CBA plugs 500,000 customers into Apple Pay in just two weeks
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s backflip on its longstanding Apple Pay boycott has paid off in spades, with more than half a million people flocking to the new payment service just two weeks after it was made publicly available to customers. The stampede of iPhone users is so big it has boosted the CBA’s total number of mobile banking by half, propelling the number from 1 million Android users to a total of 1.5 million total mobile numbers. The fresh numbers were revealed to investment analysts this week by CBA chief executive Matt Comyn, who credited the bank’s customer engagement platform for the delivering the result, before outlining how robust […]
Modern myki miracle: Android users give thumbs up to mobile payment trial
It has all the makings of a public transport miracle: a rollout of new myki technology that isn’t plagued by huge problems. At least not yet. Commuters taking part in a smartphone myki payment trial have given the beta test a cautious thumbs up, heaping praise on the convenience of topping up remotely and the system’s decent touch-on speed. Android users started using their mobile phones to pay for fares on Victoria’s trains, buses and trams after Public Transport Victoria invited 4000 people to take part in the test-run last month. There is still work to be done to ensure everyone can benefit: iPhone users remain locked out of the […]
Twitter founder Jack Dorsey: Crypto will deliver a global currency
Jack Dorsey has a lot of thoughts and plans for cryptocurrency. In a February 2 interview with Joe Rogan, the Twitter founder and CEO had a lot to say about the topic. In a wide-ranging interview that covers topics of censorship, app development, politics and other topics, Rogan steered the conversation towards Dorsey’s Cash App, which allows users to buy and sell Bitcoin Core (BTC). Rogan asked why Dorsey’s team introduced cryptocurrency exchanges in the app. Quite simply, Dorsey believes in a future of one global currency, if it is or isn’t BTC, and that starts in small steps. He said: “I believe the Internet will have a native currency […]
Ezidebit goes back to childcare roots after 12 months on the sidelines
Payments solution group Ezidebit is making an aggressive push back into the booming childcare industry after 12 months on the sidelines. Ezidebit provides an integrated payments solution to streamline collecting of fees for childcare centres and Outside School Hours Care services, reducing time spent in reconciling payments. Ezidebit has more than 20 years’ experience in the childcare industry, with a dedicated team to support the segment, but has been excluded from operating in the sector since the sale of partner QikKids in early 2018 where it was previously the exclusive payments provider. Ezidebit Managing Director Australia and New Zealand Mark Healy said: “Our heritage is in childcare and we fully […]
Heinemann Sydney Airport stores now offering Alipay through Tyro
Australia’s business-only bank Tyro, announced its next Alipay integration with Sydney Airport tax and duty-free retailer Heinemann Australia, where the payment system is now live. Tyro is the first Australian bank to offer Alipay to its merchants with Heinemann Gold Coast International Airport going live last month, following the deal signed with Alipay in August 2018. With 900 million users choosing to pay for goods and services globally via Alipay and its strategic partners, it has evolved from a digital wallet to a lifestyle enabler and is the number one payment method in China. Through its partnership with Alipay, Tyro is now helping Australian businesses access the ever-expanding Chinese visitor […]
Westpac fast payments rollout a ‘tipping point’
A $1 billion overhaul of Australia’s payment system has passed a key milestone, with all big four banks now offering near real-time payments to most of their customers. After banks were last year criticised for taking too long to roll out a fast payment service, Westpac has switched on the new payments platform (NPP) for 3.6 million accounts, it said. It plans to roll out access for customers of St George and other brands it owns over 2019. Westpac had previously only been offering fast payments to customers in some smaller states, not its home base of NSW, but the bank now believes it is contributing about a third of […]
Afterpay challenger Splitit up 90 per cent on first day of trade
Israeli fintech start-up Splitit has got the tech initial public offering market off to a cracking start for the year, with the payments-splitting company jumping 90 per cent on it first day of trade. Having raised $12 million and listed with an issue price of 20¢ on Tuesday, Splitit ended the day at 38¢, giving it a valuation of $100.3 million, having capitalised on the momentum behind peers such as Afterpay and Zip Co. The company, which was founded in 2012 by Gil Don and Alon Feit, has created technology that sits on top of the payments “rails” used by Mastercard and Visa to allow individuals to split the cost […]
Banks cull ATMs as more customers ditch cash
Major banks removed hundreds of ATMs in the latest year, as the industry responded to the scrapping of withdrawal fees and consumers further reduced their use of cash. In a trend that is tipped to ramp up as digital payments take off, all of the big four have made cuts to their ATM networks in the latest 12 months for which figures are available, with one lender culling one in four machines. The decline of ATMs, which were first rolled out by banks in the 1980s, has been predicted by experts for several years, but it is only fairly recently that numbers have begun to fall meaningfully from their peak […]
