European Union

As 2020 dawns, a new decade will soon bring new levels of friction for contactless customers as a result of Strong Customer Authentication (SCA), a key part of the European Union’s drive to reduce card fraud across Europe.

Open banking transactions are not initiated by a consumer but are coming from another financial services company. This could make some fraud detection models in place today obsolete.

The adoption of payment cards over cash varies by nation, but debit ruled nearly everywhere on the continent.

As anti-money laundering requirements tighten in many jurisdictions, financial institutions and fraud prevention platforms are ditching legacy AML solutions for newer technology — but alternatives aren’t easy to come by yet.

Even though security vendors and payments providers are telling merchants they are ready to provide compliance for PSD2 on Sept. 14, a significant challenge remains in the learning curve and technology needs for merchants.

Processors that rely on cross-border payments to reach new territories are feeling the economic squeeze of the looming Brexit deadline.

Brexit seems more likely than ever, as the U.K.'s new prime minister, Boris Johnson, has committed to meeting the October 31 deadline for a deal to leave the EU. But despite the lingering uncertainty over how that will happen, Mastercard is not abandoning its bullish stance on Europe.

Investments in open-banking fintechs have accelerated recently, as many European banks are struggling to implement PSD2-compliant open banking APIs to meet the EU’s September 2019 deadline.

A Spanish effort to prosecute a gang that used Bitcoin automated cash machines suspected of being a front for illegal-drug payments has exposed a hole in European anti-money-laundering controls, law enforcement authorities in the country said.

Payment solutions that lower the cost of electronic payments through exchange rate transparency ultimately improve the buyer’s relationships with their suppliers, writes Nvoicepay's Alyssa Callahan.

The U.S. and Europe should continue to harmonize their banking rules, including for foreign banking operations, just as they did in the wake of the financial crisis.

British bank NatWest will launch a merchant acquiring service to attract small and midsize businesses in the U.K. and other countries.

Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. ended nearly two decades of European Union antitrust scrutiny with a pact that requires them to reduce fees for foreigners shopping in the region.

Silicon Valley, New York, London and several of China’s largest cities are the world’s leading fintech hubs, but many other locales are gunning for their crown.

With the U.K. government still at stalemate over Brexit, the prospect of leaving the European Union without a deal remains a very real possibility. Despite some recent agreements, this could have major implications for the U.K. payments industry.

Because various aspects of the General Data Protection Regulation were made public two years before they became official law, European lawmakers naturally felt it gave companies plenty of time to get data security compliance in place. But it appears most companies either lost track of time or haven't solved the compliance puzzle yet.

The new Apple Card wasn't just one product of many announced at the Steve Jobs Theater on Monday — it was the glue that binds all of Apple's new services together.

In addition to conducting monetary policy and regulating banks, that the EU’s central bank should try to “drive innovation” in payments, writes Eric Grover, a principal at Intrepid Ventures.

A new regulation in the Golden State could provide a de facto national standard as Congress continues to stall on data breach legislation.

While payments firms must navigate political and regulatory waters, consumers and merchants are best served by a competitive free market free of politics, with minimalist regulators playing the role of the night watchman, writes Eric Grover, a principal at Intrepid Ventures.