U.K.

While the gig economy has become more prevalent in recent years, the traditional banking market has provided few innovations for tackling the various payment-related challenges faced by businesses which utilise these workers.

London-based Vegannection has launched a prepaid card for vegans that’s accepted only at merchants that pass its standards test.

Samsung is exploring the development of a smartphone-based cryptocurrency wallet, according to a recent patent application the electronics giant filed in the U.K.

U.K. credit card spending rose an annual 7.5 percent in November, as consumers increasingly prefer to spend on plastic, according to UK Finance.

Visa has a deal to acquire the London-based bank payments provider Earthport for 198 million pounds ($250.6 million U.S.), pending approval from Earthport's shareholders.

China's Ant Financial, the Alibaba payments affiliate that operates Alipay, is reportedly in the advanced stages of talks to buy WorldFirst, an international payments provider based in London.

Mastercard and white label payment software company Cardstream are partnering to accelerate the deployment of Mastercard’s Secure Remote Commerce (SRC)-ready Masterpass wallet and its “Pay by Bank” solution.

With Brexit on the horizon, the volatility of the U.K. financial market has created an increased demand for more flexible financing among small and medium-sized enterprises. But a decade on from the 2008 financial crisis, the loans available for SMEs are still restricted by regulations on the total amount of capital that banks must hold.

The Bank of England is upgrading the U.K.’s Real-Time Gross Settlement system. Separately, the U.K. payments authority is developing a New Payments Architecture that will upgrade Britain’s Faster Payments real-time retail system.

Credit card fraud is on the rise in the U.K. with more than $2 billion being stolen from credit and debit cards over the past twelve months, an increase of 38% on the previous year. But while large scale data breaches have been heavily blamed for this surge in crime, ex-fraudster Tony Sales says one of the most pertinent reasons is a persistent lack of understanding within the financial industry of how criminals operate.

A London stock market minnow is teaming up with a heavyweight soccer executive to use blockchain to tackle ticket scalpers.

U.K. consumer spending growth slowed in November as concerns about Brexit prompted households to become more cautious with their cash.

Japanese credit card brand JCB has signed several deals to expand its global acceptance online and at the point of sale.

Coca-Cola Co.’s ‘Share a Coke’ campaign saw the beverage maker turn to Experian to help it pick the most popular names among likely soda drinkers in Britain, and printed them where its iconic logo is usually placed.

Earlier this year Ripple announced that it has dedicated $50 million toward the University Blockchain Research Initiative, partnering Ripple with 17 universities around the globe from the U.K. to Brazil, with the aim of accelerating new innovations in blockchain and cryptocurrencies.

Starbucks has established itself as a model for mobile payments among coffee drinkers, but Barclays is partnering with a U.K. coffee chain to take it a step further by bringing the coffee cup itself into play.

A former Lloyds Banking Group executive is joining financial messaging service provider Swift as its head of U.K., Ireland and Nordics operations.

Barclays is leveraging its global network of offices and its business expertise to sponsor fintechs through its Accelerator programs in London, New York and Tel Aviv.

The Bank of England issued a challenge for consumers who usually pay with cash to go cashless for a week, as an educational experience prior to its upcoming conference, Future Forum 2018.

The Bank of Lithuania is positioning the country’s capital Vilnius as a hub for payments-related fintechs wanting to enter the European market — a move that's timed to take advantage of the uncertainty Brexit has cast over London's claim to the title.