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A win for distributed ledgers: Singapore's Monetary Authority (MAS) has successfully completed a project that executes interbank payments through distributed ledgers. MAS is working with R3, a group of financial institutions that are collaborating on distributed ledger projects around the world, to produce a digital version of the Singapore dollar, which could have impacts for other kinds of payments in the future. Singapore has become a hotbed of technology and payments innovation as the city attempts to use a combination of federated identity and connected technology to digitize a range of traditionally manual tasks. That includes deployment that allows wearable devices to handle transit payments and an open-loop digital payments project with Mastercard.
New invoicing for Uber: A new bookkeeping app in Poland is allowing Uber drivers to track payments, settle accounts and post invoices through a centralized system that aggregates payments to shave fees from traditional settlement methods. BadBlueMoney reports Tax Care, a Polish network of accounting offices, and the Idea Bank Group have launched the app, which enables drivers to document each trip with a digital invoice. The technology is designed to cut invoicing costs by using a uniform billing format to automatically collect data from each document a driver issues, including payments the driver makes for fuel, leasing and maintenance.
Brexit threatens U.K.'s cross-border business: The fallout from the Brexit vote has been a worry for sometime among the U.K.'s payments, technology and financial services industries, and some fallout is starting to appear. Finextra reports as many as one third of businesses that use British banks for cross-border transactions may move that relationship outside the U.K. after the country triggers Article 50, the move that will begin its separation from the European Union. The U.K. technology wire attributes the information to Anders la Cour, founder and CEO of Saxo Payments, which based its findings on research of its own customers and prospects. La Cour said as many as half of the businesses that have banking relationships with U.K. banks are considering changing financial partners. Also, Saxo Payments reports 37% of businesses wish to consolidate their cross-border banking relationships to one provider; currently, more than a third have five relationships or more.
In the blood: A Chicago startup called Keyo is testing technology that enables people to pay by holding the palm of their hand over a scanner. According to ChicagoInno, consumers register online, receive a code, then visit a retailer with a Keyo's scanner to enter the code and map the blood vessels in their palms. People can then make payments at that retailer and other retailers in Keyo's network. There's also an app where people can view purchases, manage cards and view marketing content and rewards. The technology uses hardware from Fujitsu. Fujitsu's Japanese rival Hitachi provides the technology behind a "finger vein" payments system that's being used in bars in London. In Canada, RBC has tested vein recognition to execute payments.
From the Web (powered by Wiser)
Toss, South Korea's Venmo, Rakes In $48 Million From PayPal And Silicon Valley
Forbes • Forbes Staff, Ryan Mac
Viva Republica's Toss, a peer-to-peer money transfer app, has processed $3 billion since its Feb. 2015 launch.
Should PayPal Investors Worry About Amazon.com
Fool.com: The Motley Fool • John Ballard
Amazon's payment service is growing fast and has inherent competitive advantages thanks to the growth of its ecosystem. Will it overtake PayPal?
Mobile Payments Platforms and Markets 2017: How High Is Up - A Framework for Assessing the U.S. Mobile Payments Market - Research and Markets
BusinessWire
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