The information you need to start your day, from PaymentsSource and around the web:
Cashing out
Westpac has added user controls to its mobile and online platforms that allow consumers to restrict their gambling payments, the latest in a series of financial institutions to deploy technology to curtail compulsive gambling.
The block can be applied in real time through a credit or debit Mastercard, and 2,500 customers have used it inside the product's first month, the bank reports.
Other financial institutions are also embracing tools to encourage responsible gambling.
In style
Chrissy Teigen's lifestyle brand is leaning into the buy now/pay later trend through a partnership with PayPal, which will support installment payments.
Cravings by Chrissy Teigen will offer Pay in 4, and will also work with PayPal on marketing campaigns and a Mother's Day gift guide that details products that are available through Pay in 4.
Recycling bin
BBVA plans to offer payment cards made of recycled materials to its entire customer base by the end of 2021, and by 2023 it will no longer issue non-recyclable cards.
The use of
Several financial institutions and payment companies this year tied announcements of carbon reduction to
Data breach
Cloud provider DigitalOcean has disclosed a breach that compromised payment cards, expiration dates and the name of the issuing bank, along with consumer names and addresses.
The company told customers that a person gained unauthorized access to these details through a security flaw between April 9 and April 22, adding the glitch has been repaired, reports
About 1% of DigitalOcean's billing profiles were affected, though the company did not disclose how it found the vulnerability and what authorities it had contacted, according to TechCrunch.
From the web
ENGADGET | Wednesday, April 28th, 2021
Facebook’s push into e-commerce features is starting to pay off. Facebook Marketplace, the Craigslist-like service where users buy and sell with each other, now has one billion users, Mark Zuckerberg shared in an update during the company’s latest earnings call.
TECHCRUNCH | Thursday, April 29, 2021
Paxos has raised a $300 million Series D funding round led by Oak HC/FT. With today’s funding the round, the company is now valued at $2.4 billion. The company has been building infrastructure and white-label services for enterprise clients that want to offer cryptocurrency products to their own customers.
TECHCRUNCH | Wednesday, April 28, 2021
A startup that is helping over 125,000 neighborhood stores in India secure working capital, inventory from top brands, and work with e-commerce firms to boost revenues said on Thursday it has raised a new financing round as it looks to further its reach in the world’s second largest internet market.
More from PaymentsSource
It’s time organizations use a similar data security approach to meet Nacha compliance as they do to secure PANs in accordance with PCI DSS, says comforte AG's Trevor Morgan.
CEO Mark Zuckerburg acknowledged the need to simplify the company's payment experience, particularly for virtual reality.
JPMorgan Chase has lined up a group of partners in Singapore to greatly expand blockchain innovation's utility for trade finance.
Petal, an online credit card provider, has started offering its cash-flow-based underwriting technology to banks and fintechs. It’s also providing to other lenders its own version of a credit score, CashScore, which is based largely on customers’ cash-flow data and bill-paying habits.
Less than a month after landing new funding from investors, global e-commerce payments provider dLocal is entering three new markets in Southeast Asia.
Machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) will have a critical role in realigning treasury operations and streamlining accounts payable and accounts receivable.
Visa CEO Al Kelly detailed the card brand's push to take advantage of trends such as central bank digital currencies and financial inclusion.
Fiserv now allows merchants using the Clover point-of-sale platform to accept PayPal and Venmo payments, a move that serves the company's continuing focus on full omnichannel experiences for its merchants.
U.S. Bancorp has announced a series of moves designed to meet clients' growing demand for cryptocurrency services.
Four out of five gig workers want faster payments, and most have less than $500 in savings, according to a study by Branch and Marqeta.
Barclays US, which offers a range of co branded credit cards targeting middle-income consumers, is adding a buy now/pay later option for its merchant partners.
It’s been a roller-coaster year globally. But one sector that’s adapted to roll with the punches better than most is retail. Yet the dramatic pivot to online shopping has elevated the cyber-related risks for these businesses and their merchant service providers.
The quick adoption of financial technology, coupled with remote work, requires firms to focus on internal innovation as well as customer-facing advancements.
Central bank digital currencies are moving much faster in China and Latin America, where the financial structures are less complicated than in the U.K. and U.S.
Central banks around the globe have decided to compete with private cryptocurrencies and each other in the race to issue central bank digital currencies. These efforts are important, but policymakers should give equal attention to the financial stability risks that may be linked to CBDCs.
Mobile wallets have seen strong adoption as an in-store payment method in China, but have lagged in appeal in the U.S. until recently. Coronavirus fears have caused many Americans to rethink the mobile wallet’s value proposition.
Top executives from the 49 companies that earned a spot in this year's ranking of the Best Fintechs to Work For cite the need for nimble shifts in business strategy, leadership style and recruiting tactics among the lessons they took away from the challenges of the coronavirus crisis.
