The information you need to start your day, from PaymentsSource and around the Web:
Going local
Mastercard and Visa have started storing domestic payment data within India to comply with contentious new regulations that require foreign companies to store payment data domestically.
The U.S. companies are still lobbying to dilute the law by creating timeframes or allowing data mirroring, or dual inside/outside storage that the Indian government has thus far rejected.
Crypto crackdown
The British government plans sweeping restrictions on cryptocurrencies such, as bans on certain types of trades and dire warnings about crime and money loss.
The Financial Conduct Authority in first quarter of 2019 will begin discussing a ban on cryptocurrency derivatives, reports
The move would also curtail the use of cryptocurrencies for payments, since the FCA says cryptocurrencies have "no intrinsic value," expose holders to financial loss, and provide a platform for money laundering.
Close shave
Fresh off picking up clients in Europe such as The Gap,
The processor has signed Dollar Shave Club, Adidas, Busbud and Canada Goose as part of broader a expansion into Canada, reports
.
New markets
Google Pay has expanded its footprint in Europe after adding several Scandinavian markets.
The mobile wallet app is now available in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark, reports
The expansion will also help Google compete in the region with
From the Web
TechCrunch | Tue October 30, 2018 - On the heels of a funding round to the tune of $18.8 million, Even Financial has acquired Birch Finance for an undisclosed sum. Even offers products like a pre-approval API, real-time pricing, machine learning optimization, a product comparison and recommendation engine for consumers and more.
Yahoo Finance | Wed October 31, 2018 - Fast-growing UK startup bank Monzo is now worth £1bn ($1.2bn), just three years after launching, making it a “unicorn.” The app-only bank announced on Wednesday that it has raised £85m ($108m) in a ‘Series E’ fundraising — its fifth injection of institutional money since its founding in 2015. The funding round values the company at £1bn.
Yahoo News | Wed October 31, 2018 - Indonesian e-commerce giant Tokopedia and Lippo Group-backed cashless payment service OVO today announced a new partnership that will make OVO available as a payment option on Tokopedia’s online marketplace platforms. OVO explained that its partnership with Tokopedia is part of its three-prong strategy to introduce mobile payment to the wider Indonesian customers.
More from PaymentsSource
As the gift card market grows and becomes increasingly digital, so has the product's utility.Thus, many consumers are shifting their habits and buying gift cards for themselves either due to an incentive program or to help with budgeting.
Automated payment technology provider Yooz North America is partnering with digital payment provider SnapCheck to help companies speed up accounts payable processes, while cutting operational and fraud costs.
Margaret Keane discussed Synchony's investments in technology, including how the card issuer plans to use customer data to help retailers create targeted ads, during an appearance Tuesday in New York,
After Rooam's initial launch of its nightlife payment app in its home base of Washington, D.C., the company has agreed to acquire a similar payment app provider to pave the way for its launch in Chicago.
