9.14.18 Your morning briefing

Enjoy complimentary access to top ideas and insights — selected by our editors.

The information you need to start your day, from PaymentsSource and around the Web:

Spy games
Ant Financial contends it did not unfairly gather intelligence from Equifax as it built the Credit Sesame service in China three years ago.

The Wall Street Journal connected Ant to a report Equifax made to the FBI claiming it was being spied on. Ant reportedly offered to triple the salaries of some Chinese staffers at Equifax who could provide information on Equifax and would be willing to join Ant's credit scoring initiative. Ant also allegedly spied to obtain code, data and documents to recruit staff. Ant denied all of the accusations, saying such acts are a violation of its code of business conduct.

It's not the first time Ant has had to explain its behavior related to Sesame. In January it apologized for enrolling consumers in the service without their knowledge.

Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

Make good
Mt. Gox's corporate creditors may soon get refunds stemming from the bitcoin exchange's bankruptcy four years ago.

The exchange's rehabilitation trustee says creditors can file claims to retrieve locked bitcoin stemming from Mt.Gox's collapse.

At one time the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Mt. Gox went bankrupt following the loss of more than 750,000 bitcoins, hackings and an unpayable debt.

Public/private partnership
Like Canada, the U.K. is updating most of the country's payment infrastructure to accommodate digital payments, open banking and faster processing.

As part of the project, the U.K.'s New Payment System Operator is recruiting companies to join advisory groups that will guide the development of the new ecosystem.

The initial working groups will cover procurement, data security, resilience, standards, and the interaction between clearing and settlement.

Don't do the crime
The European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee has approved tougher sentences for payments crime.

The measure covers crime involving cards, electronic wallets, mobile payments and virtual currencies and is designed to fill gaps in older banking crime laws that were passed before mobile technology.

It's the second time this week European regulators have tightened payment rules, following a move to take more control over money laundering regulation.

From the Web

Biometric payments to take centre stage in Ireland, as 1 in 4 online sales will require further security next year
Irish Tech News | Fri September 14, 2018 - With new EU regulations coming into place next September 14th, Mastercard is predicting a significant increase in the use of biometric technology to authenticate who is paying. With regards to card payments, currently just 1-2% of online transactions in Ireland require cardholder authentication, through 3D Secure, to complete a transaction (most likely using a password), but this is set to rise to up to 25% or 1 in 4 payments from next autumn.

In 'golden age' of branded credit cards, shoppers cash in
ABC News | Thu September 13, 2018 - Credit cards that are affiliated with brands — such as American Airlines, Uber, L.L. Bean and Ikea — are suddenly amping up rewards for everyday purchases at restaurants, gas stations and grocery stores. These rewards cards, co-branded by the issuer and a retail brand, were formerly one-trick ponies that were best for purchases at a single merchant only.

Taiwanese mobile wallet startup CoolBitX receives US$13M from SBI Holdings, others
Yahoo News | Fri September 14, 2018 - Taiwanese crypto hardware wallet manufacturer CoolBitX has received US$13 million in funding from investors, including Japanese VC investor SBI Holdings, Midana Capital, OwlTing, Kyber Capital, and Bitmain. Concurrently, the startup has also announced a partnership with Singapore-based Litecoin Foundation.

More from PaymentsSource

Mastercard's plan for Hurricane Florence recovery
Each major disaster is a real-world testing ground for payments technology, but it can also be a stark reminder of the limits of these advancements.

From disaster recovery to data security: Sungard AS goes big on PCI
In its role as a security compliance and disaster recovery firm, Sungard Availability Services has seen merchants warming up to the Payment Card Industry data security standards.

Mastercard, Microsoft take a global approach to B2B automation
The payments company released a platform made up of nine B2B networks and powered by Microsoft’s Azure.

Alipay demonstrates a 'cashless' Singapore
Fresh off the heels of having recently raised capital of more than $12 billion in its latest funding round before a potentially lucrative IPO, Ant Financial Group, the operator of Alipay, is rapidly expanding its acceptance network outside of China.