Enjoy complimentary access to top ideas and insights — selected by our editors.
Welcome to the PaymentsSource Morning Briefing, delivered daily. The information you need to start your day, including top headlines from PaymentsSource and around the Web:
A bigger Atlas: Like most payment gateways, Stripe has been diversifying to deepen client relationships, and that includes the development of Atlas, a service that launched in 2016 as a pilot program to enable internet businesses outside the U.S. to incorporate in the States, receive a bank account and a tax ID number for a fee of $500. The service has been successful enough for Stripe to expand it to U.S. startups. It's also working with Silicon Valley Bank, one of Stripe's Atlas collaborators, to reduce the time to obtain an account to a few minutes from a few days. Stripe is also allowing members to invite new startups, expanded its network of investors and accelerators and has created a member's forum. "Thousands" of startups in more than 120 countries have used Atlas in the past year, according to Stripe.
Patrick Collison, chief executive officer and co-founder of Stripe Inc., speaks during a Bloomberg Television interview in Tokyo, Japan, on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2016. Stripe, the online payments processor based in San Francisco, has received funding from Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group's credit card unit. Photographer: Akio Kon/Bloomberg
Akio Kon/Bloomberg
Steelworkers for 'faster payments': In Canada, legislation is advancing that would require project stakeholders take appropriate steps to ensure faster payments for contractors and subcontractors tied to government projects, in which more than 10% of the payments are past due, according to government estimates. This bill doesn't require same-day processing, but it does dramatically tighten windows for a range of business and supplier payments. That could spur more payments automation and adoption of technology that integrates B-to-B payments with enterprise resource planning software as payment cycle times shorten. But it could also provide a potential boost to the country's steel industry. The Canadian Institute of Steel Construction is lobbying in Ottawa for the bill's passage, saying the bill will introduce billions of dollars into the construction industry because of faster processing, which would enable steel companies to hire more workers and invest in training and skills development. In a recent interview with PaymentsSource, Javelin Strategy & Research payments analyst Michael Moeser said governments and businesses were among the last vestiges of paper-based payments, along with rental properties. It's partly because of inertia, and partly because of the float that slower check payments provide.
End of the road for swipe cards?: After years of squabbling, technology delays, and huge IT investments, the U.S. EMV migration may have a target date for maturity, or at least a date in which nearly all transactions will involve non-magnetic stripe cards. Glenbrook Partners estimates 81% of credit cards and 46% of debit cards in the U.S. are now chip cards, and 90% of all transactions will be chip card-enabled within the next three years. Furthermore, The Strawhecker Group said more than half of U.S. merchants are now enabled to accept chop payments. There are other signs that the chip card migration is starting to plateau, such as declining earnings for EMV-related sales by payment processors.
Virtual prepaid: Mobile commerce technology provider Cellum has launched a new financial inclusion effort that enables users to access an open loop virtual prepaid account through a smartphone. Called Connected Card, the app enables online, Masterpass and Near Field Communication purchases, as well as P-to-P transfers. Users install a smartphone app and then sign up for the service, immediately receiving a virtual prepaid card which can be used for standard bank transactions. The app is designed to ease access to digital transactions for people who do not have a bank account, and are often required to make "digital purchases" by exchanging cash at local stores through third-party online payment services.
US mobile payments projected to grow 80 percent by 2020 Payments Cards & Mobile • Adam Unsworth Although the mobile wallet ecosystem is maturing, in-store mobile payments have yet to take off. Consumer disinterest, coupled with delays in fully implementing the necessary infrastructure, are preventing mobile wallets from achieving mainstream adoption. While neither US merchants nor consumers have yet...
Asia-Pacific Online Payment Methods: Full Year 2016 - Research and Markets BusinessWire Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Asia-Pacific Online Payment Methods: Full Year 2016" report to their offering. Asia-Pacific Online Payment Methods: Full Year 2016, reveals the evolving payment preferences of online shoppers in the vast region. Among other…
After Grab wiped out cash, it needed a way to bring it back Singapore-based ride-sharing company Grab is looking to expand its reach in Indonesia through its acquisition of Kudo, an e-commerce platform for unbanked consumers who would be unable to use Grab's own digital payment platform.
Net Element extends Apple Pay to Russia via PayOnline Net Element Inc., a global payments processor with offices in Miami and Moscow, has extended support for Apple Pay to Russian consumers via its PayOnline subsidiary.
Visa Checkout adds Walmart and other new merchants Walmart still has no Near Field Communication technology to support mobile payments in its 4,000-plus U.S. stores, but it’s added Visa Checkout as an e-commerce option, joining many new merchants that now support Visa’s streamlined checkout process.
House Republicans overcame internal divisions to narrowly pass President Trump's tax and spending package Thursday afternoon. The measure would cut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding level, among other provisions.
Atlanta-based CoastalSouth's initial public offering prices at $21.50 a share; Valley National Bancorp announces Lyndsey Sloan will succeed Gary Michael as general counsel; Webster Financial Corporation taps a new chief risk officer and appoints a new board member; and more in this week's banking news roundup.
Capital One closed the deal to buy the credit card provider in May and as part of the review process, decided to exit its home equity lending business.
