Facebook will drive a hard bargain with influencers and artists judging by the terms of service for the social network’s Patreon-like Fan Subscriptions feature that lets people pay a monthly fee for access to a creator’s exclusive content. The policy document attained by TechCrunch shows Facebook plans to take up to a 30 percent cut […]
View More Facebook wants up to 30% of fan subscriptions vs Patreon’s 5%Category: Payments
China wants its rural villages to go cashless by 2020
Residents of even the tiniest far-flung villages in China may soon be able to pay on their phones to run daily errands as Beijing announced this month that it aims to make mobile payments ubiquitous in rural areas by the end of 2020. The plan arrived in a set of guidelines (document link in Chinese) […]
View More China wants its rural villages to go cashless by 2020Instagram’s fundraiser stickers could lure credit card numbers
Mark Zuckerberg recently revealed that commerce is a huge part of the 2019 roadmap for Facebook’s family of apps. But before people can easily buy things from Instagram etc, Facebook needs their credit card info on file. That’s a potentially lucrative side effect of Instagram’s plan to launch a Fundraiser sticker in 2019. Facebook’s own Donate […]
View More Instagram’s fundraiser stickers could lure credit card numbersAmazon, WesternUnion debut PayCode to sell goods in emerging markets and let shoppers pay in cash
While Amazon has been methodical (read: a little slow) in launching local versions of its site for various global markets, it has now embarked on a secondary track to snag more business outside the 14 countries where it has built out full operations. Amazon has partnered with WesternUnion to set up a service called PayCode, […]
View More Amazon, WesternUnion debut PayCode to sell goods in emerging markets and let shoppers pay in cashAlibaba’s Ant Financial buys UK currency exchange giant WorldFirst reportedly for around $700M
Ant Financial, the financial services behemoth affiliated with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, has made its first big move into Europe. It’s acquired London-headquartered payments company WorldFirst in a deal that sources tell us is valued at around $700 million. (That price would also line up with multiple reports from December claiming the two were in […]
View More Alibaba’s Ant Financial buys UK currency exchange giant WorldFirst reportedly for around $700MChina’s Alipay digital wallet is entering 7,000 Walgreens stores
China’s payments heavyweights have been following tourists abroad as their home market gets crowded. Ant Financial, Alibaba’s financial affiliate with a said valuation of $100 billion, now sees its virtual wallet Alipay handling transactions at 3,000 Walgreens stores in the U.S. and is eyeing to reach a roster of 7,000 locations by April. The alliance will […]
View More China’s Alipay digital wallet is entering 7,000 Walgreens storesPayPal shutters Malaysia office as part of customer service reorg
Payment giant PayPal has closed its office in Malaysia as part of a restructuring of its customer support teams. The office, located in capital city Kuala Lumpur, was home to a team of customer service agents that catered to PayPal users across Asian region and beyond. Now, its responsibility will be assumed by other offices, […]
View More PayPal shutters Malaysia office as part of customer service reorgThe plot to revive Mt. Gox and repay victims’ Bitcoin
It was the Lehman Brothers of blockchain. 850,000 Bitcoin disappeared when cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox imploded in 2014 after a series of hacks. The incident cemented the industry’s reputation as frighteningly insecure. Now a controversial crypto celebrity named Brock Pierce is trying to get the Mt. Gox flameout’s 24,000 victims their money back and build a […]
View More The plot to revive Mt. Gox and repay victims’ BitcoinPayPal revenues miss but growth is strong from new acquisitions
PayPal revenues missed, but strong growth from its recent iZettle and Hyperwallet acquisitions and booming business at Venmo point to a strong outlook for the payments giant. In all, PayPal saw revenues for the quarter of $4.23 billion against analysts’ estimates of $4.24 billion, according to data from Yahoo Finance. Earnings per share at the […]
View More PayPal revenues miss but growth is strong from new acquisitionsChat app Line’s mobile payment service is getting its own Visa card
Brown, Cony and the gang are coming to a credit card near you in Japan. Line, the messaging app company behind the cute sticker characters, announced today that it is bringing its payment service to plastic through a tie-in with Visa. Line is Japan’s largest chat app with an estimated 50 million registered users. The cards […]
View More Chat app Line’s mobile payment service is getting its own Visa cardAlibaba’s alternative to the app store reaches 230M daily users
WeChat isn’t the only one doubling down on lite apps. Ever since China’s messaging titan introduced “mini programs” two years ago, a handful of its peers including Alibaba and Baidu have followed with their own manifestations. Alipay, the payments solution affiliated with China’s ecommerce juggernaut Alibaba, today announced it surpassed 230 million daily active users and […]
View More Alibaba’s alternative to the app store reaches 230M daily usersApple Pay is coming to Target, Taco Bell, Speedway and two other U.S. chains
A little more retail momentum for Apple Pay: Apple has announced another clutch of U.S. retailers will soon support its eponymous mobile payment tech — most notably discount retailer Target. Apple Pay is rolling out to Target stores now, according to Apple, which says it will be available in all 1,850 of its U.S. retail […]
View More Apple Pay is coming to Target, Taco Bell, Speedway and two other U.S. chains