NAB’s Apple Pay gap
There have been curious developments over the Tasman in relation to Apple Pay, with National Australia Bank’s BNZ unit announcing today it will offer the service to customers by the end of this month. Yes, that’s the same NAB that tried to enlist the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in a nasty spat with Apple over access to the iPhone’s near-field communication antenna. Success would have enabled the bank to offer its own digital wallet to iPhone users in competition with the Apple’s wallet, but without using Apple Pay. The competition watchdog knocked back the application by NAB, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac, ruling that competition could be distorted if the […]
Latitude Financial Services partners with Samsung Pay
Latitude customers can now tap and pay with their Samsung, Apple or Android smartphone. Latitude customers have a new way to pay as of today. Samsung Electronics Australia and Latitude Financial Services have joined forces to offer cardholders the convenience of Samsung Pay. This means that Latitude cardholders can now use their compatible Samsung device to make contactless digital payments instead of pulling out their card at the checkout. If you’ve never used it before, setting up Samsung Pay with your Latitude card is simple. You’ll just need to download and open the Samsung Pay app, sign in and take a photo of your card or enter the details manually. […]
Fintech startup InstaReM expands services to the EU
Cross-border payment firm InstaReM has announced a continued expansion across the globe – this time to the European Union. The company has come a long way since opening its very first corridor in Australia in 2014. With the issuance of the Electronic Money Institution license (EMI) from the Bank of Lithuania, InstaReM will be able to provide international money transfer services in Europe from Vilnius, which will be InstaReM’s seventh office globally. Operating out of Lithuania will not only allow InstaReM to grow its customer base exponentially throughout the EU, but will also play a significant part in developing Lithuania’s fintech eco-system. InstaReM aims to invest approximately 3 million euros […]
Real-time payments to be launched after Australia Day
A new payments systems is “on track” to be able to deliver real time bank transfers and the ability to ditch BSB numbers from Australia Day. While most people take a break over summer, banks will be putting the finishing touches on the biggest overhaul in the payments system in years. The new payments platform or NPP is a $1 billion project to deliver real-time payments between customers of different banks, and the company to run the system says it will be rolled out to the public after Australia Day next year. The long-running project has been scheduled to be launched this quarter, and despite industry chatter about some banks […]
What is Bitcoin, and how does it work?
If you find the concept of Bitcoin confusing, you are not alone. The virtual currency has been a constant source of controversy, but it is still not well understood. On Tuesday, one Bitcoin was worth USD$4,394. Are Bitcoins those coins I see in photographs? No. Those coins are novelty items that newspapers used in photographs because they couldn’t find anything else to illustrate their stories about Bitcoin. A Bitcoin is a digital token — with no physical backing — that can be sent electronically from one user to another, anywhere in the world. A Bitcoin can be divided out to eight decimal places, so you can send someone 0.00000001 Bitcoins. […]
Square expands its Australian offering with iconic Square Stand
After 18 months of strong local growth, Square continues to expand its presence in the local market, introducing more products and services to help a wider range of Australian businesses. From today, the iconic Square Stand for contactless and chip is available across the country. Gone are the days of large point-of-sale systems, clunky cash drawers, piles of paper receipts, and cluttered countertops. Square Stand for contactless and chip is the first out-of-the-box solution to turn an iPad into a fully integrated point-of-sale system, allowing businesses to take payments and run their entire operation from their countertop device. With tens of thousands of businesses now using Square across the […]
Peppermint enter lucrative gateway services market
ASX listed fin-tech player Peppermint Innovation’s rollout of its unique technology platform has taken a big step forward after the Perth-based company struck a further deal with UCPB, one of the Philippines’ largest banks. Peppermint, who are currently focused on the commercialisation and development of their mobile-phone based bill payment technology said they had inked a deal with UCPB to roll out internet payment “gateway services” in the Philippines for the giant lender. UCPB’s online mobile banking system is already powered by Peppermint technology and the latest deal relating to gateway services represents an extension of the commercial relationship between the two parties. UCPB’s internet payment gateway, facilitated by Peppermint, […]
Ignore bitcoin at your peril, naysayers warned
It’s taken three weeks for bitcoin to erase the losses it suffered when JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon dismissed the digital currency as a fraud.
