Technology

Ant Financial, the Alibaba affiliate that operates Alipay, is planning an IPO that could be worth hundreds of billions of dollars — but the funds it could raise are secondary to the consumer population it already controls.

Processing firm Galileo has built an API to bridge the gap between cryptocurrencies and mainstream payments, an area where a handful of other providers are experimenting. Large banks and card networks continue to keep their distance.

The rapid adoption of voice assistants only adds to the notion they could one day be disruptors in commerce, payments and financial services.

A Cambridge professor has found how an 1816 legal ruling can be used to trace stolen bitcoins, thus potentially making it easier for governments to legislate bitcoin exchanges.

One of the most outspoken proponents of Bitcoin Cash, the digital token that spun off from Bitcoin in August amid a heated debate in the digital-money community, still holds some of the original cryptocurrency because, well, everyone knows it’s smart to diversify.

The Cleveland bank's CIO, Amy Brady, said it had to start replacing legacy systems now to position itself as a leader in the future.

Even though a denial-of-service attack on an e-commerce site is not classified as a breach because data is usually not compromised, the 2018 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report claims it is a growing menace to merchants who rely solely on their websites.

Voice assistants are on a fast track, with ownership of home devices like Amazon Echo and Google Home surging to between 20% and 25% of households from a mere 1% in about two years. The rapid growth is inviting keen interest in many circles about the potential for voice assistants to spark disruption in commerce, payments and financial services.

With the purchase of Finivation, the CUSO hopes to deliver better data integration to the credit union industry.

India’s Unified Payment Interface is a model that other developing economies can emulate, as they look to move away from cash-centricity and overhaul their own payments infrastructure in pursuit of speed, security, auditability and financial inclusion, writes Anoop Villait, managing director of corporate development at Transpay.