Europe

Visa did not attribute its shutdown to the use of bitcoin, but the incident is a further reminder — as if one was needed — that cryptocurrencies' volatility extends beyond their dramatic pricing swings.

Once 2018 arrives, significant new payment and data-sharing rules will take effect in Europe, and the fallout is expected to affect banks, merchants and technology vendors globally.

While many companies already have a compliance officer in place, the EU's General Data Protection Regulation requires a data protection officer, writes Sudeep Nadkarni, senior vice president and head of banking and financial services for NIIT Technologies.

Hoping to streamline the payment options across Europe, the European Payments Council has launched the SEPA Instant Credit Transfer scheme.

In the U.S., Visa Direct has emerged as one of the few go-to tools for fast payments in a market that is overdue for such options. The product's true test begins now, as Visa launches it in Europe, where faster payments options are far more plentiful.

Relevance to the consumer is the challenge for banks in the post-PSD2 era and partnerships hold the key, writes Maikki Frisk, Executive Director of the Mobey Forum

London is battling other cities, which are trying to use the political uncertainty of the U.K.'s exit from the European Union to lure payment startups and other financial technology companies.

Fleetcor is diversifying its core fleet card business, adding digital gifting and expanding business payments technology and analytics.

As Visa continues its long reintegration of Visa Europe, the card brand is tackling the continent's changing regulatory environment — and is sending its top executive overseas to address its needs.

British regulators are touting the success of their so-called regulatory sandbox. Their American counterparts have been unable to agree on a comprehensive scheme to foster innovation.

Bottomline Technologies is introducing a set of APIs for its corporate customers in accordance with the U.K.’s new Open Banking policy and Europe’s Payment Services Directive (PSD2).

In service now for a decade in Africa, India and parts of Europe, M-Pesa is expanding its telco-driven mobile money service to include tap-and-go payments through wristbands, stickers or cards.

European Central Bank Vice President Vitor Constancio laughed off any concern that bitcoin might challenge his institution’s control of euro-area money.

The open tech that powers added data sharing has already resulted in security events, writes Stephen Singham, managing director of security research at Distil Networks.

Apple Pay Cash will likely integrate with Apple’s iMessage platform when iOS 11 is released.

The advancement that we are seeing in terms of API Banking in the payments domain makes it evident that the overall banking system is moving toward an open banking framework, writes Satya Swarup Das, a senior architect for the global banking practice at Virtusa.

NCR Corp. says new ATM software it has placed in units at a European bank will "future proof" the machines and deliver more functions in an advancing contactless payment world.

Germany-based Payworks is the latest to partner with Ant Financial’s Alipay as it works to expand the base of merchants capable of accepting the popular Chinese online and mobile payments app in Europe.

Klarna recently received a banking license in Sweden, and is in the midst of an international expansion.

Visa has extended partnerships with PayPal in the U.S. and Asia to Europe to encourage digital payments. The strategy has helped boost the card network's earnings.