Asia

Just as Silicon Valley companies are happy to supply their employees with millions of dollars in free meals and snacks at the office to supplement incomes, many Chinese companies are similarly, indirectly liberal outside the office, around expenses, writes Josh Anish, director of marketing at AppZen.

Visa CEO Alfred Kelly said the company's earnings, though solid, could suffer if if politicians in Washington and London don’t resolve their biggest issues.

Mastercard is making another run at getting a license to operate in China, though China's changing regulatory posture has created skepticism about its willingness to open its market.

Even though American Express received pre-approval to provide transaction settlement services in China more than a year ago, it is playing the waiting game to get those wheels in motion amid a fiery political climate.

Local payment methods cater to the technology and user-experience needs of specific regions, says Steve Villegas, vice president of partner management at PPRO.

India’s ICICI Bank is rolling out a loyalty program for consumers who regularly send remittances to India via the bank’s Money2India online platform and app.

The Chinese government is not formally considering Visa and Mastercard’s year-old application to process payments inside China, another signal of China’s almost constantly changing regulatory posture toward the American card brands.

As the payment industry continues to innovate and expand across borders, it increasingly will need to be mindful of data regulations requiring data localization that multiply the complexities and cost of creating a seamless data flow and user experience, Alston & Bird’s Richard Willis and Laura K. Song write.

British payments technology company Moorwand is offering the first UnionPay prepaid cards in the U.K. on its UPayCard branded prepaid platform, with a larger roll-out planned for consumers and corporations during the first quarter of 2019.

Dynamics has launched an interactive credit card with India's IndusInd Bank that allows consumers to choose between three different funding sources when making purchases: credit, points and installment payments.