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:
RBS ships fintech, payment work to India: The Royal Bank of Scotland is eliminating 334 jobs in the U.K., primarily in IT and payments, and is offshoring much of the work to India, according to India's The PressReader. The positions include various payments jobs, NatWest Markets Technology, digital engineering and core banking, according to the Indian newspaper, which reports RBS will also create some new positions as part of the restructuring in both the U.K. and India. The bank is positioning the cuts as part of a transformation to a "simpler, smaller, U.K.-focused bank." RBS recently promised to cut about $800 million in operating costs over the next year, and almost $3 billion over the next four years to offset financial losses.
Logos sit outside a Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc bank branch in London, U.K., on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017. RBS is preparing to cut more than 1 billion pounds ($1.25 billion) of annual operating costs by eliminating jobs and closing branches as it seeks to bolster profitability, said a person with knowledge of the plans. Photographer: Luke MacGregor/Bloomberg
Luke MacGregor/Bloomberg
Cross Pacific innovation scope: Mizuho is collaborating with the World Innovation Lab to form a venture that will work with startups in Japan, the U.S. and other regional markets to create services using payments technology, other financial innovation and connected devices. Mizuho, which is already examining uses for blockchain technology, will focus on big data, artificial intelligence and building other new tech models, reports Finextra. Other Japanese companies are in discussions to join the venture, including Itochu Corporation, Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Insurance and Dai-ichi Life Insurance. Mizuho has also entered other innovation ventures this year, including a digital wallet collaboration with Metaps and a research agreement with Soracom to build use cases for connected devices.
More big fraud news: As fraud proliferatesfaster than mobile payments, more evidence of its momentum is starting to appear. "Facility takeover" fraud jumped 45% last year, according to Cifas, a fraud research company, which defines facility takeover as similar to account takeover, stealing personal data and using it to gain control of bank accounts. Crooks pose as a genuine customer, gain control of accounts and use them to make purchases. Cifas said there were more than 22,000 cases in the U.K. alone in 2016, usually targeting credit card, telephone or email addresses, which they use to glean additional information such as bank account or card information. Once the attackers have enough information, they contact the victims and manipulate them into divulging more.
European regulators examine 'IoT': The expansion of payments to connected devices, or the Internet of Things, is expected to complicate compliance. The European Commission is attempting to address the risk of IoT as part of its broader effort to remove barriers to e-commerce and digital activity, reports TechCrunch. The EC plans to propose added measures on cybersecurity standards, including labeling and certification to improve security for connected devices. The EC is also reviewing the EU Cybersecurity Strategy to ensure it aligns with a new European framework for web security. The EU's goals for both the IoT and more traditional e-commerce is to do more to encourage the flow of non-personal data across European countries, enhance defenses and come up with new plans to address online platforms that act against the best interests of the market by imposing contractual terms that impact others' ability to compete or allowing the spread of illegal content online.
Why ‘Online’ and ‘In-Store’ Are Outdated Retail Terms Technology Integrator • Peter Blair There’s no question that technology is methodically being incorporated into consumers’ lives. Starbucks is making millions by allowing people to pre-order their afternoon coffees from its app. Disneyland has evolved its SpeedPasses into wearable bands that enable people to not only cut...
More from PaymentsSource
Amazon's stealthy revival of its smartphone shopping ambitions Amazon's new touchscreen Alexa-powered device, called Echo Show, is not the evolution of its voice controlled Echo line - rather, its touchscreen and camera open up commerce capabilities that failed to catch on with the ill fated Amazon Fire phone.
Card issuers struggling to sell 'complex' mobile innovation Card issuers face a conundrum in supporting payments innovations that promise to improve user convenience and security, as more consumers express frustration with the rising complexity around making everyday purchases.
Honk tackles mobile-pay parking in Canada's London The Honk Mobile payment app linked to a driver's license plate is making it possible for drivers in the Canadian city of London to pay for parking spots in municipal lots and on the street through their smartphones or tablets.
PayU adds instant lending to network through Kreditech investment Consumers throughout Europe will have an opportunity to obtain an instant online loan through credit checks and enrollment at an e-commerce point-of-sale through an investment German startup Kreditech has secured from PayU.
The Florida-based bank, which has been expanding across the South, would enter major markets such as Dallas and Houston with its planned all-stock acquisition of Independent Bank Group.
Federal Reserve Vice Chair Michael Barr Monday spoke at length about efforts to enhance banks' liquidity and long-term debt positions after last year's bank failures while saying little about the capital hikes in the embattled interagency Basel III endgame proposal.
Originators misled VA refinance applicants into believing they could skip two months of mortgage payments, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said.
The announcement, made at the Mortgage Bankers Association's Secondary Markets Conference, underscores Ginnie Mae's role at the forefront of digitization efforts in the capital markets space.
Investors are facing recent pressure after Republic First's collapse, allegations of criminal activity by an executive at Old National and a pending CFPB rule affecting credit card fees.
