6.26.19 Your morning briefing

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

Nordic nod

Mastercard and the P27 Nordic Payments platform will build a real-time payment system to work across the region.

P27, which is owned by a consortium of banks including Danske Bank, Handelsbanken, Nordea, OP Financial Group, SEB and Swedbank, will power instant account-to-account multi-currency transactions, replacing older payments infrastructure. P27 is built on top of existing mobile payment apps from the banks in the Nordic region.

The platform is also expected to produce a data stream and tracking ability that will pave the way for other shared financial services among the participants.

Mastercard card
A Mastercard Inc. credit card is arranged for a photograph in Tiskilwa, Illinois, U.S., on Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2018. Visa and Mastercard agreed to pay as much as $6.2 billion to end a long-running price-fixing case brought by merchants over card fees, the largest-ever class action settlement of an antitrust case. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

Doubling up

Amazon Prime Day has had an indelible impact on how people shop, placing a spotlight on the e-commerce giant's retail moves at Whole Foods and its in-home order and pay technology. The overall popularity of the event has pushed Amazon to lengthen it beyond a single day.

This year Amazon Prime Day will be two days, 3 AM ET July 15 to 3AM July 17, and the event will be available in the U.S., U.K. and about a dozen other countries.

The event is largely a marketing ploy for Amazon, but there is reason for digital payment companies and online retailers to pay attention, since nearly three quarters of Prime Day shoppers visit other e-commerce sites before Amazon on Prime Day.

Watch this

Driven by devices such as the Apple Watch and Fitbit Pay, the global market for wearable computing is expanding quickly, and Swedbank is trying to capitalize on the trend with a new range of watches.

The bank is collaborating with Nordea to support contactless payments for Mastercard cardholders in Sweden, using tokenization from Fidesmo, a Swedish technology firm that adds contactless transaction capabilities for computing devices.

The collaborators started with watches, and will add other connected devices in the near future.

Campaign finance

A bipartisan group of Minnesota legislators are pushing a bill that would outlaw cryptocurrency to be used for campaign donations.

Specifically, the bill requires campaign donations to be backed by government-issued tender. This would create a grey area for stablecoins, which use traditional currency as a hedge against fluctuating cryptocurrency valuations, reports Coindesk.

The bill takes a political stance, since cryptocurrency is often associated with libertarian voters, though it's not unusual for politicians to take anti-cryptocurrency positions. That said, some 2020 presidential candidates are accepting cryptocurrency donations.

From the Web

Why The U.S. Still Lags Behind China In Mobile Wallet Adoption
Forbes | Tue June 25, 2019 - The U.S. is falling behind much of Asia – especially China – when it comes to mobile wallet adoption, and the gap is growing wider. According to recent statistics, less than a quarter of Americans have embraced mobile wallets, compared to nearly half of the Chinese population.

India’s Open ‘neo-bank’ raises $30 million to help businesses automate their finances
TechCrunch | Tue June 25, 2019 - Open, a Bangalore-based startup that operates a “neo-bank” to help businesses automate and run their finances, has bagged $30 million in a new funding round as investors look to replicate a globally tried and tested business idea in emerging markets.

Fintech adoption in Singapore almost triples in 2 years to 67%: EY
The Straits Times | Wed June 26, 2019 - The fintech adoption rate among Singapore consumers jumped from 23 percent in 2017 to 67 percent in 2019 - higher than the global average of 64 percent, and the Asia-Pacific average of 63 percent, its latest EY Global Fintech Adoption Indexes show.

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Citi ties ThankYou rewards to Mastercard tech for instant redemption
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Visa acquires Rambus tech portfolio to expand tokenization reach
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