The information you need to start your day, from PaymentsSource and around the Web:
Bye Bye Bitcoin
Twitter, following policies set by Facebook and Google, will ban certain advertisements for cryptocurrency in the weeks ahead,
The new policy would block the advertisement of initial coin offerings, token sales and cryptocurrency wallets, the article states. The policy may also affect the advertising of cryptocurrency exchanges.
Google announced a similar policy last week, and Facebook announced its policy back in January.
Amex's blockchain plan
American Express' travel business may have plans to use blockchain — the distributed ledger technology developed for bitcoin — for faster payments,
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published a patent application from Amex detailing its plans, following a similar patent application published in October that described the use of blockchain in a rewards program, the article states. The new application focuses on person-to-person payments and similar use cases.
Samsung Pay Delay
Some owners of the new Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ phones can't use Samsung Pay,
Unlike other Android smartphones that default to Google Pay, Samsung's handsets use their own mobile wallet and are built with unique hardware that lets them make contactless payments at ordinary magstripe terminals. But some S9 and S9+ handsets are coming without the Samsung Pay app, or with a version that says it requires an update even though no update is available.
Facial Recognition at Madison Square Garden
Facial recognition, one of the many forms of biometric authentication in use for mobile and online payments, is also a low-key requirement to get into Madison Square Garden in New York.
The stadium uses the technology to scan visitors as they enter the property, comparing their images to those in a database,
From the Web
BBC News | Fri Mar 16, 2018 - Crypto-currencies and digital cash systems have become a key way for cyber-thieves to launder stolen funds, suggests research. Alongside its use in ransomware, virtual cash was also helping clean up other sources of stolen cash, said criminologist Dr Mike Maguire. Bitcoin's anonymity made it attractive to tech-savvy thieves, he said. Dr McGuire drew on interviews with cyber-thieves, police reports and dark web searches for the study.
The Times | Sun Mar 18, 2018 - A plan to instigate two giant infrastructure projects to boost Britain’s financial technology sector will be unveiled by Philip Hammond this week. The chancellor will launch a fintech strategy on Thursday at an international conference. He will say that the Financial Services Trade and Investment Board has been told to identify two areas where industry and government can work together to improve the country’s prospects in the digital economy.
CNBC | Fri Mar 16, 2018 - A top Visa executive has launched one of the most outspoken attacks yet from the financial establishment on the bitcoin craze, saying cryptocurrency was used by "every crook and dirty politician" and speculators who have "no clue." In an interview with the Financial Times, Vasant Prabhu, chief financial officer of the world's biggest payment network by market value, recalled encounters he had with ill-informed retail investors that had been "a real shock" to him."
More from Paymentssource
Not all of the people driving this trend are honest about it. But there is a less nefarious use for browser-based mining as a potential revenue stream to support digital content.
There are signs that the wearable payments market is starting to come into focus. However, that doesn't necessarily mean it's destined for success.
Assuming that a wireless protocol is to be deployed for ease of use, the key decision to be made is the transport for communication between In-vehicle infotainment system (IVI) system and pump, writes Jim Carroll, chief technology officer at Mobica.
The New York Public Service Commission on Thursday cleared the New York Municipal Power Agency to raise electricity bills for cryptominers seeking to take advantage of the state’s low-cost hydroelectric power.
