Latest global payments news

Klarna adopts chatGPT

Swedish payment firm Klarna will use a chatGPT plugin to produce personalized product recommendations for shoppers. Consumers opt in to the technology, then ask for recommendations. Klarna, which is a payment processor in addition to offering buy now/pay later loans, will embed the emerging artificial intelligence-driven technology into its search and compare function. ChatGPT was released in late 2022 by the Microsoft-backed research lab OpenAI. While use cases for the technology are still emerging, chatGPT has the potential to improve functions such as digital marketing and customer service. Stripe, for example, is developing uses for the technology that include customer service, as well as helping merchants deploy and use complex payment technology. —John Adams

Ingenico adds softPOS tech

Payment technology company Ingenico has acquired Phos, which sells software-only point of sale products, or softPOS. SoftPOS enables sellers to use smartphones to accept payments without adding hardware, and the deal will help Ingenico diversify the range of payment options it offers to small merchants. SoftPOS could potentially diminish the need for dedicated payment devices, and serve as an intermediary option until checkout-free technology matures. Phos' technology enables any contactless form of card payment, as well as Apple Pay, Google Pay and QR code payments. Ingenico also recently partnered with buy now/pay later lenders Splitit and Klarna, as well as the biometric firm Fujitsu Frontech. Terms of the Phos deal were not disclosed. —John Adams

CBA recruiting more tech pros

Commonwealth Bank of Australia plans to hire 219 technology graduates this year, a 284% boost over its 2020 class. The Australian bank, which also posted applications for 2024 graduates, operates a graduate program that builds skills in cyber security, data science and engineering. The bank plans to hire 38% of the new staffers from outside of Sydney in an attempt to diversify geographically and will place the hires in new development hubs in Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane. While many technology companies have cut staff in the past year as fintech valuations slide, banks and other mature financial institutions have taken advantage by increasing their headcounts, with a specific focus on IT, security and data science. —John Adams

Mastercard, Lusis Payments collaborate for specialized services

Mastercard has teamed with the French payments software provider Lusis Payments to distribute specialized card-network services to Lusis' global customers in the areas of retail, loyalty, finance, utilities and transport, according to a press release. The services, delivered to users of Lusis Payments' Tango online transaction-processing engine via API using Mastercard Direct Services Access, include tools to protect end users against large-scale fraud attacks and enable real-time authorization decisions. The collaboration also provides customers with the option to access advanced mobile wallets and crypto payments through Mastercard Digital Enablement Services. —Kate Fitzgerald

Startup rolls out payment services in South Africa

Stitch, a startup that launched two years ago in Cape Town, South Africa, with a single electronic payment service, has expanded to provide full end-to-end payments services in the country, according to a press release. Stitch enables local merchants to accept payments via instant electronic transfer, debit or credit card. Merchants may also use Stitch's platform to convert cash deposits made at a linked ATM or retail counter to a customer's digital account. Stitch has direct integrations with local banks, acquirers and card networks, and also supports domestic payments solutions including Capitec Pay and PayShap, South Africa's peer-to-peer payments network that launched this month. —Kate Fitzgerald

Swiss fintech partners with Pakistani bank for credit card services

The Switzerland-based fintech BPC has teamed with Askari Bank to support a full credit card management system for the Karachi, Pakistan-based financial institution. BPC will provide Askari Bank with a fraud management product powered by AI and machine learning via BPC's SmartVista suite, reaching more than 600 Askari branches, including its wholesale banking operation in Bahrain and a representative office in Beijing, according to a press release. BSP services more than 350 customers in 100 countries. –Kate Fitzgerald

BNP Paribas migrates tech work to the Nordics

French bank BNP Paribas is moving more of its workload to atNorth, a pan-Nordic artificial intelligence and computing provider. The move to a facility in Stockholm will enable the bank to increase its capacity to manage data-intensive IT workloads. BNP Paribas is in the midst of expanding its high-performance computing capabilities as part of an effort to improve risk management calculations for financial markets. The bank earlier moved a portion of its IT division to atNorth in 2018, a decision that resulted in a 30% boost in capacity while reducing energy consumption by 50% and carbon dioxide emissions by 85%, according to the bank. —John Adams