In brief

10 November 2021

Blockchain payments firm Ripple is preparing to launch a crypto trading platform to help financial services firms to provide their customers access to crypto market.  

Dubbed Ripple Liquidity Hub, this crypto liquidity platform will allow end customers of financial firms to purchase, sell and hold digital assets across various venues.  

It will leverage smart order routing to source digital assets at ‘optimised’ prices from exchanges, market makers, and OTC desks, according to the company.  

The platform will initially offer support for bitcoin, litecoin, ethereum, ethereum classic, bitcoin cash and XRP based on geography. Ripple expects to add further digital assets to the platform over time.  

Additionally, it expects to bring in new functionalities such as staking and yield generating later.  

RippleNet general manager Asheesh Birla noted that the firm has been relying on the same crypto sourcing technology for its On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) product for about two years.  

15 November 2021

ACI Worldwide has introduced its proprietary Network Intelligence Technology as part of its effort to tackle real-time payments fraud. 

Launched as an integral part of ACI Fraud Management solution, the new technology allows banks, processors, acquirers, and networks to share industry-wide fraud signals by feeding their machine learning models. 

It offers custom and proprietary signals and adds them with signals exchanged within the consortium of industry participants to help prevent fraud. 

The technology also incorporates signals from third-party fraud intelligence sources and allows industry players to select which insights to adopt into models and which to contribute to community findings. 

ACI is launching the new technology at a time when fraud attacks are increasing around the world, urging for increased collaboration among industry players. 

The growth in digital and real-time payments in the backdrop of the pandemic has turned real-time payments channels a target of fraudsters and scammers. 

APP fraud went up to 71% during the first half of the year in the UK, surpassing card fraud rates for the first time. 

23 November 2021

MoonPay, which provides payments infrastructure for buying and selling cryptocurrency, has raised $555m in a Series A funding round led by Tiger Global Management and Coatue. 

The round, which saw participation by Blossom Capital, Thrive Capital, Paradigm, and NEA, brings the firm’s valuation to $3.4bn. 

The capital infusion will accelerate the firm’s plans to expand its global footprint, invest in its team and develop new products. 

MoonPay’s fiat-to-crypto on-ramp is designed to facilitate the conversion of fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies via popular payment methods. 

The solution is leveraged by more than 250 wallets, websites and applications in over 160 countries. It is said to have processed over $2bn in transactions to date. 

In July this year, MoonPay obtained Money Transmitter licenses across 16 states in the US. These licenses allow the company to provide a buy or sell service in the country as an independent offering to its customers, without relying on a third party. 

At the time, the firm said it had submitted additional 26 license applications for approval. 

In June, MoonPay bought a stake in BCB Group, a crypto-focused payment services provider. 

23 November 2021

American Express (AmEx) has discontinued its Premium Wire service, which allows businesses to send wire payments globally, after identifying the product was inappropriately positioned to customers. 

Some AmEx sales staff misled business owners in using Premium Wire as a means to cut down their tax bill by using the service to pay suppliers and earn AmEx points, WSJ reported. 

AmEx has terminated some employees and disciplined others in connection with the misconduct. 

Additionally, the company hired an external law firm to investigate small business sales in the US, including of the shelved wire service. 

AmEx said in a statement: “This misconduct should not have happened. As a result of an internal investigation, we terminated employees and disciplined others, made product changes, adjusted our sales compensation plan, required additional training, and reinforced our permitted sales practices and policies.” 

Premium Wire and the working capital solution made up around one half of 1% of AmEx’s total network volumes between 2018 and September 2021. 

It also accounted for less than one quarter of 1% of the company’s global revenue during the period. 

10 November 2021

The central banks of Philippines and Singapore have reportedly expanded their existing fintech partnership to enhance cross-border digital payments in the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region. 

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) signed the Fintech Innovation Function Cooperation Agreement last week. 

It follows the Fintech Cooperation Agreement signed between the apex banks in November, building on their 2017 agreement to deepen fintech ties between the countries. 

The latest agreement involves initiatives to link QR and real-time payment systems of the two countries, as well as offering financial inclusion to Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and micro-small-to-medium-sized businesses (MSMEs). 

The BSP is currently in the initial stages of integrating the Philippine payment system with those of the ASEAN countries, following the integration with Singapore. 

1 December 2021

Wise is set to hire over 150 employees in the US next year as part of its North American expansion plan that will see the firm expand its footprint into Austin, Texas. 

The hiring will be for the firm’s offices in New York City, Tampa and as well as the new Austin location. 

Wise, which debuted on London Stock Exchange earlier this year, is also shifting its New York City (NYC) headquarters to a new and larger site in January 2022. 

The firm is seeking to hire across several roles for the new headquarters, including product, engineers and business development positions. 

Wise, which has a workforce of 3,000 across the globe, is planning to increase its headcount by 1,000 next year. 

The plans for Wise’s North American expansion follow a 29% year-on-year revenue growth in the region in the half-year ended 30 September 2021. 

30 November 2021

Ease2pay, which facilitates digital payments for customers in the mobility sector, has agreed to acquire Involtum in an all-share transaction. 

Under the agreement, Ease2pay will issue 10,714,792 non-listed shares to Involtum shareholders. 

Upon deal completion, Involtum shareholders are expected to hold around 46.4% of the outstanding shares in Ease2pay. 

Rotterdam-based Involtum provides an Internet of Things (IoT) smart activation and transaction platform, which features an integrated billing and payment system for electricity and charging infrastructure. 

This platform is said to support digital payments for shared self-services at camper sites, at truck parkings, in marinas, in harbours, and launderettes. 

Involtum has footprint across Europe with its own brands including Walstroom, NomadPower, and AanUit.net. 

The acquisition is part of Ease2pay’s strategy to expand into the EV charging business. It is also expected to help the firm offer IoT and mobile payments solutions to a range of other sectors.