The information you need to start your day, from PaymentsSource and around the web:
E-commerce kicker
Facebook has agreed to pay $5.7 billion to acquire about 10% of Reliance Industry's digital arm in India, a move designed to boost Facebook's local presence. It could also advance the social network's payment and merchant activities.
The deal will give Facebook a stake in Jio Platforms, which includes Reliance's news, movie and music apps, reports
Facebook could use WhatsApp to boost JioMart's retail and transaction technology, helping Facebook compete with
PPP's growing suppliers
The Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program is drawing
Merchant acquirers are also jumping in. Fattmerchant, for example, has partnered with small-business software company Womply to streamline lending. The collaboration gives Fattmerchant a license to facilitate PPP applications, connecting businesses with SBA-certified lending.
The partnership also includes help for businesses in putting together applications.
Cryptosuit
Ripple claims YouTube failed to disable scams that impersonated CEO Brad Garlinghouse offering to give out XRP cryptocurrency.
The blockchain company claims the fake offers harmed its brand and YouTube did not prevent the fraud from occurring on its platform, reports
The promotions didn't even appear to offer "free" crypto, but instead offered XRP in exchange for an initial payment. One part of the scam resulted in $15,000 in stolen funds, Ripple alleges, while claiming total losses of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
CU Apple
Apple Pay has added The Federal Association of Volksbank and Raiffeisenbank in Germany, a substantial addition since it adds a consortium of more than 1,000 credit unions and other financial institutions.
These institutions will boost Apple Pay's addressable market in Germany by more than 30 million, reports
Apple earlier made a deal with
From the web
FORBES | Wed April 22, 2020
The World Bank has predicted global remittances will fall by around 20% in 2020 as economic activity grinds to a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic and labor migrants lose wages and access to remittance services.
TECHCRUNCH | Wed April 22, 2020
A massive database, which belongs to Paay, storing millions of credit card transactions has been secured after spending close to three weeks exposed publicly to the internet.
CNBC | Thu April 23, 2020
U.K. fintech firms have been pushing for approvals to provide emergency business loans introduced by the government.
More from PaymentsSource
Due to the U.K.’s coronavirus lockdown, many British people are socially isolated in their homes, and rely on friends to get their groceries for them. They face the problem of how to reimburse people for their expenses, since cash is no longer acceptable.
For the payments companies that have and will continue to support businesses during our current phase of survival and necessity, these partnerships forged in the fires of adversity will lead to strengthened relationships and long-term loyalty during the growth phase that is yet to come, writes Wirecard's Kevin Brown.
Businesses have turned to workarounds to accommodate the coronavirus’ impact on brick-and-mortar stores, emergency measures that will likely become permanent in order for these businesses to survive into the future.
PayPal subsidiary iZettle is working with U.K. urban delivery platform Stuart to offer small businesses remote payment and delivery services during the coronavirus crisis.
Business payments gateway Cashfree has established new features for its insurance, web aggregator and broker clients in India to streamline policy premium collection, claim settlement and payouts to agents and hospitals.
Veem specializes in cross-border payments, but when small-business customers clamored for help this month with emergency SBA loans, the fintech responded.
Any independent owner who watches the payments market closely may also ask why they would want to spend $25,000 on an upgrade now, when chip card could be replaced by contactless, mobile or biometric payments in just a few years’ time?
Electronic money institutions (EMIs) make their living by throwing out the rulebook, moving fast and thinking freely. Innovative services based on e-wallets and prepaid cards are commonplace and support a wide variety of use cases, from state pension and benefit payments to payroll, gift cards, loyalty, gaming, FX transfers, personal finance management solutions and more.
