The Top Payments News Stories in March 2018

Lot’s of payments news stories flying about this month. Unsurprisingly Open Banking is hitting the headlines, a focus on fintech in the UK, innovation and talk of the Kodak moment in financial services. Check out the following top payments news stories for March 2018:

1. Payments News – Cyber Security

  • Equifax to notify another 2.4 million US customers that they were affected by the hack
  • UK Finance shine a light on payment fraud in the UK, highlighting £236 million was lost through authorised push payment scams (APP or authorised bank transfer scams)
  • Mastermind behind the Carbanak and Cobalt malware attacks responsible for €1 billion bank robbery is arrested
  • Swiss watchdog Finma reports that cyber attacks pose the biggest risk for banks in 2018

2. Payments News – Mobile Payments

  • WorldPay analysis indicates that mobile payments are reaching a tipping point
  • MasterCard and the Co-op trial an app that allows shoppers to shop-scan and go by paying in the aisle
  • Telenor Group partners with Ant Financial to enable mobile payments and digital financial services in Pakistan
  • Nordea launches contactless payments for Fitbit and Garmin smartwatches
  • Barlays – bPay partners with 7 watch brands to deliver contactless payments
  • Wagamama launches “walk out and pay” with Mastercard

3. Payments News: Blockchain / Digital / Crypto-currencies

  • Credit Suisse and ING complete a security lending transaction using R3’s Corda blockchain platform
  • Fleetcor and Ripple partner to modernise payments using blockchain
  • ‘Japan Bank Consortium’ to launch a mobile app “MoneyTap” which uses Ripple to settle transactions instantly 24-7
  • US Judge says cryptocurrencies are commodities
  • Coinbase through Barclays gets access to UK’s Faster Payments Scheme
  • Financial Stability Board (FSB) publishes letter to G20 setting out the FSB’s priorities, and the need for strong and sustainable growth
  • Swiss based Saga Foundation looks to launch non-anonymous, reserve backed, blockchain based digital currency
  • China’s central bank governor talks of the development of a digital currency as “inevitable”

4. Payments News: Banks

  • RFi Group research shows digital banks are losing appeal over globally
  • Deutsche Bank is on Instagram
  • BBVA embarks on “invisible payments” strategy
  • Bank of America enables its customers to add their credit/debit cards to their Paypal account through the BofA app
  • HSBC partners with Paypal to allow corporate customers to make payments to beneficiaries with PayPal accounts
  • Barclays online and mobile banking services will be unavailable Saturday 23:30 – Sunday 15:30 in order to meet regulatory requirements

5. Payments News: Fintech

  • WSJ reports that Amazon talking to other major US banks with a view to creating a checking account
  • Fintech firm TrueLayer links up with Starling Bank to access account data at held by Starling Bank via a secure API
  • Revolut introduces Euro direct debits
  • Bank of England to establish a Fintech Hub
  • Uber Technologies has applied to the Dutch Central Bank for a European Payments processing license
Thanks for stopping by – Take a look around…!!

6. Payments News: Europe – SEPA, PSD2, Open Banking

Thanks for stopping by – Take a look around…!!

7. Payments News: SWIFT

8. Payments News: Reports

 

That’s it folks! Let me know below if I missed anything important…

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