Jack Ma’s Ant Financial to raise $9bn, become world’s biggest unicorn — Wall Street Journal — “Chinese billionaire Jack Ma’s financial technology business is about to vault into the ranks of the world’s most valuable companies. Ant Financial Services Group, carved out of his e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd seven years ago, is preparing to raise US$9bn in a private funding round, according to people familiar with the matter. That ups a previous fundraising target of US$5bn.”
PayPal makes a move toward traditional banking — Wall Street Journal — “The San Jose, Calif-based payments company has been quietly reaching out to groups of customers in recent months with an offer to add basic banking features to their PayPal digital wallet. The features include Federal Deposit Insurance Corp insurance for their balances, a debit card that can be used to withdraw cash at ATMs and the ability to direct-deposit their paychecks.”
iPhone users are pestered to enroll in Apple Pay — Wall Street Journal — “Apple Inc is nagging iPhone users to enroll in its mobile payment service with a persistent red-circle badge. The strategy has worked with some, but is irritating others who say it is heavy-handed and exploits the tech giant’s clout in ways that could disadvantage rivals… Users who opt not to input credit card information for Apple Pay when setting up their phones now constantly see the red circle over their settings icon.”
Are you ready for an Amazon-branded checking account? — Wall Street Journal — “Amazon.com Inc is in talks with big banks including JPMorgan Chase about building a checking-account-like product the e-commerce giant could offer its customers, according to people familiar with the matter… Converting its shoppers into financial account holders could also aid Amazon as it ramps up its efforts in payments… The company is now trying to bring Amazon Pay to brick-and-mortar stores, according to people familiar with those plans. It is likely to begin with Whole Foods, which Amazon bought last year for roughly US$13.5bn.”
India’s top payment app has eyes on US market — Wall Street Journal — “India’s largest mobile payment app — backed by the likes of China’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp — has its eye on the US, its founder said. Speaking at The Wall Street Journal’s D.Live Singapore event, Paytm founder and chief executive Vijay Shekhar Sharma said his aim is to expand into developed markets, also including Japan and Europe.”
Consumers with Amazon Echo or Google Home could use the virtual assistant devices to make or receive phone calls later this year, the Wall Street Journal reports... More
Samsung is considering adding a dedicated button for an improved artificial intelligence feature for its next flagship smartphone, the Wall Street Journal reports... More
Early Warning’s bank-led digital payments network ClearXChange is set to change its name to Zelle... More
Alipay customers will soon be able to make mobile payments at Ingenico point of sale terminals across Europe, according to the Wall Street Journal... More
US supermarket chain Kroger has filed a lawsuit against Visa for allowing customers to verify EMV purchases with a signature instead of a PIN... More
Amazon is to announce that it is adding “dozens of new brands” to its Dash push-button ordering devices despite “evidence that consumers are cool to them”, The Wall Street Journal reports... More
Handset maker Huawei has partnered with bank card association China UnionPay for the roll out of Huawei Pay, an NFC-based mobile payment service that makes use of tokenization technology and is expected to be available on a wide range of Huawei handsets. More
Luxury watchmaker Swatch will focus its smartwatch activities on its plastic Swatch brand before considering the technology for its pricier models... More
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
Apple is planning to launch Apple Pay in China by 8 February 2016, according to the Wall Street Journal... More
Apple is reportedly holding discussions with US banks about developing a payment service that would let users send money to one another from their phones through Apple Pay... More
Mobile payments consortium MCX will test its CurrentC mobile wallet in Columbus, Ohio, in the coming weeks, The Wall Street Journal reports... More
A second version of Google Glass is in the works and will be “released soon”, according to the CEO of Italian eyewear maker Luxottica... More
McDonald’s is to begin piloting a mobile ordering and payment service in China in the third quarter of this year, with the aim of speeding payments and to meet consumer demand... More
Google won’t earn any transaction fees from credit card issuers for Android Pay, unlike Apple which receives 0.15% of the value of each credit card transaction made with Apple Pay, sources have told The Wall Street Journal.“That is because Visa and MasterCard recently standardised their tokenization card-security service and made it free, preventing payments services from charging fees to issuers,” the newspaper reports... More
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