The information you need to start your day, from PaymentsSource and around the Web:
Casting call
JPMorgan Chase is hiring a blockchain delivery manager, signaling an acceleration in the bank's work with distributed ledger technology.
According to
The new executive will work out of the bank's blockchain development unit in Brooklyn, which built
Larger and faster
Elavon has directly connected to the U.K.'s Faster Payments Service, joining a group of about two dozen fintechs, banks and mortgage lenders that have passed muster with the U.K.'s security and regulatory standards for the service.
Elavon, which is a subsidiary of U.S. Bank, will enable merchants to receive funds in their U.K. accounts in real time, as opposed to the traditional three-day processing period.
The company will be able to support transactions of about $300,000, a move that could further improve its cash flow.
Another year, another...
Abine, which manages the Blur password manager and online privacy service DeleteMe, reports a data breach has impacted about 2.4 million Blur users.
Abine told ZDNet the breach did not expose credit card autofill information and passwords for stored accounts.
Door to door
As
Cruise, GM's self-driving car subsidiary, is partnering with DoorDash to offer deliveries in San Francisco via driverless cars. The companies may also add grocery delivery, reports
The food delivery program comes as Cruise plans to debut a ride hailing app for self-driving cars during 2019.
From the Web
TechCrunch | Fri January 4, 2018 - Monzo, the U.K. challenger bank with more than a million customers and a unicorn valuation to boot, has quietly began working on a U.S. launch. According to multiple sources, the fintech startup has set up a small team to begin laying the ground work to bring a version of Monzo to North America, which will initially be powered by a U.S. banking partner while Monzo works on the necessarily regulatory licenses to go it alone.
Fortune | Thu January 3, 2018 - On Thursday, the online retailer Overstock announced it would pay a part of its Ohio state business tax using the famous digital currency. The move comes after the state last fall unveiled a first-of-its-kind payment portal called OhioCrypto, which lets companies remit taxes using cryptocurrency.
The Irish Times | Thu January 3, 2018 - Businesses in Ulster are the slowest to get paid across Ireland, according to a new survey that shows it can take up to 70 days for companies there to receive payment. The ISME study shows payment time for Irish companies generally has widened from 55 to 59 days on average since last August with businesses working in manufacturing and construction waiting the longest on payment.
More from PaymentsSource
By adopting faster payments, businesses have more flexibility to make last-minute payments and emergency payrolls, or gain a larger window for early-payment discounts.
While the gig economy has become more prevalent in recent years, the traditional banking market has provided few innovations for tackling the various payment-related challenges faced by businesses which utilize these workers.
Citi wants to attract credit card customers who use its card for staples such as groceries and gas — a pivot from its past of marketing to the social butterflies who would use its cards on dining and entertainment.
Leveraging the trust relationship the bank already enjoys with its customers, based on robust security, engagements can go beyond run-of-the-mill transactions, writes Sherif Samy, senior vice president of North America at Entersekt.
