What's New in Payments

MUFG teams up with Akamai to launch blockchain payments network

MUFG and Akamai to launch Global Open Network Inc joint venture — Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group — “The new company will utilize MUFG’s presence in the payment business and Akamai’s intelligent edge platform, which offers world-class speed and security, with the aim of providing an open payment network in Japan based on new blockchain technology by the first half of 2020.”


What's New in Payments

SoftBank to enter Japanese mobile payments market with Paytm technology and three years’ free processing offer

SoftBank and Yahoo Japan JV to launch ‘PayPay’, barcode-based smartphone payment services in collaboration with India’s Paytm in the fall — SoftBank — “PayPay Corporation, a joint venture established by SoftBank Corp and Yahoo Japan Corporation, today announced that the company will launch ‘PayPay’ smartphone payment services using barcodes (QR code) in fall 2018. PayPay Corporation will team up with India’s largest digital payment company Paytm, a SoftBank Vision Fund portfolio company, to utilize Paytm’s technology and expertise in mobile payments… The service will be free to affiliate stores for the first three years from its launch.”


Nordic banks announce KYC joint venture plans

Nordic banks to explore common KYC joint venture — SEB — “Leading Nordic banks DNB Bank, Danske Bank, Nordea Bank, Svenska Handelsbanken and Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken have decided to explore the possible establishment of a Nordic Know Your Customer (KYC) infrastructure… The banks intend to set up a joint venture, Nordic KYC Utility… The company will be owned and controlled by the founding banks, however, the plan is that the company will also offer its services to third parties.”


US carriers set out joint mobile authentication platform plans

AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon unveil next-generation mobile authentication platform details — AT&T — “This highly secure solution will deliver a cryptographically verified phone number and profile data for users of authorized applications with their consent. Authentication security is strengthened by processing unique attributes such as a network verified mobile number, IP address, SIM card attributes, phone number tenure, phone account type and more. In addition, advanced analytics and machine learning capabilities will be used to help assess risk and protect customers. Registered developers will be able to submit applications through a system using private and permissioned blockchain technology to help ensure application integrity.”


What's New in Payments

Japan’s major banks to launch QR mobile payments platform

Japanese megabanks team up on mobile payments — Nikkei Asian Review — “Japan’s three megabanks are working together to standardize a smartphone payment system using QR codes… The three banks are also looking at establishing a jointly financed company to oversee the system. Other large banks and smaller regional banks will be invited to join.”


Ant Financial gets central bank approval to launch mobile wallet JV in Malaysia

Touch ’n Go, Ant Financial get nod for e-wallet services — The Star — “Touch ’n Go Sdn Bhd (TNG) and partner Ant Financial Services Group have obtained Bank Negara’s approval to operate and offer mobile e-wallet services… The mobile e-wallet will be operated by TNG Digital Sdn Bhd, the joint-venture company between TNG and Ant Financial… TNG also expects its current users who are predominantly toll, transit and parking users to quickly sign on to enjoy the expanded services.”


What's New in Payments

Alipay pushes into Hong Kong, India, Thailand and the Philippines with Christmas shopping festival

Alipay to hold online 24-hour Christmas shopping festival as part of expansion push — South China Morning Post — “The event will take place in Hong Kong, India, Thailand and the Philippines with Alipay partners in each location: Hutchison in Hong Kong, Paytm in India, Truemoney in Thailand and GCash in the Philippines… As part of the December event, the AlipayHK joint venture has partnered with more than 8,000 bricks-and-mortar stores to offer exclusive gifts, discounts and rewards.”


What's New in Payments

Norwegian banks to form joint venture in bid to combat threat of global tech giants

Norwegian banks to combine payment units Vipps, BankAxept, BankID — Reuters — “Norwegian banks agree to combine payment units Vipps, BankAxept and BankID Norge to improve product offering and prepare for competition against global tech firms… DNB CEO Rune Bjerke said: “We have two choices. Either let the existing payments infrastructure wither away, or join forces and push forward.”


What's New in Payments

Australian banks form digital payments joint venture

NAB, Westpac and CBA team up with new payments app, Beem — The Sydney Morning Herald — “Three of the country’s banking giants are joining forces to allow instant payments between people or to small businesses via a smartphone, with plans to ultimately roll out a cross-industry ‘digital wallet’… The app will be the first service offered by a new digital payments joint venture that has been formed between CBA, NAB and Westpac… ANZ is not part of the joint venture but it has been involved in some of the discussions with rivals, and it may sign up in the future.”


What's New in Payments

Ant Financial signs mobile wallet joint venture deal in Hong Kong

CK Hutchison and Ant Financial form strategic partnership to provide digital financial inclusive services in Hong Kong — CK Hutchison — “The two companies will form a joint venture to offer a consumer-oriented digital wallet under the ‘AlipayHK’ brand… CK Hutchison Group and its affiliated companies’ consumer networks have over 124m retail loyalty members and over 123m telecom and 35m utility customers… The joint venture is expected to be completed by the end of 2017, subject to regulatory approval.”


Transit Ticketing Today

French joint venture to deploy NFC mobile ticketing

SNCF

A joint venture has been established in France with the aim of bringing an NFC mobile ticketing solution to the market in 2017. Public transport operator RATP, mobile network operator Orange, digital security giant Gemalto and railway company SNCF each hold a 25% stake in Wizway Solutions, which remains open to other operators and carriers. More


What's New in Payments

Swipp contactless payment opens up to 30,000 Danish merchants through Verifone deal

Swipp

More than 30,000 Danish merchants using Verifone POS devices will now be able to accept in-store mobile payments through Swipp — a service owned and supported by a consortium of more than 70 banks. This will be made possible via a “minor upgrade” to their existing terminals and “a number” of locations are expected to go live from December 2015, according to Swipp. More



NFC World

Joint venture to develop painless diabetes monitoring with NFC

A phone shows a patient's glucose level

A new joint venture that includes the US-based Mayo Clinic and Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute is developing an NFC-based diabetes monitoring system to replace the traditional glucometers that are currently used to monitor patients’ blood sugar levels. The system will also use phones to control insulin delivery, using disposable NFC insulin delivery systems. More