Today, we’ve got an overview of the latest news in international payments and trends from the payments industry around the world. Alibaba’s global growth strategy include investments in developing its own technology platform and services including transportation, logistics and payments. A study by ECC of Köln and the University of Aschaffenburg, showed up to 24% of consumers abandon shopping carts if their favorite payment method is not offered.
Nonbank providers like Venmo now process 20% of P2P payments and a group of 19 banks is launching Zelle to compete. Participating banks include Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citigroup, Capital One, and JPMorgan Chase. MercadoLibre is the eBay of Latin America with strong growth in part due to its payment platform MercadoPago.
Flipkart’s integrated payment system PhonePe is aiming to be the no.1 e-wallet in India fueled in part by demonetization. With more than 3,000 small and large online stores in Slovenia, online sales are growing at 35% to 40%. FreeCharge added 15,000 new merchants with its new partnership with Paynear. Global payments operator Senjo Group acquired online gaming and sports betting company GVC Holding’s payment processing arm Kalixa Group for $30.34 million.
The Irish government is encouraging the use of debit cards and contactless payments use is growing along with new point-of-sale terminals in Ireland. Industry group Abecs predicts credit and debit card use by Brazilian consumers will rise 6.5% next year. San Francisco-based bitcoin startup Wyre has raised $5.8 million in new funding for cross-border payments.
Alibaba’s Shopping Spree: How the Web Giant’s Universe Has Expanded
Alibaba has grown to dominate Chinese e-commerce. It’s accomplished this with the early development of its own technology platform and by adding the services that make online shopping easier, like transport and payments.
The company is using acquisitions to further build out its eco-system, snapping up video and news content providers, offline services and overseas companies that have snared a slice of the e-commerce world outside China. As 2016 draws to a close, here’s a breakdown of some of its most significant deals:
Lazada — This is a billion-dollar bet on a brand new market, as Alibaba counts on repeating in Southeast Asia what it has already achieved at home. Alibaba’s biggest e-commerce successes have been those it developed from the ground up. But with Jack Ma targeting more than half of sales from outside the home market, this is his biggest overseas acquisition yet. Via bloomberg.com
Profitable Payment Methods
Strategic planning mistakes in the portfolio of payment methods very often leads to a decline in the turnover of an online shop. What is important when choosing online payment methods? And how can merchants secure the most profitable options?
Online merchants should select their payment methods based on those which are as easy as possible for their customers. With regards to efficiency, merchants can avoid several problems and reduce economic risks provided they ensure this is their core objective from the beginning. Several factors can be crucial for a merchant’s success.
1. The right mix of payment methods
The range of payment methods offered by an online shop plays a very important role in the customers’ purchasing decision. The more online payment methods offered, the more likely that every customer will be able to find their preferred option. At the same time, this also increases the probability of a purchase transaction. According to the study, “Internet Payments from consumer’s perspective in Germany, Austria and Switzerland” by the ECC of Köln and the University of Aschaffenburg, when shopping online, if the customers’ favorite payment method hasn’t been offered, nearly 24% of all online purchases are simply abandoned. Via letstalkpayments.com
Big Banks Launch Zelle to Compete with P2P Payments App Venmo
For the one million users sending and receiving money with the peer-to-peer (P2P) payments app Venmo, the phrase “Venmo me” will be hard to take out of their vocabulary. A total of 19 banks are giving it a shot, though, with the launch of Zelle next year, created by the financial risk management company Early Warning, a joint venture of the industry’s largest banks. Zelle will replace the big banks’ existing network ClearXchange. Some of the banks currently set to launch Zelle include Wells Fargo & Co., Bank of America Corp., Citigroup, Capital One Financial Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Nonbanks are now processing 20 percent of P2P payments volume. Venmo is a clear leader, with widespread adoption among millennials, thanks to a platform that reduces friction of payments and allows users to integrate their social networks. It also works with iPhone’s latest technology, including Siri and iOS 10 iMessage integration.
Venmo is growing fast. In the first three months of 2016, Venmo had $3.2 billion in transactions among users, a 153 percent increase from the same quarter last year. Venmo is free to use when the money is coming from a checking account (there’s a 3 percent fee for credit card use), and the company is making plans for other ways to monetize the service. Via bankdirector.com
3 Numbers MercadoLibre Investors Should Be Watching
MercadoLibre has been described as the eBay of Latin America, but it is much more. The company connects buyers and sellers in many ways and takes a piece of each transaction. This includes an auction platform, standard e-commerce platform, online classifieds, and car and real estate portals. Plus it has a payment platform, MercadoPago, that’s very similar to PayPal.
So far in 2016, the growth rate has increased to over 70%. Why the increase? Several years ago MercadoLibre began to offer this payment solution to off-platform merchants, which caused growth to reaccelerate. As the addressable market for off-platform payments is considerably greater than the one on-platform, growth in payments will likely continue to be robust as off-platform penetration increases. Any significant decrease in this growth rate would bear watching. Via fool.com
Flipkart’s integrated payment system PhonePe gunning to be the no.1 wallet
In one of Bengaluru’s many IT Parks, Akshay, an admin staffer, is busy using an app to transfer money to a friend. Some may assume it to be Paytm, the app that everyone is talking about, but they would be wrong.
Upon enquiry, Akshay reveals that he is using the PhonePe app, which allows the payee to transfer money into his bank account immediately upon the money hitting his wallet. The app, built on the immediate payment switch platform created by the National Payment Council of India, allows the payee to transfer the money into his or her bank account immediately, unlike other apps. Also unlike other apps, which charge one to four percent on transfers from the wallet to the bank account, there are no charges here.
Over the last eight months, fintech startup PhonePe, which was acquired by Flipkart in an all-stock deal, has become a preferred app for remittances into bank accounts. With the coming of the demonetization regime, people in tier 1 and tier 2 cities have transferred their money to their families, back in smaller towns, through the PhonePe app. Via yourstory.com
E-commerce in Slovenia is growing exceptional
E-commerce in Slovenia is showing growth of 35 to 40 percent. More Slovenian consumers are shopping online and there are now over 3,000 small and large online stores in Slovenia. Already 92 percent of online users have shopped online at least once.
This year, 37 percent of all internet users have made at least one purchase per month, which is 7 percentage points more than in 2015. Consumers in Slovenia are fond of buying technical products online, as 34 percent has bought electronics online. Almost one in five (19%) bought fashion online, while 13 percent shopped for home and garden equipment via the internet. Beauty and health products are also popular online, with 11 percent of online Slovenians who bought such items. Product categories such as auto accessories and tires, furniture, pharmaceuticals and fast-moving consumer goods are all growing fast. Via ecommercenews.eu
Paynear: Freecharge adds another 15,000 merchants to its portfolio through Paynear association
New Delhi: India’s leading digital payments platform FreeCharge today announced its partnership with Hyderabad based payment solution provider Paynear, which will extend FreeCharge’s acceptance to another 15,000 merchants across 22 states in India.
All 15,000 small-scale merchants and individual shop owners using Paynear solutions can now accept payments using FreeCharge. With this association, many more outlets across India covering categories like retail, hospitality, food and beverage, pharma, health and beauty and many other business verticals will now accept FreeCharge.
With the arrangement with FreeCharge, customers can use their mobile phones to make payments and complete the transaction with a secure On-The-Go-Pin in less than 10 seconds. The advantage of On-the-go pin is that payment can be made using FreeCharge even in absence of internet and telecom connectivity. Via retail.economictimes.indiatimes.com
Senjo Group to take over GVC Holding’s payment processing arm Kalixa for $30.3Mn
Global payments operator Senjo Group is all set to acquire online gaming and sports betting company GVC Holding’s payment processing arm Kalixa Group for $30.34 million. In the agreement signed between two entities, Senjo will make the payment in cash, subject to a completion accounts adjustment. The total consideration of the transaction is capped at $37.14 million.
Kalixa payments group provides merchants of all sizes with omni-channel payments from one supplier. It is one of the leading providers of payment services in the world and enables consumers, small business, and merchants to make and accept payments. It processes transactions worth $11.51 billion annually for more than 800 merchants and supports 100 of the world’s most popular payment methods. Also, it possesses innovative wallet and issuing technologies and operations. Via thetechportal.com
The Cards and Payments Industry in Ireland: Emerging Trends and Opportunities to 2020
Key Highlights
– The Irish government abolished stamp duty on debit card transactions effective from January 1, 2016 to reduce cash withdrawals at ATMs using debit cards. Before the abolition, consumers in Ireland paid an annual fee of US$3.3 (EUR2.5) for ATM cards and US$6.6 (EUR5) for a combination of debit and ATM card. The government replaced the duty with a new fee of US$0.16 (EUR0.12) for each cash withdrawal, in addition to the bank charges. However, there are no charges for debit card transactions at POS terminals. This initiative is anticipated to encourage debit card use at POS terminals.
– Uptake of contactless technology among Irish consumers is growing. To encourage contactless transactions, the Irish government increased the contactless payment limit from US$16.7 (EUR15) to US$33.3 (EUR30) from October 31, 2015. On February 16, 2016, Visa Europe announced that 1 million contactless transactions on Visa cards are made every week in Ireland, as a result of the increased spending limit, compared to 2 million transactions per month in September 2015. Banks are also taking steps to encourage contactless transactions. For instance, in September 2015 Allied Irish Banks (AIB) announced plans to waive fees for contactless transactions for one year from the date of announcement.
– The growing payment cards market has encouraged several mobile POS (mPOS) solution providers to enter the Irish market. The latest is the launch of a low-cost mPOS terminal by UK-based online solution provider Payleven (now SumUp) in March 2015. The mPOS terminal costs US$71.1 (EUR64). In October 2014, another UK-based online payment solution provider, Paysafe, partnered with domestic mPOS solution provider Handpoint to introduce mPOS terminals in Ireland. The terminals are compatible with Android and iOS smartphones and tablets, and can be linked via Bluetooth. The introduction of low-cost solutions is expected to encourage merchants to accept card-based payments, further driving payment card transaction volumes and values. Via consumerelectronicsnet.com
Brazil card purchases may rise 6.5 pct next year, group says
Credit and debit card purchases of goods and services in Brazil may rise an average 6.5 percent next year, roughly unchanged from this year’s estimate, a sign more consumers and companies continue to pick electronic means of payment over cash, an industry group said on Friday.
In a statement, the group representing merchant acquirers and payments processors known as Abecs said the volume of card purchases could total 1.22 trillion reais ($364 billion) next year, up from an expected 1.14 trillion reais in 2016. Via reuters.com
Wyre Raises $5.8 Million for Cross-Border Blockchain Payments
San Francisco-based bitcoin startup Wyre has raised $5.8m in new funding.
The Series A round, which coincides with the stealth startup’s official launch, was led by Chinese venture firm Amphora Capital. Other investors include Chinese payments firms Baofoo.com and 9fBank, Draper Associates and Digital Currency Group. Wyre said it has raised $7.5m to date.
The startup’s main focus is cross-border payments, with a particular emphasis on those sent between China and the US. Wyre uses bitcoin (as well as other blockchains like ethereum and litecoin, among others) to settle transactions, acting as an intermediary between businesses in both countries. Among those firms is NihaoPay, a China-based e-commerce payments firm that plugs into services such as WechatPay and Alipay. Via coindesk.com
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