Our Friday global payments news roundup includes a useful collection of strategic payments news you can use about iZettle, PayPal, Barclaycard, ACI Worldwide/Ovum, Amazon, Square, Walmart, FNB, Apple Pay and Nuggets.
Retailers risk frustrating online shoppers with out-of-date payment technology
More than 72% of retailers have not introduced any new payment technology to their website in the last two years, according to a Barclaycard research. While 86 % of retailers say they are looking to increase online transactions over the next 12 months, the study uncovers the fact that many are not keeping payment technology up-to-date, which would help retailers provide shoppers with a fast experience at the online point of sale and could help reducing online abandonment. Read more…
Payments research: 77% of merchants say real-time payments to replace cards
A new ACI Worldwide/Ovum payments research survey says 77% of merchants expect real-time payments to replace card payments in the near future. The report also offers other valuable insights into merchants and payments preferences and challenges. Most important to payments providers, 65% of merchants are interested in receiving real-time payments compared with 57% in the previous year’s survey. Read more…
Reports Indicate Sweden Will Stop Using Cash by 2023
Sweden is moving away from cash in favor of cards and mobile payment apps. According to a new study by researchers Niklas Arvidsson of KTH and Jonas Hedman of Copenhagen School of Economics, the nation is on track to leave cash behind completely by 2023, though retailers expect to still accept cash for a couple more years after that. Read more…PayPal acquisition of iZettle shakes up payments world
PayPal just moved the meter in the payments world with its acquisition of mobile payments provider iZettle for $2.2 billion in an all cash deal. iZettle, the Swedish payments fintech, had planned to raise $227 million on the Stockholm Nasdaq exchange in an IPO valuing the company at around $1.1 billion. Read more…
Walmart shutters its Scan & Go program
Walmart has officially decided to end its “Scan & Go” program, Business Insider reports. The program was Walmart’s take on cashierless checkout; it allowed customers to scan their items with a smartphone app and then skip the checkout line by paying their bill on the app and showing their digital receipt to a store greeter on the way out. The results of the test indicated that Scan & Go was widely unused by customers. Read more…
FNB lets customers open accounts with selfies
South Africa’s FNB has revamped its mobile services, enabling consumers and businesses to open accounts within minutes by taking selfies. The new features let SMEs switch or open an account in less than five minutes through self-authentication and digital KYC through the FNB app. Read more…
Amazon’s growing India business alone is likely worth more than all of Macy’s
Amazon will thrive in India even after Walmart’s acquisition of the e-commerce market leader in the South Asian country. Citi Research reiterated its buy rating for Amazon shares, predicting strong growth for its international businesses. “We believe the India e-commerce market will grow at a 21% CAGR over the next 10 years to $202bn, that Amazon could capture 35% of this market… That suggests that Amazon India could be currently worth $16bn.” Read more…How Apple’s Goldman Gambit Could Help Lock in Banks Supporting Apple Pay
Apple Inc.’s move to create a new Apple Pay credit card with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. may or may not help boost usage of the mobile-payments service, but one thing it is likely to do is cement Apple’s ties with the thousands of banks that support the service, observers say. The pending Goldman deal “really encourages those [financial institutions] that have already committed to Apple Pay to really promote it,” notes Richard Crone, principal at Crone Consulting LLC. Read more…
Jack Dorsey says the internet will have its own currency one day
If you’re using cryptocurrencies a lot more often in the future, you may have Jack Dorsey to thank for it. The CEO of both Twitter and Square came to the Consensus blockchain conference in New York on Wednesday to reiterate his enthusiasm for bitcoin and discuss Square’s recent work to increase their usage. Read more…
Introducing Nuggets : The blockchain e-commerce payments and ID platform
Nuggets is an e-commerce payments and ID platform. It stores your personal and payment data securely in the blockchain, so you never have to share it with anyone – not even Nuggets. That means no more data breaches – because companies don’t have to store your data. So you can make payments and use services without worrying about your privacy or security. View video…
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