Technology

On-demand transportation and mobile payments provider Grab has launched Grab Financial, which will serve as its fintech platform.

China’s Ant Financial, which already has a large stake in India’s Paytm and operates its own Alipay wallet in China, is taking a 45% stake in Pakistan’s Telenor Microfinance Bank (TMB).

Spotting an opportunity to help mobile network operators in the Asia Pacific region extend payments through emerging technology, Mastercard has rolled out a package of technology services to encourage product development.

Timothy Zimmerman is optimistic about regulatory relief and the capabilities of the association's next CEO, but he remains wary of nonbank competition and cybersecurity risk.

American Express Ventures has become an investor in the startup EverCompliant, which helps financial institutions root out e-commerce websites backed by terrorists and drug cartels that are laundering money through payments-processing networks.

To see significant growth in NFC payments in the U.S. a movement to standardize terminals across merchants would be necessary, coupled with a willingness from consumers to test, trust and use the technology, writes Beatta McInerney, business development manager for payments at ScanSource.

The fridge, car, home assistant, smart watch, etc., will be able to initiate digital payments both online and on-location, and some will even be able to accept payment as well, and payment companies will need to respond, according to Michel Léger, executive vice president of innovation at Ingenico Group.

Quick service restaurant and other small business owners are warming up to new technology, giving Verifone and Paysafe a chance to sell their collaborative payment products.

Banks and payment companies have long been wary of the political and reputational risks of supporting gun sellers. But gun sellers know their customers better than most other merchant categories.

To detect and combat transaction laundering — the practice of hiding illegal activity behind a business that appears legitimate — American Express' investment group took a minority equity stake in EverCompliant.