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Samsung's biometric payment phone: Though Apple is often credited with taking biometrics mainstream via its Touch ID fingerprint reader, Samsung has been steadily working on hands-free alternatives. Its ill-fated Note 7 — recalled due to dangerously faulty batteries — included an iris-scanning feature for unlocking the phone, and its upcoming S8 smartphone will reportedly use facial recognition to protect payments. The system, which has yet to be formally announced, would blend fingerprint, iris and facial recognition to authorize payments via Samsung Pay, Bloomberg reports. Such features will be vital to Samsung improving its tarnished reputation after the Note 7 incidents, as well as position the company to compete with whatever Apple is planning to include in its 10th anniversary iPhone this year, the article states.
An employee demonstrates Samsung Electronics Co.'s Samsung Pay application on a Galaxy Note 7 smartphone with stylus during a media event in Seoul, South Korea, on Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016. Samsung's large-screen Galaxy Note 7 smartphone can be unlocked with an iris-scanning camera. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg
SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg
First Data buying Acculynk: First Data is bulking up its e-commerce capabilities with an agreement to buy Acculynk. The deal unites First Data's e-commerce offerings with Acculynk's PaySecure debit routing system, the companies said in a press release. PaySecure allows e-commerce merchants to route debit payments over the lowest-cost rails available. As part of the acquisition, which has yet to close, First Data also gets Acculynk's PayGov government bill pay system and its Payzur P-to-P offering. Acculynk's other offerings address fraud and settlement times. "Acculynk has established itself as a leading technology innovator, and its debit routing technology allows First Data to broaden our e-commerce offerings for existing clients and new prospects," said Frank Bisignano, First Data's chairman and CEO, in the release.
Alexa branches out: Amazon's Alexa assistant already differs from many of its rivals in its focus on voice-enabled purchasing from Amazon's catalog. The latest addition extends its payments and commerce functions even further, allowing Amazon Alexa users to order food from Grubhub, Engadget reports. The Alexa "skill" can only suggest re-purchasing the last three meals a user ordered, plus it can estimate the delivery time before that favorite meal arrives.
Big data leak: Corporate America just got exposed. A 52GB database of nearly 33.7 million contact details for employees of U.S. corporations has been leaked, ZDNet reports. The database is owned by Dun & Bradstreet and is used for marketing purposes, but there wasn't a clear explanation for how the information was exposed, the article states. Dun & Bradstreet told ZDNet that although the information is "of a type and in a format that we deliver to customers every day," it did not believe its systems had been breached.
Australian banks call alternatives to NFC 'unrealistic' in fight to avoid using Apple Pay AppleInsider • Malcolm Owen Major banks in Australia find alternatives to NFC-based payments, such as Apple Pay, to be an "unrealistic" prospect to the Australian mobile payment marketplace, according to a submission provided to a government regulator, arguing for Apple to open up access of the...
Mastercard app lets you pay bar tab without leaving card Daily Mail • Associated Press The Open Tab feature in the U.S. and U.K., will be an upgrade to Mastercard's Qkr app, and will let people open, manage and close their tabs through their phone.
A cross-border tuition payments company seeks its next niche The surge of students seeking an overseas education in recent years powered rapid growth for Flywire, a Boston-based payments technology firm that handles cross-border tuition payments. It must now test whether the global network it built can serve the B-to-B market as well.
Sionic, CET target underbanked with mobile wallet rewards Underbanked consumers will have an incentive to initiate mobile payments through PaySwag, an application that will issue rewards for using a smartphone to make a payment and allowing redemption at any time.
The fintech's first-quarter earnings results beat analysts' expectations on nearly every metric. Now, the second-look lender is looking to partner with regional banks as it builds out its pre-screen and lead generation platforms.
President Donald Trump has signed two Congressional Review Act resolutions nullifying the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's rule capping many overdraft fees and subjecting large data brokers to regulation.
Federal Reserve Gov. Adriana Kugler said in a speech in Dublin that trade barriers could soon affect prices and slow down growth while increasing uncertainty in 2025.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a policy directive rescinding scores of standing guidance documents, interpretive rules and advisory opinions in a bid to reduce compliance costs.
