SUNRATE, a Singapore-based payment and treasury management platform, is bringing Apple Pay to its customers, offering a safer, more secure and private way to pay, and using the iPhone’s power to protect each transaction.

Now, SUNRATE customers can use an iPhone or Apple Watch at payment terminals to make contactless payments. Every Apple Pay purchase is secure because it is authenticated with Face ID, Touch ID, or a device passcode, as well as a one-time unique dynamic security code.

Customers can also use Apple Pay on iPhone, iPad, and Mac to make faster and more convenient purchases in apps or on the web in Safari without having to create accounts or repeatedly type in shipping and billing information.

Qincheng Wang, head of product at SUNRATE, commented: “More and more businesses seek out the same degree of convenience and security that they enjoy in their everyday personal transactions – therefore, even though we are known to be a global B2B payment platform, we’re thrilled to bring Apple Pay to our customers.

“Ever since SUNRATE started issuing commercial cards, it has been all hands on deck to expand our offerings and bring even more features to our customers – the support of Apple Pay is part of SUNRATE’s global vision to drive B2B digitalisation for businesses worldwide.”

Maximising payment security

SUNRATE commercial cards enable customers to settle card spends in more than 15 currencies, as well as customise key parameters such as card limits and expiration dates.

SUNRATE explained that it chose Apple Pay due to its security and privacy benefits. When customers use a credit or debit card with Apple Pay, the actual card numbers are not stored on the device or Apple servers. Instead, a unique Device Account Number is assigned, encrypted, and securely stored in the Secure Element, an industry-standard, certified chip designed to store the payment information safely on the device.

Customers can also generate real-time transaction statements, and cater to various reconciliation needs. SUNRATE is certified to the international financial data security standard: Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) Level 1.

Earlier this week, payment giants Visa and Mastercard agreed to lower fees charged to merchants for credit card transactions in the US, following a lawsuit spanning almost two decades.

In a move that could collectively save merchants as much as $30billion, Visa and Mastercard have agreed to reduce so-called ‘interchange’ fees by 0.04 percentage points for a minimum of three years, and to cap them at the same level seen at the end of 2023 for five years – subject to approval by the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Interchange rates, set by the two payment giants, generally sit between two to four per cent of each transaction total. According to Rob Beard, chief legal officer and head of global policy at Mastercard, the agreement delivers “certainty and value to business owners, including flexibility in how they manage acceptance of card programmes”.

Currently, merchants in the US can add surcharges to transactions for consumers using American Express cards – but not on Mastercard and Visa cards. But if the settlement is approved, merchants will be able to change the rates they charge for all cards, instead of basing it on the credit card network alone.

However, the majority of interchange fees actually go to the issuer banks, to cover the card services they provide, such as customer support, fraud prevention and to cover other associated handling costs. While it remains unclear which party will take the brunt of the cut, early suggestions look as though the banks will take the biggest hit. Questions could arise over how much of an impact these cuts could have on issuing banks across the US.

In response, Kim Lawrence, president of the North America region at Visa, explained: “Importantly, we are making these concessions while also maintaining the safety, security, innovation, protections, rewards and access to credit that are so important to millions of Americans and to our economy.”

A win for merchants, but a loss for cardholders?

Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst at LendingTree, an online lending marketplace, explains that, while US merchants will enjoy savings, this may not be the case for their customers, who may even become privy to higher fees.

“This settlement is potentially a big deal for merchants’ bottom line, but the financial impact on their customers is unclear. There’s no guarantee that even a dime of these savings gets passed on to consumers.

“Merchants will now be more able to add surcharges to purchases made with credit cards that come with higher swipe fees. That can help them recoup the cost of accepting those cards, but it also risks alienating customers.

“These changes come with some real risk to merchants. For example, a high-end credit card may cost more for a merchant to accept, but the typical user of that high-end card might be an extremely desirable customer with a lot of spending power. This dilemma is going to lead to some very interesting conversations within these companies.

“The measures in this settlement that allow for more surcharging and greater competition could lead to swipe fee reductions well beyond just what is mandated. The ultimate impact of this settlement on credit card rewards and the industry as a whole will depend on how that all plays out.

“Banks have plenty of levers to pull and buttons to push when it comes to recouping revenue in cases such as these. It is reasonable to expect that we might see other types of bank fees rise once the settlement is finalised. Banks don’t tend to take these types of changes lying down.”

Impact on issuing banks

Brad Goodall, CEO and co-founder of Banked, a fintech powering open banking payments, explains how the settlement between Visa and Mastercard could impact issuing banks, and how fintech could resolve future issues: “Mastercard and Visa have committed to maintaining average interchange fees at least seven basis points lower than the current rates over the next five years, providing a period of stability for merchants after a US judge clears the settlement.

“The big questions are; will this introduce surcharging at point of purchase and if so what will that do to consumer experience and cost? Will this open a door for alternative payment methods?

“The deal will also negatively affect issuing banks, which will take a moderate hit to the revenue they collect amidst a tough macroeconomic climate for banks as interest rates remain stubbornly high. Issuing banks are largely responsible for ensuring fraud is monitored and kept out of the system and they use part of this interchange to fight fraud.

“It’s key that fintech steps up to provide reliable and importantly, safe alternative payment methods for both merchants and banks. One promising path for innovation is Pay by Bank, a payment method built on global open banking payments rails, vastly reducing fees and providing near-instant settlement, whilst shoring up revenue for issuing banks.

“The collaboration between banks and fintechs to innovate on account-to-account rails is paramount. This partnership provides a unique opportunity, particularly as issuing banks face mounting pressures from diminishing interchange fees. This pressure incentivises them to envision a future where they can chart their own course towards a new network model. By harnessing core payment services and fraud tools, they can create a novel, real-time payment method that benefits merchants and consumers.”

Bank revenues ‘remain quite steady’ 

Not all agree with the idea that reduced interchange fees will genuinely hurt issuing banks. Dan Carter, senior director and head of global payment strategy at Redbridge Debt & Treasury Advisory, a global financial management partner to corporations, appears to suggest this, as he highlights that consumers shouldn’t fear significant additions to their bills.

“From a consumer perspective, there should be little to no major changes. Interchange rate increases have far outpaced the proposed decreases.

“As of October 2023, high-end rewards cards issued under Visa and Mastercard have reached 2.6 per cent plus $0.10 for interchange alone – up 0.1 per cent from just April 2023. Issuers may complain and may deflect with comments about fraud losses and bad debt write-offs, but their revenues remain quite steady.

“While surcharging, allowable since 2013, is more prevalent post-COVID, merchants who accept American Express are still bound by the terms of their agreements.

“What may be allowed under Visa and Mastercard may be prohibited under American Express, a network known for aggressively pursuing ‘honour all’ and anti-discrimination practices.”

Looking to the future of payments

Kjeld Herreman, head of strategy advisory at RedCompass Labs, a fintech consultant and accelerator, also explains how, even if the settlement comes into play, merchants worldwide could still benefit from other payment solutions; even those based across Europe, where interchange fees sit at around 0.3 to 0.4 per cent.

“Every card transaction that is made costs businesses money, and they usually must wait two to three days after taking payment for any money to reach their account. When it arrives, they’ve lost a chunk to interchange fees. Money that could be used to pay staff, suppliers, rent, and bills goes to the payment processor. Not only is the business worse off in real terms, but waiting for the money to arrive can create pressure with suppliers and staff who need to be paid.

“P2B real-time payments are a solution for merchants everywhere who are tired of paying interchange fees and waiting days for their money to arrive. The faster the payment, the faster the business is paid, the faster it can reinvest, and the faster it grows.

“The EU is attempting to tackle this issue to reduce the power of large foreign businesses. The European Payments Initiative is building a card-like scheme on top of real-time payment rails, as well as adapting interchange and chargeback processes. It is also mandating that all banks must be ready to send and receive real-time payments by the end of 2025, levelling the playing field between PSPs and card networks.”

Cash could be making a comeback. No really. After years of pushing to a fully digital payments landscape that will in theory see a cashless economy in the (reasonably) near future, it could all come tumbling down after a series of technical issues that has seen major retailers unable to process card or contactless payments and once again relying on notes and coins.

Sausage roll giant Greggs has become the latest retailer to fall victim to technical problems affecting payments, with branches across the country staying shut today as they are unable to take contactless or card payments. This follows two of the largest supermarket chains, Sainsbury’s and Tesco, experiencing similar problems over the weekend. Sainsbury’s was unable to take contactless payments in-store due to an “error with an overnight software update”, according to a statement on X, formerly Twitter.

Not only were in-store payments affected, but the “vast majority” of online grocery orders were also unable to be delivered.

It was a similar story at Tesco, which was also hit with issues that impacted order deliveries due to another “technical issue” with several customer online orders being cancelled, as well as similar issues with contactless at check out. 

Martin Quinn, campaign director at Payment Choice Alliance personally experienced the issues while trying to shop at Sainbury’s over the weekend. 

He said: “Millions of people have been very inconvenienced with IT outages with Sainsbury’s and now Greggs.

“We are told that going cashless is super convenient, is quick and easy, but when card systems crash, these businesses can’t seem to cope, and they don’t have adequate backup procedures in place to accept cash payments. Secondly, people who don’t carry enough cash are increasingly left high and dry and can’t pay for their goods. 

“My advice would be to always carry cash because cash doesn’t crash.”

Digital Payments

The push for digital payments has been a well-known characteristic of the industry for the past few years. In an age of technological advancements and evolving consumer demand, cashless societies are at the forefront of future innovation. According to research from UK Finance, half of all payments (50 per cent) in the UK were made using debit cards in 2022. Alongside this, contactless payments were used extensively throughout the UK with 87 per cent of people making contactless payments at least once a month or more frequently.

Of course, there are plenty of benefits to digital payments. Enhanced security and better protection as well as speed and convenience are some of the major pros we see touted by the experts. 

As William Ip, head of payment methods (APAC) and country manager at Unlimit, said: “The convenience, security, and widespread acceptance of digital payment methods have made credit cards, mobile payment apps, and online banking the go-to options for seamless and secure transactions worldwide. As digital payment technologies continue to advance, the importance of physical cash diminishes, making access to cashless relevant in today’s digital-driven world.”

Simply tapping your phone to a terminal is much easier than fumbling through your wallet for change. But when suddenly that doesn’t work, you have angry customers left with no way to pay, as who carries cash any more? 

Small-scale failures can lead to speculation and massive disruptions

Ryta Zasiekina, founder of fintech CONCRYT believes this situation shows the need for a wide choice of payment methods is crucial. 

They said: “The recent widespread IT issues impacting major retailers like McDonald’s, Sainsbury’s, Argos, and Tesco, which resulted in disruptions to contactless payments this weekend, is concerning for the payments industry. While the companies involved have attributed the problems to technical issues, there’s also speculation about potential cybersecurity attacks.

“This has fuelled various conspiracy theories on social media, highlighting concerns about the risks associated with a cashless society. Such events not only undermine businesses but also cause significant disruption. It’s a stark reminder of the importance of offering diverse payment methods to ensure continued revenue generation in the event of card system failures or other unforeseen circumstances.”

Thomas Gillan, CEO of payment firm BR-DGE added: “While details are still yet to be confirmed on the root cause, instances like this show how outages and payment failures, even on a small scale, can create huge disruptions for businesses trading abilities and customer satisfaction.

“Together, issues such as these show the importance of building resilient and robust payment processes. Many larger retailers and merchants have transitioned to using multiple payment providers so that they can manage large volumes of transactions across different platforms and routes. However, this transition can create payment ‘pinch points’ and needs to be managed carefully to reduce the risks of outages.

“To limit these risks, more merchants are considering payment orchestration technology which puts backstops in place, limiting failed payments. One major benefit of this technology is it can re-route transactions away from the affected platform to one that is available, ultimately, preventing payment failure, protecting revenue, and ensuring customer satisfaction at the checkout.”

Cash is back

Despite the promise of a cashless world, there are still many that rely on cash in their day-to-day lives. On stage at PAY360 conference in London’s ExCeL, Jessica Richards, head of market development and payments at NatWest, commented on the fact: “while cash is in decline, it’s usage is actually going up in the younger generation”. She pointed to the popular trend of ‘cash stuffing’ on social media – allocating monthly budgets for certain expenses and putting the corresponding amounts of cash into envelopes.

Plus in the past, the BBC has reported that “10 million people would struggle to cope in a cashless society even though only 17 per cent of payments are now made with notes and coins.”

Andrew Martin, founder of SMEB, a fintech company for small businesses, agreed with this and said: “The card payment issues experienced by some of the UK’s largest businesses over the past week have shone a fresh light on the continued importance of cash in today’s society. It is the latest sign that the march to a completely cashless society is a bad idea. 

“Millions of customers still recognise that cash is a convenient and secure payment method, and they like that it won’t simply disappear – even if your internet reception does.

“Unfortunately for businesses, getting your hands on it is not as easy as it used to be. The UK has lost 6000 branches of banks and building societies since 2015, meaning that access to crucial financial services, such as the ability to withdraw and deposit cash at the end of the day, is no longer possible in many areas. Action is urgently needed to solve the UK’s banking deserts. For every day that we have to wait, local businesses will suffer.”

A resilient industry

Despite this outpour of disgruntled customers on social media, there has also been praise for the industry for resolving the issues despite the public pressure.

Scott Dawson, head of sales and strategic partnerships at DECTA said: “Despite the evident challenges posed by these IT glitches, it’s remarkable to witness the resilience and agility of the teams involved in swiftly resolving what initially appeared to be catastrophic technical failures.

“The speed and effectiveness with which these teams have managed to reassemble the technology speak volumes about the dedication and expertise within the industry. Amidst the pressure and scrutiny, their ability to rapidly reassimilate technology highlights their commitment to ensuring minimal disruption to business operations. It’s a testament to the tireless efforts of these teams and the strength of the industry as a whole in overcoming adversity and delivering results under fire.”

 Alan Stephenson-Brown, CEO of Evolve added:  “News that major retailers have fallen victim to a series of IT outages is a timely reminder that even large corporations aren’t immune to IT troubles.

“Greggs, McDonald’s, Sainsbury’s and Tesco lost millions of pounds as a result of these technical issues, highlighting that digital disruption is a principal risk for many retailers. Ensuring contingency planning is in place is vital.

“I would urge businesses of all sizes to put operational resilience at the forefront of the business agenda. Firms can avoid being next on this growing list of high-street names by introducing highly proactive monitoring and security capabilities, so they see what their systems are doing in real-time.”

A look to the future

There’s no saying what effect these recent issues will have on the future of the industry, but for consumers and businesses alike it certainly serves as a reminder that tech isn’t infallible. As wonderful as the conveniences of modern life can be, they can all come crashing down at the mercy of something as simple one failed software update.

As one X user said: “This is a big wake-up call for everyone who’s over-reliant on contactless pay.”

Digitalisation is reshaping the landscape of commerce for both consumer and business payments and prompting an increased focused on innovation, security and finance. At the forefront of this dialogue are virtual card numbers (VCNs), a digital- only form of payment that are gaining prominence for their ability to offer enhanced security, real-time transaction capabilities, precise data quality and simplified reconciliation.  

To gain deeper insights into the evolution of commercial payments in 2024, including the pivotal role of VCNs, we chatted with Marcos Gelfi, head of global commercial products and cardholder services at Discover® Global Network and a payments veteran, with more than 27 years of experience in the industry.

Here he shares his five insights so far for 2024.

1. VCNs are set to become more widespread

Virtual card numbers have been on the commercial payment landscape for the past seven to nine years, steadily gaining momentum. In 2024, we anticipate a significant surge in their adoption across various payment sectors within commercial payments.

This includes Travel, B2B and Small Medium Enterprise (SME). What was once considered a niche solution is now set to become mainstream for businesses globally.

This growth is propelled by VCNs’ versatility, offering secure and efficient payment alternatives for an array of use cases.

Corporations, whether big or small, need to handle payments, be it for travel-related expenses or B2B transactions, even mundane office supplies. Traditionally, physical cards were used and distributed to employees.  Then, card-on-file for online transactions surged in popularity. This convenience, especially in the travel space, enabled transactions for remote activities, such as purchasing airline tickets and hotel reservations.  Companies embraced card on file due to visibility to expenses and opportunities to negotiate with preferred suppliers while employees cheered for centralised expenses reducing the burden of producing expense reports.

Companies often use a travel account for booking business travel. And while the travel account offers a single channel to manage bookings, supporting travel policy, visibility into spend with suppliers, and simplification for the employee in expense report management, the central account can become challenging to reconcile transactions accurately. Corporations must match the incurred expenses against a single account. VCNs solve this problem by providing a tokenised number per transaction, ensuring 100 per cent reconciliation, policy management with enabled spend controls, and robust fraud prevention.

In essence, VCNs, when partnered with a legacy payment solution like a travel account or a purchasing card, layer additional security, data quality, and control assisting to check all the boxes to support streamlined and simplified payments for corporations.

2. There will be more diverse use cases for VCNs

Although it took some time for adoption to accelerate, digitalisation, especially in a post-Covid world, is driving increased demand for VCNs across various industries.

While VCNs have been historically used to support business travel, they are fast becoming a capability that can be used in alternative scenarios, including procurement payments, recurring expenses and utility bills.  As more corporations are managing hybrid offices and employees, and oversite to those expenses become even more critical, VCNs offer an effective means to manage their finances, ensuring policy compliance and controlling budgets.

The beauty of VCNs lies in their ability to provide transaction data that can be leveraged for data analytics, helping businesses make informed decisions and negotiate better deals with suppliers.

3. VCNs are transitioning to real-time data integration

Over time, we’ve witnessed a significant shift in data handling for businesses. Previously, data was processed in batches, often after the fact, which lacked the urgency needed in today’s fast-paced landscape. However, the paradigm is changing. Real-time data is becoming the norm, offering corporations the ability to access, customise, and analyse the information instantly.

This shift enables corporations to make more informed decisions, strike better deals, and effectively manage their expenses. You can expect to see the integration of real-time data analytics becoming increasingly prevalent in payment solutions, enhancing user experiences and decision-making processes.

4. Security and user experience remain top priorities for businesses

As we move forward, security and user experience will continue to be paramount in the payments industry. For businesses to remain competitive, they must have the confidence that their payment solutions are PCI compliant;  prioritisation of data security is non-negotiable.

At Discover Global Network, we place substantial emphasis on investing in security measures to protect payment information. Additionally, as many large corporations tackle antiquated, complex payment platforms, simplicity and user friendliness will remain top priorities as we evolve our products. We aim to make digital payment solutions as accessible and secure as possible, ensuring a seamless transition for all users.

5. Expect to see increased educational efforts around VCN from industry experts

In recent research conducted by DGN, we learned that 27 per cent of large corporations and 12 per cent of small medium enterprises are currently using VCNs to manage their business expense.  VCNs are forecasted to more than double in usage by 2026.

While VCNs have been gradually gaining traction, we foresee a significant acceleration in their adoption, not only for business travel and procurement, but also managing expenses of remote hybrid employees in the coming years. Our industry is becoming increasingly aware of the advantages offered by VCNs, such as enhanced security, improved data quality, and better financial control.

To facilitate this adoption, educational initiatives will play a pivotal role. That’s why, at Discover Global Network, we’re spending time to educate the industry and supporting our partners to upgrade to a better use case and a more secure solution that ultimately will drive additional volume. This, in turn, will be much better for the users from a security and budget control perspective.

Post-purchase buy-now pay-later could be a massive opportunity for retailers, according to J.D. Power’s BNPL satisfaction survey, published Feb. 29, 2024.

In a survey of 4,135 U.S. consumers, American Express, Chase, and Citi outperformed other category leaders in three key areas: reasonableness of terms, ease of use with digital account management, and security of account information. The second annual study found overall satisfaction with BNPL had grown by 16% in just one year.

J.D. Power’s findings suggest that retailers may be leveraging BNPL without even knowing it. Unlike Klarna, Sezzle, and other third-party solutions that appear at checkout, Plan It by American Express, My Chase Plan, and Citi Flex Pay are not part of the checkout stream. Merchants never see these direct-to-consumer offers or know when post-sale transactions convert to buy-now pay-later plans.

Miles Tullo, managing director of banking and payments at J.D. Power, was not surprised to see card issuers pull ahead in the BNPL race. “It’s going to be very hard for Affirm, Klarna, and other brands to build a buy-now pay-later solution and scale,” he said. “Because they have to go merchant by merchant and get them to say, ‘Yes, I want your checkout button on my website.’”

Tullo acknowledged, however, that third-party providers have also been “strong out of the gate” and are winning back share in interesting ways. Klarna, for example, has launched a subscription service, “Klarna Plus,” and a new authentication method, “Sign In with Klarna.” And the newest entrant in the study, Apple Pay Later, started last year and is growing quickly.

“Apple Pay is accepted in a lot of places, so Apple didn’t need to go out and convince merchants to accept this payment method because it rides on the Apple Pay transaction and the acceptance is there,” he said. “Having a massive consumer audience makes it easy for Apple to offer up an Apple Pay Later option to a consumer who’s just used Apple Pay to make a purchase, and the Apple brand, with its loyal following, is growing very quickly.”

Built to Scale

Massive customer bases and established rails put card issuers on the inside track, Tullo added, noting that post-purchase BNPL transactions are free to merchants and require no action on their part. Purchases are settled through regular card acceptance agreements, he explained, and merchants have no idea when those purchases convert to installment solutions on the backend.

“I expect new entrants in this market will likely come from additional credit and debit issuers exploring ways to get consumers to install instead of revolve their purchases,” he said, predicting that issuers, rather than independent standalone solutions, will drive BNPL growth.

Non-exclusive

I asked Tullo why retailers aren’t doing more to leverage post-purchase options, considering the numerous advantages these offers provide. For example, don’t most standalone provider agreements have an exclusivity clause restricting merchants to one BNPL provider at checkout?

“Yes, that’s correct, but they can’t exclude American Express Plan It, Apple Pay Later, and other solutions built right into their current acceptance agreements,” he said. “With the exception of large enterprises that negotiate terms, retailers that contract with most BNPL providers are locked in to one.”

Fee-free

I also asked Tullo about pricing, having seen many BNPL promotions for free-to-customer plans. He assured me that most consumers are happy to pay a convenience fee to a trusted brand.

“Generally speaking, the market has grown out of this concept that it doesn’t cost you anything as a consumer to leverage this repayment option because the merchant is paying the cost,” he said. “A $3 fee is not a deal-breaker for someone splitting an $80 purchase into four $20 payments; consumers appreciate the convenience and flexibility and consider it a fair deal.”

De-risked

Tullo pointed out that post-purchase BNPL offers from card issuers to consumers are decoupled from the shopping experience. On the flip side, he said consumers tend to associate pre-purchase BNPL deals with specific retailers. For example, he noted that someone who gets a late fee, defaults, or is dissatisfied with pre-purchase BNPL is less likely to revisit that brand, which could become a bigger trend as the BNPL market evolves.

“A customer with a subpar experience with pre-purchase BNPL will tie it back to the website where the transaction occurred,” Tullo said. “This could lead to the customer looking for another merchant offering a different buy-now pay-later solution.”

Ripe for Promotion

Considering the numerous benefits of post-purchase BNPL, I questioned why more retailers aren’t aggressively promoting these services.

American Express presents Plan It as “easier to manage; no enrollment required; longstanding support; protection and customer service; no additional loan required; and no additional payments to keep track of.”

Chase describes My Chase Plan as a way to “pay off a purchase over time in fixed, equal monthly payments. There’s no interest for this purchase once it’s placed in a plan, just a fixed monthly fee.”

Citi summarizes Citi Flex Pay as a convenient way to “split up your eligible purchases and pay over time through simple monthly installments with a fixed APR.”

Perhaps retailers could display logos of American Express Plan It, My Chase Plan, and Citi Flex Pay on checkout screens, inviting customers to explore these options.

Fingerprint Cards AB, a Sweden-based biometrics firm, is rolling out the first biometric payment card in Turkey, in partnership with digital security company Thales.

Beyond speed, security and convenience the Fingerprints biometric payment card also integrates with existing bank infrastructures and Point-of-Sale (POS) systems without requiring upgrades. The contactless biometric payment card has already been certified by major EMV payment schemes.

The Fingerprints biometric technology, which features a T-Shape sensor (T2) and biometric payment software, is also set to become part of the customer offering for Garanti BBVA, one of the largest private banks in the country, alongside Thales’ payment cards.

By adding the biometric payment card to its portfolio, Garanti BBVA enables its customers to remain at the forefront of secure contactless biometric payments.

Fingerprints’ newest launch marks its eleventh biometric payment card commercial rollout globally in collaboration with Thales.

Adam Philpott, CEO at Fingerprints, commented: “With our fast, secure and cost-efficient biometric payment sensor, our partnership with Thales is helping us drive innovation. As we continue to lower market barriers, and consumers make their preferences clear, interest from banks continues to grow. Banks that seize the opportunity can leapfrog the competition and enhance customer acquisition, brand reputation and fraud reduction.”

The Fingerprints biometric sensor scans as customers tap their contactless card on a payment terminal, capturing biometric data, checking to see if it matches its database and then authenticating the payment, in under a second.

Two-thirds of people have used biometrics and view them as easier and faster to use than traditional passwords, according to payments giant Visa. Frost & Sullivan, a research and consulting firm, has also predicted that, due to the rising demand for automated authentication and identification, the biometrics market will reach $54.97billion in revenue by 2025 – highlighting a desire for more secure payments across the globe.

Dubai-based crypto exchange Bybit has successfully integrated Google Pay into its card service, enabling users in the European Economic Area (EEA) to spend their assets more easily and securely. 

Google Pay integration marks a major enhancement to the Bybit card experience, enabling users to manage their finances and payments more easily. Effective immediately, Bybit cardholders can link their cards to Google Pay, empowering them to conduct secure, fast, and hassle-free transactions online, in-app, as well as in physical stores wherever Google Pay is accepted.

Bybit cardholders can now also link their existing cards to Google Pay for quick access to their assets. Google Pay’s advanced security features provide an additional layer of protection for Bybit Card transactions, giving users peace of mind.

Bybit explained that it remains committed to delivering innovative solutions that empower individuals to harness the full potential of cryptocurrencies in their everyday lives. The integration of Google Pay exemplifies Bybit’s dedication to enhancing user experience and expanding the utility of its products.

The news comes just days after Bybit hit $71.5billion in trading volume, just seven per cent under the exchange’s record $77billion daily trading volume, set during the 2021 crypto bull run.

Ben Zhou, CEO of Bybit, also commented on the achievement: “We at the Crypto Ark are on a mission to make this new asset class as widely available as possible through our intuitive platform.

“Now, we’re seeing large inflows and smart money is moving fast. With the Bitcoin halving just around the corner, Bitcoin is proving itself as an institutional asset, a hedge against economic uncertainty, and a vote for financial freedom.”

Payments giant Mastercard has launched its new ‘Open Banking for Account Opening’ programme for select US debit and prepaid products, hoping to streamline and secure account opening.

The move will see Mastercard provide a foundational set of open banking products as a new core benefit to Mastercard consumers, small business debit issuers, as well as consumer prepaid issuers in the US. Mastercard’s new programme looks to improve the digital account opening process by verifying account ownership, lowering account abandonment, reducing non-sufficient fund (NSF) returns, and minimising manual entry of payment credentials.

In a recent study, Insider Intelligence found that Gen Z mobile banking adoption continues to rise by 12.4 per cent year-on-rise, leading to predictions that it will rise from 20.7 million in 2020 to 47.8 million by 2026.

Recognising the demands of an increasingly digital world, Mastercard aims to provide participating US issuers who opt into the program free access to Mastercard’s ‘Account Owner Verification’, ‘Account Detail Verification’ and ‘Account Balance Check’ solutions when used to support digital account opening of a Mastercard branded consumer and small business debit and general-purpose reloadable consumer prepaid product.

‘Another entry point to the digital economy’

Mastercard open banking draws on the safe exchange of consumer-permission data, leveraging industry standards and machine learning to support a seamless and secure digital account opening experience. With ‘Open Banking for Account Opening’, Mastercard issuers can lower abandonment and inactive through rapid account funding, verify account ownership more accurately and reduce costly NSF returns with real-time balance checks.

Silvana Hernandez, executive vice president, product and engineering, North America, at Mastercard, commented: “Today’s digital consumer is increasingly opening bank accounts online, gravitating towards the convenience and efficiency of the experience versus more traditional manual methods. The open banking for Account Opening programme provides another entry point to the digital economy through valuable and secure experiences that lean into the power of consumer-permission data.”

Mastercard open banking is enabling customers and partners to offer a more modern and secure digital account opening experience, leveraging solutions that span the entire enterprise. Mastercard is also hoping to strengthen the ecosystem for all participants, making relevant use cases safer, simpler and more accessible through open banking.

Global payment solution provider Splitit sheds light on the growing popularity of general-purpose credit card installment plans among both merchants and consumers.

Merchants are increasingly adopting these payment options, citing benefits such as reduced declined transactions and faster processing times.

However, discrepancies exist between merchants and acquirers regarding the timing of offering installment plans during checkout. Consumers, especially those with higher incomes, are utilising installment plans for better spending management, often preferring them for larger purchases.

A Splitit and PYMNTS Intelligence report, Divided, Not Conquered: Acquirer and Merchant Confusion Clouds Split-Payments Landscape, finds that 78 per cent of merchants intend to improve, or are currently improving, their ability to accept these payments.

Forty-eight per cent of surveyed merchants point out fewer declined transactions and faster processing times as benefits of card-attached installments, while 44 per cent of surveyed acquirers highlight greater transparency in payment processes. Additionally, while nearly one-third of merchants anticipate increased consumer spending with general-purpose credit card installments, 76 per cent expect a rise in consumer usage of card-attached installment plans.

Nandan Sheth, CEO at Splitit, said: “Although some disconnects between merchants, acquirers, and consumers were found in the report, the future is very bright for card-attached installments. We know that providing a white-label card-based solution, such as Splitit’s, is appealing to a broad range of highly qualified shoppers with, on average, higher FICO scores and fewer delinquencies overall.”

Further findings

The survey reveals significant disparities between merchants and acquirers regarding installment plans, including consumer preferences and timing of offering options. While 50 per cent of acquirers claim to support general-purpose credit card installment plans during checkout, analysis shows it’s closer to eight per cent.

Additionally, 30 per cent of merchants believe consumers prefer early payment option disclosure, but 66 per cent of shoppers want to see options before deciding. Only four per cent of merchants offer pre-checkout installment plans, missing out on potential sales boosts and competitive advantages, according to 100 per cent of surveyed merchants aiming to implement pre-checkout plans.

Splitit stressed the need for merchants and acquirers to adapt split-payment offerings to evolving consumer preferences. Enhancing payment systems to accommodate more credit-card-based installments and offering transparent payment options earlier in the buying process can optimize sales and enhance customer satisfaction.

Many consumers across the UK are falling to scams originating from Meta platforms: Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. According to Revolut, the UK neobank, 33 per cent of money lost to scams in total originated on these platforms. To better protect its consumers, the neobank has launched an advanced scam detection feature.

The need for a service like this is evident as scams continue to rise across all platforms, not just the Meta-owned ones. However, reported cases on these platforms rose from 52 per cent to 66 per cent in H2’23. Putting worries to ease,  Revolut has provided its customers with an added layer of security protection, on top of the technology already in place, to detect APP (authorised push payment) scams, where criminals trick the user to get them to transfer money to another account.

David Eborne, head of fraud at Revolut, said: “We’re very excited to be launching our new AI-scam feature which implements advanced technology to interrupt fraudsters taking advantage of everyday people. We’ve invested heavily in the product to ensure that customers can continue to spend and send their money safely.

“For example, a growing number of banks are increasingly restricting or heavily limiting the ability to make card payments to crypto and investment websites. With this advanced feature, rather than completely blocking those transactions, we ensure that customers who want to perform legitimate payments continue to do so, but also intervene to protect those who are being guided by criminals to make fraudulent ones. We are giving our customers both freedom and security at the same time.”

Customer protection

Revolut’s new AI-scam feature uses sophisticated machine learning to detect if a customer is being scammed, and therefore break the ‘spell’ of the scammer before they send their money to the criminal. Built internally by Revolut’s financial crime team, the new feature can determine if there is a high likelihood that the customer is making a card payment as part of a scam, and if so, decline the payment.

The customer is then protected from performing other similar payments and sent through a scam intervention flow in-app. During this phase the customer needs to provide additional information about the transaction they were attempting, with the goal of checking whether the customer is being guided by someone and is under the scammers ‘spell’.

They are then also shown specific scam educational stories to prompt customers to think in-depth before they make the payment. Revolut can also redirect the customer into a chat with a Revolut fraud specialist who will then ask them further questions in order to determine if they are being scammed.

Since the launch of the card scam detection feature, Revolut has observed a 30 per cent reduction in the fraud losses resulting from card scams where money has been sent for investment opportunities.