U.K.

Malware operators are joining forces, installing each others’ tools on compromised computers to target a wider range of victims, and possibly also sharing the work of harvesting funds using stolen account details.

U.K.-based fintech Revolut has entered the Russian payments market through a partnership with Russian payments firm Qiwi, and announced plans to apply for a U.S. banking license.

Exchanges aren’t very transparent about their methods, but that in fact most handle such internal transactions exactly how regular banks have worked for centuries.

U.K. payments technology provider Paysafe has entered a partnership with Company.com and Ingo Money to offer same-day settlement to small business merchants in the U.S.

Paysafe Group has introduced a cash-based online payment mechanism for people who don’t have bank accounts or don’t use cards online due to security concerns. The U.K.-based payments services provider is also expanding its presence in the U.S.

Visa, which was criticized for its vague explanation of a June 1 outage in Europe, was in the process of installing better technology, but the project was not complete at the time of the incident and won't be finished until the end of this year.

The idea of an email scam may bring to mind the clumsy phishing cons from the early days of online banking, but the tactic's latest incarnation is a bigger threat than ever.

U.K. private equity firm Dunedin says it has invested "a significant stake" in a £44 million (U.S. $58 million) funding round for Global Processing Services, which provides payment processing and technology for financial institutions, digital banks, challenger banks and fintechs.

London-based TransferWise's business model has been to undercut traditional banks’ foreign transfer fees, and the company's marketing has long emphasized its role as a plucky rival to banks — going so far as to invoke a comparison to Robin Hood. But the company's offering can also benefit the banks that see value in making peace with an upstart.

Western companies desperately want a chunk of China's vast domestic consumer payments market, though they may find themselves feeling lucky to be left out.

As contactless cards continue their momentum in the U.K., new use cases are popping up for the tap-and-go technology.

With increasing numbers of alternative providers gaining licenses to provide payment services aimed specifically at businesses, Beck predicts the pressure on the banks to offer faster and cheaper services is going to substantially increase.

Mastercard is working with Starling Bank as its strategic partner to settle funds sent within the U.K. through its Mastercard Send service.

Visa's management faces an unwelcome choice: It can share more information about internal shortcomings or mistakes that caused payments to shut off temporarily, or get summoned to Parliament for a politically-infused public questioning.

What advantages will this new system bring to the U.K. payments market? The U.K. has traditionally struggled to find ways to break the major banks’ monopoly on payments.

The City of London, in collaboration with iZettle, is introducing the world’s first contactless card payment scheme for street performers. And as PayPal completes its purchase of iZettle, it's likely that this technology will spread to the U.S.

Payment gateway provider Pelican Group has launched PelicanPay, a new unit of the company, to focus on providing European-wide Payment Services Directive connectivity, payments and financial crime compliance services.

Belgian security researcher Xavier Mertens has discovered a piece of a banking malware campaign that appears to target customers of various U.K. banks.

Two major Canadian banks, Bank of Montreal and Simplii Financial, have become victims of hacks that affected some 50,000 and 40,000 customers respectively. Neither bank decided to pay the ransom by the hackers' May 28 deadline.

The authentication software and hardware provider is shifting its focus to identity verification and account onboarding, another sign that the newest generation of bank customers is not interested in coming into a branch to set up an account.