Morning Brief 10.22.19: Card brands launch 'click to pay' button

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

Click to pay

Following months of preparation, Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover announced the launch of "click to pay," a new streamlined checkout process that functions similarly at all participating e-commerce sites, large or small.

The card networks don’t have a strong track record in getting consumers to register for e-commerce checkout systems or digital wallets — if that were not the case, a new service would not be necessary. Past efforts such as Verified by Visa and Mastercard SecureCode are remembered for the friction they added to e-commerce.

This time around, the networks have let go of their unique brands and agreed on a single look and feel for a system based on EMVCo’s Secure Remote Commerce (SRC) specification announced this year. SRC limits the exposure of payment credentials for one-off purchases.

Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg

Blockchain phone

HTC has formally launched its Exodus 1 blockchain phone at the Lightning conference in Berlin, following a long period of delays and pre-launch showcases.
The phone sells for about $244 in traditional currency, reports TechCrunch, adding it's aimed for early adopters as the manufacturers see mainstream blockchain and cryptocurrency usage on smartphones as two to three years away.
The Exodus1's blockchain features support storage of cryptocurrency wallet keys. It's initially available in Europe, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Wins for digital ID

Several of South Korea's largest banks have joined a national decentralized identity project that's designed to move beyond passwords to a universal blockchain-based system.
Shinhan and NH Nonghyup are among the banks that will permit sharing personal information and authenticating financial transactions, according to Yahoo Finance. The initiative also recently signed BC Card and Hyundai Card, two of South Korea's largest payment processors.
The news comes quickly after Bermuda announced the launch of its blockchain-backed digital ID project.

Lightning strike

A relatively easy attack method could compromise payments on the bitcoin lightning network.
Assailants could use a denial-of-service to slow or stop a "huge" percentage of payments on the network, reports Coindesk, which cited work from Saar Tochner, Aviv Zohar and Stefan Schmid.
The flaw is based on the way payments are routed, using a network of nodes. If one node is artificially flawed it will slow down or halt the transaction. The researchers say it's easy to compromise an individual node by using false marketing to lure users — then not relaying payments.

Kik's kin

Kik has found a way to save its Kik Messenger app, despite earlier plans to shut down the app in favor of developing its Kin cryptocurrency, which has been in the works for about two years.
The technology startup has sold the messaging app to MediaLab, a holding company that also operates messaging app Whisper, reports The Verge.
Kin and Kik Messenger will remain linked, as MediaLab and Kik will collaborate on projects for both products.

From the web

Global fintech giant Visa to open regional HQ in Dubai in 2021
_{ARABIAN BUSINESS | Mon October 21, 2019}
Visa, the global digital payments firm, has appointed international property developer Sweid & Sweid to build its new Dubai headquarters. The building to cater for operations in the company's Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) region will increase capacity to over 500 employees, a statement said.

Stripe users targeted in major phishing campaign
_{TECH RADAR | Mon October 21, 2019}
A new phishing campaign which aims to harvest user credentials from the online payment company Stripe has been discovered by the Cofense Phishing Defense Center (PDC).Stripe users should check their email cautiously and avoid clicking on any suspicious URLs to avoid falling victim to this new phishing campaign.

Luge Capital raises $85M to invest in Canadian fintech startups
_{TECH CRUNCH | Tue October 22, 2019}
Luge Capital, a fintech and AI-focused venture capital fund headquartered in Montreal and Toronto, is looking to close that gap. The firm has raised $85 million for its debut fund and plans to make seed investments as small as $150,000 and as large as $2 million.

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