Our payments news today comes from markets around the globe including the US, UK, China, India, France, Turkey and the EU. Nothing like an international perspective to help keep you current on the payments industry. After yesterday’s speech by President Trump to the US Congress, it’s useful to reflect on the potential impact of the new administration’s proposed changes, deregulation and planned repeal of the Dodd-Frank Act.
MasterCard and Oracle are teaming up to offer streamlined digital payments, including in-store mobile payment for consumers with retailers, restaurants and hotels. Visa opened its newest Innovation Centre at its European Headquarters in London, hoping to inspire the next generation of payments technologies such as payment by ring or jewelry. Payoneer grew transactions in 2016 by 86.2% to $7.82 billion, and Asia saw an impressive 153% increase on volume.
With demonetization continuing in India, experts predict more growth for the payments industry but pressure for lower transaction fees may dampen profits in 2017. Paytm launched its Paytm Mall an e-commerce app and website modeled on Alibaba’s Tmall. After investing further in Paytm, Alibaba and affiliate Alipay will own a majority.
French fintech Lemon Way expanded its e-commerce payment platform to seven EU countries and expects to be on 40,000 e-commerce sites by the end of 2017. Turkey’s largest bank Isbank and payments processor PPRO partnered to offer global payments, swappers and other merchant bank services to business. According to a Contactlab and Exane BNP Paribas report, e-Commerce penetration in China is about 7 to 8% but international brands have failed to take advantage of opportunities to reach newly affluent, tech-savvy young Chinese consumers.
Madison.com looks at three low-profile payments industry companies poised for growth including Total System Services, First Data Corp and Global Payments Inc. A new Mastercard study used social media big data to gain insight into consumer interest in e-wallets, artificial intelligence and other new payments technologies.
What will the new presidential administration change about online payments?
The Trump Administration has made no secret that they’re going to relax on regulations placed on banks following the 2008 economic crisis. The administration is focusing on dismantling the Dodd-Frank Act, as well as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The administration has also loaded its cabinet with high-profile financial advisors, such as Goldman Sachs alum Steve Mnuchin as Secretary of the Treasury and political appointees like Maureen Ohlhausen as the Federal Trade Commission’s acting chairwoman, who are also for a more deregulated environment.
One example of a potential rollback on regulations is repealing the Durbin Amendment, which imposes limits on debit card swipe fees that are charged to merchants. This proposed Financial CHOICE Act claims that it will maintain competition in the marketplace. Via mashable.com
Mastercard, Oracle team up on digital payments for stores, e-commerce
Mastercard and Oracle have announced a partnership focused on streamlining digital payment experiences, including in-store mobile payment, for consumers interfacing with retailers, restaurants and hotels.
The partners plan to develop and scale new in-store payment experiences, including a Qkr! with Masterpass mobile app. Mastercard will also expand availability of the app to the U.S., Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Singapore and South Africa throughout the year.
Mastercard and Oracle also are aiming to provide retailers a single, integrated digital payment and fraud prevention offering covering both in-store and online operations. Integrating Masterpass into Oracle products also allows retailers to provide a seamless check-out experience across channels. Via retaildive.com
From paying with a ring, to a Bentley that orders dinner and virtual reality seats at events: Visa takes us on a tour of the future of payments
While Brexit is looming, global financial services firm Visa has opened the innovation centre at its European Headquarters in London’s Paddington Basin, as it looks to inspire the next generation of payments technology.
The new space in London joins a global network of Visa innovation centres in technology hotspots, such as Dubai, Miami, San Francisco, Singapore and Tel Aviv. It comes as mobile payments have tripled in the last year while five billion contactless payments were made, the global giant said.
At the tour, it revealed a new payment ring which users wear on their finger, as another method of contactless. Users link their credit or debit card to the ring and swipe to spend. It is not yet available to the public but was trialled by athletes at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Via dailymail.co.uk
Payoneer triple-digit payment volume in Asia since 2012
Payoneer, a payments processing company based in New York, steered toward a more niche market by targeting small businesses selling globally. That strategy has seen the company register triple-digit growth in payment volume in Asia since 2012, according to data seen by CNBC.
Globally, the company’s payment transaction volume in 2016 grew 86.2 percent to $7.82 billion, whereas Asia saw a massive 153 percent increase on-year.
Payoneer has three segments of focus in Asia — cross-border payments for businesses that sell on global marketplaces like Alibaba and Lazada; vacation rentals on platforms like China’s Tujia; and digital freelancers. Via cnbc.com
Digital Payments: New digital payments rules may empty startup wallets
Bengaluru: Digital payments companies are tempering their expectations of a bumper growth this financial year. India’s campaign to get more people to transact digitally has boosted transaction volumes for companies such as Billdesk and CCAvenue. But a simultaneous measure to lower the fees that merchants pay banks for debit and credit-card transactions is threatening to undo the gains. Payment gateways get a share of this fees.
“In the current (fiscal) year, linked to the increases in total payment volumes and scale of business, we would have expected net earnings to grow by over 35%,” said Srinivasu MN, cofounder of online payment gateway Billdesk.
Industry experts anticipate that the coming financial year beginning in April will bring a host of new opportunities for digital payments companies as the government persists with its campaign and introduces new tools to make transacting online easier. Among these is Bharat Bill Payment System, an interoperable payments platform that will help migrate utility bill payments from cash to digital. Also, recent consolidations — including PayU’s acquisition of CitrusPay, TechProcess’s acquisition by French e-payments company Ingenico, and CCAvenue’s merger with Infibeam — have raised the bar for the sector. Via retail.economictimes.indiatimes.com
Paytm Mall: Paytm debuts Paytm Mall, a dedicated app & website for its e-commerce biz, Technology News, ETtech
Paytm, which was demerged from mobile wallet and payments player One97 Communications, has launched a separate smartphone application and website for the online marketplace business.
The platform called Paytm Mall, inspired by Alibaba’s business-to-consumer portal TMall, will focus on structured categories and brand-authorised stores with a focus on electronics, top fashion brands and FMCG categories.
The launch of the application comes as Paytm is raising new round at this demerged entity, which will give Chinese e-commerce major Alibaba and payments affiliate Alipay a combined majority stake. Via tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com
Lemon Way takes on Stripe with new e-commerce payments solution
French fintech Lemon Way has launched an e-commerce payment solution across seven countries in Europe to rival Stripe.
The new payment solution covers France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the Benelux countries. “In less than a month, more than 1,000 e-commerce businesses from seven nationalities have joined the 11,000 businesses already served by Lemon Way,” the vendor says.
If the current rate of recruitment continues, Lemon Way expects 40,000 e-commerce sites to be equipped with its solution by the end of 2017. Lemon Way has opened 2.6 million accounts to date, and attained €7 million in turnover in 2016. It aims to reach €15 million in 2017. Via bankingtech.com
Turkey’s Isbank, PPRO Pair for Global Payments
Turkey’s largest bank Isbank is working with payments tech firm PPRO to boost its cross-border payments offerings. Reports Friday (Feb. 24) said the bank is working with PPRO to help its merchant clients to offer alternative payment methods that can support global transactions. Their collaboration also enables Isbank to give its corporate customers access to real-time payment solutions and e-wallets across more than two dozen markets worldwide.
Their partnership, Isbank deputy CEO Yalcın Sezen, is “opening the gates to secure e-commerce for our merchants, which will help boost Turkey’s export figures.”
Turkey has a growing e-commerce market, with top FinTechs like PayPal taking note. PayPal regional director for Turkey, the Middle East and North Africa, Kivanc Onan, told PYMNTS in 2015 that the firm estimated the nation’s eCommerce market to be worth up to $10 billion. Via pymnts.com
Global luxury brands failing to leverage WeChat-led omni-channel to conquer China
Leading global luxury brands have little or no direct e-commerce offering in China, because they are failing to develop proper cross-channel strategies led by WeChat commerce.
According to the study “China Luxury Demand Momentum” by customer engagement specialists Contactlab and Exane BNP Paribas, e-Commerce penetration in China is about 7 to 8%; similar to the level in western markets. Looking at the market from this point of view, it is surprising that leading global brands, including Hermes, Louis Vuitton and Gucci, still have no direct e-commerce offering in China.
Luxury brands have trailed other retailers in digital adoption, but in China the study found that some international brands are mirroring Chinese e-tailers. Brands such as Coach are creating a range of digital touch points, including localised content on WeChat, customer reviews on products, and are offering multiple delivery options. Via internetretailing.net
Most Investors Haven’t Heard of These Three Payment Companies
No doubt about it, the payments industry is changing fast. Consumers are buying more things online, while many brick-and-mortar retailers struggle to find ways to bring foot traffic through their doors. During the daily commute, a customer can pay for a morning cup of coffee from an app on a smartphone and, later, just walk into the coffeehouse, pick it up, and walk out. Even our credit cards have fundamentally changed: They are now inserted, not swiped, so payment terminals can read unique encrypted codes generated by embedded chips.
With so many changes happening simultaneously, it is all too easy to overlook possible investing opportunities in this sector. While some are more obvious than others, it’s important to not leave any stone unturned. With that sentiment in mind, let’s take a closer look at three under-the-radar stocks in the payments industry to determine if they might make for market-beating investments. Via host.madison.com
Mastercard Study Highlights Social Media Trends Around Digital Wallets, Artificial Intelligence
Digital wallets continued to gain prominence in smartphones and laptops across the globe and dominated the discussion of new ways to pay, with the topic now topping 75 percent of conversations tracked in the 2017 edition of the Mastercard (No. 7 on the DiversityInc Top 50 Companies list) Digital Payments Study.
At the same time, consumers are showing an increased interest in the application of new technologies to make shopping faster, easier and more secure. The topic of virtual reality generated the most positive sentiment as shoppers imagine completing a purchase with the simple nod of their head.
Now in its fifth year, the study, developed in partnership with PRIME Research and Synthesio, analyzed more than 3.5 million conversations from the past year across several social media channels, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Weibo. Via diversityinc.com
LET’S CONNECT