The information you need to start your day, from PaymentsSource and around the Web:
France's Zelle
Paylib, a French mobile wallet backed by a network of French banks, is ready to introduce P2P payments triggered by the users' phone numbers, a model similar to the bank-operated
The Paylib app has about 1.2 million users, and BNP Paribas will be the first bank to introduce the mobile number transfer feature, reports
Credit Mutuel-CIC is in discussions to join the network, which would cover 90% of the French consumer market, according to Finextra.
Bank robbery
Hackers have stolen more than $15 million from Mexican banks by creating payments orders for phony accounts at other banks, reports
Mexican authorities were able to halt some of the transfers, though these same authorities say it's uncertain if the attacks have stopped, suggesting further exposure in the coming days. It's still unclear how many banks are involved.
Alejandro Diaz de Leon, Mexico's central bank governor, said the attack on the bank payment systems is the largest in the country's history.
African payment app draws funds for expansion
The Rise Fund will acquire a stake in Cellulant, a digital payment provider that has 40 million users in 11 African countries.
The value is $47.5 million, one of the largest African fintech deals to date, and will increase Cellulant's ability to collaborate with banks, governments and mobile network operators. It's the first fintech investment for The Rise Fund, which is part of the private equity firm TPG Growth.
Cellulant launched in Kenya and Nigeria in 2004, and has since expanded to other countries such as Zambia, Ghana and Liberia.
WeChat reaches Singapore hotels
China's
Millennium's six Singapore properties will support WeChat Pay for accommodations and dining, reports
The news site reports 2.7 million travelers from China visited Singapore in the first ten months of 2017, representing almost 20% of all arrivals.
From the Web
Reuters | Tue May 15, 2018 - Worldline’s $2.75 billion deal to buy the payments unit of Swiss exchange operator SIX Group, announced on Tuesday, could herald more consolidation in the industry, SIX’s chairman told Reuters. France’s Worldline beat competition from U.S. bidders to land the SIX business, reflecting a drive by financial sector companies to gain scale to benefit from the shift towards electronic and online payments.
South China Morning Post | Tue May 15, 2018 - Ant Financial, Alibaba Group’s financial arm, will drastically reduce the amount of money that investors can withdraw each day from its money market fund, in a move it said was taken of its own accord to manage liquidity risk. Yu’e Bao is the world’s largest money market fund, accumulating US$266 billion in assets by the end of the first quarter by allowing millions of Alipay users to stash their idle cash in the fund, with no limits on time frame or a requirement for minimum investment.
Fortune | Tue May 15, 2018 - Coinbase has unveiled a spate of products and services aimed at major players in the financial industry. Tuesday’s announcement, which included a new “white glove” offering called Coinbase Prime, comes as the San Francisco digital currency exchange seeks to entrench its dominant position in an increasingly competitive U.S. cryptocurrency market.
More from PaymentsSource
Despite Canada's high penetration of contactless POS terminals and consumer affinity for the technology, the country has lagged behind nations such as the U.K. and Singapore in contactless payments. That is set to change as Canada's transit schemes launch contactless open-payment systems.
In the battle that’s raged over the last two years to win top-of-wallet status among luxury card users, the only clear winners may be savvy consumers who’ve learned how to game the system.
The Supreme Court has sided with states in a dispute over sports gambling, a double victory for payment processors, which can use largely existing tools to serve an entirely new market.
Plate IQ has integrated its automated accounts payable technology for restaurants with the new Square for Restaurants point-of-sale system.
