The information you need to start your day, from PaymentsSource and around the Web:
House rules
The Netherlands is considering legislation that would require domestic cryptocurrency companies to register with the central bank, and could ban most foreign cryptocurrency companies entirely.
The bill is positioned as an anti-money-laundering measure, which is similar to efforts in other nations that have taken a hard line on cryptocurrency, such as
That includes Facebook's Libra, which has faced regulatory pushback globally, but is technically located in Switzerland, where it's also facing
Lost wages
A Clifton Park, N.Y.-based cloud-powered payroll firm called MyPayrollHR has abruptly closed, apparently leaving about $35 million in payroll and tax transactions for as many as 4,000 clients unaccounted for after employees that use the service found their bank accounts were drained of the amount of their pay rather than receiving deposits.
The lost wages appear linked to insider fraud, reports security writer
In this case, instructions to a third party that handles part of the processing were changed to redirect payroll disbursements to another account controlled by MyPayrollHR, resulting in a "reverse direct deposit." The third party has contacted law enforcement, and
Exiting Express
Google is migrating users from its outgoing Google Express online delivery portal to a redesigned
The migration should take several weeks, reports
Google Express never gained traction, reports TechCrunch, and the service's retail partners, such as Target and Walmart, dropped out of Google Express in favor of their own online shopping and fulfillment businesses.
Fighting city hall
Square is accusing San Francisco of wrongly classifying it as a financial services firm instead of an information firm, a distinction the company alleges is causing it to pay too much in taxes.
In a
Information businesses in San Francisco pay half of the taxes of a financial institution, or less. Square's suit covers 2014 and 2015, but the result of litigation could impact taxes for other years, reports the
Big Four challenge
Prepaid issuer Xinja Bank has gotten an Australian banking license, enabling its to offer bank accounts and lending in opposition to the country's "big four" banks.
The new products are due to be released in the first quarter of 2020, and follow a study from the Australian government that cited a lack of competition in the country's banking market, reports the
As a result, Australian regulators have stepped up efforts to grant banking licenses to payment technology firms and other digital companies.
From the Web
TECHCRUNCH | Wed September 11, 2019
Nigerian fintech startup Kuda — a digital-only retail bank — has raised $1.6 million in pre-seed funding. The Lagos- and London-based company recently launched the beta version of its online mobile finance platform. Kuda also received its banking license from the Nigerian Central Bank, giving it a distinction compared to other fintech startups.
BUSINESSWORLD | Thu September 12, 2019
The enterprise arm of Globe Telecom, Inc. has partnered with Facebook, Inc. to offer payment solutions for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Globe myBusiness said in a statement that the social media giant will now allow payments through an Ad Creator, where online advertising may be paid through the company’s postpaid bill.
CNBC | Wed September 11, 2019
Two years back, Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma became the country's youngest billionaire. Worth more than $2.6 billion (about Rs 18,460 crore), according to Forbes, Sharma made a splash in August 2018 by getting Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway to invest $300 million in Paytm. But Sharma, often painted as the man who lives life king-size, hasn’t always been the billionaire titan he is today. He is the son of a simple school teacher from a small city in north India. And he didn’t set out to be the CEO of a mobile-payments startup Paytm that expands as Pay Through Mobile.
More from PaymentsSource
SumUp, a U.K.-based mobile point of sale company, needed a way to differentiate itself from larger rivals such as PayPal, Square and iZettle.
Starbucks’ latest innovation doesn’t include camera-driven invisible checkout and doesn’t even come from Seattle. But for rank and file retailers, it may prove even more informative than watching the progress of Amazon Go.
Mastercard and blockchain software provider R3 plan to test a new blockchain-enabled cross-border payments service to connect global faster payments rails supported by a Mastercard-operated clearing and settlement network.
Brazilian payments provider Ebanx is working with Alibaba Group to test a retail store that combines physical and virtual showcases to allow consumers to obtain Chinese technology products.
