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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:
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Black Friday's mobile record: Mobile sales reached a record $1.2 billion during the Black Friday shopping event this year, according to a Quartz article citing data from Adobe. Including Thanksgiving day, that number spiked to $5.27 billion, according to the report, which said mobile contributed 36% of overall sales and drove the majority of visits to large retailers. The top sellers in toys included LEGO sets, Nerf guns and Barbie dreamhouses; in electronics, shoppers favored Apple iPads, Samsung and LG television sets and Microsoft Xbox consoles.
A Lego Star Wars Millennium Falcon toy, manufactured by Lego A/S, stands on display at a toy store in London, U.K., on Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015. U.K. consumer prices fell for a second month in October, extending the weakest bout of inflation in more than half a century. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
'You hacked': Terminals throughout the San Francisco public transit system displayed this message to riders on Nov. 26: "You hacked. ALL data encrypted." According to the local CBS affiliate, the hack took terminals and ticket kiosks offline, and the city's transit agency responded by waiving fare on Saturday while those systems were affected (actual transit lines remained operational). To some commuters, the hack was worrying; to others, it was a blessing. “I was like, is this part of Black Friday deal, or something?” one rider told CBS.
Ransomware's big social media push: Users of Facebook and LinkedIn are being targeted with a malware attack called Locky, which — true to its name — locks up and encrypts users' files before demanding a ransom of half a bitcoin ($365), Ars Technica reports. The malware hides in an image file that downloads to a target's computer via an exploit in the social networking sites, then activates when the file is accessed, Ars Technica reported, citing a report from the Israeli security firm Check Point. Though Locky has been around for much of the year spreading through Word documents and spam e-mails, in November it began its aggressive social media push.
Navy credentials lost: The U.S. Navy has disclosed a data breach dating back to October due to a compromised laptop, according to Engadget. The Navy is in the process of informing 134,386 current and former sailors that their names and Social Security numbers were potentially exposed in the breach. The compromised laptop was used by a Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services employee working on a Navy contract, according to the Navy.
Stripe's Valuation Nearly Doubles to $9.2 Billion The Wall Street Journal Stripe, whose software is used by businesses to accept and track digital payments, will be valued at $9.2 billion in a new funding round that is being completed, the company said.
OmnyPay finds its showcase with Kohl's Pay Mobilepaymentstoday.com • Will Hernandez OmnyPay debuted in 2014, but lacked the big-name retailer it craved to show off its capabilities. That changed last month when Kohl's added a mobile payments component to its app.
India's Modi calls for move towards cashless society Reuters MUMBAI, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged the nation's small traders and daily wage earners to embrace digital payment channels, as a cash crunch following the government's surprise ban on high-value bank notes drags on.
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Daniel Wolfe is editor-in-chief of Digital Insurance. Most recently, he was director of data services at Arizent, which publishes DI and American... Read full bio
Neuberger Berman launched a new junk-bond fund using tokenized securities, a process that has been the focus of crypto firm Securitize for more than a decade.
The president has initiated a for-cause process to remove the Federal Reserve Board governor from office, something only one president has successfully done before. But that century-old precedent may not offer Trump much useful guidance in his quest.
Executives at three regional banks that are participating in a tokenized-deposit network discussed how they are retooling their risk practices to fit always-on conditions.
During a court hearing Tuesday, appellate judges expressed skepticism about a Colorado effort to cap the rates on consumer loans that out-of-state banks make to Coloradans.
The Securities and Exchange Commission kicked off rulemaking intended to make it easier for crypto firms to raise money without having to go through the full securities registration process.
