Through remittance network, India competes with SWIFT

Through remittance network, India competes with SWIFT

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the public-private payments incubator operating within the country’s central bank, announced plans to build international digital payments infrastructure for the country’s 32 million expats. The NPCI previously built India’s domestic digital payments rails, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

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Loyalty can be a currency, too, with Engage People

Loyalty can be a currency, too, with Engage People

To Len Covello, Co-Founder and CTO of Engage People, a Toronto-based loyalty network that connects loyalty programs with payment systems and retailers to let consumers pay with points at checkout, the future of payments leverages a fully-backed digital currency: the rewards point.

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Despite tempered hiring plans, Meta still bets on metaverse

Despite tempered hiring plans, Meta still bets on metaverse

Meta, Facebook’s parent company, announced it would reduce its engineer hiring goals by 30% this year. It will recruit between 6,000 and 7,000 engineers, down from an envisioned 10,000.

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India’s BNPL journey is off to a rough start

India’s BNPL journey is off to a rough start

Last week, the Reserve Bank of India, the country’s central bank, banned loading pre-paid payment instruments using credit lines. The regulatory shift effectively outlaws the business strategy of major BNPL providers in the country.

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Inflation may be a boost to rewards programs

Inflation may be a boost to rewards programs

With a surge in gas prices, travel costs, groceries, and rent, US consumers are adopting cost-cutting measures. Many are turning to credit card rewards programs as a needed windfall, especially cards with cashback offerings.

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Making sense of Klarna’s tanked valuation

Making sense of Klarna’s tanked valuation

The BNPL giant is in talks to fundraise at a $15B valuation. It had previously been valued at $46B.

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Remaking Samsung Pay

Remaking Samsung Pay

Samsung announced that it’s merging its Pay and Pass apps into Samsung Wallet, a single, integrated platform for financial products, official documents, home and car keys, and more. Users in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, and the US are the first to have access to the updated service.

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The metaverse may be a gateway for marijuana payments

The metaverse may be a gateway for marijuana payments

Golden Ark, a marijuana payments startup, has launched a metaverse-based payments system. It’s developed virtual cannabis as a cryptocurrency that supports real-life cannabis authentication and transactions.

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Are traditional loans the future of BNPL?

Are traditional loans the future of BNPL?

PayPal announced the launch of its “PayPal Pay Monthly” service, which lets customers pay in monthly installments for purchases between $199 and $10,000. WebBank is the lender for the service.

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Former OCC head talked big bank out of gun control measure

Former OCC head talked big bank out of gun control measure

Brian Brooks, former acting Comptroller of the Currency during the Trump administration, said the head of “one of the two largest banks in the United States” was considering a ban on gun purchases using the bank’s debit and credit cards. Brooks convinced the bank CEO to not go ahead with the move.

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Dutch regulators throw wrench in Apple’s payments plans

Dutch regulators throw wrench in Apple’s payments plans

The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) said Apple will comply with a ruling that requires the computing giant to allow other payments methods for dating app purchases. Penalty payments surrounding the case totaled €50M.

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African payments company acquires US fintech

African payments company acquires US fintech

Digital payments company MFS Africa acquired US-based Global Technology Partners (GTP), a card-issuing startup, which will let MFS issue virtual debit cards to its customers. MFS Africa paid $34M for GTP through cash and shares.

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Is Apple’s BNPL launch too late?

Is Apple’s BNPL launch too late?

This morning at its 2022 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), the computing giant introduced attendees to Apple Pay Later, a proprietary buy now pay later (BNPL) service. Goldman Sachs is the lender for the instalment loans.

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Digitizing bank security with old-school practices

Digitizing bank security with old-school practices

The Royal Bank of Canada announced that it will combat fraud by combining card and biometric authentication with a PIN authentication via mobile apps. Canadians lost more than $300M to fraud in 2021, as compared to $80M in 2020.

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How finance plays a role in gun control

How finance plays a role in gun control

Daniel Defense, which allegedly manufactured the weapon used to kill 21 people last week at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, offers BNPL financing through the fintech Credova. Larger BNPL providers, like Affirm, Afterpay, and Klarna, do not work with firearms sellers in the U.S.

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