4.22.19 Your morning briefing

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

Visa APIs take on digital payments
Visa has launched a new platform with beta development tools for serving customers who prefer digital payments. The first wave of beta APIs focuses on digital account creation, access controls, tokenization, QR code payments, data analysis, and other features.

One possible application for these tools is to allow consumers in Asia to convert the balances of their local wallets to a digital Visa card when traveling, Visa says.

This would be a counter to wallets such as China's Alipay and WeChat Pay, which have been aggressively pursuing merchant acceptance in Europe and North America.

Visa cards in shadows
Visa Inc. credit cards are arranged for a photograph in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Friday, Oct. 20, 2017. Visa is expected to announce fourth-quarter earnings figures on October 25. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Coffee battle
Luckin, a Chinese coffee chain that relies heavily on mobile ordering and payments, is ramping up as Starbucks plots its own moves in China.

The chain has reached a $2.9 billion valuation following a series of recent investments, including a $150 million investment last week and a $200 million investment in November. The latest investment includes Blackrock, with also owns a 6.58% stake in Starbucks, which is valued at about $6.2 billion.

Lickin has small locations, mostly pickup stations and prep kitchens with a network of about 1,700 locations in China. It plans to expand that to more than 4,500 by the end of 2019. Starbucks has about 3,600 stores in China, and recently partnered with Alibaba.

Ransomware tools
PayPal has won a patent for technology that's designed to prevent ransomware.

The technology detects an initial copy of a file to prevent it from being deleted, which CoinTelegraph reports will detect if ransomware is on a computer.

There are several potential use cases for PayPal, such as combating ransomware at scale for larger retailers.

Coinbase gets larger
Coinbase has added 11 countries in Latin America and Southeast Asia as it works on new cases for cryptocurrency beyond trading.

The new countries bring Coinbase's network to 53 nations on four continents, and the company is accelerating its strategy to introduce services such as micropayments or lending.

Cryptocurrency has not been used widely for payments, though there are signs that reluctance is waning.

Out of the sandbox
The Reserve Bank of India has set up a testing sandbox for fintech, blockchain and related technology, but is leaving out cryptocurrency projects.

While blockchain and digital payments fall under the umbrella of "innovative products" under the RBI's guidelines, the ban on cryptocurrencies follows a history of the RBI taking a negative stance toward crypto, reports Coindesk.

India's courts and regulators have also ruled against most uses of cryptocurrency.

From the Web

Can IBM's World Wire Be The Answer To Cryptocurrency Payments Or Do We Need More Options?
Forbes | Fri April 19, 2019 - The competitive battle for a viable and workable solution has continued as blockchain backer IBM has also come forward with their own solution, the Blockchain World Wire. IBM already has a considerable stake in the burgeoning blockchain market with Hyperledger Fabric the most-used in the Forbes Blockchain 50 list, accounting for 26.

ProcessOut improves payment data visualization
TechCrunch | Fri April 19, 2019 - ProcessOut has grown quite a lot since I first covered the startup. The company now has a ton of small and big clients, from Glovo to Vente-Privée and Dashlane. The company has become an expert on payment providers and payment analytics.

Millions using 123456 as password, security study finds
BBC | Sun April 21, 2019 - Millions of people are using easy-to-guess passwords on sensitive accounts, suggests a study. The analysis by the UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) found 123456 was the most widely-used password on breached accounts.

More from PaymentsSource

How Amex avoided a repeat of Costco to keep Delta on board
If American Express is going to soar in the future, it plans to do so firmly attached to the new 11-year contract it has signed with Delta Airlines.

T-Mobile puts its mark on payments with Money app rollout
In revealing Thursday that its four-month testing phase for the T-Mobile Money app is complete and the banking/payments service is available nationwide, T-Mobile hopes to establish its position as a mainstream financial services company.

Flywire, True North boost international payments for Canadian schools
Flywire is partnering with True North to allow Canadian educational institutions to better manage payments from international students by integrating them with application, enrollment and accounts receivable processes.

'IoT for authentication' can trade too much danger for convenience
The internet, mobile and connected devices support efficient, all day, anytime access to payments and finances. But firms need to be careful not to ask consumers to give up too much security in the name of convenience when considering authentication in the IoT world.

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