January 2018, big month! Open Banking came to Europe, and while things were relatively quiet, in years to come I am sure we will all reflect back on Jan-2018 as the month where it all started. Fintech and blockchain announcements continue to catch my eye, as do the reports of the month. Check out the following top payments news stories for January 2018:
1. Payments News – Cyber Security
- Fingerprint recognition, developed by Gemalto, will replace a PIN for Bank of Cyprus cardholders
- Mastercard Identity Check will enable customers to use biometrics (e.g. fingerprints and facial recognition) to identify themselves from April 2019
2. Payments News – Mobile Payments
- Google merge Android Pay and Google Wallet to form Google Pay
- TransferWise launches borderless accounts and associated debit card
- Visa Checkout reaches 1 million customers in the UK
3. Payments News: Blockchain / Digital / Crypto-currencies
- Yves Mersch, ECB Executive Board member, weighs in on cryptocurrencies
- Ripple rockets following links with MoneyGram, who will use xRapid to speed up and reduce the cost of payments
- Kodak rockets following blockchain business reports
- BNP Paribas Asset Management successfully complete blockchain based end to end fund transaction test
- Crypto currency mining increases electricity consumption and increases strain on electric grids
- Warren Buffet and Jamie Dimon weigh in on cryptocurrencies
- Alfa Bank (Russia) partners with HashCash Network to establish a blockchain based domestic payments ecosystem
- Envision IP reveal that Bank of America (BofA) lead blockchain patents
- Global payment providers IDT and MercuryFX to pilot Ripple’s xRapid to settle remittances and corporate transactions
- Cambridge Blockchain partners with IHS Markit to facilitate collection and management of KYC data
4. Payments News: Banks
- Standard Chartered establishes SC Ventures to invest in Fintech and promote innovation
- Citi Ventures launches Cupid (Citi University Partnerships in Innovation & Discovery) to tap university student innovation
- Danske Bank will enable their users to view payment and account data from other providers in Danske Mobile Banking
- JPMorgan to open up to 400 branches in the US
- Deutsche Bank joins the World Economic Forum’s Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution
5. Payments News: Fintech
- The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”) rejects the proposed merger between MoneyGram & Ant Financial
- London leads European cities for Fintech funding in 2017
- China Securities Regulatory Commission Vice Chairman Jiang Yan talks Fintech
- Motive Partners launches Motive Labs – a membership only innovation and investment organisation
- Nets will deliver an instant payments infrastructure in Hungary
6. Payments News: Europe – SEPA, PSD2, MiFiD 2
- MiFiD II goes lives on 3rd January, 2018
- PSD2 and with it Open Banking goes live on 13th January, 2018
7. Payments News: SWIFT
- SWIFT and 7 Central Securities Depositories (CSD) to work together on a distributed ledger technology solutions for post trade
8. Payments News: Reports
- Facebook founder and chief, Mark Zuckerberg, outlines his challenges for 2018
- Federal Reserve (FR) Bank of Boston – Mobile Banking and Payment Practices of U.S. Financial Institutions
- World Federation of Exchanges: FinTech in the Market Infrastructure Space
- EY – Global Banking Outlook 2018
That’s it folks! Let me know below if I missed anything important…