Dec. 28, 2018

This is part 1 of a series looking at the top stories of 2018. Part 2 will look at articles.

The year 2018 will be remembered as a transformational year in the evolution of mobile payments. Mobile transactions set new records during the holiday shopping season, adoption to contactless payments surged in key global markets and leading banks took steps to compete against up and coming fintechs.

Here are the ten most read news stories that appeared in Mobile Payments Today:

1. Diebold Nixdorf Inc., a leading maker of point-of-sale systems, reportedly hired Credit Suisse and Evercore to advise on a potential sale of the company.

2. Shell added Chase Pay to allow customers to make contactless payments at the gasoline pump.

3. Fifth Third Bank added new functionality to its mobile app that allowed customers to withdraw cash from an ATM machine without using their debit card.

4. Vantiv completed its acquisition of Worldpay Group.

5. The number of contactless users worldwide are expected to reach 760 million by 2020, according to a new study from Juniper Research. The study reported that OEM pay services are expected to reach 450 million, with Apple accounting for about half that number.

6. A new study from Auriemma Consulting Group shows that Apple Pay has 77 percent of market share among mobile wallet transactions.

7. Ingenico Group created a new payment technology for micro merchants called PIN on Glass.

8. Walmart shoppers are twice as  likely to choose Apple Pay over Walmart Pay if they have a choice in preference, according to a study by Ariemma Consulting Group.

9. Royal Bank of Scotland signed First Data to provide merchant services, including the company’s Clover point-of-sale technology.

10. Eight banks in Hong Kong have joined together to deploy a QR-code based mobile payment app.

Topics: Bill Payment, Card Brands, EMV, Trends / Statistics

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Dec. 28, 2018

The CEO of the National Association of Information Technology Asset Managers is warning that the U.S. may adopt European style data privacy rules following disclosures that Facebook allowed outside advertisers and marketers access to private user data on Messenger.

Barbara Rembiesa, president and CEO of IAITAM, said the decision may accelerate the adoption of General Data Protection Regulations similar to what was adopted in Europe, according to an announcement from the organization.

"The year 2018 has been a difficult one for Facebook," she said in the announcement. "Between testifying before both domestic and international courts as well as the bad publicity surrounding the Cambridge Analytica scandal, one would think that Facebook would be careful about how it handles and distributes personal information."

She noted that organizations in the European Union and currently using data protection officers to handling compliance and that U.S. companies are actively recruiting those type of DPO’s to ensure compliance, according to the announcement.

Facebook defended the disclosures earlier this month, saying that it didn’t disclose any data without permission and denied that it violated an existing settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.

Topics: Region: EMEA, Regulatory Issues, Security, Social Media

Companies: Facebook

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Dec. 26, 2018

SOL Wallet, a fintech startup firm, has launched beta testing for a new mobile and web-based banking service in South Africa by March of 2019, according to a company release.

The company plans a range of banking services, including savings, bill payment, expense management and investing, according to the release.

Customers will be able to use a mobile app to create multi-currency accounts, buy and sell currencies at interbank rates, trade cryptocurrencies, pay utility bills and service providers, make payments to friends, get a SOL card and make in-store payments. The service will have no fees up to certain limits, according to the company.

"Traditional banks are good as custodians for your money, but are not that good in solving your everyday payment needs," said CEO Boris Frischter, in the announcement. "They charge high commissions and over complicated fees, while not providing consumers with careful service.”

The service will charge no fees for maintenance or transactions, according to the company. Customers will be able to instantly convert foreign or cryptocurrency and use it to make purchases on the SOL card. The bank also plans to add a service to help customers manage expenses and make stock purchases and other financial investments.

Topics: Bill Payment, Mobile Banking, Mobile/Digital Wallet, Region: EMEA

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