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Super Stripe
Stripe has raised $600 million from investors, giving it a "blockbuster" valuation of $95 billion,
This figure is more than double the valuation Stripe achieved after a 2019 fundraising round. “We’re bigger now than the entire e-commerce [market] was when we first started Stripe [in 2010],” Dhivya Suryadevara, Stripe’s chief financial officer, told the Journal.
The most recent funding will help the fintech expand in Europe, where it has recently opened a second headquarters in Dublin.
Mind the app
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority reports fast expansion of the OMNY contactless payment system for New York subways and buses, with about 10% of boardings coming via OMNY, up from 4% a year ago.
The MTA receives about 307,000 taps per day and reached a high of 339,000 March 5. OMNY is on schedule to phase out the Metrocard by 2023. The MTA plans to launch an OMNY-specific mobile app and redesigned website this year and will shortly add fare options beyond the current pay-per-ride setup.
The New York transit system completed its
Stumbling block
The Bank of Thailand has found limitations in the benefits of distributed ledgers for the country's central bank digital currency project.
Pilot tests found commercial benefits for B2B invoice payments, but shortcomings for large transaction volumes and privacy protections, reports
The project was not abandoned, but there will be adjustments in the CBDC rail for supply chain finance. The next large-scale test will focus on digital currency usage for consumer retail payments.
New office
Payments API firm Galileo has opened a Latin American headquarters in anticipation of
The office will be in Mexico City and is the Salt Lake City-based firm's first outside of the U.S. Galileo hopes a local presence will allow it to attract third-party fintech developers.
Work perks
European HR technology firm Perkbox has partnered with buy now/pay later firm Zip to offer point of sale financing for employees of Perkbox's clients. The integration will also support gift card purchases for Perkbox's users.
The 8-year-old Zip operates in the U.S., U.K, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and like many BNPL firms, Zip splits payments over four installments.
The Zip/Perkbox integration will initially be limited to the U.K. though the companies plan to expand in other markets in the coming months.
From the web
REUTERS | Monday, March 15, 2021
India will propose a law banning cryptocurrencies, fining anyone trading in the country or even holding such digital assets, a senior government official told Reuters in a potential blow to millions of investors piling into the red-hot asset class.
9TO5MAC | Sunday, March 14, 2021
Metrolinx has started adding Apple Pay support on Toronto’s Up Express. For the same price as the PRESTO adult fare, UP Express customers can tap on a PRESTO device using Apple Pay with a Visa, Mastercard, or American Express credit card as a part of a pilot.
TECHCRUNCH | March 13, 2021
Spending millions for a digital work of art that could be screenshotted feels similar to traipsing around a strip of concrete as a tourist activity. The optics don’t make immediate sense — there’s hardly any appeal in something as accessible as a Google image or street.
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Canadian financial institutions are preparing for the introduction of real-time payments, but fintechs are uncertain about how they will benefit, as under current regulations, they won’t have direct access to the new rail.
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Simon Hu has unexpectedly resigned as chief executive officer of Ant Group Co., adding fresh turmoil to the financial technology giant as it grapples with Chinese government demands to overhaul its business.
Retailers and restaurateurs, especially small businesses, may be breathing a sigh of relief now that 2020 has ended. But the pandemic is far from over.
EPI could potentially provide a bedrock for future European payments innovation. It arguably does not go far enough, says Icon Solutions' Michel Vaja.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., went after Visa and Mastercard during an antitrust hearing Thursday in Washington, suggesting the card brands have likely been looking for a way to increase fees and offset previous legal or regulatory pressure on their pricing structures.
As the global pandemic sent office workers home, forced businesses to close and imposed a general lockdown on practically everyone, it looked like romance was gone in 2020.
The Federal Reserve payments system has long been a fortress of safe and efficient monetary transfers, benefiting millions of consumers and banks, which only gain access through rigorous and consistent federal oversight.
A person who's in the park walking a dog probably isn't only walking a dog. That person is planning their day, checking finances and checking out sales.
