IN OTHER NEWS…

CORPORATE ACTIVITY

• Middle Eastern Open Banking provider Tarabut acquires UK-based A2A payments platform Vyne. The integration of Vyne will bring strong A2A payments to the region starting with Bahrain, where the first customer is expected to go live by the end of the year, and expanding to Saudi Arabia and the UAE as Open Banking regulations evolve.

DIGITAL & eCOMMERCE

• Ecommpay expands into Italy through three local APMs, BANCOMAT Pay, MyBank, and Satispay.

DIGITAL, RETAIL & ‘Neo’ BANKING

• Revolut is focusing on B2B and launches BillPay. Revolut BillPay is designed to save time managing and paying bills to suppliers in different countries. Further investment in product innovation will focus on Business Accounts, Payments and Acquiring.

FRAUD & CYBERSECURITY

• Nearly £60 million hijacked in card fraud in the UK in the last three years.
• Fraudsters plead guilty to operating One Time Passcode scam site. The three men operated a subscription-based Web service in the UK that enabled criminals to circumvent One-Time-Passcode (OTP) anti-fraud checks. Criminals were charged a monthly subscription fee which helped them socially engineer bank account holders into disclosing genuine one-time-passcodes, or give other personally identifiable information. Basic package £30 per week allowed multi-factor authentication to be bypassed on platforms such as HSBC, Monzo, and Lloyds so that criminals could complete fraudulent online transactions. An elite plan cost £380 a week and granted access to Visa and Mastercard verification sites.

ISSUING

• Enfuce has partnered with Saldo Bank to introduce the bank’s first payment card programme across Nordics and Baltics.
• Checkout.com has optimised Holiday Extras’ payment processes using virtual cards.

LITIGATION

·       Three Wirecard executives landed with €140 million damages bill in civil suit. The ruling ends a long-running suit brought by Wireard administrator Michael Jaffé over losses on loans to fraudulent business partners in Asia.

·       US facial recognition startup Clearview AI has faced its largest privacy fine in Europe for violating the EU GDPR regulations. The company was EUR 30.5 million for multiple violations and imposed after it was confirmed that their database contains images of Dutch citizens.

• Mastercard and Visa to face multi-billion pound lawsuit over interchange fees on UK businesses. The UK’s Competition Appeals Tribunal has given the go-ahead for a $4 billion class action lawsuit brought by UK businesses over Mastercard and Visa multilateral interchange fees.

OPEN BANKING & PSD2

• Visa to launch new model for A2A payments in the UK, a rules-based system for bill payments and subscription management in early 2025. Visa A2A aims to enable banks and businesses to give consumers more choice, beginning with utilities, rent and childcare fees. This will be gradually expanded to cover the subscriptions of products and services including digital streaming, gym memberships and food boxes.
• GoCardless closes deal to acquire Nuapay. The acquisition aims to scale GoCardless’ indirect channel proposition and rollout of new capabilities that will enable customers to send as well as collect money through GoCardless.

REGULATION (UK)

• PSR proposes slashing bank payout cap for fraud victims to £85,000 from £415,000. The PSR’s proposal, set to take effect on October 7,2024, aims to establish a reimbursement system. This comes amid concerns from the industry that a higher compensation cap could encourage criminal gangs and put smaller businesses at risk.

SCHEMES

• Israel-based payment solution provider for digital marketplaces and B2B SaaS companies UNIPaaS has entered into a strategic collaboration with American Express so SME customers can pay invoices with Amex.