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June 24, 2019

Bitt Inc., a Barbados-based fintech, said that the Bank of the Republic of Haiti is considering a pilot program to test a blockchain-based digital currency. 

Bitt officials said they made a presentation to Haitian officials last month regarding a possible pilot plan to create a digital version of the Haitian Gourde, part of an effort to improve the country's payments system and promote financial inclusion. 

Bitt CEO Rawdon Adams said that more than $3 billion is remitted to Haiti, representing more than 30% of the country's gross domestic product. 

"World Bank data indicates that the fees paid on those remittances can be as much as 19%," he said in the release. "Every 1% reduction in those costs is over $30 million a year more in the pockets of those who need it most."

He said that Haiti would be able to leverage the company's solutions, noting that while 32% of Haitain people are banked, about 64% have mobile phones. 

"A central bank digital currency would connect existing fragmented, closed loop financial services offerings in the country," Adams said in the release. "Mobile wallets and licensed financial institutions would be able to interoperate, innovate and compete more effectively."


 

Topics: Bitcoin, Mobile Payments, Region: Americas, Transaction Processing

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June 24, 2019

Liquid Financial USA, a joint venture between cryptocurrency exchange Liquid Group Inc. and venture capital firm Virtual Currency Partners LP, has announced the new executive team that will lead the previously announced expansion into the American market at Liquid.

"The U.S. is a large market, but a very challenging regulatory landscape," Mike Kayamori, co-founder and CEO of Liquid Group Inc., said in a company release. "To launch Liquid in the U.S., we needed a team with extensive industry experience and a deep understanding of U.S. financial markets."

He said the company is scheduled to launch in early 2020. The leadership team includes the following:

Justin Hertzberg, an attorney and founder and CEO of IQX LLC, the predecessor money service firm that Liquid Financial USA acquired, will serve as CEO of Liquid Financial. For the past six years, he also owned and operated one of the world’s largest introducing brokerage businesses, which had offices in the U.S. and Europe and served clients in the OTC foreign exchange industry.Sean Gilmartin, the new chief compliance officer, served as CCO of IQX LLC. He previously served as director of regulation at the New York Stock Exchange, CCO at Jefferies Execution Services and senior compliance officer at Merrill Lynch.Apurva Mehta, chief technology officer, spent more than 22 years at ING and Societe Generale, with experience in global asset trading platforms, database management and trade reporting and settlements.Jerald Tillery, chief information security officer, has a background in large scale security management, threat intelligence analysis and cloud computing and has worked at the Options Clearing Corp., State Street Corp., Las Vegas Sands Corp., and the U.S. Department of Defense.Jonathan Pfohl, chief financial officer, is a partner at VCP and also a former CFO at startup firm Scio Diamond Technology, which specialized in lab-grown diamonds.Grady Kittrell, chief business development officer, is an investor and co-founder of VCP. He recently served as an advisor to MGT Capital Investments, a publicly-traded bitcoin mining firm.

Topics: Bitcoin, Mobile Payments

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June 24, 2019

Blend, a digital lending platform, said it raised $130 million in Series E funding, led by Temasek and General Atlantic.

Existing investors 8VC, Founders Fund, Greylock Partners and Lightspeed Adventures also participated in the funding round. The company has now raised $310 million in funding.

Blend said it plans to continue adding to its team of 400 employees, will invest in new technologies, grow its list of partners and expand into a wider array of lending products, according to a company release.

"Blend's technology platform is driving an evolution in how lenders do business and interact with their clients," Paul Stamas, managing director of General Atlantic, said in the release. "Blend's approach of partnering with financial institutions to reimagine consumer finance has proven highly successful thus far, and we're thrilled to assist them in their next phase of growth."

The company also named former Pixar CFO Ann Mather to Blend as an independent member of the board of directors. She currently serves on the boards of Alphabet Inc., Airbnb and Netflix.


 

Topics: Mobile Banking, Mobile Payments, Technology Providers

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June 24, 2019

U.S. Bank entered an agreement with Inworks, a firm that specializes in accounts payable automation, in an effort to help streamline health care payments between insurance companies, doctors, patients and suppliers, according to a press release.

The companies plan to bring Inworks Intelligent Pay platform with U.S. Bank's Virtual Pay Visa card payments platform, which will create new efficiencies in processing payments between the various parties .

"U.S. Bank has a long history of serving the banking and finance needs of healthcare organizations," Nicole Tackett, senior vice president at U.S. Bank Corporate Payment Systems, said in the press release. "We understand the complexity that our customers in healthcare must manage."

The Inworks Intelligent Pay platform helps companies electronically submit, manage and track payments using a range of options, which now includes U.S. Bank Virtual Pay.

A spokesperson for U.S. Bank said the companies were looking to implement customers immediately, but did not have any on the platform as of yet. 

 

 

Topics: Card Brands, Mobile Payments

Companies: U.S. Bank

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June 24, 2019

German payments firm Wirecard AG announced that it will launch an integrated mobile app called boon Planet, which combines digital payments and banking, with plans to add additional features such as loyalty programs and insurance.

Wirecard will begin testing the service during a pilot phase that includes several hundred users, with plans for a full launch in October.

"We are pleased to start the pilot phase of boon Planet," Claudia Kaub, head of consumer solutions at Wirecard, said in a company release. "As the name suggests, in the future we will offer all our users the whole world of digital payments and banking."

The company said that starting with German users, existing boon customers will be able to add banking to their boon payments account. New customers will be able to sign up for both services, however, customers can also sign up for the services separately.

Beyond the digital bank account, users will also be able to make transfers within the Single Euro Payments Area, which involves cross-border transfers through a bank to third parties.

Officials said boon is currently available across Europe via Apple Pay, Google Pay, Garmin Pay and Fitbit Pay. In addition, the company plans to offer boon outside of Europe, but did not specify particular markets.

Photo courtesy of Wirecard

Topics: Mobile Apps, Mobile Banking, Mobile Payments, Money Transfer / P2P, Region: EMEA

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June 24, 2019

Visa Inc. entered an agreement with Razer to create a partnership between the gaming firm's financial technology arm, called Razer Fintech, with Visa's fintech fast track program, to create a prepaid service that will be embedded in Razer's e-wallet, according to a press release.

The service will allow up to 60 million Razer users to be able to make payments in any location where Visa is accepted, which includes 54 million merchants around the world.

"We are pleased to partner with such a forward looking and innovative company that understands the value and importance of expanding access to digital payments,"  Chris Clark, regional president, Asia-Pacific at Visa, said in the press release. "This announcement reaffirms Visa's commitment to the fast growing and digitally savvy Southeast Asia region."

Clark said such a program could transform the gaming sector and also many of the region's underbanked and underserved populations.

The companies said they plan to progressively roll out the services in selected countries in Southeast Asia in the coming months before expanding globally.
 

Topics: Card Brands, In-App Payments, Mobile Payments, Region: APAC

Companies: Visa, Razer Inc.

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June 24, 2019

Bitcoin's value is on a kick recently, as it soared above $11,000 this morning, a 15-month high for the cryptocurrency, according to a report by CNBC.

The cryptocurrency's value has been steadily rising since February. This recent burst of energy may be due to Facebook's announcement of its new cryptocurrency Libra.

"The price surge is due to two major factors, one is an increasing consensus among the investment community that bitcoin is a legitimate store of value for the digital age, and two Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency launch has forced every CEO to take crypto seriously," Jehan Chu, co-founder of Kenetic Capital, a blockchain investor, said in the report.

Topics: Bitcoin

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