Apple Trumps PayPal and Square; Stripe is Justified: News Roundup
PaymentFacilitator’s News Roundup is a curated mix of the past week’s news and articles from around the web, including company announcements, global payments news, and other coverage and analysis of topics relevant to payment facilitators.
Big Brands Doing Big Things
Apple trumps PayPal and Square in payments! According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, Apple Pay transactions have tripled to more than 1 billion, exceeding Square and mobile transactions via PayPal. Could this mean Apple is going fintech? From Quartz.
Stripe is justified. The online payments company initially met with skepticism regarding its 2016 market valuation but has since justified its once seemingly high expectations. What provided the tipping point? Last year, the company began handling a large portion of Amazon’s transactions. From Seeking Alpha.
To Bank or Not to Bank
Square still interested in bank charter. But does it still make sense? Square CEO Jack Dorsey addressed this question in length during the company’s earnings call. Possible challenges include the additional attention that will be required to deliver the projected growth rates for the company’s proprietary prepaid products Square Cash and Cash Card. From Bank Innovation.
The Digital Download
Payments industry expected to grow to $1 trillion by 2023. The National Institution for Transformation India has published a recent report on digital payment trends and in it predicts the payments industry in India will reach $1 trillion by 2023. Mobile payments are expected to contribute largely to this spike with payment volume slated to grow from $10 billion in 2017-18 to $190 billion by 2023. From Inc42.
Korea primed for QR. The Bank of Korea is developing a new payment platform that uses QR codes. Slated to be released the first half of next year, the new platform is expected to reduce retailer fees and expand the use of digital payment systems. From Korea JoongAng Daily.
WhatsApp launch stalled until local presence established. Facebook messaging app WhatsApp has been required to set up shop in India before it can introduce its integrated digital payments solution to the Indian marketplace. Of the various concerns surrounding the launch, the most prevalent is data security. From Business Standard.
Industry News:
ICBA Urges FDIC to Deny Nelnet [ILC] Application
Grab Announces US$2 Billion of Funds Raised in Current Financing Round
Warburg Pincus Invests in Procare Software
First Data and Community Brands Announce Strategic Payment Processing Technology Partnership