Fintech, Finance, Technology, Banking Highlights – 10 December 2018
Yandex.Money extends contactless payment methods for its cardholders
Yandex.Money has introduced Garmin Pay to its cardholders, providing a new way of paying at offline stores in Russia.
The Yandex.Money virtual or plastic card tokenized in Garmin Connect mobile app makes it possible to pay at offline stores with a Garmin smartwatch. Thus, Yandex.Money supports five contactless payment methods: Apple Pay, Garmin Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, and its own feature embedded into Yandex.Money app.
Nowadays, contactless payments are gaining rapid popularity in Russia, with 43% of Yandex.Money users preferring this payment method. Approximately 20% of offline payments are made with tokenized cards via smartphones and smartwatches.
An average check from a contactless payment with a Yandex.Money card is USD 6.8 across Russia and USD 8.3 in Moscow. The main categories of products purchased via contactless payments according to Yandex.Money stats are: department stores goods, household appliances, cosmetics, building supplies, electronics, books, tobacco products.
Metro Bank makes Swift work of cross-border mobile payments
Metro Bank, the revolution in British banking, has enhanced its award-winning mobile app by launching international payments for its personal and business customers.
The new service enables customers to make same day SWIFT and next day SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) payments in euros, US dollars and GBP sterling to more than 38 countries.
To create a new payee, customers can either enter the payee’s IBAN to automatically generate the SWIFT BIC Code or simply input their account number. Sitting alongside the app’s domestic payments functionality, the straightforward four-step process allows customers to choose whether they or the payee cover the charges.
Paul Riseborough, Chief Commercial Officer at Metro Bank said: “We’re always looking for new ways to make our customers’ lives easier. Whether you want to send money to your loved ones back home or pay an overseas supplier, you can now do it with a simple tap of the app.”
Elavon invests in Georgia Tech
Elavon, a global payments provider and subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB), announced a new and significant, three-year financial commitment at the Georgia Institute of Technology to further accelerate innovation across financial and payments technologies (FinTech).
The Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) at Georgia Tech is Georgia’s technology incubator. It focuseson building and growing FinTech companies in the state of Georgia. Elavon’s financial sponsorship will allow for further growth and startup support for entrepreneurs in the program.
As part of the sponsorship, Elavon executives will mentor program participants on topics such as software and applications integration as well as consultation on effective go-to-market strategies. As the FinTech space continues to evolve, partnerships with incumbents have become more important for an early-stage company’s customer acquisition and business model development.
“Our investment in this program and local FinTech companies brings us closer to the growing technology community in Atlanta and across the entire payments ecosystem, and is part of Elavon’s continued focus on integrated payments and eCommerce,” said Wally Mlynarski, Elavon’s chief product officer. “With this partnership, we are able to directly impact and shape the future of payments as technology and business models continue to rapidly evolve.”
PumaPay introduces crypto-to-crypto conversion
PumaPay, the blockchain project company that developed the PullPayment Protocol, announces its new in wallet feature, Crypto-to-Crypto conversion, which provides users with the convenience to convert their tokens easily, without leaving the app.
PumaPay’s latest feature is supported by Changelly, one of the most reputable and trusted cryptocurrency exchanges for converting between digital currencies. This exchange provides a wide range of digital assets for a seamless exchange. With Changelly, the PumaPay wallet will support crypto exchange between almost any ERC20 tokens. The feature is currently available in the Android version of the mobile wallet. The iOS app is now under review by Apple and will be available shortly. PumaPay will also add Bitcoin and enable the conversion of BTC to PMA in the upcoming weeks. Other major cryptocurrencies are also planned to be added to the wallet app.
PumaPay created PullPayment Protocol with the mission to bring crypto payments in daily life. Its innovative approach reverses the mechanisms of a transaction, enabling merchants to ‘pull’ crypto funds from their customers’ account, thus supporting payment practices that have been impossible on the blockchain, including recurring payments with fixed and variable amounts, pay-per-use transactions, split payments, and more, enabling merchants to run their businesses the way they’re used to with credit cards. PumaPay’s PullPayment protocol provides the flexibility of crypto payments in day-to-day transactions through super-fast transaction processing time, and low fees.
“We’re constantly working on further developing our solution and adding new features to our wallet. Changelly’s crypto-to-crypto conversion gives our users a much easier way to exchange their cryptos within the PumaPay app, ultimately saving them time and money,” says Yoav Dror, CEO of PumaPay.
“PumaPay is another great example of how a combination of innovative blockchain technologies and familiar credit cards payment methods can facilitate the penetration of crypto into the everyday aspects of our lives, thus bringing new members to the global crypto community. At Changelly we’re happy to provide the most convenient crypto-to-crypto exchange option for PumaPay and therefore contribute to crypto mass adoption,” CEO of Changelly, Ilya Bere admits.
