5.29.18 Your morning briefing

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

The information you need to start your day, from PaymentsSource and around the Web:

Watson in France
IBM's Watson, which has already made inroads with the card networks as an IoT payments enabler, has expanded in France as Credit Mutual has deployed Watson for all of its products.

That includes using the AI program to manage payment products, health care, consumer credit and risk management.

Canada Newswire reports the bank will use other IBM products to store and encrypt data in compliance with anti money laundering laws and GDPR data protection regulations.

Michael Nagle/Bloomberg

T-Mobile bounty
A glitch at T-Mobile exposed account information for million of customers, including names, addresses and in some cases tax ID numbers, reports The Verge.

The vulnerability, which was caused by an unprotected API, allowed people to improperly access T-Mobile's customer care portal.

A bug bounty hunter discovered the flaw, and T-Mobile pulled the flawed API the next day. It also paid the bug bounty researcher, Ryan Stevens, $1,000 for the discovery.

City of blockchain
The Chinese city of Shenzhen has partnered with Tencent to add blockchain technology to improve tax collection and related payments.

The city and the technology company will set up an innovation lab to add cloud computing, artificial intelligence and "big data" to manage tax records and invoicing.

Some local jurisdictions in the U.S. are considering applying blockchain and cryptocurrency to tax payments, with mixed results.

Performance payments
A Brunel University student, Emma McBride, has developed a contactless payment system for London's street performers.

The system, called Tiptap, has a contactless payment stand that's about four feet tall. The performer pairs his or her smartphone to the stand, and the audience members "tap" the stand to enter a tip amount. Performers need a verified account to use Tiptap, which also shows earnings, expenses and has other features such as show scheduling and promotional content.

The system is in some ways similar to innovations that allow people to make quick donations as people have less cash in their wallets or purses.

From the Web

Square Is Raising $750 Million to Fight Back Against PayPal
The Motley Fool | Sat May 26, 2018 - Last week, PayPal agreed to buy Square's chief European rival, iZettle, for $2.2 billion. By Monday, Square was ready to announce a new debt offering to raise $750 million in cash.

Rocket Internet targets $2.6 billion cash at fintech and AI
Reuters | Tue May 29, 2018 - Germany’s Rocket Internet said on Tuesday it is looking at investing in areas such as financial technology and artificial intelligence with the 2.6 billion euro ($3 billion) it has amassed. Rocket Internet, which had a shaky start after listing in 2014 as its start-ups made big losses, saw its share price jump last year after HelloFresh and Delivery Hero went public.

'Digital wallet’ of Ant Financial captivates China and beyond
The Guardian | Mon May 28, 2018 - The Hangzhou-based firm, controlled by the Alibaba founder and executive chairman, Jack Ma, is reportedly raising funds that would value it at $150bn. That would make Ant the world’s most valuable startup, larger than Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and several Chinese banks.

More from PaymentsSource

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The 'Internet of Payments' puts ID security on the smartphone
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