The information you need to start your day, from PaymentsSource and around the web:
In the cards
Google Pay is adding support for tokenized payment cards in
Tokenizing card follows other moves Google has made in India, such as opening an AI research hub, reports
Google earlier this summer
Digital trek
Banco Santander is extending its Openbank digital subsidiary to Germany, with planned launches in the Netherlands and Portugal later this year, with an eventual move to the Americas.
Openbank's core product is a mobile app and debit card that powers payments and transfers to any EU country, as well as a charity marketplace that supports "roundup" digital donation payments as banks seek to use
The app also includes the ability to remotely turn cards off and on and block cards in a specific country or channel.
Feelings
As technology companies quickly develop replacements for traditional cash registers, at least one company is selling hardware that measures how people feel about their shopping experience.
The Finland-based HappyOrNot deploys tablets in stores with simple surveys that let consumers touch on the screen to give their opinion of their experience (a basic survey would be the company's actual name as one of the choices), reports
HappyOrNot has not built a point of sale terminal, but is meant to accompany
Crypto crooks
A group of thieves called "Panda" is attacking companies that support cryptocurrency by installing malicious software inside the companies.
The crooks use remote access tools and crypto-mining, which gives access to other information at companies beyond crypto data, reports
The attack is particularly dangerous because it updates quickly, making it hard for security software developers to keep track of.
From the web
FORTUNE | Fri September 20, 2019
The cryptocurrency company Ripple has asked a federal court to throw out a class action lawsuit in which investors allege it illegally sold unregistered securities. The case is significant because it has the potential to resolve the contentious legal question of when cryptocurrencies should be classified as a security—and expose companies like Ripple to potentially massive liability.
CNBC | Thu September 19, 2019
Deutsche Bank bought a 5% stake in German financial technology start-up Deposit Solutions, valuing the firm at north of 1 billion euros ($1.1. billion). The deal makes Deposit Solutions Germany’s second-largest fintech unicorn — a private business that’s worth $1 billion or more — according to publicly available data.
TECHCRUNCH | Fri September 20, 2019
Thinkful, an online education site for developers, has confirmed a data breach, just days after it confirmed it would be acquired. “We recently discovered that an unauthorized party may have gained access to certain Thinkful company credentials so, out of an abundance of caution, we are notifying all of our users,” said Erin Rosenblatt, the company’s vice-president of operations, in an email to users.
More from PaymentsSource
As incumbent merchant acquirers have gotten larger through massive M&A deals, Stripe has been bulking up as well, including a fresh investment to fuel a cross-border merchant technology stack.
Vibrant Credit Union in Moline, Ill., sees great value in converting its members to mobile and digital payments. And days like Amazon Prime Day can be critical for its digital wallet strategy.
TouchBistro, an iPad-based restaurant order-and-payment system, has reaped $120 million in a new funding round led by Canadian pension fund Omers, with JPMorgan Chase, Barclays, BMO Capital Partners also participating, the company announced this week.
Online and cloud-hosted B2B services are on the rise, breaking apart traditional payroll and exposing pain points for technology developers to address.
