Feb. 11, 2019

SendFriend, a New York-based blockchain startup specializing in international money transfer to the Philippines, has raised $1.7 million in pre-seed funding from a group led by MIT Media Lab, Mastercard Foundation, Ripple and Barclays.

Other investors include Techstars, Mahindra Finance, 2020 Ventures and 8 Decimal Capital.

The blockchain-based platform, set to launch service from New Jersey and expand to other U.S. states, will allow customers, mostly overseas Filipino workers, to transfer funds back home for about 65 percent less than what is currently on the market, according to David Lighton, co-founder and CEO.

He said the market opportunity is huge, with more than $34 billion in inflows, yet 80 percent of the fund transfer market is offline, despite a large percentage of unbanked consumers that use mobile phones.

"Our service is different from what’s available, because we are the only company there to leverage a blockchain technology in a commercial, regulatory compliant way," he told Mobile Payments Today via email. "Our service enables real-time payments, with a mere 2.5 percent price tag, while the next cheapest thing is about 4 percent and requires the customer to wait three to five days, unless they choose to pay a premium for instant service."

SendFriend is working with Ripple as its strategic partner on the funds transfer service, he added. Ripple’s XRapid service allows money to be transferred in real time across the globe.

Lighton decided to launch the company after working for the World Bank in Haiti after the deadly 2010 earthquake. He co-authored the National Financial Inclusion Strategy for the country, which involved how to deal with payments and remittances.

The company went through the Barclays Accelerator Program and founded at MIT, where Lighton got his MBA. The company got an MIT Legatum Fellowship and MIT Translational Innovation Alliance Award, leading to about $450,000 in cash grants and in-kind awards to help launch the firm.

Topics: Bitcoin, Money Transfer / P2P, Region: APAC

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Feb. 11, 2019

ACI Worldwide has acquired the technology assets of RevChip, a firm that provides software for Apple Pay, and TranSend, an affiliated data migration firm, according to company officials.

ACI plans to launch a service, in connection with the acquisition, that gives retailers a cloud-based ominchannel solution featuring an deeper integrated suite of point-of-sale and payments technology.

ACI Worldwide had been working with RevChip, and TranSend for months under a joint marketing agreement.

"With this acquisition and new capabilities, we will be able to address a need for existing and prospective merchant clients," Sanjay Gupta, executive vice president, ACI Worldwide, told Mobile Payments Today in an email. "The new omnichannel capabilities will supplement the existing strong capabilities of ACI's Up Merchant Payments platform."

The agreement allows merchants to offer in-store mobile checkout.

Topics: In-App Payments, Mobile/Digital Wallet, POS, Retail

Companies: ACI Worldwide

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Feb. 11, 2019

Health Care Services Corp. and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Institute are launching a six-month pilot program, called foodQ, for healthy meal delivery to food deserts in Chicago and Dallas.

The program helps consumers buy healthy, affordable meals in certain zip codes, where HCSC provides coverage, and where consumers lack access to affordable fresh foods, according to a press release.

Consumers can sign up for $10 monthly subscription plans, which include free delivery of a buy-one-get-one free meal. Non subscribers can pay $10 per meal, plus a $6 delivery fee.

The launch began in 25 zip codes in Chicago and will be offered in 15 zip codes in Dallas in April. The BCBS Institute developed a mobile-optimized site for the program, selected zip codes using data on social and environmental factors and established relationships with the Kitchfix in Chicago and the Front Porch Pantry in Dallas to prepare and deliver meals.

"Food deserts are one of the key social determinants of health, impacting millions of Americans," said Manika Turnbull, HCSC vice president and community health and economic impact officer, in the release. "With this program we are meeting people where they live to provide access, affordable pricing and education than can influence healthy behaviors, reduce health disparities and improve their quality of life."

Dr. Trent Haywood, BCBS Institute president, said high rates of obesity and diabetes need to be addressed through alternative means, including improving diet and other measures, to reduce hospitalization.

Users can enter lunch and dinner selections into the mobile-optimized foodQ website, as well as payment information, and time and date of delivery. The order is confirmed with a text message and participants will be notified when meals are en route and delivered.

Participants will be surveyed during the pilot period to measure how well the meal service correlates with reduced emergency room visits and hospital stays.

Health Care Services Corp., is the nation’s largest customer owned insurer, and nation’s fourth-largest overall, with 16 million members.

Topics: Mobile Payments, Restaurants

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Feb. 11, 2019

SendFriend, a New York-based blockchain startup specializing in international money transfer to the Philippines, has raised $1.7 million in pre-seed funding from a group led by MIT Media Lab, Ripple and Barclays.

Other investors include Techstars, Mahindra Finance, 2020 Ventures and 8 Decimal Capital.

The blockchain-based platform, set to launch service from New Jersey and expand to other U.S. states, will allow customers, mostly overseas Filipino workers, to transfer funds back home for about 65 percent less than what is currently on the market, according to David Lighton, co-founder and CEO.

He said the market opportunity is huge, with more than $34 billion in inflows, yet 80 percent of the fund transfer market is offline, despite a large percentage of unbanked consumers that use mobile phones.

"Our service is different from what’s available, because we are the only company there to leverage a blockchain technology in a commercial, regulatory compliant way," he told Mobile Payments Today via email. "Our service enables real-time payments, with a mere 2.5 percent price tag, while the next cheapest thing is about 4 percent and requires the customer to wait three to five days, unless they choose to pay a premium for instant service."

SendFriend is working with Ripple as its strategic partner on the funds transfer service, he added. Ripple’s XRapid service allows money to be transferred in real time across the globe.

Lighton decided to launch the company after working for the World Bank in Haiti after the deadly 2010 earthquake. He co-authored the National Financial Inclusion Strategy for the country, which involved how to deal with payments and remittances.

The company went through the Barclays Accelerator Program and founded at MIT, where Lighton got his MBA. The company got an MIT Legatum Fellowship and MIT Translational Innovation Alliance Award, leading to about $450,000 in cash grants and in-kind awards to help launch the firm.

Topics: Bitcoin, Money Transfer / P2P, Region: APAC

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Feb. 11, 2019

Monzo, a London-based digital bank, plans to test a limited number of business accounts as part of a wider strategy to expand beyond its base of mobile-based personal account customers.

Monzo will limit the test to a trial group of 100 sole traders and limited companies, and has also set up a waiting list, according to a blog postfrom Jordan Shwide, an operations analyst at the company.

"We're taking our very first steps towards business accounts with a small test for 100 businesses," the company said in a post that Monzo CEO Tom Blomfield retweeted.

Blomfield last month asked customers via Twitter to share the one thing they wanted that would make Monzo more valuable in 2019. The overwhelming response was to offer accounts for small and medium sized businesses.

The company spent the past month talking to business owners and communicating with customers over the bank's community forum. The feedback was that it is too difficult to open account and that traditional fees for business customers were too hard to understand, according to the blog post.

The business account holders will be able to pay others and get paid more quickly, manage funds and keep track of budgets and expenses, according to the blog post.

Monzo applied for funds in the Alternative Remedies Package, which consisted $900 million set aside by Royal Bank of Scotland that it received from the U.K. government after the global financial crisis. The funds were designed to help smaller banks and fintechs generate additional small business customers to make sure RBS didn’t maintain control over many customers for themselves.

Some of the funds, under a program called the Incentivized Switching Scheme, will allow SME customers to switch from RBS to Monzo, and qualify for a switching bonus in the process. Monzo is still working on its application for its Capability and Innovation Fund, which is also part of the ARP program, which will help it build further small business capabilities.

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Topics: Mobile Banking, Region: EMEA, Regulatory Issues

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