Category: Archive | Page 40

Guest Post: Britannia Waives The Rules As Brexit Makes Waves For PFs

Three months have passed since the referendum on June 23rd that set course for the UK, the EU’s second largest economy, to leave the European Union. Yet there is still considerable uncertainty on how this event will impact the payments industry and payment facilitators.

In this article, we look at the key considerations for U.S. PFs with an existing UK presence or those looking to set up a EU company to expand into European markets.

Innovation In ID Technology Speeds KYC In India

Indian payment facilitator Paytm will be onboarding customers for its payments bank with eKYC enabled by India’s voluntary national identification program, Aadhaar.

As of Sep. 5, 2016, 87 percent of India’s 1.2 billion people had registered for the unique 12-digit number. To register, residents have to bring three forms of identification (proof of identity, proof of address, proof of birthdate) to an enrollment center, where their fingerprints and irises will be scanned.

Facebook Dives Deeper Into Payments Under David Marcus, Competing As A PF, Again

The only thing separating Facebook from being a true payment facilitator is it registering as one. The social media giant today announced users of its Messenger app can now send payments from within the app to make purchases from sites who interface with the app using bots.

Facebook is working with Stripe, Braintree and PayPal, but also appears to be directly enabling acceptance of Visa, Mastercard, and American Express to make this happen, and Messenger users can store their card info in Messenger for use at checkout. This can be combined with the ability of brands being able to buy ads that take clickers into Messenger where their card info is saved. David Marcus, Facebook’s vice president of messaging and a former payments executive, has raised the Messenger user base from 700 million monthly active users to 1 billion in a year.

Mastercard And Visa Gain Strength, But Did PayPal?

The deal between Mastercard and PayPal announced Sep. 6 was different for a day than the Visa-PayPal partnership announced in July. Mastercard spokesperson Robyn Cottelli says being a payment choice in PayPal’s checkout is crucial, but not the only draw.

“Our thoughtful approach to the partnership with PayPal was not just focused on prominence as a payment option, but going beyond what we’ve seen Visa announce to drive further value for Mastercard and our partners,” Cotelli tells paymentfacilitator.com.

Millennials, Seeking Uniqueness, Flock To Klarna To Pay Their Way

Millenials’ decreasing use of credit cards and increasing use of debit opens doors for companies like Swedish company Klarna, a payment facilitator that offers mobile and online buyers the choice of traditional payments – charge now—or within 14 days or in installments.

Klarna works seamlessly at checkout, says Klarna North America CEO Brian Billingsley—an email address and zip code is all a shopper needs if not paying immediately. Once that info is inputted it doesn’t need to be entered again at Klarna merchant partners. Billingsley says Klarna gives millennials a little of what they’re looking for when shopping, control and uniqueness.

Tech Mobile Contactless Marketing Could Turn The U.S. EMV Frown Upside Down

More than a decade after the U.S. payments community tried and failed to make contactless payments work, EMV resentment and a well-funded mobile payment app movement may make U.S. contactless payments not merely viable, but vibrant—perhaps as soon as late 2018.

One result could be that the U.S. adopts mobile contactless payments before and in higher numbers than chip cards as tech giants like Apple and Samsung and Google blitz consumers with mobile payment app marketing that was not a factor when the country tried contactless a decade ago.

Meet The New RBI Boss; Same As The Old Boss?

The change in governors of the Reserve Bank of India is no small news, as India is well known for its governmental help with the furtherance of technology in general and fintech in particular.

Under the outgoing governor, Raghuram Rajan, RBI decided to give 11 companies licenses to set up payment banks for the underserved population of the country and this is expected to give rise to an increase in the use of digital banks and wallets. RBI also recently put together a working group of RBI, banking and payments executives to study regulatory issues related to digital banking and fintech.

If Chargebacks And False Declines Are The Problem, PFs Are A Solution

Chargebacks and false declines present many problems to merchants and issuers alike but where there’s complications, there’s payment facilitator opportunity, says one risk management expert.

“Whereas merchants may not be familiar with all aspects of payment processing and risk management controls, payment facilitators provide affordable accessibility to systems, knowledge and focused expertise that may otherwise be unattainable,” says Marcus Smith, the senior vice president of risk management for processor iPayment Inc. “Due to scale and buying power, payment facilitators can also allow merchants to benefit from their data acquisition, proprietary and third party technology and other value added service that meet the needs of their aggregate clientele. Ultimately, payment facilitators can eliminate various administrative costs and distractions allowing merchants to place their money, time and attention on managing and growing their business.”

India Is Digital Payments Dynamite

India is set to explode in digital payments based on several key metrics: population, number of mobile phone users, Internet users, and smartphone users.

The Boston Consulting Group and Google recently collaborated on a study named Digital Payments 2020: The Making of A $500 Billion Ecosystem In India, painting a bright future in digital payments for several reasons: technology; 10-fold growth in merchant acceptance; rise of data-driven consumer benefits; consolidation leading to simplification; a unified payments interface (UPI) stokes widespread adoption of digital payments; national ID system eases KYC; and non-cash transaction volume will continue to accelerate, surpassing cash transactions by 2023.

Tribute to Ken Elderts: Mahalo to a Great Friend

The payments world lost a favorite when Ken Elderts passed away Aug. 6.

When he wasn’t a payments executive for the Western States Acquirers Association, VeriFone, TASQ Technology, Dejavoo Systems, and most recently AnywhereCommerce, Elderts loved fastpitch softball, airplanes and new technology. Elderts was known for his mentorship, warmth, smiles and hugs.