Alla Gancz’s Post

Payments Innovation Dynamism in the payments arena is driving change at banks and drawing new players into the field, expanding innovation and opportunity. Online shopping accelerated greatly during Covid-19 lockdowns; and it has irreversibly changed the habits of consumers, who are devouring new payment methods like never before. This ravenous appetite for new payment experiences requires that banks be agile enough to offer or facilitate innovations, such as payments-as-a-service (PaaS), embedded finance, digital wallets, buy now/pay later, cryptocurrencies and emerging central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Moreover, this trend doesn’t stop at the consumer or retail level. Corporate supply chains are likewise seeing a rush of innovative next-generation payment methods. In combination with nontraditional competitors, a race toward real-time and exponential technologies—including advanced analytics, machine learning, hybrid cloud, extreme automation and intelligent workflows—this is driving changes to banking business models. To give an idea of the scale of payment options available, Bank of America recently expanded its CashPro Payment API (application programming interface) to allow customers to access more than 350 payment types in 38 markets globally. The explosion of different cashless payment types and the arrival of so many new nontraditional participants—both fintech and “techfin” (e.g., Google, Amazon and Apple)—have upped the disintermediation stakes but also created opportunities for innovation and cooperation. “Nobody is doing anything 100% on their own right now,” explains Carl Slabicki, co-head of Global Payments, BNY Mellon Treasury Services. As more payment options emerge, he predicts, “it will become a bit of a fragmented mess, and the banks that will succeed are the ones that can really stitch it all together.” The trick will be to manage all that complexity yet still deliver a safe and secure payment experience. “Banks are realizing that payments are foundational,” insists Mike Kresse, division executive, B2B (business-to-business) and money movement at FIS, “which is why they need to be resilient, robust and able to be upgraded without the need for major heart surgery.” With change being the only certainty, a cloud-based infrastructure provides financial institutions the agility required to meet customer expectations, regulations and any technological shifts that might come along in the future, without requiring rebuilds of core architecture. News credit Global Finance Magazine #news #dailynews #viralnews #dailynewsletter #finance #fintechnews #financialnews #trendingnews #dailynewsupdates

The column combined with line chart below shows us the number of Ria Money Transfer Network Locations and the quarterly money transactions of Euronet (Source: FXC Intelligence) In contrast to Remitly, as analyzed in the previous article, Ria Money Transfer continues to operate primarily based on a traditional development model, expanding its physical transaction points to serve the entire cross-border remittance needs of its potential customers. This strategy, to some extent, proves its effectiveness as it helps the parent company, Euronet, significantly improve its quarterly transaction volume. However, this strategy faces significant weaknesses, such as the unusual fluctuations in rental markets coupled with external factors that have a tremendous impact, as seen during events like the COVID-19 pandemic. The reduction in the number of network locations has adversely affected the business operations of the enterprise. Therefore, Ria Money Transfer is also striving to digitize cross-border remittance channels by developing a money transfer app and partnering with international entities like FinFan to assist them in fund disbursement and collection for remittances to Vietnam and other countries in the Southeast Asian region. According to the FXC Intelligence report, Ria Money Transfer is particularly focused on expanding and developing markets in Southeast Asia, where it has a strong presence. Additionally, it has introduced a new prepaid Ria Mastercard in Malaysia, enabling Ria eWallet customers to conduct online and in-store transactions and withdraw funds from ATMs globally. ------------------------------ 👉 The success of Ria Money Transfer (a partner of FinFan in the Vietnamese remittance market) in digitalizing cross-border money transfer demonstrates that fintech companies are making significant strides in development and proving that their platforms can replace and address issues that traditional banks find challenging or impossible to accomplish. They provide solutions that are "Faster, Safer, and More Cost-effective" for users. Read more about how to remit money directly to e-wallet in Vietnam with Ria Money Transfer in the comment below 👇 👉 As a fintech company specializing in mass disbursement, fund collection, card processing, IBAN, and digital APMs solutions, FinFan can offer valuable insights and integration capabilities in these areas. We are on the path to fulfilling our mission of providing a cross-border payment channel in Southeast Asia (particularly for Vietnamese people) FinFan has already established integrations with some of the world's most renowned Money Transfer Operators (MTOs), Payment Service Providers (PSPs), switches, and core fintech platforms such as MoneyGram International, Thunes, Qiwi, Remitly, WorldRemit, Bancore Group, Paysend, TerraPay, Ria Money Transfer (Euronet), dLocal, Ripple, Triple-A, FOMO Pay, Wings, and more. #riamoneytransfer #moneytransfer #fintech #finfan #remittance #networklocations

Wrapping up Finextra and European Banking Authority (EBA)'s #EBAday: AI and stablecoins will wait for regulatory-driven transformations. AI, stablecoins, and other innovation-related topics were, of course, on the conference menu. But the topic that inevitably took the spotlight, on stage and in every conversation, was regulation: 1️⃣ Will the industry meet the instant payment deadlines? The first deadline for the Instant Payments Regulation is January 2025, tomorrow in bank timeframe. Yet every talk, payment infrastructure vendor marketing materials, and discussions revolved around the IPR and how to be ready on time. Some smaller banks are just kickstarting their instant payment projects and there are still many unknowns about the ability of large corporate payment stacks - from ERP to the bank cash management systems - to handle very large instant payment batches. 2️⃣ The gold rush to Verification of Payee The other major regulation topic discussed was VoP. Set to be live by October 2025 - with PSPs liable for fraudulent payments due to failed VoP - the ink is still wet on many significant implementation aspects, including the final EPC rulebook, exact workflows for batch payments, the scope of each party for PIs / EMIs, and their partner banks. Yet VoP is a greenfield in the EU and many market players, from fintechs to domestic market infrastructures to European CSMs, are positioning themselves to become the central infrastructures for VoP. Many more are working hard to integrate with these providers and help PSPs comply with VoP on time, including yours truly. 3️⃣ Innovation requires breathing time Most, if not all, participants agreed on the need for and benefits of these regulations for the industry, European businesses, and consumers. However, the regulatory pace is intense, monopolising most bank tech and product resources and leaving no time to think about how to innovate and build value on top of the introduced changes. 4️⃣ A bright future for account-to-account payments As painful as the current adaptation period might be, the IPR will open a new payment era in Europe. When 100% of bank accounts are reachable and instant payments are the default choice, adoption will dramatically increase, as we have seen in countries like Brazil with Pix. Fintechs, banks and other players will build value-added products on top of the rail for instant payments to become the new normal for paying friends, merchants, suppliers. And when you look at examples like EPI’s Wero or the RTP scheme, it is already happening. We are proud to be part of this industry and to help more and more financial institutions comply with these regulations with limited resources so they can focus on building value for their customers. #ebaday #events #payments

The Cashless Society: What It Means for Merchants 🌍💳 Breaking News... Discover recently released an article on cashless societies—and guess what? They linked to Corepay's in-depth piece on this topic.🎉 We're thrilled to see the conversation around cashless economies gaining traction globally. Here are some fascinating insights on cashless countries: 📉 Sweden leads the charge: With only 1% of transactions made in cash and mobile payments accounting for 20%, Sweden is redefining commerce. 🌍 Global trends vary: While Scandinavia and parts of APAC are nearly cash-free, regions like the Middle East and Latin America are catching up with rapid adoption. Digital literacy and inclusion programs are key drivers of this shift. 💰 Digital currencies on the rise: From Nigeria's eNaira to China's e-CNY and Sweden's e-Krona pilot, central banks are actively exploring the potential of CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies) to enhance financial inclusion and payment efficiency. ⚠️ Merchants, take note: A cashless society brings incredible opportunities—like seamless cross-border payments—but also challenges like ensuring security and inclusion for the unbanked. The cashless revolution is coming faster than ever, with digital payments projected to grow from $11.55 trillion in 2024 to $16.59 trillion by 2028. For businesses, it may no longer be about "if" but "when." 🔗 Read Corepays article here: https://lnkd.in/g-gYB2vW

Europe’s payments’ landscape is at a crossroads with a record number of parallel moving parts. Let’s see what these are, how they overlap and what’s behind. Europe has always had a disproportionate dependence on US payment rails: despite the existence of a Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), EU #payments are fragmented across national markets and dominated by US-origin Visa and Mastercard. At the same time, all other major players are also American: PayPal, Apple, Google, Amazon. Several initiatives are trying to fix this: 1. The European Payments Initiative (EPI) acquired iDEAL and Payconiq in order to create an integrated digital wallet (wero) that will provide payment solutions at a European level, connecting or replacing local solutions and directly competing with Visa and MC. 2. The new instant payments (IP) regulation homogenizes IP in Europe, makes them mandatory and imposes them as a growth and #innovation driver that will free up €200 bn of liquidity per day (currently locked up in transit) that will flow back into the #economy. 3. On Feb 2024, the EU adopted a regulation on the creation of a European digital identity wallet (EUDIW) that will - among others - boost digital payments via a) standardization and b) enablement of authentication and identification. 4. The design of the digital euro, a European digital currency, moves to the next step. The digital Euro will be electronic money issued directly by the European Central Bank (ECB) - but accessible through commercial banks - used for payments in the same way we use cash (without abolishing it). 5. PSD2 will be replaced by a third directive (PSD3), supported by a Payments Regulation (PSR). These legislative changes will improve Open Banking, enhance competition, merge EMIs and PIs under one regime, further combat fraud and improve access to cash. 6. The Financial Data Access Framework (FIDA) that introduces two major novelties: 1) it gives customers control of their financial #data 2) it allows banks to charge providers like fintechs for data access 7. Via SPAA (SEPA Payment Account Access) Europe is building a scheme for open banking (OB), which is a requirement for OB to compete with credit cards What are the connecting points between all these? - SPAA builds on PSD2 (but also goes beyond by introducing premium services) and will run on instant rails (SCT Inst) - PSD3 and the PSR amend and modernize PSD2 - FIDA builds on PSD2, PSD3 and PSR, making the transition from Open Banking to Open #finance - EPI builds on instant rails and will work with the digital Euro (EPI was among the digital Euro pilot participants) - The EUDIW will provide functionality to the digital Euro, EPI and Open Banking Europe's drive for payments’ strategic independence has never been so advanced. However, the outcome is far from guaranteed. Opinions: my own, Graphic sources: European Payments Council, European Commission, ECB, SIA Partners, Connective Payments

A fantastic piece from Panagiotis Kriaris (yet again!), this time on the rapidly moving European #payments landscape and regulations. There’s no doubt that #digitalidentity #identityaccessmanagement touches most, if not all of these through: ✅ Adaptive and context driven #authentication ✅ Policy-based #authorization ✅ Identity-based financial-grade #apis ✅ #Verifiedcredentials and #decentralizedidentity ✅ Multi-modal #identityverification At the cutting edge of innovation in #financialservices. Thanks for sharing Panagiotis!

Register today http://bit.ly/3CHhfSU for our monthly Regulator Working Group on the #DigitalEuro with Reinis Vecbaštiks, Chief Payments and Financial Markets at Latvijas Banka (The Central Bank of Latvia). http://bit.ly/3CHhfSU Speaking of Latvia... “Latvia is steadily emerging as a global fintech hub, propelled by continuous improvements of the regulatory framework and introduction of new supporting tools for fintech ventures." This is the key takeaway from Andris Liepins and Valters Sniedzītis, CAMS, respectively Partner and Senior Manager at Deloitte, regarding the Latvian payments ecosystem, as featured in our whitepaper, “Key Players in the EU Payments Landscape 2024 ": https://lnkd.in/dVYy5rTP 💳 Nestled in the heart of the Baltic region, Latvia is emerging as a European fintech leader, transitioning from a cash-dominated market to a cashless society, with 77% of transactions being non-cash in 2023. The shift is supported by widespread adoption of contactless cards and government initiatives like low-cost bank accounts, financial literacy programs, and expanded payment infrastructure. 📲 Cards, and more particularly debit cards are the most used payment method in Latvia. However, alternative payments like digital wallets and bank transfers are gaining in popularity. Key players include Paysera, Monese & Mobilly. 🏦 Latvia's banking market is dominated by Scandinavian-owned Swedbank and SEB Latvija, which hold nearly 60% market share. Local player Citadele banka ranks third (23%), offering traditional banking, wealth management, and as the sole issuer of American Express cards. Other notable banks include Luminor Lietuva, AS Rietumu Banka, and BluOr Bank (formerly BlueOrange Bank). International neobanks like Revolut, ZEN.COM, and European Merchant Bank | EMBank are also on the rise. 📶 On the processing front, Worldline leads as the top payment processor in the Baltics, holding the largest market share in the region. Paynt offers advanced omni-channel payment solutions, including an acquiring-as-a-service platform for businesses. Transact Pro also operates as a payment processor and online card payment gateway provider. Download the full report here: https://bit.ly/4fsDsCo

Hi fintech enthusiasts. Here is my rundown of the articles and news updates that I found interesting and pertinent from this week. Week Ending 3/17/24 💰 CFPB Director Rohit Chopra delivered a speech at the Financial Data Exchange’s (the largest open banking standards-setting organization in the U.S.) annual summit. Alex Johnson gave a fantastic rundown of the speech and rightly pointed out that the focus was interesting given the crowd; the CFPB hasn’t decided on a recognized standard setting organization for open banking yet. Chopra elaborated that the CFPB is focused on ensuring competition and that whatever organization it does choose isn’t biased by those that fund it. There’s a lot more to unpack from this speech, which I can’t reasonably cover here, so please head to Fintech Takes to get the full story. 💰 PYMNTS reported that Norway has enacted a rule to require the acceptance of cash payments. This followed a report late last year from Sweden which determined that the digitization of payments has “excluded large groups of people.” The article highlighted a podcast by Lisa Perlini of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (I highly recommend listening to the full episode), which explains that while payments in cash have decreased in the U.S. post Covid, demand for cash has remained stable. Whether people are using it or not at the moment, it will remain important to give anyone who wants to transact with physical currency the ability to do so. 💰 Goldmans Sachs and BNY Mellon, among others, participated in a pilot of Digital Asset’s Canton Network blockchain platform. The network is described as a privacy enabled interoperable network designed for institutional assets. This test comprised 350 simulated transactions involving over thirty asset managers, banks, custodians, and exchanges. This strikes me as a good way to bring the benefits of instant settlement and interoperability to capital markets, so I’m interested to see how this works outside of a pilot environment. 💰 The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Bankers Association filed a suit against the CFPB regarding its rule on late credit card fees. The complaint alleges that the rule violates the CARD Act’s provision on late fees and also that the cost-benefit analysis used by the CFPB in drafting the rule is invalid. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the near future as one judge has already recused himself from the case. 💰 Jason Mikula reported that TabaPay is set to acquire the BaaS platform Synapse. He mentioned reports that came out last year surrounding Evolve, Synapse, and Tabapay in which Synapse “claimed a configuration error on Evolve Bank & Trust's part caused TabaPay to erroneously debit $12 million or more of customer funds.” I had largely forgotten about this incident until the news of the acquisition and I hope this will help Synapse recover from any lingering damage and move on to bigger and better things. 

🌍 Account-to-Account (A2A) Payments Will Be Huge In The Global North And South 💳 In a recent Forbes article, David Birch explored the rising tide of account-to-account (A2A) payments using the 2024 Payments Innovation Jury Report as a main source 🚀 A2A Payments: What's the Buzz? A2A payments, facilitating direct transfers between bank accounts through burgeoning instant payment networks, are gaining traction across the globe. This method bypasses traditional card networks, offering a streamlined, efficient alternative 🌐 Trends in the Global North vs. South ⬆ ⬇ The dynamics of A2A adoption vary significantly between developed and emerging markets. • In the Global North, the battle between cards and A2A/mobile money is a stalemate. With significant volumes seen in Europe's A2A systems like Poland’s BLIK, the Netherlands' IDEAL, and Sweden's Swish, it’s clear that the era of card dominance faces robust competition 🇪🇺 • In the Global South, A2A and mobile #money are not just competing but leading. With Brazil's PIX dominating the scene, traditional #card networks find themselves playing catch-up in markets ripe for digital transformation 🌏 Digital Wallets: Banks in the Lead 🏦 Interestingly, banks are positioned to dominate the #digitalwallet space amidst these shifts, outpacing telcos and social media giants. This reflects a strategic pivot to embrace innovation, either through acquisition, alliance, or imitation, leveraging their vast customer networks 💼📲 The Verdict As we march towards a post-card world, the signs are clear: #A2A payments are not just an emerging trend but the future. With their ability to cater to the evolving needs of both the Global North and South, their role in shaping the next era of #payments is undeniable 🌟 Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/dsyk66Ug

Register today http://bit.ly/3CHhfSU for our monthly Regulator Working Group on the #DigitalEuro with Reinis Vecbaštiks, Chief Payments and Financial Markets at Latvijas Banka (The Central Bank of Latvia). http://bit.ly/3CHhfSU Speaking of Latvia... “Latvia is steadily emerging as a global fintech hub, propelled by continuous improvements of the regulatory framework and introduction of new supporting tools for fintech ventures." This is the key takeaway from Andris Liepins and Valters Sniedzītis, CAMS, respectively Partner and Senior Manager at Deloitte, regarding the Latvian payments ecosystem, as featured in our whitepaper, “Key Players in the EU Payments Landscape 2024 ": https://lnkd.in/dVYy5rTP 💳 Nestled in the heart of the Baltic region, Latvia is emerging as a European fintech leader, transitioning from a cash-dominated market to a cashless society, with 77% of transactions being non-cash in 2023. The shift is supported by widespread adoption of contactless cards and government initiatives like low-cost bank accounts, financial literacy programs, and expanded payment infrastructure. 📲 Cards, and more particularly debit cards are the most used payment method in Latvia. However, alternative payments like digital wallets and bank transfers are gaining in popularity. Key players include Paysera, Monese & Mobilly. 🏦 Latvia's banking market is dominated by Scandinavian-owned Swedbank and SEB Latvija, which hold nearly 60% market share. Local player Citadele banka ranks third (23%), offering traditional banking, wealth management, and as the sole issuer of American Express cards. Other notable banks include Luminor Lietuva, AS Rietumu Banka, and BluOr Bank (formerly BlueOrange Bank). International neobanks like Revolut, ZEN.COM, and European Merchant Bank | EMBank are also on the rise. 📶 On the processing front, Worldline leads as the top payment processor in the Baltics, holding the largest market share in the region. Paynt offers advanced omni-channel payment solutions, including an acquiring-as-a-service platform for businesses. Transact Pro also operates as a payment processor and online card payment gateway provider. Download the full report here: https://bit.ly/4fsDsCo