3.20.19 Your morning briefing

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

All aboard
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation will support Google Pay for ticketing and payments, adding a key transportation use case as the country attempts to evolve from cash payments to a digital economy.

The booking feature will allow riders to search for information such as train schedules, seat availability and travel times, reports Gadgets360's local news site in India, which adds Paytm also has a train ticketing app in India.

India's digitization is in its early stages and is suffering from political battles, though mobile payment technology is picking up attention on social media.

Google-bloomberg-ps.jpg
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Premium creators
Artist membership and payment site Patreon has changed its fees several times as it tries to strike a balance between independence and affordability, and it's altered its levies yet again.

Under its new structure, all creators can get the basic 5 percent rate for monthly subscriptions. But added features such as customer support, multi user teams and merchandise sales will be tiered, with a Pro plan that has an 8 percent rate and a Premium enterprise plan that charges 12 percent. Existing creators will still get the 5 percent rate for the Pro plan and 9 percent for the premium plan.

The new rates will go into effect in early May, reports TechCrunch, adding the move is designed to allow the site to retain ownership. Patreon has about 100,000 creators, and is on pace to pass $1 billion in payouts during 2019.

PSD2 checklist
The PSD2 open banking rules have caused a flurry of activity among technology companies, leading the European Banking Authority to build an electronic registry.

The registry will have information on several thousand payment and electronic money companies and 150,000 agents in the EU.

The information includes authorized payment companies, their home nation and information on passporting and cross-border services.

It's electric
Electronic parts and services distributor Avnet has partnered with BitPay to support cyrptocurrency payments, a shot in the arm for cryptocurrency transactions beyond investments.

The company's clients can use bitcoin and bitcoin cash to pay, with BitPay verifying the payment, reports CoinDesk, which adds Avnet is the third largest technology company to accept bitcoin payments, behind Microsoft and Dell.

Avnet has reportedly already closed several "multi-million dollar" payments via cryptocurrency, according to CoinDesk.

From the Web

Cathay Pacific doubling down on mining customer data despite massive data breach in 2018
The Straits Times | Tue March 19, 2019 - Undeterred by a hack that exposed personal information on 9.4 million passengers, Cathay Pacific Airways is doubling down on mining customer data. The airline is logging the travel habits of lucrative business-class flyers, such as when they want their seat laid flat, in a bid to tailor flights for them, chief executive officer Rupert Hogg said.

Grab launches online checkout system, plans customer credit services and loans
The Straits Times | Tue March 19, 2019 - Technology company Grab is rolling out an online checkout system for e-wallet GrabPay, credit services to customers and more insurance options for its drivers, as it sets its sights on becoming the region's largest payment and financial service platform.

Home Office uses debit cards to spy on asylum seekers
The Times | Tue March 19, 2019 - Individuals seeking asylum in Britain are issued with prepaid Aspen debit cards, allowing them to spend £35 a week on food, clothes and toiletries. It has been discovered that the microchipped cards are being used to monitor people’s movements and are revoked if they leave their “authorised city”, the place where they are being given temporary housing.

More from PaymentsSource

Why Worldpay? The logic behind FIS' pick
The FIS-Worldpay merger is the largest international payments deal to date, significantly topping the recent Fiserv-First Data merger that turned heads at the beginning of the year. But the FIS deal’s strategic implications could be more interesting than the raw numbers.

How FIS-Worldpay deal invigorates the digital ID movement
Dumping passwords in favor of interoperable, flexible identity is an evolution as bumpy as it is necessary. FIS and Worldpay’s combination stands to create tools that can smooth this road.

Branch expands payroll advance app to all hourly workers
Mobile technology provider Branch is expanding a work scheduling and payment app it makes available to companies, enabling the Pay feature to help hourly workers forecast hours and advance their pay.

Instagram adds checkout via PayPal's processing platform
The Instagram social media platform is testing a checkout feature powered through PayPal to provide users the option to purchase goods without leaving the app.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
MORE FROM AMERICAN BANKER