A collection of our most popular payments insights
As the year begins to wind down, we thought you might enjoy a round-up of some of the hottest payments content TSG has released in 2021. Visit the collection →
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The world’s largest card company just doubled down on its bid to capture the crypto market. Visa announced that it has launched a crypto advisory practice for its clients and partners under its Visa Consulting and Analytics (VCA) arm. The news comes just a few months after Cuy Sheffield, Visa’s head of crypto, declared the asset class had become “cool” at a fintech conference last month. The payments behemoth made waves when it bought a CryptoPunk NFT in August this year, but its move to launch a dedicated crypto consultancy shows its attempts to capture crypto market share in a crowded field extend beyond marketing stunts.
Fortis has proven in recent months to be one of the country’s most active payments providers when it comes to extending capabilities for independent software vendors, and now it has expanded further in that business with its acquisition of VIP Integrated Payments in a deal announced Wednesday. Terms were not released. Novi, Mich.-based Fortis, which in October changed its name from Fortis Pay, sees in Lakewood, Wash.-based VIP an opportunity to add on further capabilities in the valued-added reseller business in particular. In this highly competitive channel, providers can weave in payments capabilities for resellers of business software.
When attrition is mentioned, the first things that often come to mind are retention strategies: lower pricing, customer service, predictive attrition, and integration. But what if the focus was on new account strategies rather than retention?
Merchant portfolio growth is no longer as simple as the number of new accounts acquired. Quality accounts within a portfolio are dependent on maintaining growth and mitigating attrition. So, where does one begin? You guessed it, Quality Account Sales Strategies.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) needs to protect consumers from big technology companies eager to make inroads in the payments processing business, according to comments filed this week with the agency by two bank industry trade groups. The American Bankers Association (ABA) and the Community Bankers Association (CBA) called on the CFPB in a joint Dec. 7 letter to “ensure consumer protections are applied consistently to all companies offering payments products and financial services, including big tech” as part of an investigation ordered in October by CFPB Director Rohit Chopra.
Nuvei Corporation, the global payment technology partner of thriving brands, reaffirmed the financial outlook it disclosed on November 9, 2021 for full year 2021 and reiterated its long-term growth targets for total volume, revenue and adjusted EBITDA margin also disclosed on that date. Nuvei believes the recent report issued by a short seller is intentionally misleading and draws inaccurate conclusions, innuendo and character attacks on key executives, among numerous other issues. The personal attacks on Nuvei executives made by the short seller appear to have been made to distract from the Company’s achievements and progress.
A class action lawsuit filed Nov. 23, 2021, could impact a broad network of sub-ISOs and merchant level salespeople (MLSs) associated with Priority Payment Systems LLC and Priority Technology Holdings Inc. In the complaint, a large class of merchants, represented by Atlanta-based law firm Webb, Klase & Lemond LLC, accuses Priority representatives of enrolling customers under false pretenses and subsequently inflating contracted fees.
"What's crazy is that they are going after everybody," added a source who requested anonymity. "This class action potentially affects ISOs and MLSs from all over the country."
Brazilian fintech company Nubank made its market debut Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange, going public under the ticker symbol “NU.” Shares opened at $11.25 apiece after pricing 289 million shares at $9 apiece on Wednesday, the top end of its expected range of $8-$9 per share. The company raised $2.6 billion at an implied valuation of $41.4 billion. Nubank launched in 2013 with a purple no-fee credit card in Sao Paulo, Brazil, a country notorious for its high-fee, low-tech banking system.
French startup Lydia appears to be more popular than ever. It’s now the second-most downloaded fintech app in France, allowing 5.5m customers to bank, invest and send money to each other. Giant investors like Tencent and Accel are also Lydia supporters, joining its $133m Series B. And — finally — Lydia is a unicorn, having been valued at over $1bn in a new $100m round, flanked by US funds Dragoneer and Echo Street. The new feat is accompanied by a fresh set of ambitious goals.
Buy now, pay later (BNPL) platform Klarna on Thursday (Dec. 9) debuted a browser extension that will allow customers to use the company’s flexible payment options on their desktop computers at all online stores, even those that aren’t Klarna partners. The browser extension had been in beta testing with more than 100,000 shoppers before its official launch. Desktop shopping comprises almost one-third of all eCommerce traffic and 44% of online orders come through a desktop, Klarna said.
WhatsApp has launched a new pilot that lets a “limited number” of people in the US send and receive money from within a chat using cryptocurrency. The feature is powered by Novi, Meta’s digital wallet that launched as a pilot six weeks ago, with payments made using Pax Dollars (USDP), a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar issued by Paxos. The news was announced by Novi’s incoming head Stephane Kasriel and WhatsApp’s Will Cathcart. According to Novi’s website, sending a payment works much like sending any other attachment in WhatsApp.
The Cambrian explosion of interest in digital assets this year has led to record prices for cryptocurrencies and NFTs and sky-high valuations of blockchain companies, but also to record amounts of capital for the firms providing the industry with risk management infrastructure against hacks and other illicit activities. In today’s latest example, San Francisco-based blockchain intelligence outlet TRM Labs has raised a $60 million Series B funding round led by Tiger Global.
Abu Dhabi Growth Fund led the round, with participation from Coatue and Alpha Wave Ventures, Accel and Goodwater. The first part of round, worth $475 million, has been closed, with a second close within two weeks set to bring the total to more than $500 million. The funding comes as Monzo has doubled revenues this year, signing up around 100,000 new customers a month. The bank has more than five million customers, including 300,000 using paid accounts, with Business accounts recently topping 100,000. Roughly 25% of revenues are coming from new products launched during the pandemic.
Imports at the nation’s major retail container ports are expected to end 2021 with both the largest volume and fastest growth on record despite supply chain disruptions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates. “This has been an unprecedented year,” NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said. “We’ve seen more disruption than ever before because of issues along every step of the supply chain and continued strong consumer demand, but we’re also seeing more cargo and faster growth than ever before."
In 1986, three retail veterans opened a chain of stores in the southeast named Only $1.00. They were building upon the concept of a store they had stumbled across called Everything's A Dollar, and thought they could do it better. But Everything's A Dollar wasn't so thrilled to welcome the competition, so the company sued, forcing Only $1.00 to change its name. The executives came up with a different name: Dollar Tree. For 35 years, Dollar Tree (DLTR) sold toys, home furnishings, kitchenware, holiday decorations, stationary, party supplies, arts and crafts, books, food and household essentials for $1.
Shoppers at Belk now have the option to divide their payments into four interest-free installments. The Southeastern regional department store chain is partnering with buy now, pay later (BNPL) platform Afterpay to give customers the opportunity to have flexible payment options when shopping, both in-store and online. Belk customers using Afterpay can make purchases and pay for them in four interest-free installments, due every two weeks.
Engine Capital, a New York-based hedge fund that owns about a 1% stake in Kohl’s, wants the retailer to consider the two alternatives in an effort to boost the stock price. The hedge fund wrote its desires in an open letter to the retailer’s board members. The company’s stock price hovered above $51 on Dec. 6, although its value has declined more than 10% since CEO Michelle Gass took the helm in 2018, Engine Capital alleged in its letter.
Six cryptocurrency executives told the U.S. House Financial Services Committee Wednesday (Dec. 8) that it could send cryptocurrency activity underground or outside the U.S. if the new rules it imposes on the industry are too strict, according to a Reuters report. “Without tailored legislative solutions that are openly debated with public participation, the United States risks unnecessarily onerous and chilling laws and regulations,” said Alesia Haas, chief executive of Coinbase Inc, in her testimony released Tuesday (Dec. 7). “This could effectively push crypto activity underground or to offshore exchanges that have little or no compliance programs,” she said.
Apple no longer needs to open up the iOS App Store to third-party payments by Dec. 9, after the company secured a temporary delay from a US appeals court. On Wednesday, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit granted the company a stay on the original court ruling in the Epic v. Apple antitrust case. In September, US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers largely ruled in favor of Apple by finding a lack of evidence to prove the company had a monopoly through the iOS App Store. But she ordered Cupertino to stop barring iOS app developers from redirecting users to third-party payment methods outside the App Store.
Buy now, pay later (BNPL) instruments offered by companies such as Klarna, Affirm and Afterpay are becoming so widely used that it was only a matter of time before regulators decided to look closely at these (usually unregulated) products. In this regard, the United Kingdom may be the first country to enact new regulations for BNPL in 2022, bringing legal certainty to companies and more protection for consumers. Like traditional credit card products, BNPL products allow consumers to buy now, enjoy the good or service and pay for it later.
After nearly two full years of Covid-driven chaos, JPMorgan Chase is predicting 2022 will usher in a return to normalcy and a full healing of the economic wounds caused by the health crisis. "Our view is that 2022 will be the year of a full global recovery, an end of the global pandemic and a return to normal conditions we had prior to the Covid-19 outbreak," Marko Kolanovic, JPMorgan's (JPM)chief global markets strategist, wrote in a note to clients on Wednesday.
Weekly jobless claims tumbled last week, reaching a fresh 52-year low as the U.S. jobs market climbs out of its pandemic-era hole, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Initial filings for unemployment insurance totaled 184,000 for the week ended Dec. 4, the lowest going back to Sept. 6, 1969, which saw 182,000. Initial claims for unemployment insurance were expected to total 211,000 for the week ended Dec. 4, according to a Dow Jones economist survey.
Visa announced that the U.S. Spending Momentum Index (SMI) was 111.9 in November (seasonally adjusted), up 1.3 points from October, marking the second consecutive month of acceleration in consumer spending momentum. The SMI’s further increase above 100 signals that even more consumers are spending more than they did a year ago. The Visa SMI is an economic indicator of the health of consumer spending.
Stripe, a global technology company that builds economic infrastructure for the internet, announced it has acquired OpenChannel, a leading provider of app marketplace software. OpenChannel’s software helps businesses build app ecosystems for third-party developers and users. As part of the acquisition, OpenChannel’s team will join Stripe’s remote hubs.
Worldline, European leader in the payments and transactional services industry, announced the signing of a binding agreement for the acquisition of 80% of Eurobank Merchant Acquiring activities, one of the main acquirers in Greece with a c. 20% market share. Gilles Grapinet, CEO of Worldline, said “I am very proud to announce the acquisition of Eurobank Merchant Acquiring.
Payments gateway ConnexPay raised $20 million in a Series B funding round led by card issuing platform Marqeta, according to a press release emailed to PYMNTS on Thursday (Dec. 9). A Marqeta customer since 2018, ConnexPay links acceptance and issuance for marketplace companies and commerce intermediaries. The fresh infusion of capital brings the company’s total fundraising to $35 million. Marqeta’s backing of ConnexPay marks its first corporate investment since going public on Nasdaq in June. The investment gives Marqeta a seat on ConnexPay’s board.
May require account to read. Bank of America is turning to private jets and exotic cars to compete with American Express and JPMorgan Chase and lure big spenders to its credit cards. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company revamped its rewards program and debuted a new $550-a-year metal credit card that offers extra points on travel and dining purchases along with a $300 travel credit, according to a statement Thursday. Customers can apply for the card online starting in February.
Nets, a leading European payment service provider, and Ethoca, a Mastercard company, announced a new partnership that will help merchants and banks minimize chargebacks and reduce consumer transaction confusion. The partnership will enable better sharing of confirmed fraud and dispute information – as well as rich purchase details – between Nets’ merchant and issuer customers. By sharing this information, the dispute resolution process is moved upstream and will ultimately help reduce chargebacks and create better customer experiences.
Adyen, the global payments platform of choice for many of the world’s leading companies, announced the successful integration of Adyen for Platforms for ROLLER to further enhance customer experience for venues across all channels. Adyen for Platforms offers a global and agile payment solution that enables platform business models to integrate payments into their offering without the added operational complexity or resource constraints.
Women's Network in Electronic Transactions (Wnet), the premier non-profit organization serving professional women in the payments and fintech industries, congratulates the winners of the prestigious 2021 Wnet Awards. All nominees and winners were recognized at the Wnet Leadership Summit, presented by FIS, on November 3 and 4 in Atlanta, Georgia. The annual award program is designed to encourage and honor significant contributions that support Wnet mission and values.
Deluxe, a Trusted Payments and Business Technology™ company, announced that Shawn Dillon has been promoted to Chief Product Officer at First American by Deluxe. In this newly created role, Dillon brings two decades of banking and payment expertise to help further Deluxe’s focus on payment technology and merchant services. Dillon, who previously served as President of Fitech by Deluxe, helped launch Fitech in 2008, with the goal of becoming the merchant services provider of choice among financial institutions.
TreviPay, a global financial technology company, today announced the introduction of two new executive positions, welcoming Jeff Coppolo as Chief Revenue Officer and Rissi Lovern as Chief Risk Officer. These strategic additions to the executive team will support TreviPay’s growth via new client acquisitions and growing existing clients with powerful and innovative risk management techniques. "TreviPay’s powering of B2B trade credit solutions globally has grown significantly; expanding the executive team will prepare us for the next wave of growth," said Brandon Spear, CEO of TreviPay.
ACI Worldwide, a leading global provider of real-time digital payment software, and Dover Fueling Solutions (DFS), a leading developer of advanced customer-focused technologies, services and solutions for the fuel and convenience industries, announced their collaboration on a point-to-point encryption (P2PE) data security offering. This will increase protection for consumers’ credit and debit cards at fueling dispensers, significantly reducing the risks of costly data breaches for these merchants.
Kabbage from American Express launched Kabbage Funding, offering eligible small businesses flexible lines of credit between $1,000 and $150,000—now with the powerful backing of American Express. With Kabbage Funding, small businesses can apply in minutes to access working capital 24/7 to help manage their company’s cash flow. “Most small business owners start a company to pursue a passion, not to spend time managing their cash flow and balancing their books,” said Kabbage Co-founder and Senior Vice President at American Express, Rob Frohwein.
As community and regional banks accelerate their digital transformation strategies, FIS® continues to be a destination for innovative financial institutions looking for providers with a full financial suite of solutions. FIS has recently signed agreements with five new banks, including PointBank and Bank of Southern California, who are embracing HORIZON and Digital One as their banking and digital platforms for the future.
In response to the everchanging technology and payment processing landscapes, payments software applications provider BHMI announced Concourse Release 4.15, the latest version of its industry-leading Concourse Financial Software Suite®, the powerful, modular back office software solution for electronic payments processing. Concourse's integrated collection of products manages back office processing for all types of electronic payments, including credit, debit, prepaid and P2P transactions.