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TransUnion buys greater device, geographic coverage
TransUnion has agreed to
TransUnion is also in the midst of acquiring CallCredit, a U.K.-based firm; TransUnion also announced a deal to acquire Healthcare Payment Specialists, a company that digitizes Medicare reimbursement payments.
All three of these are designed to broaden TransUnion's geographic, market and device reach as companies increase their use of digital and mobile transactions.
Face of the account
Adoption has spread to South Africa, where FNB has added a selfie option to open accounts within minutes, reports
Once open, the accounts enable self-authentication and aid the bank's KYC compliance. Users can also order new payment cards, switch debit orders and set up other services. FNB has also added a travel feature that helps people find and pay for flights via the app.
Fu-Gee-La
Fugees founder and Grammy-award winning rapper Pras Michel has introduced a smartphone that uses the blockchain to allow users to benefit from payments made on the phone.
Michel is launching the phone, called Motif, as part of his digital platform Blacture, reports
The rewards will work similar to airline miles and be redeemable for cash. The phone, which will cost $300 when it's released this fall, can also be linked to a Blacture debit card.
Not oversharing?
Vota has launched an app that uses social tools to share card purchases, reports
Vota records card purchases and locations, which the users can view privately or share with friends to put shopping into a larger context and feed tailored recommendations. Users can connect cards from Chase, Capital One, Wells Fargo, US Bank, Citi and other Visa issuers.
While Blippy didn't work, the popularity of Venmo with younger consumers could give the model another chance.
A push for open banking
As
In the U.S. Envestnet/Yodlee has formed a consortium with data platforms Quovo and Morning Star to push for open access to financial data for consumers, as well as easier payments data sharing among financial institutions and third parties such as payment apps.
The three companies have developed Secure Open Data Access, a framework to guide the data sharing while maintaining traceability, accountability and transparency. Among their goals is to ensure the U.S. financial ecosystem does not fall behind as the rest of the world adopts open banking.
From the Web
The New York Times | Sun May 20, 2018 - Cybercrime is one of the world’s fastest-growing and most lucrative industries. At least $445 billion was lost last year, up around 30 percent from just three years earlier, a global economic study found, and the Treasury Department recently designated cyberattacks as one of the greatest risks to the American financial sector.
Forbes | Fri May 18, 2018 - Fintech's influence is growing around the globe. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, fintech startups attracted more than $40 billion in investments during the past four years, and legacy institutions are warming up to partnerships with agile, digital-first companies.
TechCrunch | Sun May 20, 2018 - Criminals and terrorists, like millions of others, rely on smartphone encryption to protect the information on their mobile devices. But unlike most of us, the data on their phones could endanger lives and pose a great threat to national security.
More from PaymentsSource
E-commerce payment fraud losses are mounting, giving merchants the opportunity to dump responsibility on their technology partners, but there's no surefire way to totally offload the financial hit.
With the use of global standards, merchants can also strengthen and consolidate their relationships with vendors and minimize expenditure on hardware and software solutions and maintenance, writes Normand Provost, liaison chair of Nexo.
Bank executives say artificial intelligence will create jobs, while analysts say the opposite. Employees are anxious but willing to try to work with it. All agree AI is already making an impact.
Blockchain's potential for revolutionizing the world’s payment systems has captured the imagination in recent years, and last month Santander became the U.K.'s first bank to use the technology to create a new international payments service.
