The information you need to start your day, from PaymentsSource and around the web:
Game of risk
Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski is "deeply worried" about social media promotion of bitcoin and is calling on regulators to protect people from losses.
Siemiatkowski called bitcoin's technology "potentially interesting," but said tweets promoting bitcoin investment could attract consumers who aren't thinking about the risks of investing, reports
Sweden-based Klarna offers buy now/pay later financing, a line of business that is facing
EZrefund
Paytm has launched a feature that's designed to refund inaccurate India FASTag toll payments in near-real time.
The service uses automated dispute management to identify incorrect deductions, mostly due to automated collectors misidentifying vehicles or double charging at toll plazas, according to
Paytm audits complaints compared to toll transaction records and also tracks payment issues at toll plazas. The company contends the manual version of its service resulted in an 82% success rate for drivers.
Bank assets
Ontario-based VersaBank and Stablecorp plan a deposit-based digital currency that will be pegged to the Canadian dollar.
The currency will be issued to financial intermediaries in exchange for Canadian dollar deposits through smart contracts. These partners will offer the currency to consumers and businesses for transactions, with redemption for traditional Canadian dollars available at any time.
The bank hopes the currency, called VCAD, will create low-cost deposits during a period of high loan growth. It's also planning digital currencies in Europe and the U.S.
Charging up
The Secure Technology Alliance has published a
Drivers are required to set up individual accounts with charge point operators, or the entities that process electric vehicle charging. The STA estimates there are at least ten CPOs covering more than 20,000 charging stations in North America.
A combination of chip card, mobile payments and tokenization can form the base of a system that makes charging and payment interoperable, the STA says, adding this technology is already available.
From the web
TECHCRUNCH | Thursday, February 25, 2021
TreeCard, a U.K. yet-to-launch fintech offering a spending card made out of wood and the promise to fund reforesting via the interchange fees generated, has raised $5.1 million in seed funding. The round is led by EQT Ventures, with participation from Seedcamp and Episode 1.
TECHCRUNCH | Thursday, February 25, 2021
Over the years, there has been a growing trend of fintech infrastructure players around the world. In Africa, a handful of startups have launched in the past three years to provide such services. Stitch, a South African fintech startup, is one of them and today, it is coming out of stealth and announcing its seed round of $4 million. This makes it the largest round raised by any API fintech startup in Africa at the moment.
MACRUMORS | Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Apple Pay is likely a few days to a few weeks away from launching in Israel, according to local website The Verifier.
More from PaymentsSource
For many years, PaymentsSource’s Most Influential Women in Payments has been celebrating top-performing senior executives. Now we invite you to take part in a new opportunity to advance the mission of gender parity.
The payments division of Western Union has integrated with the Swift Global Payment Initiative for faster transfers, and has added international currency options.
The shift from cash has boosted digital and called attention to the importance of standards, says EMVCo's Brian Byrne.
Governments are digitizing money, creating a need for banks to provide rails to connect consumers and central banks.
Square, which built its reputation on bringing card acceptance to the small-business masses, has now officially linked its fortunes to bitcoin trading as it delivered 56% of its fourth-quarter revenue.
Capital One Financial has begun to lift borrowing limits for certain customers as it seeks to restart growth in its sprawling credit card business.
For about four hours Wednesday, Federal Reserve systems that execute millions of financial transactions a day — everything from payroll to tax refunds to interbank transfers — were disrupted by what appeared to be some sort of internal glitch.
Though the lower-ticket sales in fast food traditionally weren’t a large fraud magnet, that’s changed as fraud expanded to new channels during the pandemic.
Now is the time for institutions to rise to the challenge to meet the demands of their customers, who for the better part of the year were only able to interact digitally, and open banking can be part of the solution.
Walmart's coupon program in China is a good example of how retailers in that country are matching checkout to other consumer experiences.
The retailer combines WeChat, digital checkout and coupons to reach a wider market, says Azoya's Franklin Chu.
The U.K. got an earlier start on open banking implementations, prompting European merchants and fintechs to turn to payments-as-a-service providers for rapid deployment.
As Dan Henry completes his first year as Green Dot's president and CEO, he warns that the bank's success in 2020 has set it up for greater challenges in 2021.
Much of this technology, such as the Zelle P2P network, is already in place, and the challenge now is to make sure it's visible — and ultimately useful — as customers continue to change the ways they interact with the bank as the pandemic wears on.
About half of U.S. workers received an unexpected financial expense each month for 12 months overlapping most of the COVID-19 pandemic, with many resorting to bouncing checks or payday loans to cover the costs.
