ON THE WEB

• PayPal Isn’t a Bank, But It May Be the New Face of Banking - Wall St. Journal - "The central role PayPal seeks to play in the financial lives of its users shows the rapid evolution of what people think of as banking and could spark many of the world’s largest financial institutions to reconsider their own long-held customer relationships."
• Digital Wallets: The Honor All Devices Rule - Credit Slips (Adam Levitin) - "The basic issue with digital wallets is that they aren't all the same in terms of costs and benefits, but merchants have to accept them equal on an all-or-nothing basis."
• PayPal's mission to diversify, one mom at a time - CNET - "PayPal plans to open up Recharge to more groups, hoping to make the company more diverse and provide opportunities to experienced workers, such as veterans, who are often overlooked."

ON THE WIRES

• ACI Worldwide Simplifies and Expedites Secure eCommerce Payments for Global Merchants - "The SaaS-based UP eCommerce Payments solution is the realization of ACI’s eCommerce strategy, which began with the 2014 acquisition of Retail Decisions (ReD) and its market-leading solution for preventing and managing eCommerce fraud. In 2015, ACI acquired PAY.ON and its robust global eCommerce payment gateway solution."
• ATMIA Releases Industry Report on Operation Choke Point - "Sponsored by the U.S. Independent ATM Deployer Committee, the report details the issues the ATM industry has faced due to Operation Choke Point (OCP) and how independent ATM deployers (IAD) can protect their businesses and respond to bank inquiries."
• UnionPay becomes the official payment brand for the Great Singapore Sale 2016 - "On June 2, UnionPay International and Singapore Retailers Association jointly announced that UnionPay will become the only official payment brand for GSS from 2016 to 2018. During the GSS, over 100 local merchants will provide exclusive offers and privileges for UnionPay cards."

PAYMENTS IN PORTLAND

• Join us for the next Payments in Portland (Oregon) event being held on Tuesday, June 7th. Details here!

GLENBROOK PAYMENTS EDUCATION EVENTS

Our next Glenbrook payments education events are coming this fall - in Palo Alto, CA and New York City - we hope to see you there!

• Payments Boot Camp - Palo Alto - October 11-12
• Insight Workshop - Palo Alto - Data in Payments - October 13

Bring your colleagues along! Group discounts are available. For more information or to learn about our private workshops conducted at your location, contact Glenbrook's Russ Jones.

UPDATES FROM GLENBROOK

• We're hiring! Passionate about payments? Love solving tough client problems? If that describes you, come join us! Click here to learn more!
• Join our mailing list for updates about Glenbrook events. Follow us on Twitter: @paymentsnews and @paymentsviews

• Click here to share PaymentsNews with a friend

Note: Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners. Throughout the day, as we spot interesting developments, this post is updated. Do you have news to share? Tell us here: gotnews@paymentsnews.com!

ON THE WEB

• PayPal to halt operations in Turkey after losing license, impacts ‘hundreds of thousands’ - TechCrunch - "Asked why the license was denied, the spokesperson said that it was a result of new rules that require IT systems to be localized in the country. PayPal distributes its IT across several global hubs."
• How mobile technology is changing the way you pay - Economic Times - "This offering from the National Payments Corporation of India makes transferring funds as simple as sending an SMS. All you need is an user ID linked to your bank accounts."
• Bitcoin price jumps 21 percent over 4 days, reaching a 21-month high - TechCrunch - "Increasingly, bitcoin’s price variations are correlated with macroeconomic trends in China. These trends tell us that China still fears a deflation."
• Facing the Financial Industry’s Cyber Challenge With Lessons From IT History - Wall St. Journal - "Transforming something as complex as the financial ecosystem is a tall order, but as any student of IT history can tell you, the emergence of disruptive technologies can bring together key stakeholders."
• The Rise and Retreat of the Megabank - Wall St. Journal - "Citigroup’s evolution shows the aspirations and shortcomings of the modern bank"
• Bangladesh Panel Hints at Possible Insider Role in Central Bank Theft - Wall St. Journal - "Speaking after submitting the committee’s final report to the Bangladeshi Finance Ministry, Mr. Farashuddin also pointed to the possible complicity of central bank officials in the theft, one of the largest bank heists in history."
• It’s no fun when Amex throws your startup a Curve ball - FT Alphaville - "Curve is a commercial card, not a consumer card, meaning that it is exempt from the cap."

ON THE WIRES

• Payveris Raises Additional $7.5 Million in Funding - "Through its suite of open APIs and widgets, Payveris provides financial institutions and their digital banking partners with unlimited control and flexibility of the user experience across any digital channel or application, enabling money to be moved to anyone, anywhere, anytime and with any device – all of this on a single, unified platform."
• GoSwiff appoints Mark Patrick as new CEO - "Before joining GoSwiff, Mr. Patrick was Managing Director Asia Pacific for Ingenico ePayments, the online and mobile commerce division of Ingenico Group."

PAYMENTS IN PORTLAND

• Join us for the next Payments in Portland (Oregon) event being held on Tuesday, June 7th. Details here!

GLENBROOK PAYMENTS EDUCATION EVENTS

Our next Glenbrook payments education events are coming this fall - in Palo Alto, CA and New York City - we hope to see you there!

• Payments Boot Camp - Palo Alto - October 11-12
• Insight Workshop - Palo Alto - Data in Payments - October 13

Bring your colleagues along! Group discounts are available. For more information or to learn about our private workshops conducted at your location, contact Glenbrook's Russ Jones.

UPDATES FROM GLENBROOK

• We're hiring! Passionate about payments? Love solving tough client problems? If that describes you, come join us! Click here to learn more!
• Join our mailing list for updates about Glenbrook events. Follow us on Twitter: @paymentsnews and @paymentsviews

• Click here to share PaymentsNews with a friend

Note: Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners. Throughout the day, as we spot interesting developments, this post is updated. Do you have news to share? Tell us here: gotnews@paymentsnews.com!

ON THE WEB

• Wells Fargo holds 2016 Investor Day
• Swift Moves to Harden Customers’ Security - Wall St. Journal - "Gottfried Leibbrandt, chief executive of the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, said audits will be part of a new set of standards for how customers should protect their systems and software."
• Coinbase Exchange is now GDAX, Adds Ether Trading - Coinbase Blog - "We believe Ethereum marks an inflection point for the industry. Ethereum’s advanced scripting language enables new developments such as self-executing contracts, decentralized funding models, and autonomous governance structures."
• SigFig locks in big banking partners for its tech-enhanced advisory services with $40 million round - TechCrunch - "The new round is a testament to the company’s belief that partnering with large financial institutions is the best way to get better financial advisory tools into the hands of the investors who need them, according to chief executive Michael Sha."
• Ethereum, explained: why Bitcoin's stranger cousin is now worth $1 billion - Vox - "The growing excitement about Ethereum reflects the fact that it's a lot more than just a Bitcoin clone. People can use the Ethereum network to make payments, just as they can with Bitcoin. But the network can do a lot more than that."
• Google plans to bring password-free logins to Android apps by year-end - TechCrunch - "With Project Abacus, users would instead unlock devices or sign into applications based on a cumulative “Trust Score.” This score would be calculated using a variety of factors, including your typing patterns, current location, speed and voice patterns, facial recognition, and other things."
• Indians taking to gift cards over cash, physical gifts - Livemint - “Cash is seen as too impersonal. With a gift card, you can decide on a brand or an e-commerce platform and your loved one can decide the gift,” said Pratap T.P., co-founder and chief marketing officer, QwikCilver.
• MasterCard Wants To Power Payments In Robots - Fortune - “We’re trying to be at forefront of the explosion of connected devices,” explained Betty DeVita, MasterCard’s chief commercial officer. “It’s going to be yet another way for consumers to connect with the MasterCard brand.”

ON THE WIRES

• SWIFT CEO reveals Customer Security Programme at industry conference - "Let me turn to the recent fraud at Bangladesh that has caught multiple headlines. I think it will prove to be a watershed event for the banking industry; there will be a before and an after Bangladesh."
• Wells Fargo Wallet to Launch for Wells Fargo Customers - “Today we’re pleased to announce Wells Fargo Wallet for Android users, giving customers the unique ability to make secure NFC payments directly from the Wells Fargo mobile app,” said Jim Smith, head of Virtual Channels for Wells Fargo. “We know mobile is key to the future of payments, and we expect Wells Fargo Wallet to provide us a richer understanding of the quickly evolving landscape.”
• MasterCard Powers First Commerce Application within SoftBank Robotics’ Humanoid Robot “Pepper” - “Consumers have come to expect personalized service, customized offers and simple and seamless processes both in-store and online,” said Tobias Puehse, vice president, innovation management, Digital Payments & Labs at MasterCard. “The app’s goal is to provide consumers with more memorable and personalized shopping experience beyond today’s self-serve machines and kiosks, by combining Pepper’s intelligence with a secure digital payment experience via MasterPass.”
• TCF Bank Introduces ZEO Prepaid Card and Cash Services for Consumers - "Whether it’s through our prepaid card, check cashing, bill payment or money transfer offerings, ZEO broadens consumer access to the banking system and delivers these products and services in the setting of our bank branches.”
• LexisNexis® Risk Solutions 2016 True Cost of Fraud(SM) Study Finds Fraudulent Retail Transactions Up Sharply Year Over Year - Notes LexisNexis Risk Solutions Director of eCommerce and Payments and study author, Aaron Press: "Merchants leveraging remote channels experience a disproportionate amount of fraud, and they are especially challenged in the mobile channel."
• Revel Systems Announces Integration with Expensify - "By integrating with Expensify, Revel is giving end users who are purchasing goods and services from a Revel client’s point-of-sale the ability to send receipts directly into Expensify, skipping the inbox entirely."
• ACI Worldwide Awarded Technical Vendor Accreditation to Provide Access to Faster Payments in the UK - "With the ‘trust mark’ accreditation, ACI has been officially recognized by FPSL as one of the ‘technical aggregators’ that helps payment and financial institutions gain access to real-time Faster Payments in a single or multi-tenant environment through FPSL’s New Access Model."

PAYMENTS IN PORTLAND

• Join us for the next Payments in Portland (Oregon) event being held on Tuesday, June 7th. Details here!

GLENBROOK PAYMENTS EDUCATION EVENTS

Our next Glenbrook payments education events are coming this fall - in Palo Alto, CA and New York City - we hope to see you there!

• Payments Boot Camp - Palo Alto - October 11-12
• Insight Workshop - Palo Alto - Data in Payments - October 13

Bring your colleagues along! Group discounts are available. For more information or to learn about our private workshops conducted at your location, contact Glenbrook's Russ Jones.

UPDATES FROM GLENBROOK

• We're hiring! Passionate about payments? Love solving tough client problems? If that describes you, come join us! Click here to learn more!
• Join our mailing list for updates about Glenbrook events. Follow us on Twitter: @paymentsnews and @paymentsviews

• Click here to share PaymentsNews with a friend

Note: Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners. Throughout the day, as we spot interesting developments, this post is updated. Do you have news to share? Tell us here: gotnews@paymentsnews.com!

ON THE WEB

• Is Friendly Fraud Spoiling the EMV Transition? - FIS Payments Leader Blog (Brian Beacom) - ""It was never meant to be like this. The global migration from magnetic stripe cards to the more secure chip-embedded cards was intended to add another layer of security against fraud. However, the reality is that during the transition to full EMV compliance, chargebacks are skyrocketing and it is the merchants who are paying the price."
• Once Again, Thieves Enter Swift Financial Network and Steal - New York Times - "New details about a second attack involving Swift — the messaging system used by thousands of banks and companies to move money around the world — are emerging as investigators are still trying to solve the $81 million heist from the central bank of Bangladesh in February."
• $1B Bangladesh hackers implicated in attack on Vietnamese bank, Sony hack - ArsTecnica - "SWIFT didn't name the other bank, but BAE Systems, which has been investigating the Bangladesh attack, has said that a Vietnamese commercial bank has been hit by closely related malware in a report of its own."
• R3 eyes $200m for next step in blockchain journey - Financial News - "New York-based R3 is asking members for money in return for equity stakes in a new utility that will run blockchain-powered applications for financial institutions."
• UK shows off prototype of digital iPhone driving license using Apple’s Wallet app - 9to5Mac - "Development of the feature has been made possible by recent changes to laws for UK driving licenses that abolished the paper counterpart to the photo card last year."

ON THE WIRES

• Paul Deighton Joins Square's Board of Directors - "Today Square announced that Lord Paul Deighton of the United Kingdom joined its Board of Directors. Deighton served as the United Kingdom’s Commercial Secretary to the Treasury, CEO of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, and as a partner at Goldman Sachs. ... Deighton replaces Earvin “Magic” Johnson, who has stepped down from Square’s Board."

PAYMENTS IN PORTLAND

• Join us for the next Payments in Portland (Oregon) event being held on Tuesday, June 7th. Details here!

GLENBROOK PAYMENTS EDUCATION EVENTS

Our next Glenbrook payments education events are coming this fall - in Palo Alto, CA and New York City - we hope to see you there!

• Payments Boot Camp - Palo Alto - October 11-12
• Insight Workshop - Palo Alto - Data in Payments - October 13

Bring your colleagues along! Group discounts are available. For more information or to learn about our private workshops conducted at your location, contact Glenbrook's Russ Jones.

UPDATES FROM GLENBROOK

• We're hiring! Passionate about payments? Love solving tough client problems? If that describes you, come join us! Click here to learn more!
• Join our mailing list for updates about Glenbrook events. Follow us on Twitter: @paymentsnews and @paymentsviews

• Click here to share PaymentsNews with a friend

Note: Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners. Throughout the day, as we spot interesting developments, this post is updated. Do you have news to share? Tell us here: gotnews@paymentsnews.com!

ON THE WEB

• Why your wallet is becoming the next platform - TechCrunch (Alex Rampell) - "Given the size of the market, it’s a question of when, not if, this will happen."
• Discover CEO endorses PIN security for EMV cards - RetailDive - "Technically Discover supports the chip-and-signature for its credit cards at the moment, but Nelms said that with some cards requiring PINs and others just signatures, the environment is becoming more confusing for consumers..."

ON THE WIRES

• The Clearing House and FIS Submit Joint Proposal to Fed’s Faster Payments Task Force - “TCH is implementing a foundational clearing and settlement system whose core attributes will enable financial institutions to develop innovative new products for their customers,” said Jim Aramanda, CEO of The Clearing House. “We know that if our system meets the needs of customers in terms of innovative services, speed, efficiency, and security there is no reason it won’t also align with the Task Force’s criteria.”
• CPA Leads Transition to Electronic Payments with Launch of Global Messaging Standard in Canada - “Our participant financial institutions endorse ISO 20022 because it is clear that consumers and businesses alike will benefit from exchanging more data with electronic payments,” said Gerry Gaetz, President and CEO of the CPA. “The adoption of ISO 20022 will enable the Canadian financial community to provide better service, both domestically and across borders, to their customers.”
• Dynamic Scrip Introduces ‘Dynamic Pay’ Mobile Rewards Program - "As one of the largest mobile payment retail networks in the country, Dynamic Pay offers up to 10% cash back to consumers for everyday purchases at over 200 national retailers spanning more than 300,000 locations around the U.S."
• First Data’s Transformation Includes Major Strides in Diversity Programs & Recognition - "For the second consecutive year, First Data was named one of the Top 25 Noteworthy companies for diversity, a list cultivated from a pool of more than 1,800 companies."
• TSYS Extends Payments Agreement with HealthEquity - “Our renewed partnership with TSYS will enable us to continue to grow our business quickly and efficiently,” said Jon Soldan, executive vice president of Operations at HealthEquity. “We look forward to working in partnership with TSYS to provide industry-leading service for our partners.”

GLENBROOK PAYMENTS EDUCATION EVENTS

Our next Glenbrook payments education events are coming up in May - both in Palo Alto, CA - we hope to see you there!

• Payments Boot Camp - Palo Alto - May 10-11
• Insight Workshop - Palo Alto - Faster Payments - May 12

Bring your colleagues along! Group discounts are available. For more information or to learn about our private workshops conducted at your location, contact Glenbrook's Russ Jones.

UPDATES FROM GLENBROOK

• We're hiring! Passionate about payments? Love solving tough client problems? If that describes you, come join us! Click here to learn more!
• Join our mailing list for updates about Glenbrook events. Follow us on Twitter: @paymentsnews and @paymentsviews

• Click here to share PaymentsNews with a friend

Note: Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners. Throughout the day, as we spot interesting developments, this post is updated. Do you have news to share? Tell us here: gotnews@paymentsnews.com!

ON THE WEB

• Amazon Echo users can now ask Alexa to pay their credit card - "Capital One announced Friday that it is the first bank to partner with Amazon to let customers review their finances through Alexa-enabled devices, including the Amazon Echo, Amazon Tap, Echo Dot and Fire TV."
• First Click: A month with Apple Watch as my wallet - The Verge - "I've been using my Apple Watch for the majority of my card payments over the past few months, and it has been a lesson in the future, frustration, society, and technology."
• Crime Scene: Who Stole $100 Million From Bangladesh’s Account at the New York Fed? - Wall St. Journal - "Someone using official codes stole $100 million from Bangladesh’s account at the New York Fed over a recent weekend."
• Blockchain Consortium R3 Opens New Round of Partnerships - CoinDesk - "Cooper said that there is currently no quota set on the number of new partners, but that the emphasis for R3 is on adding non-bank members."

ON THE WIRES

• Payoneer Acquires Armor Payments To Provide Businesses Worldwide With Secure, Seamless & Cost-Effective Escrow Services For Cross-Border Trade - "By acquiring Armor Payments, we are staying true to our vision of empowering global commerce by connecting businesses, professionals, countries and currencies. Our combined capabilities create a unique global platform that enables more businesses to grow faster by allowing them to securely trade across borders with more partners in more places, regardless of where they are in the world."

GLENBROOK PAYMENTS EDUCATION EVENTS

Our next Glenbrook payments education events are coming up in early April - both in New York City - we hope to see you there!

• Payments Boot Camp - New York City - April 5-6
• Insight Workshop - New York City - Global Payments - April 7

Bring your colleagues along! Group discounts are available. For more information or to learn about our private workshops conducted at your location, contact Glenbrook's Russ Jones.

UPDATES FROM GLENBROOK

• We're hiring! Passionate about payments? Love solving tough client problems? If that describes you, come join us! Click here to learn more!
• Join our mailing list for updates about Glenbrook events. Follow us on Twitter: @paymentsnews and @paymentsviews

• Click here to share PaymentsNews with a friend

Note: Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners. Throughout the day, as we spot interesting developments, this post is updated. Do you have news to share? Tell us here: gotnews@paymentsnews.com!

ON THE WEB

• The future of mobile wallets in India - The Hindu BusinessLine - "The consumer payments industry (specifically wallets) will play a crucial role in the future growth of digital payments in the country."
• R3: Biggest-Ever Blockchain Trial is Only the Beginning - CoinDesk - "Going forward, he said, the company plans to drill down into other areas of focus including distributed ledger interoperability, privacy, identity and scalability, and that the tests were likely to be smaller in scale."

ON THE WIRES

• Banking on the new chase.com is even easier - “Customers continually seek easy ways to access their accounts, so we’re making it easier for customers to bank their way,” said Gavin Michael, Head of Digital for Chase. “We’re excited to bring the look and feel that customers love on the new chase.com home page to behind the sign in experience.”
• Prosper Marketplace Unveils Prosper Daily, Its First Mobile App - “By using Prosper Daily just a few minutes a day, consumers can begin to get on top of their finances” said Aaron Vermut, chief executive officer of Prosper Marketplace. “We’re excited to be the first marketplace lender to offer a financial wellness app to consumers.”

GLENBROOK PAYMENTS EDUCATION EVENTS

Our next Glenbrook payments education events are coming up in early April - both in New York City - we hope to see you there!

• Payments Boot Camp - New York City - April 5-6
• Insight Workshop - New York City - Global Payments - April 7

Bring your colleagues along! Group discounts are available. For more information or to learn about our private workshops conducted at your location, contact Glenbrook's Russ Jones.

UPDATES FROM GLENBROOK

• We're hiring! Passionate about payments? Love solving tough client problems? If that describes you, come join us! Click here to learn more!
• Join our mailing list for updates about Glenbrook events. Follow us on Twitter: @paymentsnews and @paymentsviews

• Click here to share PaymentsNews with a friend

Note: Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners. Throughout the day, as we spot interesting developments, this post is updated. Do you have news to share? Tell us here: gotnews@paymentsnews.com!

ON THE WEB

• Why Your Bank Wants to Track Your Phone - Wall St. Journal - “The technology goes a long way in preventing fraud,” said Dominic Venturo, chief innovation officer at U.S. Bancorp.
• American Express’ digital wallet patent promises to innovate loyalty rewards - VentureBeat - "The patent application filed by American Express back in 2014, titled “Third Party Digital Wallet Pay With points”, describes a new system in which individuals with credit card reward points could use them at checkout on e-commerce sites."
• MasterCard using AI to turn staff into top sellers - CNBC - "The U.S. credit and debit card company has teamed up with U.K. start-up Rainbird Technology, which has developed the AI software to be trialed with MasterCard's staff in Britain."
• KPMG: Blockchain Could Be ‘Antidote’ to High Cost of Regulation - CoinDesk - ""Compared to cloud or data and analytics, blockchain technology has the potential to be much more revolutionary in creating new solutions which don’t exist in the marketplace today..."
• Key Blockchain Vendors, Cloud Providers Square Off in Major Test - Wall St. Journal - "Technology groups at Bank of America Corp., Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC and 36 other banks helped build the ledgers using base technology from rivals Chain Inc., Eris Industries Ltd., Ethereum, Intel Corp. and International Business Machines Corp."
• Commonwealth Bank cuts value of credit card reward points - Sydney Morning Herald - "Experts have predicted that other banks are also likely to cut the value of their credit card reward programs in response to Reserve Bank plans to limit credit card companies' payments to banks."

ON THE WIRES

• U.S. Bank Customers among the First to Enjoy Faster Person-to-Person Payments - “U.S. Bank is a pioneer in its mission to provide customers a safe and easy way to send money to another person anywhere in the country,” said Gareth Gaston, executive vice president of omnichannel banking at U.S. Bank. “U.S. Bank has invested heavily in clearXchange and parent company, Early Warning, because we believe person-to-person payments in real-time is the future of fast, secure payments."
• Suretap Adds Loyalty to Become Canada's Most Rewarding Digital Wallet - "Since launching the wallet with the support of Canada's leading wireless carriers, suretap has almost 1 million downloads and has integrated a wide range of encrypted virtual credit cards and gift cards into the wallet. The addition of loyalty rewards from merchants, airlines, hotels and other businesses represents another important step..."s

GLENBROOK PAYMENTS EDUCATION EVENTS

Our next Glenbrook payments education events are coming up in early April - both in New York City - we hope to see you there!

• Payments Boot Camp - April 5-6
• Insight Workshop - Global Payments - April 7

Bring your colleagues along! Group discounts are available. For more information or to learn about our private workshops conducted at your location, contact Glenbrook's Russ Jones.

UPDATES FROM GLENBROOK

• We're hiring! Passionate about payments? Love solving tough client problems? If that describes you, come join us! Click here to learn more!
• Join our mailing list for updates about Glenbrook events. Follow us on Twitter: @paymentsnews and @paymentsviews

• Click here to share PaymentsNews with a friend

Note: Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners. Throughout the day, as we spot interesting developments, this post is updated. Do you have news to share? Tell us here: gotnews@paymentsnews.com!

ON THE WEB

• Atlanta's ‘Transaction Alley’: US Payment Processing Capital - WABE.org - "Every time you swipe, tap or insert your card and even pay with your phone, there's a good chance the transaction will be processed here in Georgia. That's because nearly 70 percent of all payment card transactions are processed here, and more than half of U.S. financial technology firms are based in the Atlanta area."
• Mobile wallets beware, UPI is here - YourStory - "The demise of mobile wallets in India would be quite a shocker. What will happen to all the seamless payments to your taxi vendors and favourite sumptuous food deliveries? The National Payment Corporation of India (NCPI), a primary body governing all retail payment systems in the country, may have some good news for you."
• A story about using Apple Pay - Medium (Nate Swanner) - "The takeaway for those dozen or so people waiting for a seat at the sushi place was that Apple Pay is quick and easy, and at least leaps and bounds better than chip cards."
• UnionPay transactions surge in Spring Festival spree - "China UnionPay transactions soared to yet another record high in the Spring Festival, the operator revealed Sunday."
• Turkey's Iyzico Beats PayPal to Unlock Iran's E-Commerce System - Bloomberg - "An Istanbul-based payments startup says it’s signed a deal that smooths the way for companies seeking to follow it into Iran’s $400 billion economy."
• Australian Regulator: Banks Didn't Collude Over Bitcoin Account Closures - CoinDesk - "The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has concluded that Australian banks did not collude in blocking services for bitcoin firms and that a full investigation into the affair is not necessary."

ON THE WIRES

• It's a holiday here in the U.S. today.

GLENBROOK PAYMENTS EDUCATION EVENTS

Here's a quick reminder that we have two of our Glenbrook payments education events coming up later this month - both in Palo Alto, California - we hope to see you there!

• Payments Boot Camp - February 23-24
• Insight Workshop - Blockchain 2.0 - February 25

Bring your colleagues along! Group discounts are available. For more information or to learn about our private workshops conducted at your location, contact Glenbrook's Russ Jones.

EVENTS

• Glenbrook’s Carol Coye Benson will be at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona February 22-25. Let her know if you will be there!

UPDATES FROM GLENBROOK

• We're hiring! Passionate about payments? Love solving tough client problems? If that describes you, come join us! Click here to learn more!
• Join our mailing list for updates about Glenbrook events. Follow us on Twitter: @paymentsnews and @paymentsviews

• Click here to share PaymentsNews with a friend

Note: Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners. Throughout the day, as we spot interesting developments, this post is updated. Do you have news to share? Tell us here: gotnews@paymentsnews.com!

ON THE WEB

• MasterCard embeds payment in devices - Chain Store Age - "This collaboration builds upon MasterCard’s October 2015 introduction of the Commerce for Every Device program to enable any consumer gadget, accessory or wearable to become a payment device."
• Five Fintech Trends for 2016 - BBVA Blog - "The blockchain infrastructure was reinforced in 2015, with strengthening involving mining, exchanges, wallets and processors. 2016 is about innovating on top of it."

ON THE WIRES

• Blackhawk Network Acquires GiftCards.com and OmniCard.com - "We're excited to add another gift card website to our roster; with GiftCards.com often ranking high in search engine results, this acquisition is expected to enhance Blackhawk's leadership in the gift card ecommerce market," said Talbott Roche, Blackhawk Network's president.
• Apple Pay Now Available to Cardholders of ALINE Card by ADP for an Easy, Secure and Private Way to Make Payments - "Combining the convenience and accessibility of the ALINE Card with the security and mobility of Apple Pay offers our cardholders more flexible secure payment and shopping options," said Gary Lott, Division Vice President and General Manager at ADP. "We are proud and excited to be an early payroll card adopter of this innovative mobile payments service."
• Wirecard Further Extends Digital Services to ComfortDelGro with the Roll out of MasterPass in Taxis - "ComfortDelGro is a Singapore-based multinational land transport company which operates 46,500 vehicles in seven countries and manages the largest taxi fleet in Singapore. As part of the cooperation, Wirecard handled the technical integration of the wallet solution into the ComfortDelGro Taxi Booking App and is responsible for payment processing"

EVENTS

• Payments in Portland (OR) - Join us Thursday, January 28th from 5:30-7:30 PM to hang out with your colleagues and competitors to discuss all things payments! We'll have appetizers, Oregon beer and wine. For the first time, Payments in Portland is including a short topical briefing - this month on "B2B Payments - Promise and Problems." If you have a Portland payments presence and something to say on B2B payments, let us know! RSVP HERE!

UPDATES FROM GLENBROOK

• Join our mailing list for updates about Glenbrook events. Follow us on Twitter: @paymentsnews and @paymentsviews

• Click here to share PaymentsNews with a friend

Note: Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners. Throughout the day, as we spot interesting developments, this post is updated. Do you have news to share? Tell us here: gotnews@paymentsnews.com!