Friday December 27, 2019 –
Here are the new and noteworthy stories we have been following this week.
The 2019 Federal Reserve Payments Study
The Fed released the 2019 Federal Reserve Payments Study, the seventh in a series of triennial studies conducted by the Federal Reserve System since 2001 to estimate aggregate trends in noncash payments; key findings include, continued growth in noncash and card payments, ACH debit transfers exceeding check payments, and a modest decline in ATM cash withdrawls.
https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/files/2019-payments-study-20191219.pdf
Spanish banks to test programmable payments for smart contracts
A group of Spanish banks including Banco Sabadell, Banco Santander, Bankia, BBVA and CaixaBank have initiated a proof-of-concept test to deploy an interbank Smart Payments Platform that would enable the execution of payments in blockchain networks; the initiative is being coordinated by Iberpay.
Japan’s quest for cashless payments
Japanese consumers like the speed and anonymity of cash and use it for 80% of their payments; the government is trying to move the country to digital payments and has set a target of getting the cashless payment ratio up to 40% by 2025.
Visa and TD Expand Offering to Help Canadians Move Money Easily
TD Bank is working with Visa to offer its US customers the ability to send money to their bank account at TD Canada; TD is using Visa Direct, Visa’s real-time push payments solution to handle the money movement.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/visa-td-expand-offering-help-120000304.html
NCR Announces Acquisition of Edge Virtualization Technology Provider Zynstra
NCR has acquired UK-based Zynstra, a provider of edge virtualization technology; the acquisition will support NCR’s next-generation store architecture for the retail and hospitality industries and allow businesses to generate cost savings by virtualizing front and back-office technology.
Mastercard Acquires RiskRecon to Enhance Cybersecurity Capabilities
Mastercard announced that it is acquiring RiskRecon, a provider of artificial intelligence and data analytics solutions to support companies in protecting their cyber systems and infrastructure; RiskRecon uses publicly available data to build security assessments of organizations.
Bahamas Central Bank to Test Launch Digital Currency
The Central Bank of the Bahamas has announced that it will launch a digital version of the Bahamian dollar as a pilot in the Exuma district on December 27 and subsequently extend the program to Abaco next year; the Bahamian Central Bank has been working on a digital currency system dubbed, “Project Sand Dollar”.
Saudi’s fintech startup HyperPay receives 8-figure investment to grow its mobile payment processing platform
HyperPay a Saudi Arabia-based payment service provider for online merchants in the Middle East and North Africa, has closed an 8-digit investment to continue its growth across Saudi Arabia as well as Egypt and the GCC; the round was led by Mad’a Investment Company, with participation from Saudi Venture Capital Company, iNet, MEVP, and other investors.
