The information you need to start your day, from PaymentsSource and around the Web:
Merchant Grab
Asian ride sharing app
In a new move, Grab has entered a strategic partnership with Fave, payment and marketing company, to accelerate the onboarding of merchants for GrabFood and GrabPay in Singapore and Malaysia, linking these Grab features to Fave's merchant network.
Later in October, Fave plans to expand its platform by adding support for GrabPay's complete digital wallet. These integrations will enable marketing and point-based reward systems for these merchants through Grab.
Russian interference
Russian intelligence officers used cryptocurrencies to hide payments for a disinformation campaign, the U.S. government alleges.
The
The DoJ says it was able to track the payments because of some overlap in the devices used to make payments and the computer equipment used for hacking.
Philippine fintech picks up VC support
KKR and Tencent have taken a $175 million stake in Voyager Innovations, a Philippine-based technology company that sells a variety of products for mobile money, digital payments and remittances.
It's one of the largest technology deals in the history of the Philippines, reports
The investment adds to existing VC that's flowing into the Filipino payment technology market, including
Light bill
Mobile payments and mobile technology in general are expanding in
The card brand is introducing a Masterpass-connected app that supports prepaid utility, traffic costs, television bills, and other recurring payments, reports
The service covers about 450 bill issuers, more than 40 traffic agencies and 80 municipalities.
From the Web
The Economic Times | Fri October 5, 2018 - Global payments firms including Visa, MasterCard and PayPal are expected to meet finance minister Arun Jaitley on Friday, seeking more time to comply with the norms laid down by the banking regulator, according to four executives from payments companies aware of the development. The companies are also seeking a relaxation in the Reserve Bank order that mandates storage of data within the country.
Forbes | Thu October 4, 2018 - After a brutal beat down of bitcoin's price this year, digital currencies might be poised for a rebound with two milestone projects coming online in November. One has the backing of the owner of a major stock bourse, while the other is stacked with crypto's biggest virtual currency exchanges.
CCN | Thu October 4, 2018 - Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has applied to patent a blockchain system that allows a third-party administrator to execute “special transactions” such as halting a smart contract or freezing an account linked to illegal activity. According to documents made public on Thursday by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO), the Hangzhou-based firm submitted the application through Alibaba Group Holding Limited, a holding company located in Grand Cayman, in March.
More from PaymentsSource
The Supreme Court decision in May that struck down the 1992 federal law which prohibited states from authorizing sports betting will have an outsized economic impact on sports and gaming industries, creating ample opportunity for payment gateways to process a new stream of transactions.
In/PACT wants to encourage higher charitable donations by having donors use their banks’ online platforms instead of going directly to the charities.
The technology arms race among payment fintechs is converging on the market for credit and loans, with Square rolling out an installment payment option for consumers that complements its merchant capital option for sellers.
PayPal launched a new merchant app called PayPal for Business, aimed at driving usage and adoption of its invoicing and payments services among freelance workers and small businesses in India.
