digital global payments growing

Our weekly global payments news roundup has an international flavor this week, starting with a look at Walmart’s unexpected bonus of payments provider PhonePe in its acquisition of Flipkart. Digital payments are taking off in India and PhonePe is poised for growth. In Japan cash is still used for 80% of purchases and the cashless society remains a distant future. GoCardless is making international payments for recurring subscriptions easier with its EU expansion. Back in India, payments provider MobiKwik is also seeing substantial business growth.

Other roundup stories include Stripe’s outage problems providing a pain point for merchant payments. In Latin America, MercadoLibre’s CEO sees substantial e-commerce opportunities. Etsy is pressing its sellers to offer shipping with mixed merchant reactions. The National Retail Federation reports technology is improving the retail shopper experience. We’ve got eight things you should know about next week’s Amazon Prime Day sale and finally a look at Walmart’s $1 billion e-commerce loss for this year, despite $22 billion in revenue, and how they plan to deal with it. Enjoy your weekend reading!

India’s digital payments growth a Walmart bonus

PhonePe

According to Credit Suisse analysts, India’s payments market could grow from $200 billion today to reach $1 trillion by 2023. Walmart is smiling because it’s $16 billion purchase of more than 80% of e-commerce giant Flipkart included small payments subsidiary PhonePe. With Indian mobile usage exploding and digital payments growing fast, PhonePe provides an intriguing opportunity and several challenges. Read more…

Cashless in Japan still a distant reality today

cashless payments trends, Japan

Quick. Name a country where 80% of transactions are still paid for in cash. Surprisingly, that would be Japan, second only after Germany as the country that pays more in cash for transactions than any other. With all its advanced technology and financial services know-how, it seems incongruous even though there are government and private sector efforts to increase cashless and mobile payments. The Japanese government hopes to double cashless transactions in Japan to more than 120 trillion yen ($1.8 trillion) by 2025. Read more… 

GoCardless lowers recurring subscription payments barriers

GoCardless grows in EU

If you’re a US business, selling products and services with recurring payments in foreign markets can be a challenge. Many foreign consumers and businesses simply don’t prefer to pay with credit cards, in contrast to US payments preferences. In fact, a recent Global Payment Preferences research report conducted by YouGov and GoCardless shows at least one-third of consumers are likely to choose Bank Debit/Direct Debit to pay for online subscriptions if offered. Read more…    

Plans for payments growth in India 30-cents at a time

MobiKwik serves India's financial marketplace

Could you double your financial services company revenue by offering loans for as little as $30 and insurance policies at 30-cents per month? After 10 years in operation, Indian digital payments company MobIKwik believes that’s its path to profitability this year and double its revenue within two years. The company has grown from its roots in digital payments to financial products including insurance, gold, and mutual funds and it plans for an IPO within two years according to a Bloomberg report. Read more…    

Stripe users hit with rare downtime issues

Stripe got $314 million

Stripe Inc., one of the most valuable financial technology startups in the world, was hit with one of its longest periods of downtime ever on Wednesday. The company’s services were offline for almost two hours cumulatively throughout the day, meaning some companies that rely on Stripe to process payments could not accept orders during that time. Read more… 

MercadoLibre CEO says e-commerce, fintech have taken off in Latin America

MercadoLibre

Marcos Galperin, MercadoLibre Inc. chairman and chief executive officer, discusses the growth of e-payments in Latin America with Bloomberg’s Paul Sweeney at the Allen & Co. Sun Valley Conference on “Bloomberg Markets: The Close.” “The opportunity in Latin America is very big. Both e-commerce and fintech have taken off in the region. 50% of our population does not have access to financial services and e-commerce is less than 5% of retail but all of the basic pieces are now in place and working well.” Read more… 

Etsy unveils plans to make free shipping a core part of the shopping experience

Etsy is pushing free shipping

Etsy, announced plans to make free shipping a core part of the Etsy shopping experience. Etsy is providing sellers with tools and support to help them guarantee free shipping to US buyers who spend at least $35 in their shop. By making it easy for sellers to offer free shipping, Etsy will empower them to better meet buyer expectations and more effectively win customers in today’s changing retail landscape. Read more…  

Technology is dramatically improving consumers’ shopping experience

2018 US retail sales are positive

Consumers are embracing the use of retail technology to improve their shopping experience, according to the latest issue of the Consumer View report released today by the National Retail Federation. The report found that there are numerous opportunities for retailers to simplify shoppers’ path to making a purchase. Consumers are interested in technologies that show whether a product is in stock (55%), help them compare prices or read reviews (49%), make it easier to find a product or its location (47%) or try an item before buying it (38%). Read more… 

8 things to know about Prime Day 2019

Amazon Prime Day 2019

It’s not quite Black Friday, but consumers have come to expect the midsummer sales event, and it’s not just for Amazon anymore. Amazon last month announced that its fifth annual 2019 Prime Day will run on July 15 and 16 and will last 48 hours, the longest yet.  Rivals are joining in, and deals are already launching from every retail corner. Here are a few things to keep in mind this year. Read more… 

Walmart and Waymo partner free rides

Recode: Walmart faces $1B e-commerce loss, may sell ModCloth

Walmart’s e-commerce unit is projected to lose $1 billion this year on as much as $22 billion in revenue as the retail giant races to catch up with Amazon online, according to a report released Friday by Recode that cited anonymous sources. As pressure mounts on the division and its head, Marc Lore, Walmart has considered selling some of its relatively recent online fashion acquisitions, namely Modcloth and Bonobos. Read more…