In brief

19 Apr 2021

Stripe has launched its issuing service in 20 countries across Europe, enabling its global user base to start issuing cards in the continent.

The service, Stripe Issuing, has now launched in Estonia, Finland, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, and the UK.

It enables businesses to create, manage, and distribute virtual and physical payment cards.

According to the company, cards created using Stripe Issuing can be programmatically controlled and managed via its issuing API.

Users can also set dynamic spending limits, create blocked merchant categories and advanced combinations of rules for the cards, in addition to permitting live authorisations for transactions.

19 Apr 2021

Hong Kong-based payments company Octopus Holdings has unveiled plans to launch a transit payment card in Chinese mainland.

The transit card will enable customers pay public transport fares across more than 300 Chinese cities.

Using the card, customers will be able to pay for bus, train or ferry fares in mainland China. Octopus plans to roll out the card by the end of 2021 or early next year.

China T-Union is a contactless technology which enables cardholders to pay public transport fares. It is operated by Beijing China Communications Gold Card Technology.

The company is also planning to enter into collaborations to support its expansion in other Asian countries. This expansion will enable its e-wallet users in Hong Kong to make transactions in Macau, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand.

18 Apr 2021

Liv., Emirates NBD’s digital only lifestyle bank, is rolling out what it describes as the UAE’s most flexible credit card. Specifically, Liv. Platinum and Liv. World credit cards expand the bank’s millennial-friendly proposition.

For example, Liv. Platinum and World credit cards offer customers the flexibility to choose and easily switch between reward programmes. In addition, Liv says users obtain significantly higher rewards on spend categories of their choice, along with added lifestyle benefits.

Emirates NBD launched Liv in 2017. It caters to the millennial generation’s preference for convenience and access to banking services anytime, anywhere.

Building on this value proposition, the bank has created a flexible credit card, in partnership with Mastercard.

Customers can choose to earn rewards in the form of Skywards Miles, U By Emaar points or as cashback. Cardholders can also pick a total of four spend categories. Examples include dining out, groceries and shopping.

16 Apr 2021

Zemen Bank and Mastercard have teamed up to launch a prepaid contactless travel card in Ethiopia.

Claimed to be the country’s first prepaid and contactless travel card, customers will be able to travel with US dollar and Euro currencies.

Zemen Bank CEO, Dereje Zebene, said: “We are delighted to see this product address our customers’ needs for overseas travel, without the need to carry cash. Zemen Bank is known for introducing banking technologies in the country and we are proud to again be the pioneer to issue the contactless prepaid travel cards in partnership with Mastercard.

Based on popular customer destinations, the two firms are also planning in future to issue travel cards that accept other currencies, thus helping cardholders in avoiding costs related to currency conversion.

Customers with the new platinum Mastercard prepaid travel card will also have access to all Mastercard points of sale and global ATMs.

16 Apr 2021

Manchester United Football Club has reportedly forged an alliance with fintech firm Cardless to roll out a credit card in the US.

In addition to the typical range of rewards, the card will offer fans autographed jerseys and Cameo-like personalised videos from players, Sportico reported.

Dubbed the Man U card, the new offering is part of the English football club’s strategy to better engage fans and monetise their followings.

Initially, the card will be offered to members of official fan clubs and will then be extended to the general public.

The eligible customers of the card will also get credit for the Peacock streaming platform, which airs many of Man U’s games.

Cardless, founded by Michael Spelfogel and Scott Kazmierowicz, allows brands of all sizes and scales to connect with and reward their most passionate and loyal customers.

16 Apr 2021

Hyundai Card is launching sales of a collection of 50 different branded merchandise under the brand name “MX BOOSTem,” a portmanteau of MX BOOST and item.

Hyundai’s MX BOOSTems are all related to the South Korean issuer’s latest credit cards, Hyundai Card MX BOOST. The card issuer believes that its own customers can serve as brand ambassadors to boost its marketing strategy.

Branded merchandise tailored toward the taste and lifestyle of millennials and Gen Z is gaining traction around the world. And Hyundai Card believes it is onto a winner, tapping into the trend for leading brands to come up with goods carrying experimental and novel ideas.

It says that younger consumers enjoy taking photo shoots and videos and post them on their social media accounts including Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. As a result, the card issuers customers serve as brand ambassadors.

15 Apr 2021

Mox Bank, a Hong Kong-based virtual lender, has launched a new credit card in partnership with Mastercard.

Dubbed ‘Mox Card with credit’, the new offering will be initially available to the bank’s existing customers.

The lender plans to roll out the new offering across the country soon. Customers will be invited in phases to apply for the new card.

Once invited, existing customers can apply for Mox Credit.Upon approval, the user’s existing Mox Card will be instantly converted into Mox Credit, allowing them to spend immediately.

All recurring payments and future transactions will be charged to Mox Credit. In addition, like Mox Card transactions, Mox Credit also offers cashback on all eligible spending.

According to the bank, cashback will be calculated instantly and will be credited daily to the user’s Mox Account to help them further earn daily interest.

15 Apr 2021

Blockchain technology firm ConsenSys has raised $65m in a formation round that was joined by financial giants such as JP Morgan, Mastercard, and UBS.

The company will use the new capital to accelerate the convergence of decentralised finance (DeFi) and Web3 applications on Ethereum with enterprise blockchain infrastructure.

Blockchain companies including Protocol Labs, the Maker Foundation, Fenbushi, The LAO, and Alameda Research also participated in the financing round.

ConsenSys said a number of funds also invested in the round with Ethereum-based stablecoins, DAI and USDC as consideration.

ConsenSys founder and Ethereum co-founder, Joseph Lubin, said: “ConsenSys’ software stack represents access to a new automated objective trust foundation enabled by decentralised protocols like Ethereum.

“We are proud to partner with preeminent financial firms alongside leading crypto companies to further converge the centralised and decentralised financial domains at this particularly exciting time of growth for ConsenSys and the entire industry.”

14 Apr 2021

US-based apparel company Gap is set to part ways with its credit card issuer Synchrony Financial after 22 years.

The retailer has signed new long-term credit card programme agreements with Barclays.As agreed, Barclays will become the exclusive issuer of Gap’s co-branded and private label credit card programme in the US from May next year.

Additionally, Gap moved from Visa to Mastercard. All Gap and Barclays co-branded credit cards will be issued on the Mastercard payment network. More details will be announced in the upcoming months.

Gap’s switch from Synchrony Financial to Barclays was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

In a statement, Gap said: “As part of Gap Inc.’s Power Plan 2023, the company is focused on enhancing its rewards programme to attract new customers and create enduring relationships to turn its customers into lifelong loyalists.

9 Apr 2021

United Airlines and Chase have launched a new co-branded offering called United Quest Card.

The card comes with a $250 annual fee and offers 3X miles on per $1 spent on United purchases. Separately, the customers can earn 2X miles on other travels, dine-outs and 1X mile on other eligible transactions.

Additionally, the cardholders can secure 80,000 bonus miles by spending $5,000 within three months and earn an additional 20,000 bonus miles by spending an additional $5,000 within six months of account opening.

Overall, they can earn a total of 100,000 bonus miles by spending $10,000 on purchases in the first six months.

Separately, the cardholders will be entitled to priority boarding on United flights, access to United Card Events and United MileagePlus events and travel and purchase protection benefits.

The benefits also include no foreign transaction fees and 25% discount on United in-flight purchases.