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Walgreens tests appetite for beacons:Walgreens is making bluetooth beacons a major part of its marketing program, but whether consumers will embrace the technology remains to be seen, reports Business Insider, which says the drug store chain has increased beacon-triggered mobile coupons and rewards in its latest mobile app update. As to whether consumers will bite, Walgreens has some benefits going for it: consumer packaged goods are considered a prime target for beacon usage, Business Insider reports, adding these products are generally cheap and are purchased frequently. That gives the opportunity to gather lots of data on shopping habits, enhancing the marketing pitches. But there are concerns. 30% of U.S. shoppers who have not tried in-store tracking and push notifications say they will never do so, Business Insider reports, citing numbers from Walker Sands. And beacons require lots of technology embedded in the smartphone to work--Business Insider estimates only about 17% of smartphones have the required features.
A customer enters a Walgreen Co. store in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., on Friday, March 23, 2012. Walgreen Co. is scheduled to release earnings data on March 27. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
Artificial travel intel:Payment professionals are still getting a handle on how artificial intelligence can improve their business, but virtual assistant startup Mezi has found the technology can vastly aid the transactional part of travel booking. The company has redesigned its app, and enables users to book flights, hotels and restaurant reservations. TechCrunch reports the company has built its own natural language processing system that allows users to set up their payment and personal information one time, while the Mezi app uses that person's preferences to set up travel itinerary choices by asking some basis questions in a chatbot. Once the user confirms the itinerary, the booking and payments are executed automatically.
'Fintech' definition's changing: The fintech phenomenon is not just about payments, transfers and lending; it is increasingly focused on a broad menu that spins these products off of each other, according to Finextra, which cites an analysis from McKinsey. The primary focus of developers and technology startups thus far has been to improve or disrupt how payment technology is delivered--making it faster or safer; or speeding lending applications; or making it easier to conduct money transfers. The stress on payment technology companies and banks to make the payment a nearly 'invisible' part of a broader service set has been around for a while and has contributed to a startup and VC wave. And as the trend accelerates, it should lead to a period of consolidation as technology companies merge to satisfy the broader demand of merchants and banks, according to the McKinsey analysis.
Brexit causes VC slump:Finextra also reports a huge dip in fintech investment linked to this past summer's Brexit vote. There was a 26% drop in funding for British startups in the third quarter while overall global investment for financial technology increased 27% to $15.2 billion, according to Innovate Finance. The U.K. volume for the third quarter, about $532 million, is about half of the 2015 volume of $1.1 billion. And eight of the 20 U.K. investments that closed after the Brexit vote, were follow-on investment rounds on existing companies. Commenting to the technology wire, Lawrence Wintermeyer, CEO of Innovate Finance, said, “While the U.K. still attracted a high number of deals for fintech there’s been a significant drop in investment year on year to Q3 2016.”
Finland launches first real-time mobile payments platform Mobile Payments World • Alex Rolfe Automatia says it has launched Finland’s first real-time mobile payments platform based on a multi-banking platform, named Siirto. Tieto has designed and implemented the service. Siirto is an open payment platform which follows the new regulations set by EU’s Payment Service Directive.
Mobile payments to become ‘de-facto payment mode’ in India after banknote change NFC World+ • Rian Boden Mobile payment transaction volume in India is expected to grow more than 90% each year over the next five years, with digital payments becoming the “de-facto payment mode” in the country, in the wake of... Read the rest of Mobile payments to...
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Why even payments experts have trouble at the point of sale Reetika Grewal — head of payments strategy and solutions at Silicon Valley Bank, a $43 billion-asset bank in Santa Clara, Calif. — recently tried to use her iPhone to make a mobile payment. She then swiped her card and the machine started beeping.
Shopping on the toilet? PayPal wants your (ahem) business If a consumer is willing to shop online through a mobile device while sitting on the toilet, retailers need to be in the bathroom with that shopper during the holiday season.
Temasek cut stake in Alibaba in third quarter, filing shows Temasek Holdings Pte pared its investment in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. in the third quarter, as shares of China’s biggest online retailer rallied, while emerging as a shareholder of software maker Dell Technologies Inc.
Drivers abandon trucks as cash shortage hits India goods transit The crisis sparked by the shortage of cash in India following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s anti-graft measure to ban high-value currency bills has hit the movement of goods in Asia’s third-largest economy.
After a surge, China's tech unicorns look increasingly cursed In ancient mythology, Chinese unicorns are lucky, rare creatures that appear to mark the arrival or death of a great leader, like Confucius. Today, China's tech unicorns -- private companies valued at $1 billion or more -- are far more commonplace and look increasingly cursed.
The regulator and conservator of two influential loan buyers with government ties is considering digital currency's increased use in qualifying borrowers.
The Texas attorney general has accused WEX Bank of "debanking" a firearm supplier, but the Maine-based bank said it does not discriminate against any industry.
Der Spiegel and other European publications say the company continued to serve porn sites and money launderers even after regulators cracked down on it.
Regulators proposed a rule to replace the 2% enhanced supplementary leverage ratio with a capital charge equal to half of a bank's global systemically important bank surcharge. Low-risk assets will continue to count toward leverage requirements under the proposal.
