Enjoy complimentary access to top ideas and insights — selected by our editors.
Welcome to the new PaymentsSource Morning Briefing, delivered daily. The information you need to start your day, including top headlines from PaymentsSource and around the Web:
Retailers aren't buying buy buttons: In-app buy buttons are a looming battleground as technology companies look to bring mobile checkout closer to shopping on websites and social networks. But for now, retail execs are cooling to the technology, largely because consumers simply aren't using buy buttons, according to Retail Touchpoints, which based its reporting on research from Campaigner. The company reports nearly three quarters of businesses have had no sales from buy buttons on social media sites in 2016. While retailers aren't happy with buy buttons, marketing execs are more bullish, according to Campaigner. It says marketing companies and executives will look for new ways to use buy buttons in the future, with a particular focus on making sales emails look and feel like retail websites.
South Korea advances 'coinless society': Old school money's on the way out, from the U.K. to India to Venezuela, though with various degrees of chaos in each country. South Korea is also replacing legacy currency, as the government has provided an outline for the country's "coinless" project, according to Finextra. The country is piloting a service that allows consumers to receive small change for purchases in the form of a top-up to a prepaid card. The test will run at convenience stores, where there is the largest amount of small cash transactions. In another part of the migration, South Korea's Financial Service Commission is testing BioPay, a palm vein authentication system, at the point of sale to improve checkout times and the adoption of mobile payments.
Northern star: Toronto's reputation as a magnet for technology-focused financial services companies is reaping rewards for the city. Venture capital flowing to financial technology companies grew 74% in 2016, while both the U.S. and the U.K. saw declines, according to Trends and Innovations in Financial Services, a study commissioned by the Toronto Financial Services Alliance and conducted by Z/Yen, a British think tank. In addition to ranking Toronto as the 8th most important financial center globally and second in North America, the report also notes Communitech, MaRS, OneEleven and DMZ all rank internationally as financial technology incubators. Toronto has long been a focus of early adoption. McDonald's ran an NFC payments pilot in the city four years ago, and the city for years has connected local business leaders and the academic community in technology.
Alibaba's plans to digitize China's malls: Alibaba has proposed investing about $2.6 billion to acquire Intime Retail, a huge Chinese operator of shopping malls and department stores. Alizila, a website that covers Alibaba, reports the move would enable a digital makeover of China's legacy retail industry. Alibaba already owns a minority stake in the company, but this new move would give it full ownership and delist Intime Retail from the Hong Kong stock exchange. Alibaba has risen to prominence in e-commerce, but has been making moves recently to up its game in traditional retail in an effort to build a more "omnichannel" business, as it sees challenges ahead for pure e-commerce plays.
From the Web (powered by Wiser)
PhonePe digital wallet has big goals beyond parent Flipkart
Tech in Asia • Nivedita Bhattacharjee
India’s Unified Payments Interface gave them sleepless nights.
Coming to Wells Fargo: Card-free ATMs
CNN • Aaron Smith
Wells Fargo is rebooting its ATMs to allow customers to use smartphones to withdraw cash.
Brazil Mobile Payment Business and Investment Opportunities and Forecasts Report 2014-2020
BusinessWire
Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Brazil Mobile Payment Business and Investment Opportunities (Databook Series) - Market Size and Forecast (2014-2020) by Mobile Commerce, P2P transfer, Bill Payment, Retail Spend, Consumer Attitude & Behaviour, and Market Risk" report...
More from PaymentsSource
Samsung Pay sees a lifeline amidst mobile wallets' plight
The tale of the 'pays'—Apple Pay, Android Pay and Samsung Pay—has been largely underwhelming.
A deep dive into post-holiday payment data can dent fraud
With the ever-evolving world of online shopping, security risks and fraud are two things that merchants must be careful to take into consideration for the health of their business.
Reinventing the corporate card for a virtual world
The traditional plastic corporate credit card is getting a digital makeover.
Supreme Court sharply divided on credit card surcharge bans
WASHINGTON — Justices on the Supreme Court appeared split Tuesday on whether state bans on credit card surcharges are legal, with conservatives on the bench concerned about how the bans have been applied while liberals appeared skeptical of claims they violate retailer's free speech rights.
