It’s already a busy week in payments news and we’ve got a roundup of global news and insight to keep you current. First, news that Dutch fintech giant Adyen received a pan-European banking license that allows it to process its own payments almost instantly instead of days of delays from banks.
Boston-based Flywire is partnering with PayPal for global cross-border payments for its business clients, students and patients using its payments platform. While terms were not disclosed, Visa has bought a stake in Swedish fintech and payments firm Klarna. JCB International has partnered with MoneyNetINT to process JCB foreign exchange and international payments for its 106 million Asian card members in the EU.
First Data Local Payments solution will allow merchants to manage online payments using a singular interface and collection model. 2016 UK e-commerce grew 16% to reach $147 billion and is expected to grow another 14% by the end of 2017. Payments and loyalty rewards app Yoyo Wallet raised $15.38 million in new capital for expansion.
Loyalty program Punchh added Apple Pay to its restaurant loyalty program with Quiznos, Smashburger, MOD Pizza and other US restaurant brands. The Singapore government will allow banks to compete with new fintech startups in the payments, e-commerce and other non-banking business up to 10% of capital reserves.
In India, some analysts are saying there are too many e-wallets and not enough business for the likes of Paytm, newcomer Hike, Jio Money and ItzCash. Meanwhile, Amazon India will launch its own payment solution for its customers. Austrian company LAKS will enable train commuters to pay fares with a special wearable payments watch – Watch2Pay – with a refillable, removable chip.
Dutch payments processor takes pan-European license to bypass banks
BERLIN — Adyen, one of Europe’s biggest fintech companies, has taken a pan-European banking licence that allows it to bypass banks and process cross-border payments directly for its merchant customers, including many of the world’s top e-commerce firms.
Chief Executive Pieter van der Does said on Friday that his Amsterdam-based company was awarded a European regional banking licence in late April by the Dutch Central Bank on behalf of the European Central Bank.
Swedish payments processing rival Klarna said last week that it also had been granted a European banking licence by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority, as more fintech players seek to level the regulatory playing field versus banks.
The European banking license gives Adyen the status of an acquiring bank, clearing the way for it to process merchant payments nearly instantly, rather than relying on banking partners to handle settlements over several days. Via reuters.com
Flywire and PayPal for Cross-Border Payments
As e-commerce continues its growth, the demand for providing solid options for cross-border payments also rises. Without these payments, it’s likely we would see a slowdown in the economy.
One company that’s looking to help move the ball for cross-border payments is international payments and receivables solution Flywire. The Boston-based company has announced today its decision to partner with PayPal for its businesses, students and patients utilizing its platform.
This integration into the Flywire platform will be available in Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States. Specifically, this new payment avenue will benefit businesses, educational institutions and healthcare institutions a way to broaden their offerings. By enabling international transactions through this PayPal partnership, Flywire is effectively making it easier for businesses, students and patients an additional way to make payments. Via pymnts.com
Visa Buys Stake in Swedish Financial Technology Company Klarna
Visa Inc. is buying a stake in Swedish payments technology firm Klarna AB and forming a strategic partnership, as both companies aim to expand outside their core markets.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Klarna plans to issue new equity as part of the transaction, the Swedish company’s chief commercial officer Michael Rouse said in an interview.
The investment will allow Visa to reach more mobile commerce merchants, particularly in the Nordic region and Germany, said Jim McCarthy, Visa’s executive vice president for innovation and strategic partnerships. But both McCarthy and Rouse said it was too soon to say exactly what new products or payment options Visa and Klarna might develop. “In the mobile-first world, we need to partner with technology companies,” McCarthy said. “And we see these partnerships as core to our growth.” Via bloomberg.com
JCB enters processing partnership with e-commerce PSP MoneyNetInt
JCB International Co., Ltd., the international operations subsidiary of JCB Co. Ltd, has entered into an agreement with MoneyNetINT Ltd, the global foreign exchange and international payments company, to process JCB transactions for MoneyNetINT e-commerce merchants situated in the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA).
Having recently expanded its market to China, supporting money transfer in Yuan and US dollars to Chinese bank accounts and cash payments, this partnership will allow merchants that use MoneyNetINT’s innovative platform to attract JCB’s 106 million card members in Asia and worldwide to their websites and generate new sales. This deal forms part of JCB’s strategy to increase its acceptance footprint across Europe by partnering with disruptive payment service providers (PSPs) to accommodate the growing Asian e-commerce market potential. Systems integration will begin during Q4’17, ready to go live during Q1’18. Via finextra.com
First Data Powers Cross-Border Commerce
First Data is announcing news of its First Data Local Payments solution. This allows a merchant to manage a range of online payment methods via a singular interface and collection model.
“Today, 57 percent of global consumers shop across international borders, and separate reports have indicated that as many as half of these people may end a sale if their payment choice is not offered,” said Shane Fitzpatrick, global head of e-commerce at First Data.
Through First Data Local Payments, merchants will be able to accept online payments from just about anyone, anywhere who wants their goods or services, regardless of whether that person has a bank account. That’s key because so many people around the world lack access to banking resources, even at the same time that digital commerce is starting to reach those markets.
When fully implemented, the solution will support 195 local payment options, including direct debit, e-wallets, real-time online banking and electronic cash. It will remove the barriers of trust and security concerns, cultural preferences, technological limitations and political restrictions. Via pymnts.com
The Buyers: UK Shoppers’ e-commerce Habits
As we reported back in January, the UK’s e-commerce sales have seen a significant year-over-year increase. Between 2015 and 2016, UK e-commerce sales saw a nearly 16% increase from £114.75 billion ($147 billion) all the way up to £133 billion ($170.4 billion). Stemming from Interactive Media in Retail Group’s research, e-commerce sales in the U.K. are set to see a 14% increase by the end of this year.
The drivers of the UK shopper’s increased interest in online purchases seems to be twofold — cashless purchases and smartphone payments.
Initially, people in the UK have doubled the amount of cashless payments within the past decade due to the increased use of debit and credit cards, according to the UK Cards Association (UKCA) research we shared last week. From 2006 at 6.7 billion purchases to 2016 at 16.4 billion, UK citizens are spending less physical cash and moving their buying efforts to the online world.
Helping to drive those purchases is the increased popularity of shoppers in the UK turning to the online arena and cashless options. UKCA research showed 39% of all its retail buying occurred through e-commerce and cashless payments up from 24% the prior year. Via pymnts.com
Yoyo Wallet raises £12 million to expand across Europe
Yoyo Wallet, an app that allows shoppers to make payments and earn loyalty rewards, has raised £12 million ($15.38 million), bringing total investment in the UK startup to around £24 million.
The latest series B round, announced on Monday, was led by German wholesale and food retail giant Metro Group, asset management company Woodford Investment Management, and tech investor Touchstone Innovations. It is still subject to FCA approval.
Founded in 2013 and launched a year later, Yoyo operates in an increasingly crowded field of mobile apps that lets users pay for items with their smartphones. It also competes with Apple and Google, who have developed their own payment apps. Yoyo started out by targeting students on university campuses across the UK through its smartphone app but it now targets employees working on large corporate campuses and people on the high street. Via businessinsider.com
Apple Pay Coming to Quiznos, Smashburger, and Other Restaurants With Integrated Loyalty Program
Punchh today announced that Quiznos, Smashburger, MOD Pizza, and select other restaurant brands in the United States will soon accept Apple Pay integrated with its cloud-based loyalty program for customers.
At participating restaurants, Apple Pay users will supposedly receive a push notification at checkout prompting them to add the restaurant’s loyalty program to Apple’s Wallet app. Once added, customers will automatically begin earning points and receiving specialized offers, which can be redeemed during future visits.
A spokesperson for Punchh said existing members of a restaurant’s loyalty program can add it to their Apple Wallet as an NFC pass. When a customer taps on the push notification, she will be presented with a form with pre-populated enrollment data, and can immediately enroll, according to Punchh. The customer can also opt-in to automatically select the “card” next time, and receive the pass in the Wallet app on iPhone. Via macrumors.com
Singapore to Let Banks Invest in Digital Platforms, E-Commerce
Singapore regulators have proposed rules that will make it easier for banks to conduct or invest in non-financial businesses such as e-commerce and digital-payment platforms, helping them to better compete with non-bank firms in these areas, Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said Tuesday.
Under the proposals, lenders will no longer need regulatory approval to invest in such businesses, Heng told the annual bankers’ dinner. The Monetary Authority of Singapore will cap the investment to 10 percent of the bank’s capital funds, the regulator said in a statement accompanying Heng’s speech.
“Banks are facing increasing competition from online and non-financial players that have leveraged their large user base to provide digital wallets, payments and remittance services,” Heng said. How the city-state navigates the urgency for innovation, while maintaining the safety and soundness of its financial sector “will be crucial to our future,” he said. Via bloomberg.com
From Paytm and Hike to Jio Money and ItzCash: There are too many e-wallets in India and most are near-empty
While the Indian e-wallet industry’s size stood at an estimated Rs154 crore ($23 million) in 2015-16, it is expected to zoom to Rs30,000 crore ($4.51 billion) by the end of 2021-22. And everyone, from financial technology companies to banks to the government-backed National Payments Corporation of India, is scrambling for a share of that pie.
Recently, even some non-banking players joined the party, the latest entrant being Hike, the messaging app backed by Bharti SoftBank. Popular messaging app WhatsApp, too, is taking the plunge. Then there is the Swedish communications app, Truecaller, which, in March, launched a mobile payment service within its app for Indian Android users. And finally, Amazon, too, is set to bring out its e-wallet in the country.
While in November 2016 there were approximately 100 million e-wallet consumers in India, the number has shot up since then, not the least because of demonetization. Market leader Paytm alone had over 200 million users by the end of March this year. The table below names the prominent industry players, according to the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, a financial inclusion scheme of the Narendra Modi government. Via qz.com
Now, Pay Through Your Watch at Delhi Metro
New Delhi: Delhi Metro commuters will now be able to wear their smart cards on wrists as DMRC has allowed the use of wrist watches launched by Austrian company LAKS to make payments at the gates.
“These watches (called Watch2Pay) are available through an online e-commerce site. The new facility is expected to provide the commuters a more convenient and fast access to the Delhi Metro network. The commuter will simply have to touch the wrist watch to the screens of the AFC (Automatic Fare Collection) gates at the metro stations to get access,” said a Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) statement.
The watch will carry a SIM card inside it, which can be removed and reinserted whenever the user wants, like in case when he or she wishes to change the watch. The SIM-equipped watch can be recharged also like any usual metro smart-card over the counter or through recharge card terminals, a DMRC official told IANS. Via profit.ndtv.com
Amazon India aims to launch its own digital payments platform soon
Amazon India is looking forward to launch its own digital payments platform in India soon. The global e-commerce giant has also reportedly got the required nod from the Reserve Bank of India. It had applied for prepaid payment instrument (PPI) license over a year ago and received approval for the same in April this year.
According to a report on LiveMint, Amit Agarwal who heads operations at Amazon India says that the company has observed a spike in spending done by existing base of Amazon Prime members. Orders made from the company’s Amazon Prime paid members have doubled since the beginning of the year. He outlined that out of all the Prime orders made on the e-commerce platform 50 percent of these orders are made by buyers in tier-II and tier-III cities of India.
This has notably given a push to Amazon’s plans to launch their independent payment solutions service which will be different from its existing Pay Balance service. Although the e-commerce giant is keeping their plans secretive for now, it is said that the payments service will not be limited to Amazon based transactions. Via bgr.in
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