In brief

16 July 2021

US-based BNPL service provider Sezzle has received $30m in investment from Discover on a per-share price of $6.58 for nearly 4.6 million total shares issued.

The deal is part of an agreement with DFS Services, a subsidiary of the card-issuing giant.

As part of the investment, the companies also plan to enter into an expanded partnership with plans for a BNPL network solution on the Discover Global Network, as well as a dedicated referral programme introducing Discover credit and debit offerings to Sezzle customers.

In February this year, Discover signed an agreement to help expand Sezzle’s BNPL feature. It aims to enable Sezzle to work with merchants on Discover’s network to offer additional payment options.

Commenting on the latest development, Sezzle executive chair and CEO Charlie Youakim said: “We are excited about our relationship with Discover, as we believe our mission, vision and values align.”

16 July 2021

Mobility solutions provider Comviva has launched an enhanced digital wallet and payment platform, mobiquity Pay X.

The business’s existing digital financial services platform, mobiquity Pay, is said to support more than 70 digital wallets and payment services for over 130 million consumers in more than 50 countries.

According to Comviva, the latest platform improves all aspects of digital financial solution, including scalability, deployment and time to market, user lifecycle management and experience and security.

Comviva said the mobiquity Pay X “significantly strengthens” security with authentication and authorisation modules. The platform also offers complete flexibility to configure various PIN, password and access rules to meet specific requirements.

In addition, its advanced session management capabilities enable corrective action to defend fraud by identifying all active sessions and logins from a user via different devices.

15 July 2021

US-based mobile sports-betting platform WynnBET has partnered with Paysafe for payments and marketing solutions.

The partnership will see WynnBET plug into Paysafe to streamline payments for sports betters in Colorado, Indiana, New Jersey and Virginia.

Paysafe’s payment gateway will facilitate player deposits via credit and debit card and ACH bank transfers from checking and savings accounts. The integration will also offer customers access to payouts of winnings through ACH withdrawals.

According to a research by Paysafe, US online sports betters prioritise payments and swift payouts when choosing a sportsbook over other factors such as competitive odds, sports markets offered and promotions. Paysafe said the collaboration will help support WynnBET’s customer acquisition and retention.

The partnership also includes an affiliate programme offered by Paysafe’s marketing technology and services provider Income Access to further strengthen player acquisition.

15 July 2021

Indian payments business PayMate is reportedly planning to file for a domestic initial public offering (IPO) in FY2022.

The business, which is backed by Visa and Lightbox, has opened talks with investment banks for the potential listing, Moneycontrol reported, citing multiple industry sources.

Several Indian payment firms, including Paytm, Pine Labs and Mobikwik, are currently preparing to go public following an increase in digital transactions following the pandemic.

“These are early days and there is no clarity yet on the size of the proposed IPO,” a source told the news website.

The IPO will increase PayMate’s value and will help it to amass growth capital while also facilitating a partial exit for its several investors.

PayMate and Visa did not respond to Moneycontrol’s request for comment.

14 July 2021

Slice, a tech platform that services independent pizzerias in the US, has turned to Dutch payments platform Adyen to improve its payment processing experience.

Through Adyen for Platforms, Slice is looking to enhance the end-customer payment experience for its pizzeria clients.

Adyen for Platforms is designed to help platforms such as Slice facilitate turnkey access to payment capabilities for clients.

The solution will allow Slice to expand its service offering by introducing the latest payment technology to small business owners.

The move will help businesses eliminate operational complexity and drive digital transformation for its network of more than 16,000 independently owned pizzerias.

Slice chief technology officer Jason Ordway said: “Adyen’s best-in-class technology and extensive experience in powering payments for small businesses made them the ideal partner for Slice.”

14 July 2021

MoonPay, which provides infrastructure for buying and selling cryptocurrency, has selected financial technology leader FIS for merchant acquiring services in the more than 160 countries and 80 digital currencies supported by the rapidly growing company.

MoonPay creates tools that enable web and mobile developers globally to accept payments for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether, as well as for NFTs.

The market for cryptocurrencies and NFTs is growing rapidly as consumers globally become increasingly comfortable buying and selling digital assets.

MoonPay was seeking an experienced payments partner to support its continued growth. The firm will use Worldpay from FIS merchant services to process consumer credit and debit card-based purchases and sales of cryptocurrencies as well as NFTs.

MoonPay founder and CEO Ivan Soto-Wright said: “Our goal at MoonPay is to provide simple, powerful, and painless experiences for consumers around the world to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, NFTs and other digital assets.”

14 July 2021

US technology giant Apple is reportedly collaborating with investment bank Goldman Sachs to venture into the BNPL segment.

The Apple Pay Later offering can be used for all Apple Pay purchases made with any credit card, and is not only limited to the Apple Card, according to Bloomberg.

Goldman Sachs will be responsible for covering the instalments for the new proposition, the publication reported.

Users can apply for the new BNPL service through the iPhone Wallet app, and will not be subject to credit checks.

They can pay in-store or online with Apple Pay across four payments every two weeks, with no interest charged unless they opt to make payments over several months.

13 July 2021

Finch Capital-backed payments operator Nomu Pay has concluded the acquisition of Wirecard Payment Solutions Malaysia and Wirecard Payment Solutions Hong Kong.

The company agreed to buy the Asia-Pacific entities of collapsed German payments group Wirecard in April this year. Nomu Pay also agreed to acquire Wirecard’s payment units in the Philippines, Thailand and Turkey.

The company said it is currently in the process of finalising other transactions related to Wirecard entities.

These acquisitions are part of the company’s strategy to create a unified payments business with focus on high-growth customer segments in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Europe.

The acquisition will give Nomu Pay a foothold in five countries with access to 300 million people.

12 July 2021

BNPL business Zip has joined forces with Microsoft Store to enable customers in Australia to purchase Microsoft products using instalment payment plans.

The partnership aims to give customers, and students in particular, better access to Microsoft products.

By signing up through the Zip App, customers will receive single-use digital credit cards to use on Microsoft products including include Office, as well as Surface laptops and tablets and Xbox consoles and games.

Customers will have access to a 12-month interest free payment solution, with weekly, fortnightly or monthly repayment options.

Microsoft is also planning the make the BNPL offering also available to retailers and small businesses later in the year, and expand the service to other markets.

12 July 2021

P27 Nordic Payments has received merger approval from the EU to set up a pan-Nordic payments platform.

Founded in late 2018, P27 is a joint payments project between Danske Bank, Handelsbanken, Nordea, OP Financial Group, SEB and Swedbank.

The approval is seen as a major milestone in establishing a common payments infrastructure throughout the Nordics. It will also enable P27 to start onboarding customers in in Denmark, Finland and Sweden.

In addition, P27 will be able to conclude its takeover of Bankgirot in Sweden, and work closely with it to enhance the Swedish payments infrastructure.

The approval also enables P27 to advance preparations for the roll-out of pan-Nordic payments services and solutions, including a Nordic bill payments service that offers an alternative to request-to-pay and direct debit solutions.