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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:
Google shouts out to Walmart: Google plans to add Walmart to the list of retailers that support Google Express delivery, which powers voice-driven ordering. Engadget reports the service, which is already available for Target and Costco, is designed to undercut Amazon Prime by not requiring a membership fee. Walmart, which will also offer free delivery above a certain purchase amount, is expected to be live by September and will make thousands of items available for purchase. Consumers will use the service by linking an existing online Walmart account with Google. Google's voice controlled Assistant will tell the consumer what kind of goods he or she purchased the last time, as a way of reminding the user of recurring purchases—or the user can verbally order from a menu of items.
PayPal's game: PayPal has long been a payments option for gaming platforms such as Xbox and PlayStation, and this week it extended its support to Nintendo Switch owners. Gamers who make purchases from Nintendo eShop can use PayPal to make purchases directly, according to a release on PayPal's site. Consumers can also fund their Nintendo balances and purchase software downloads on Nintendo 3DS, Wii U and Nintendo Switch. The new feature is available in the U.K., U.S., Japan and about a dozen other European Countries. "This collaboration with Nintendo is yet another example of our partner-based approach," said Chris Morse director of merchant communications for PayPal, in the release. "Nintendo is the newest of our collaborations with leading technology companies to expand the reach of our products, explore new contexts, increase conversions for our merchants, and give our consumers the flexibility, security and speed that digital payments can offer."
What motivates the young? As Swedish installment payment company Klarna gears up to expand deeper into financial services and enter new regions, it's also accumulating information on market segments. Its new survey suggests an appeal to emotion may work best in luring millennials to new products. Klarna found that 68% of millennials reported feeling excitement when adding items to a digital shopping cart, compared to only 24% of shoppers over 55. Klarna, which commissioned the research from the University of Reading in the U.K., also found millennials feel a higher level of anxiety, impulsiveness and impatience than older age groups when shopping—and they are also more than five times as likely to feel guilt at the point of payment than people over 55. This feeds abandonment, as 20% of millennials say they have decided to not make a purchase at the point of sale because they're afraid they will regret the purchase later. The cart is also a place for last minute shopping; Klarna reports 89% of millennials use the basket as a tool to review costs.
Standard Chartered takes off with Chinese airline: Outbound tourism from China has become a huge business for payments, as companies like WeChat and Alipay team with companies outside of China to provide transaction technology for travelers. Standard Chartered Bank has deployed a mobile wallet service for Juneyao Airlines, a Shanghai carrier that offers both domestic and international services. Standard Chartered is the first Chinese carrier to integrate with an international bank to process online payments through WeChat. The airline hopes to add international business, noting that outbound tourism is now a larger travel market in China than domestic tourism. Juneyao also wants to serve the increasing number of consumers who purchase tickets from websites, mobile apps and WeChat accounts, the airline said in a release.
From the Web
Potential Data Breach of Oceanside Online Utility Payment System
NBC | Tue Aug 22, 2017 - The online payment system where Oceanside residents can pay their utility bills may have been breached, City of Oceanside officials said Tuesday. Officials first learned of the breach when several Oceanside residents alerted the City, saying the cards they used to pay their utility bills had unauthorized charges. At least two of those people used that credit card only to pay their utility bill and no other purpose, authorities said. Though Oceanside officials have not confirmed the online utility bill payment system is the source of the credit card breach, the reports raised the concern of a potential breach.
Pa. Lottery Experimenting With Debit Cards For Powerball, Other Purchases
CBS | Tue Aug 22, 2017 - Without any announcement, the Pennsylvania Lottery is quietly implementing an experimental program to allow customers to play the lottery with debit cards. “Our debit pilot program is intended to help us prepare for the future,” Drew Svitko, executive director of the Pennsylvania Lottery told KDKA money editor Jon Delano on Tuesday. Svitko says the pilot, begun in Harrisburg, has come to Pittsburgh in recent weeks.
This startup is bringing Alipay-style QR code payments to Indonesia
TechCrunch | Wed Aug 23, 2017 - The growth of digital payments and banking in China, where it has become mainstream and spawned numerous on-demand industries, is inspiring companies to pursue similar opportunities across. Indonesia, the world’s fourth largest population and Southeast Asia’s largest economy is a primary focus for many. One startup looking to make an impact is Pundi Pundi, a Hong Kong registered company started by the China-based team that previously ran HTML5 game startup Wozlla. It wants to step in to offer a scan-to-pay service — akin to Alibaba’s hugely successful Alipay app — that can replace cash-based transactions.
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