PaymentsNEXT: April 27 Global payments news roundup

Time for a quick global roundup of payments news. We start with a new Mastercard-Microsoft ID tie-up, Visa spending jump, digital wallets growth and a look at the future of payments. Also, Marcus fintech growth, a giant Fintiv mobile payment suit, US lagging in fintech, neo-banks and much more. All the payment news you can use.

Mastercard launches next-generation identity technology with Microsoft to help more consumers shop online safely
Mastercard announced an enhanced identity solution designed to improve the online shopping experience and tackle digital fraud in a new collaboration with Microsoft. The solution pairs Mastercard’s network insights with the merchant’s data to confirm the consumer is who they claim to be, providing financial institutions with the additional intelligence needed to optimize their authorization decisions and approve more genuine transactions. Read more…

Visa: Consumer Spending Tops 2019 Levels as Cardholders Shake Off Inflation and War
By the numbers, Visa’s fiscal second-quarter showed that consumers wielded their cards in force, topping 2019’s levels in several key categories, and travel roared back to nearly touch pre-pandemic activity. Management said that US payments volume grew 16% year over year in the latest quarter, up 44% vs. 2019. Credit spending domestically was up 27% and 35% over 2019 levels. To get a sense of the rebound above pre-pandemic levels, CEO Kelly said that processed transactions were 138% above levels seen in 2019. Read more…

Digital wallets transaction value to grow by 60% by 2026 globally, as Paypal & Alipay top competitor leaderboard
A new study from Juniper Research has found that the value of digital wallet transactions will exceed $12 trillion in 2026, from $7.5 trillion in 2022. To capitalize on this substantial growth, the research predicts leading digital payment vendors will diversify their payment products to include new solutions, such as buy-now-pay-later and cryptocurrencies. Read more…

The future of payments – Instant, internationally compatible, and account-to-account
How we move money is changing. People expect the future of payments to provide an interconnected environment where sending or receiving money can be done anywhere, in any currency, at any time, and instantly. Domestic and cross-border digital money transfers must be secure, frictionless, and regulated. New payment platforms and solutions, technology, regulation, and higher expectations from merchants and consumers fuel the demand for speed and interoperability. . Read more…

Paysend CEO: Cross-border payments have failed consumers and SMBs
“Why should it take longer to send money anywhere than sending a WhatsApp message or text message?” It’s a question that Ronnie Millar, co-founder and CEO at U.K.-based FinTech firm Paysend, posed as a way of highlighting the unnecessary, years-long complexity that has surrounded moving money around the world — and in today’s digital world where convenience and instant services are the order of the day, that should not be the case. Read more…

Marcus becomes one of largest US fintech firms through acquisitions
In the past six years, Marcus has used an acquisition strategy to create a digital platform for consumer loans, credit cards, high-yield savings, automated investing, and tools to help consumers manage finances. Recently, Goldman Sachs completed the acquisition of GreenSky, growing the customer base of Marcus to over 13 million customers. Marcus wants to be the primary bank for millions with a no-fee, interest-bearing checking offering expected in 2022. Read more…

Fintiv files patent lawsuit against PayPal and Apple Pay
Mobile payments and commerce platform Fintiv has slapped PayPal and Apple Pay with a lawsuit on allegations of patent infringement, according to Asia Financial and other reports. Fintiv accused PayPal of infringing five of its patents related to payments functionality, according to court documents. The litigation Fintiv brought against Walmart alleges that trade secrets were misused. The lawsuit also alleges that the retail giant infringed the same payment patent as PayPal, specifically, using phone technology to process payments. Read more…

The Data Point: US lags in digital transformation, Japan comes in dead last in 11-country study
In the landmark 11-nation study “Benchmarking the World’s Digital Transformation,” a PYMNTS and Stripe collaboration, we surveyed over 15,100 consumers across 11 countries in January and February, analyzing how (and how often) consumers in key regions are engaging in 40 activities that comprise our ten pillars of the connected economy. We learned that the connected economy is still in its formative stages, albeit well-formed in some areas, but with many connections yet to be made to raise the average index score from its current 27.1 out of a possible score of 100 to reflect fuller transformation. Read more…

WLPayments adds eight new integrations in the first quarter of 2022 to its fast-growing portfolio of payment partners
Amsterdam-headquartered payment gateway platform WLPayments completed eight additional integrations since the start of the year, allowing merchants to benefit from its growing list of integrated partners. Customers can now complete payments using Google Pay, Netcetera, Paypal, Swish, Token.io, TrueLayer, TreviPay and Vipps. Read more…

BNY Mellon drives industry reduction in paper checks as sustainability goals ramp up
BNY Mellon – one of the largest US check processors – is leading efforts to reduce check-based payments as sustainability goals and environmental concerns grow. Roughly 2.3 billion checks are written annually by customers of US corporations paying their bills, equivalent to about 455,000 trees. BNY Mellon will offer carbon-tracking tools that show clients the environmental cost of paper payments, price discounts for specific digital payment solutions, and waivers of upfront implementation fees. Read more…

Meet Helios, the sustainable neobank from Paris which has roped in €9 million to limit global warming
The neobank is changing banking rules towards more transparency and a real commitment to climate action. Paris-based neo bank Helios has raised €9 million in a seed round to combine banking with effective climate action, a new approach to protecting the planet. The neo bank has a community of 50,000 people and nearly €40 million of transactions on its accounts. Read more…