Buy Bundy by bitcoin: Cryptocurrency coming to QLD attractions
Queensland’s gearing up to become Australia’s most crypto-friendly state. It’s a match made in heaven. Australian state governments are looking for ways to bolster tourism, and these bitcoin and cryptocurrency things have recently gotten quite popular. TravelbyBit is an Australian company, based in Queensland, that emerged to take advantage of both, with cryptocurrency point of sale systems that accept bitcoin, Litecoin, Dash, Ether and XEM. From there, it’s inked deals around Australia. For tourists, cryptocurrencies have especially clear utility. There’s no chance of it falling through a hole in your pocket; there’s no need to mess around with expensive exchange rates or travel cards; there’s no need to fret overseas […]
Apple is becoming a formidable financial technology company
A growing anxiety for bank executives is how and when big tech companies will encroach on their turf. During its quarterly earnings call yesterday, Apple CEO Tim Cook gave some insight into the company’s progress in becoming something of a fintech player: Apple Pay transactions tripled from a year earlier, to more than 1 billion. Cook said that was more than Square and exceeded mobile transactions via PayPal. The worry for finance executives is that payments are just the beginning. Alibaba affiliate and fintech giant Ant Financial expanded from payments and into wealth management. According to analysts at research firm Bernstein, the Chinese company now runs a robo-advisory service that […]
Stripe launches Partner Program in response to demand from millions-strong user base
Stripe, the technology company that builds economic infrastructure for the internet, has today announced the launch of its first-ever Partner Program to help its global user base—now numbering in the millions—discover new, reliable partners to work with. Stripe’s ecosystem is already comprised of thousands of informal tech partners, drawn to Stripe by its world-class technology and APIs, and access to its rapidly growing user base. Today, for every $1 Stripe makes, partners can expect to make $1.26. Stripe’s Partner Program formalises this ecosystem, giving partners access to new benefits, such as: A new partner portal with educational materials and best practices for building secure, reliable integrations to Stripe. A […]
Apple Pay predicted to be half of all mobile wallet users as contactless payments hit $2 trillion by 2020
Digital wallets are gaining momentum and Apple Pay looks set to be the most popular platform as contactless payments are projected to hit $2 trillion within two years. As spotted by TechCrunch, Juniper Research put out a new report today with the prediction that Apple Pay will account for 50% of global mobile wallet users by 2020. The data took into account competition from Samsung Pay, Google Pay, Huawei Pay, and Fitbit Pay. The firm believes 2020 will see 450 million users taking advantage of mobile wallets with Apple making up for 225 million of those users. Specifically, Juniper predicts mobile wallets will make up for 15% of the $2 […]
‘Walk rather than a run to cashlessness’ in Australia, says payments boss
Large-scale technology shifts like the introduction of the Reserve Bank’s New Payments Platform and the rise of tap-and-go are hastening the retreat of cash as a transaction mechanism. But don’t expect to see the RBA pushing the stop button on its dollar bill production just yet, said the chief executive of the Australian Payments Network, Leila Fourie. “Cash is traditionally used as a store of value and for transacting. As a store of value the use of cash is on the increase, as a transaction mechanism it is retreating and reducing,” she told a panel session at The Australian Financial Review Innovation Summit 2018 on Monday. “However, I don’t think […]
BPAY Group named one of Aon Hewitt’s Best Employers for 2018
BPAY Group has today been named an Aon Hewitt Best Employer for 2018, following the release of its annual Employee Engagement survey. 84% – BPAY Group Employee Engagement Score 90% of BPAY Group employees completed the survey 68% – Aon Hewitt’s entry point for the highest performing quartile of all organisations in Australia and New Zealand 81% – Aon Hewitt’s Average Best Employer score in the region Aon Hewitt’s Best Employers program is Australia and New Zealand’s leading accreditation and research program looking at the people practices of high-performing organisations. John Banfield, BPAY Group CEO said, “BPAY Group is incredibly honoured to be named as an accredited 2018 Aon Best […]
Navigating compliance in a borderless world
The regulatory landscape for financial services and fintech companies is rapidly changing. The industry continues to be subject to increasingly strict legal and regulatory requirements, and cybersecurity is top of mind for businesses. The cross-border money transfer space requires navigation of these complexities up and down the payments stack. Cross-border payments by definition require businesses to operate globally immediately, which introduces multinational regulatory requirements from the outset. The time, money, expertise and resources it takes to adhere to the multiple layers of regulation in both originating and receiving markets is an ongoing challenge for businesses. A recent study shows that 59% of companies in the Asia-Pacific region see increased regulation as […]
Alipay brings QR code or tap-n-go ‘digital payments’ to Melbourne’s buskers
Chinese visitors to Melbourne can give licensed buskers the digital equivalent of a few coins via QR code, while locals can use “tap-n-go” cards in Australia’s first digital payment busker solution. Remember that viral video from a few years ago of an Indian man seeking cash donations from the side of the road from Indian drivers, and when told they had no cash on them, he brought out a mobile payment credit card terminal? Well, what if he could accept payments via QR code instead? This kind of payment system is all the rage in China, making us in the West rather behind our Chinese counterparts, but finally, Chinese payment […]
