The information you need to start your day, from PaymentsSource and around the Web:
A pilot with no pilot
Google is expanding drone deliveries with a test starting in the next few weeks in Helsinki, following a previous test in Canberra, Australia.
The deployment is limited to a few neighborhoods and items from a pair of supermarkets with a focus on a densely populated part of Helsinki, reports
Amazon, Worldpay and JD.com have also tested
Spend with Pays Spend has launched a digital wallet that's designed to support cryptocurrency payments via Apple Pay, with Google Pay soon to follow.
Users can add a physical Spend Visa card to the Apple Wallet app, or can add a virtual card by pressing the Add to Apple Wallet icon.
Like most
Subscription funds
Minna's subscription management technology has drawn about $8 million in Series A funding from the Zenith Group, Visa and Swedbank.
The Swedish fintech will use the funding to expand to new countries, with a focus on banks that are looking for third-party integrations for subscription management as open banking takes hold in the PSD2 era.
Recruiting
Tokyo's government is soliciting non-Japanese fintechs to apply for an accelerator program that will provide access to Japanese financial services and transaction processors.
The accelerator is part of Tokyo's effort to draw more fintechs that do not have a presence in Japan, reports
The startups that are accepted will get office space, mentoring sessions with Japanese banks and networking with IT companies, small businesses and technology investors.
From the Web
The Wall Street Journal | Fri May 17, 2019 - Banks, wary of the drug dealers and scammers attracted to the anonymity of cryptocurrency, shun many of the firms behind the electronic money, leaving them to turn to shadowy middlemen for payment processing and other financial services.
TechCrunch | Fri May 17, 2019 - After disclosing a breach, Stack Overflow has confirmed some user data was accessed. The developer knowledge sharing site confirmed a breach of its systems, resulting in unauthorized access to production systems — the front-facing servers that actively power the site.
CNBC | Sat May 18, 2019 - London-based TransferWise handles $5 billion a month in money remittances across 71 countries. The flow of money between individuals across national boundaries totaled $689 billion last year and has benefited companies like Western Union and Moneygram.
More from PaymentsSource
The fintech M&A wave is sweeping over the dining and fast-food industries, with major companies like Amazon, Walmart and American Express spending on smaller firms that focus on digital food delivery and payments.
JPMorgan Chase is buying InstaMed, a cloud-based health care payments platform that has seen significant growth in recent years from consumer medical payments.
Pangea is on the cusp of becoming the first digital remittance company to offer a branded checking account closely tied to its core product.
Amazon led a Series G funding round worth £475 million (about US$575 million) with three other investors for London-based food delivery company Deliveroo.
