9.18.17: Your morning briefing

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

Welcome to the PaymentsSource Morning Briefing, delivered daily. The information you need to start your day, including top headlines from PaymentsSource and around the Web:

Google's Tez launches: Google has formally debuted Tez, an app that allows users to link their phones to bank accounts to pay in stores, online and to execute P-to-P payments. Tez is focused on India and other parts of Asia, and will launched with support of most of India's banking market through a link with the government-backed Unified Payments Interface. Tez's network at launch includes Axis, HDFC Bank, ICICI and State Bank of India; as well as Dominos, Redbus and Jet Airways. The app is also multi-lingual, with support English, Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu. Tez is distinct from Google's other mobile commerce plays in India, and hopes to tap an expanding market for digital payments, given the Indian government's move away from cash and strong encouragement of digital options. Tez will also have a business channel with a feature that allows merchants to talk directly to consumers for payment reminders, customer support and web content. "Tez was built for India first, and starts us on a journey to make digital payments simpler and more accessible to everyone," said Caesar Sengupta, vice president of the Next Billion Users team at Google, in a release.

Tony Avelar/Bloomberg

The art of funding: Patreon, the artist funding site founded by musician Jack Conte, has closed a Series C round, reports TechCrunch. Musicians and other creative people use Patreon to support a monthly subscription to fund their work in exchange for special access and rewards. Patreon charges a 5% fee for its processing service. The size of the round wasn't disclosed, but TechCrunch reports Patreon has 50,000 artists and more than one million subscribers in is network, paying an average of $12 per month. Patreon should pay artists more than $150 million this year, which would be double last year's volume and will make about $7.5 million in fees. Patreon would not confirm the investment to TechCrunch, and did not comment to PaymentsSource.

Dash gets listed: The cryptocurrency Dash has expanded quickly this year, fast enough to collaborate with the online marketplace Wall of Coins, and to get listed on the London-based cryptocurrency exchange CEX.IO. Dash users can now buy and sell online using a bank account, which Dash says makes the currency more widely available. CEX.IO is FinCEN registered and PCI DSS compliant, which means users can trade between digital currencies and buy and sell digital currencies via bank transfers or bank cards. "CEX.IO has a long and respected track record operating in the digital currency space. Its team is highly focused on the safety, stability and legal compliance of its platform," said Ryan Taylor, CEO of Dash Core, in a release. "For Dash users and traders, the integration into CEX.IO represents another great option for them to acquire Dash."

Japan's bank group offers blockchain testing: The Japanese Bankers Association will use a cloud-hosted environment from Fujitsu to give banks a space to test blockchain applications such as settlement, transfers, ID management and payment authentication. The Hyperledger Fabric will power the trade group's collaborative blockchain platform, which Fujitsu will host, according to an announcement from Fujitsu. The Hyperledger Project has more than 100 members from finance, health care, IoT developers, aeronautics and other industries. Its members in the financial services industry include American Express.

From the Web

CFPB can pursue lawsuit over sale of settlement payments - ruling
Reuters | Fri Sep 15, 2017 - The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau can proceed with a lawsuit against Access Funding, a Maryland company accused of misleading consumers into signing away legal settlement payments in exchange for marked-down lump sums, a federal judge ruled. In a decision on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Frederick Motz rejected a motion to dismiss claims that Access Funding violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA), saying the CFPB adequately alleged that the company engaged in abusive practices to cash in on consumers’ income streams.

People love their debit cards, but that could be a big mistake
CNBC | Fri Sep 15, 2017 - Credit or debit? The card you swipe at the register could make a big difference. Here's why: Most credit cards offer $0 fraud liability, meaning you won't be out any money. Debit card users, on the other hand, may be liable for any lost money, depending on when the fraud was reported. In the worst case, consumers could be on the hook for the full amount of loss or theft, according to the Federal Trade Commission. And that could be a problem for the younger generation: 69 percent of millennials believe that debit cards are as safe or safer than credit cards, according to a recent national survey of 1,000 adults conducted in August by Compare Cards/Lendingtree.

Rising credit card delinquencies to add to U.S. banks' worries
Reuters | Sat Sep 16, 2017 - U.S. banks, already under pressure from slower loan growth and low interest rates, could be facing yet another challenge as a rising number of Americans fall behind on their credit card payments. Several large U.S. banks and credit card companies, including Capital One Financial Corp and JPMorgan Chase & Co, reported a rise in credit card delinquency rates for August, the second consecutive rise after falling for four months. While the rates remain significantly below the levels hit during the 2008-2009 financial crisis, rising delinquencies could result in higher loan losses for lenders. “A noticeable rise in delinquency rates - even from very low levels - is worth paying attention to,” said Andrew Haughwout, senior vice president at the New York Federal Reserve.

More from PaymentsSource

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China's payment giants will struggle to reach international markets
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7 pre-iPhone X uses of facial ID in payments
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Mastercard to sell apparel through ‘smart’ windows, mirrors at pop-up shop
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