The information you need to start your day, from PaymentsSource and around the web:
Asking around
The European Commission is asking payment companies about Apple Pay, which is a signal of a possible investigation into competitive balance.
The regulators are concerned Apple's limitation of the iPhone's NFC chip to Apple Pay may make it harder for third parties to offer mobile payments, reports
Apple has faced similar complaints about NFC access in the past, including a recent squabble in Europe in which
A different take
But it hasn't been all negative. Terry Gau, a Taiwanese businessman and founder of manufacturing company Foxconn, is pushing Taiwan to "roll out the red carpet" for Libra, reports
Gau contends Libra could boost Taiwan's position as an international financial hub, adding Taiwan could serve as a connection between Libra and mainland China's planned central government digital currency.
'Pay my light bill'
Amazon Pay is supporting Alexa voice payments for utility, internet, mobile and satellite cable TV bills in India.
While
Tying Amazon Pay and voice technology to recurring utilities is a way to create habitual payments as Amazon competes with local payment companies such as Paytm. Amazon also recently partnered with
Identifying blockchain
Bermuda is launching a blockchain-powered federated digital identity program, covering citizens, businesses and government agencies.
The initial use cases will include regulatory compliance information, reports
While Bermuda's a relatively small jurisdiction, the project will give a view of how blockchain can secure interoperable and user-driven
From the web
THE STRAITS TIMES | Wed October 16, 2019
Mainboard-listed Singapura Finance will pay US$5 million (S$6.9 million) for a 1.6 percent stake in the enlarged share capital of homegrown digital payments firm MatchMove Pay. The finance company's agreement to subscribe for 587,035 Series Bc preference shares in MatchMove, or about US$8.52 per share, will be funded by internal resources and paid for in cash.
ZDNET | Wed October 16, 2019
Square has rolled out Square for Restaurants in Australia, its latest product from its suite of tools, which was designed specifically for the restaurant industry. The company said the custom-built cloud-based point of sale system was designed with large-scale and multi-location restaurant operators in mind.
TECHCRUNCH | Wed October 16, 2019
Ebanx, the newly minted Brazilian financial services unicorn, expects to process $2 billion in payments by the end of the year and is looking to expand its offerings into domestic payments as it grows. Since its launch in 2012, Ebanx has primarily focused on helping international merchants sell locally in Brazil.
More from PaymentsSource
WASHINGTON — With policymakers casting doubt on Facebook's cryptocurrency and some of the social media giant's partners pulling out of the project, a Federal Reserve governor continued the drumbeat of criticism against the plan.
CHICAGO — In any other setting, describing something as "business class" makes it sound premium. But in payments, the opposite is true.
The U.K. is firmly embroiled in the seemingly inevitable contactless revolution. Over the past five years, U.K. Finance data shows that the number of monthly contactless transactions has soared to 644 million in February 2019 from 14 million just five years earlier.
Vocalink beat out four other competing bids to secure a 10-year contract to provide real-time switching and settlements for U.K. ATM operator Link Scheme.
Imagine a big key ring full of keys. Maybe it is the kind a janitor or building manager carries — one with dozens or hundreds of keys on it. If you found a set of keys like this, your first instinct might be to get them back to their rightful owner. But imagine if a criminal found or stole them.
