved the status of verbs in the U.S., but in Venezuela, it’s Zelle—or “Zell-ey”—that’s on everyone’s lips.
The Norwegian central bank is in no rush to introduce a digital Krone, despite conducting recent research which shows that cash is used for just four percent of transactions in Norway. Declining cash usage is often cited as a primary reason for the development of central bank backed digital currencies. In a speech at a payments conference in Oslo, Ida Wolden Bache, deputy governor of Norges Bank, says the plummeting use of cash in Norway was uncovered in a study conducted just three weeks ago.
For Libra — the digital currency backed by Facebook and a consortium of enterprises — will speed make a difference toward adoption (if it ever launches)? A new white paper from Mathieu Baudet, George Danezis and Alberto Sonnino — a trio affiliated with Facebook’s Novi wallet — says a proposed payment system targeting real-time gross-settlement functionality would be multiples faster than the Visa system. “FastPay allows a set of distributed authorities, some of which are Byzantine, to maintain a high-integrity and availability settlement system for pre-funded payments,” according to the paper.
Inadequate monitoring of databases and privileged accounts, incomplete multifactor authentication and insufficient use of encryption: These are among the catalog of errors cited by British privacy regulators investigating the failures that contributed to the massive data breach involving Marriott's Starwood guest reservation system. Maryland-based global hotel chain Marriott suffered one of the worst data breaches in history, which only came to light in 2018, four years after it began. By then, an estimated 339 million individuals' personal details had been exposed.
A widely used hotel reservation platform has exposed 10 million files related to guests at various hotels around the world, thanks to a misconfigured Amazon Web Services S3 bucket. The records include sensitive data, including credit-card details. Prestige Software’s “Cloud Hospitality” is used by hotels to integrate their reservation systems with online booking websites like Expedia and Booking.com. The incident has affected 24.4 GB worth of data in total, according to the security team at Website Planet, which uncovered the bucket. Many of the records contain data for multiple hotel guests that were grouped together on a single reservation; thus, the number of people exposed is likely well over the 10 million, researchers said.
The Covid-19 pandemic brought the economy to a screeching halt, and while it has started its long road to recovery, the economy we knew is probably a thing of the past, said Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Thursday. "We're recovering, but to a different economy," Powell said during a virtual panel discussion at the European Central Bank's Forum on Central Banking. The pandemic has accelerated existing trends in the economy and society, including the increasing use of technology, telework and automation, he said. This will have lasting effects on how people live and work.
May require account to read. The news that Pfizer Inc. and partner BioNTech SE could secure authorization for a coronavirus vaccine in a matter of weeks has sparked hopes that the global economy could bounce back strongly next year. But while a successful vaccine could indeed give the economy a shot in the arm in 2021, say economists, it will take longer to heal from a historic blow to jobs, investment and businesses—a task complicated by the current surge in infections in much of the West. Pfizer and partner BioNTech said Monday they are on track to seek authorization for their vaccine before the end of this month.
Another 709,000 Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week, marking another modest improvement in the number of those newly unemployed even as coronavirus cases in the U.S. continue to creep higher. The Department of Labor released its weekly report on new jobless claims Thursday morning. The Labor Department report showed an eleventh straight week that new jobless claims totaled below 1 million. But new claims have not yet broken back below 700,000 since the start of the pandemic and have held sharply above levels from before the outbreak. Throughout 2019, new initial unemployment claims were coming in at an average of just over 200,000 per week.
Christmas plans remain uncertain for many, but Brits are not going to let current restrictions stop them getting into the festive spirit. New research from American Express reveals that Brits will be spending more on presents, new clothes and festive decorations this year compared to 2019’s Christmas. Gifts are the top spend this year with Brits budgeting £346 on perfect presents to place under the tree, which is an 11% uplift from the £312 spent on gifts in 2019. As we spend more time at home, one in seven (15%) excitable elves will be getting into the Christmas spirit earlier this year by putting up their Christmas decorations before December.
The latest Expectations & Experiences consumer trends survey from Fiserv, Inc., a leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, reveals how people are adjusting their financial behaviors and preferences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many consumers who have made changes to their payment habits anticipate the changes will be permanent, with initial indications bearing this out. One of the longest running surveys of its kind, Expectations & Experiences builds on years of consumer survey data to provide insight into consumer financial behaviors and attitudes.
Payments Canada today announced the selection of Mastercard’s Vocalink as the clearing and settlement solution provider for the country’s new real-time payments system, the Real-Time Rail (RTR). This announcement follows an extensive procurement process that included the Bank of Canada and the Department of Finance. The partnership will draw on Mastercard’s expertise, and its next-generation real-time payments technology to provide the infrastructure and services to support the clearing and settlement for the RTR.
areeba and Discover signed a strategic agreement that increases the global acceptance footprint for both organizations. The agreement gives Discover, Diners Club International, PULSE and Network Alliance cardholders the ability to use their cards on the areeba network, which includes Point-of-Sale (POS) and e-commerce platforms across Lebanon. This alliance enhances areeba’s strategy to grow the number of payment options available in Lebanon and provides more choices to consumers on how they want to pay. The agreement will benefit customers by increasing the number of payment options available and provide them access to more than 48 million outlets in 200 countries.
It’s time to simplify the complexity of payment gateways. Fluid Pay brings an influx of features designed to ease the payment gateway experience while enhancing business operations - and now it's fully compatible with Payroc's flagship product: RewardPay Choice. “Fluid Pay is going to allow our merchants even more flexibility in payment processing. Fluid Pay features SMS invoicing and recurring billing, which will streamline the billing process, saving them time and money,” says Jim Fahey, senior product sales manager, "The RewardPay and Fluid Pay integration will lead to an even greater savings surge for merchants!".
Afterpay, the leader in "Buy Now, Pay Later" payments, announced that its merchant partners can now offer their products to customers across the world. Specifically, Afterpay merchants can open their ecommerce sites to Australian, British, Canadian and New Zealand shoppers. Next year, global merchants will also be able to sell to U.S. consumers. Cross border shopping represents a $1 trillion GMV opportunity, with retailers gaining access to Afterpay's young and engaged customers worldwide. Shoppers see items in their local currency and benefit from the flexibility and convenience of paying in four installments over time, without incurring interest, fees or revolving and extended debt.
Adyen, the global payments platform of choice for many of the world's leading companies, announced that it will expand its offering to the Middle East. Supporting the momentum of innovation and diversification of the business landscape in the Middle East, the company has opened an office in Dubai. This will enable Adyen's existing merchant base to easily move into the region and provide merchants from the region with access to the full strength of the Adyen platform. "We're very excited to open our Dubai office, this is an incredibly dynamic market," said Sander Maertens, Head of Middle East for Adyen.
For over half of online businesses (55%) an increased risk of fraudulent payment transactions has been one of the greatest concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s according to international research from specialised payments platform Paysafe which indicated that concerns around fraud are more front of mind for businesses than ever after an unprecedented year. The survey also found that businesses feel the same concern is reflected among their customers. 60% of online businesses believe consumers are more concerned than ever about being a victim of fraud following COVID-19 and 76% have already noticed a change in the way their customers are making payments.
North American Bancard (NAB), a progressive payment technology company, is pleased to announce a partnership with Factor4, LLC, a leading provider of gift card and loyalty program solutions. The partnership helps merchants to capitalize on the growing rate of gift card usage, the digital transition of the gift card market, and the increasing demand for loyalty programs. Some projections indicate global digital gift card sales will exceed $690 billion in 2024. According to a recent survey, almost half of shoppers would join a loyalty program if they could use points earned to pay for goods or services.
Global branded payments provider Blackhawk Network announced that it has completed its acquisition of National Gift Card (NGC), one of North America's largest card and prepaid technology companies. The acquisition broadens Blackhawk's prepaid and gift card offerings and integrates NGC's best in class fulfillment capabilities into Blackhawk's operations. In addition, NGC's customer base can now benefit from Blackhawk's leading digital incentive solutions and expanded catalog of brands and original content. "We are excited to welcome NGC to the Blackhawk family to further enhance our incentive solutions and strengthen our end to end program management solutions," said Talbott Roche, CEO and president of Blackhawk Network.
Nacha announces that Phixius, a new platform that facilitates the trusted exchange of payment information is live and has completed its first information exchange transactions between participants. “We are excited that Phixius is now live,” said George Throckmorton Nacha Managing Director and Executive Director of Afinis API Standards. “Working with early adopters during the development of the platform proved to be very beneficial. Having a deep understanding of specific data needs for service providers and the businesses they serve was important for the launch of Phixius, which is aimed at making business payments more efficient and secure.”
Bluefin, the leader in encryption and tokenization payment and data security, and PAAY, innovator in consumer authentication, announced today a new security solution set that eliminates the threat of hackers and online fraud, while providing regulatory compliance. The solution set combines 3DS, hardware-based encryption, and vaultless tokenization to provide merchants a liability shift, strong customer authentication, data confidentiality, and compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2).
Rapyd, a global Fintech as a Service provider, announced the launch of Rapyd Protect, a fraud solution designed to protect businesses and consumers against fraud across countries and payment methods. With the growing use of Alternative Payment Methods (APMs) globally, Rapyd Protect provides a smart defense against global fraud while empowering merchants to confidently offer customers their preferred payment method. Rapyd Protect is the only fraud solution embedded in the world's largest global payments network, which supports cards and over 900 APMs.
UATP announced a new strategic partnership with Fly Now Pay Later (FNPL) to give travelers the opportunity to purchase travel via installment plans. The UATP-FNPL partnership allows travelers to instantly spread the cost of their travel plans over time, making those once distant-thought travel plans, now a reality. "The 'Buy Now Pay Later' concept is revolutionizing travel planning as a simpler alternative to financing pricier flights.
i2c Inc., a leading provider of digital banking and payment processing technology and infrastructure, announced its partnership with Purewrist, an innovative FinTech company specializing in end-to-end contactless payment solutions and wearables. i2c’s highly-configurable platform will be leveraged for transaction processing of tap-and-go payments made with the Purewrist GO™ wearable at NFC contactless readers. Purewrist GO works with any terminal that accepts Mastercard® debit, providing a complement to a cardholder’s standard plastic card and digital payment account.
LexisNexis® Risk Solutions announced LexisNexis® Fraud Intelligence, the newest addition to the company's suite of fraud and identity products. LexisNexis Fraud Intelligence is a non-FCRA solution that helps organizations mitigate new account fraud risk by bringing together identity events and consumer application activity to arrive at a comprehensive, powerful score that offers complete view of identity. The new tool limits friction for legitimate consumers because it can identify applications in real-time that are most likely fraudulent.
dLocal, a leading cross-border payment platform connecting global merchants to emerging markets, announced that it has teamed up with Microsoft to reach new customers in emerging markets with localized payment methods. In the first phase of the collaboration, Microsoft launched local acquiring for both credit and debit cards in Nigeria. In the coming months, Microsoft will use dLocal’s Payins solution to add additional popular local payment methods, as well as expanding to include other emerging markets, globally.