PARTNER NEWS: HCE and NFC mobile payment platform provider Dejamobile has raised €2.5m from Newfund and from François Enaud, former chairman and CEO of the Steria Group... More
Investment
Retailers ready to pay more for payments services that add value
Majority of EMEA retailers plan to increase investment in payments — ACI Worldwide — “55% of retailers and merchants in the EMEA region are planning to increase their investment into new payment capabilities in the next 18 to 24 months… 66% say they are willing to pay more for a broader range of payment services if they add value to their business. 89% say they would expect increased operational efficiency and 88% enhanced customer experience from their investment.”
USA Technologies files for proposed public offering
USA Technologies files for proposed public offering — PARTNER NEWS — “USA Technologies Inc (USAT), a premier payment technology service provider of integrated cashless and mobile transactions in the self-service retail market, today filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed underwritten public offering of its common stock consisting of approximately $34.5 million of shares to be sold by USAT.”
MTS adds NFC mobile payments, offers and loyalty to Money Wallet
Customers of Russian mobile network operator MTS can now make NFC-based mobile payments and access loyalty points and exclusive offers using an updated version of the carrier’s MTS Money Wallet, which made its debut in February 2017... More
Paytm raises $1.4 billion from SoftBank to expand user base
Paytm raises $1.4 billion from SoftBank to expand user base — Bloomberg — “The funding into One97 Communications, which operates the Paytm brand, will help the startup expand its user base of 220 million and build a large offering of financial services products… Alibaba and its payments affiliate Ant Financial held a 40 percent stake in One97 before this investment.”
Dynamics CEO shares details on how LG Pay will work with magnetic stripe card terminals
The Wireless Magnetic Communication technology being used for LG’s mobile payment service will allow consumers to pay with their phones in more places without having to change any of the point of sale terminals or re-educate merchants, technology provider Dynamics’ CEO has told NFC World. More
UK sees 250% rise in NFC mobile payments in stores
The number of mobile transactions as a percentage of all in-store transactions has grown by 247% in the UK over the last year, analysis of transaction data and a consumer survey conducted by payments processor Worldpay has found. Workers paying for lunch on the go and payments for drinks in bars are the main drivers of the increase in transaction volume. More
India’s Mobikwik aims to triple user base in 2017
Indian mobile wallet MobiKwik is to invest Rs 3bn (US$45m) to triple its user base and raise the total volume of transactions on its platform to $10bn in 2017, The Times of India reports... More
R3 investment details take shape
Blockchain consortium R3 has reduced the amount it aims to raise from bank members in its first large round of equity funding to US$150m from US$200m, Reuters reports... More
Citi launches global API Developer Hub
Citi has launched a global API Developer Hub to give developers access to APIs across eight usage categories including account management, peer-to-peer payments, money transfer to institutions, Citi rewards, investment purchases and account authorisation... More
Brain biometrics study gets $900,000 grant
Binghamton University in the US has been awarded US$900,000 to continue investigations into the next-generation of brain biometric technology... More
Ant Financial invests in Ascend Money
Alipay parent company Ant Financial is investing an undisclosed sum into Thai online payment provider Ascend Money... More
Blockchain NFC start-up focuses on expansion after $10m funding
Canadian payments start-up NanoPay has completed a US$10m Series A funding round... More
Australian banks seek stronger negotiating powers with third party mobile wallet providers
A group of Australian banks have submitted an application to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), urging for the right to ensure they are able to “collectively negotiate” with third party mobile wallet providers. More
Alipay negotiating for stake in Wirecard
Alipay is in negotiations to take a 25% stake in German payments technology provider Wirecard, according to German newspaper Bild... More
Alipay parent company seeks expansion overseas
Alipay parent company Ant Financial is seeking to buy a 20% stake in Thai online payment provider Ascend Money and to increase its stake to 30% at a later date... More
Emirates NBD to launch digital bank for millennials
Emirates NBD has announced plans to launch the UAE’s first digital bank targeted at millennials as part of its commitment to invest AED 500m (US$136m) in “digital innovation and multichannel transformation” over the next three years... More
IoT security spending to reach $348m this year
Worldwide spending on Internet of Things (IoT) security will reach US$348m in 2016, a 23.7% increase from 2015 spending of $281.5m, Gartner predicts... More
Study examines attitudes to contactless payments in the UK, Germany and Spain
More than 90% of British, German and Spanish business leaders interviewed for a survey of attitudes to contactless technology have already invested in contactless projects and expect that 10% of all transactions will be contactless within the next three years, a white paper now available to download from the NFC World+ Knowledge Centre reveals. More
Ant Financial seeks US$3bn in funding
Alipay parent Ant Financial is planning to raise up to 20bn yuan (US$3.1bn) in its current funding round at a valuation of more than $50bn, according to The Wall Street Journal... More