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Apple Pay marketing pays off: Digital messaging of Apple Pay at the point of sale resulted in a 135% increase in all mobile payment usage, according to USA Technologies, which tracked performance at its ePort Interactive platform over a 24 week period at vending machines in New York and Louisiana earlier this year. The messages also resulted in a 36% increase in overall sales, 44% in total transactions, a 55% increase in revenue and a 6% increase in average ticket size. The ads were relatively simple--one group of machines had the following message: "Pay with your favorite card using Apple Pay," while the control group displayed "Ready--Swipe or Tap Now" above Apple Pay and other contactless payment logos. USAT said the results of the test "clearly" demonstrate that when consumers are asked to pay with their phones, many do.
A sign for the launch of the Apple Pay system, by Apple Inc. is seen on the side of a payment device at a Pret A Manger Ltd store in London, U.K., on Tuesday, July 14, 2015. Apple Inc. is making the U.K. the first market outside the U.S. for its digital-wallet system as the company fights for a place in the electronic-payments industry. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
R3 loses banks, hires 'smart contract' firm: Blockchain consortium R3 has hired law firm Norton Rose Fulbright to determine the enforceability of "smart contracts," according to Finextra. Smart contracts automatically trigger payment terms and other elements of agreements between parties that use distributed ledger or blockchain technology. The agreements are expected to increase speed, but there are also some questions about how the terms can be enforced. The law firm will research into how the smart contracts can be executed, whether they are binding and how disputes can be resolved. The move comes as Goldman Sachs announced it's leaving the R3 distributed ledger consortium it helped create two years ago, according to the Wall Street Journal. R3 works on standards for blockchain transactions, including cross-border payments. Goldman let its membership lapse at the end of October, and will focus its blockchain efforts on internal projects and investment opportunities, the Journal reported. R3, which started with nine members and now has about 70, told the newspaper it "always expected the makeup of the consortium to change over time." Santander is also leaving R3, reports Reuters, and may be followed by Morgan Stanley and NAB.
Cross-border mobile payment hits a milestone in Africa: The MFS Hub is now connected to more than 120 million mobile wallets in Sub-Saharan Africa, a result of a cross-operator partnership with Airtel, Econet, MTN, Orange, Tigo and Vodafone, reports RealWire. The MFS Hub scales transactions across networks to boost international trade and encourage interoperability, which is a challenge in the region. While there are mobile money services in nearly every market in Sub-Saharan Africa, the majority are confined to a domestic market and cannot work across borders.
Cardtronics on the sea: Cardtronics is expanding its relationship with Carnival Cruise line, and will now be the exclusive ATM provider for the cruise line, Cardtronics announced. The deal covers 25 ships and machines for both crew and passengers. Cardtronics has had a relationship with Carnival for several years. A number of payment companies target the cruise industry, including point of sale hardware company Ingenico and prepaid card company Brightwell.
Future of Apple Pay Australia still unresolved Computer Weekly • Computerweekly.Com There are still uncertainties over Apple Pay among Australia’s big banks, but smaller finance firms are looking at ways to offer the payment service to their customers
European Millennials Hungry For (Good) Mobile Payment Technology Perficient • Eugene Sefanov A new report published by Ipsos MORI, a market research company, and VocaLink, a global payments partner to financial institutions and governments, indicates that European millennials are struggling to adopt mobile payment technology. While more than half of the ~4,000 millennials from...
Android Pay support may soon be coming to Android Wear Android Central • Alex Dobie But you might need to buy a new watch to use it. With Samsung and Apple already offering NFC payments on their smartwatches, it was only a matter of time until Android Pay caught up with its own wrist-based payment option....
More from PaymentsSource
Chip card migration a gift for holiday e-commerce crooks: Reports Online retailers should brace for a sharp increase in online fraud attempts this holiday season as fraudsters redirect their attention to e-commerce channels amid the U.S. shift to chip cards, two new reports suggest.
SIX, Bank of China, UnionPay launch card for Chinese travelers The payment market for Chinese travelers is heating up, and SIX Payment Services, Bank of China and UnionPay have unveiled a credit card for Chinese travelers shopping at European retailers.
India’s anti-graft banknote move hurting poor, Summers says Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s move to withdraw higher-value banknotes from circulation is hurting ordinary citizens rather than making a serious attempt at combating corruption, according to former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed reducing supervision of all but the largest nonbanks in four key markets: auto financing, consumer credit reporting, debt collection and international money transfers.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been investigating the failed banking-as-a-service fintech and is preparing to file a complaint accusing it of unfair acts or practices.
In this week's banking news roundup: Fulton Financial's Angela Snyder announces plans to retire as president of the Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based bank; Columbia Banking System in Tacoma, Washington, finalizes plans for its latest acquisition; Flagstar Financial opens its first private banking office in Florida; and more.
The ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee said growing uncertainty and risks in the financial system mean the central bank should increase the countercyclical capital buffer for the nation's largest lenders.
