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Gas payments held hostage: The systemic ransomware attacks late last week did not do as much damage as previously feared, according to CNN, though gas and ticketing systems did suffer. In China, the attacks hit many of PetroChina's gas station payment systems, forcing consumers to pay in cash, according to the New York Times. By Sunday, about 80% of the digital payment systems had been restored, PetroChina reported. And CNN reported that the Deutsche Bahn railway display and ticketing systems had been infected. Europol estimates the attack has hit at least 150 countries and infected 200,000 machines. The U.K., China, Russia, Germany and Spain were hit hardest, with hospitals, government agencies and universities targeted in addition to gas payments and train ticketing. The Wannacry virus is at the center of the attack. The virus locks people out of their computers and demands hundreds of dollars to unlock machines. As of Monday, "very few" people have paid the ransom, according to CNN, which cites data from Europol. The ransomware aims at older versions of Microsoft Windows, which makes computers that don't automatically update particularly vulnerable. One strain of the ransomware can infect an entire network within seconds, according to CNN. Microsoft told CNN it has a "first responsibility" to address the attack, though it also called on governments to step up their own web security.
A fuel tanker truck stands at a PetroChina Co. gas station in Beijing, China, on Friday, March 4, 2016. China announced they will ease market barriers for transport, oil and gas at the opening of the National People's Congress in Beijing on Saturday. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
Swift opens fraud lines: The bank run Swift transaction messaging network has launched a new information sharing and analysis center to provide and share intelligence on web crime issues. The portal includes details on malware, compliance rules and new types of fraud. The information will be available to banks as PDF attachments or other digital documents. Swift is making the move after a series of attacks and hacks on its member banks over the past couple of years, including a possible NSA hack and incidents at banks in Bangladesh and other markets.
Newsletters that pay: As companies consider how to embed payments inside of digital advertising, Yandex Checkout has developed way to accept payments via marketing newsletters. The payment function enables shoppers to avoid visiting the companies that are advertising inside newsletters, but can instead make payments directly from the email newsletters. Yandex envisions embedding the ads for businesses, information about upcoming events, new product arrivals or announcements for discounts and other promotions. Yandex's partners use SendPulse, an online platform that specializes in mass email, text messages and push newsletters. The addressable market for the new service includes 515,000 SendPulse accounts and 300 million monthly marketing newsletters. Newsletters with payment buttons are sent via computer or smartphone, with payment history available from the sending company's dashboard on Yandex Checkout.
Monzo benches its API: Digital payment startup Monzo is cutting back on some of its developer programs. Finextra reports Monzo is suspending its application programming interface (API), which is used by about 2,000 people. Monzo will instead focus on building and updating accounts for its 190,000 customers. Monzo launched the API about two years ago, and about 100 projects have resulted from the toolkit. Monzo told Finextra the early iteration of the API suffered from "leaky abstractions" that hurt its usability. The company also anticipates PSD2 may also change how the API is used. As a result, Monzo hopes to rebuild a new API that will launch in 2018, after the new account project is finished. Monzo also insourced technology earlier this year after a third party glitch left clients unable to use its site for a short time.
On the internet, nobody knows you’re a money launderer The Times of Israel » Writers » Tamar Pileggi • Simona Weinglass In the past, criminals who wanted to hide the source of their cash would buy a car wash or nail salon. With fintech, the risks and costs of money laundering have gone down — which helps explain the rise of scams like...
Bitcoin may be headed for a bubble Business Insider • Maria Terekhova On Thursday, bitcoin prices reached an all-time high, trading at $1,820 at this time of writing to beat last week's record of $1,461. This...
Shopify's PIN-point attack on chronic cart abandonment Despite a flood of new technology options, e-commerce still hasn't cracked the code of convincing shoppers to complete their purchases once they arrive on the checkout page.
Latin America's payments market proves welcoming to U.S. businesses A handful of misconceptions about Latin America keep many U.S. payments companies out of the region, but the opportunities are too great to let those preconceived notions interfere, according to Sally Baptiste, who helped McAfee take its product south of the border.
6 hot ideas from Card Forum 2017 Every year, payments experts gather at SourceMedia's Card Forum to discuss the trends shaping our industry. Here are some of the major topics discussed at this year's event in Austin, Texas.
In global B-to-B payments, speed matters even after the money moves With over five years of experience in handling real-time business-to-business payments, Transpay has learned that there's more to faster payments than just moving funds. The system has to accommodate a cleaner, rapid process for resolving any issues that arise along the way.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was noncommittal about cutting interest rates at the central bank's next monetary policy meeting in July, saying future actions will depend on incoming data. His comments come as President Trump ramps up his criticism of the Fed chair.
Regulators hope changes to the supplementary leverage ratio will improve Treasury market function, but whether that happens depends in large part on how banks react and adapt.
While banks will likely increase near-term dividend plans, analysts and investors are more focused on the long-term outlook for capital requirements from regulators.
