Category: Remittance

Paysafe to Acquire Merchants’ Choice Payment Solutions for USD 470 mln

Posted by on in Remittance

Paysafe Group has announced plans to acquire Merchants’ Choice Payment Solutions (MCPS), a US-based payment processor.

MCPS is a data-focused full service payment processor for merchants and high-volume Independent Sales Organisations (“ISOs”) in North America. The company provides payments services to approximately 60,000 merchants in 50 states and processes over USD 14 billion in sales volume annually.

This acquisition will help Paysafe to get a foothold in North America. The company will add MCPS’s point-of-sale (POS) infrastructure to its Paysafe Processing division increasing its ability to process POS, online and order ahead payments.
MCPS reported revenue of $446 million and earnings before tax of USD 18.4 million in the year ended 31 December 2016. At that date, MCPS had gross assets with a value of USD 90.4 million.

Paysafe is a global provider of payment solutions. Merchants can, through their websites, use their services and gateway platforms, and innovative prepaid products and solutions, to simplify how they accept credit and debit card, direct-from-bank, and alternative and local payments.

Source: The Paypers

Vodafone Albania Brings Down Curtain on M-Pesa

Posted by on in Banking, Remittance

Vodafone Albania is reportedly in the throes of closing down its M-Pesa mobile money service – a move which could affect as many as 250,000 customers in the country.

A notice sent by the operator to its M-Pesa users revealed the service will cease operations on 14 July. Customers will have until 29 July to withdraw any funds lodged with the service from any Vodafone Albania retail store, with the operator waiving transaction charges, RTK Livereported.

While the news service noted Vodafone Albania is yet to offer an official statement regarding the move, it said the information provided to M-Pesa users in the country cited an internal decision for the shutdown.

Such a move is not without precedent. In May 2016 Vodafone’s South African unit Vodacom announced it was discontinuing M-Pesa after a review concluded it was unlikely to achieve a critical mass of users in the country. It was reported at the time the operator had signed up 76,000 users.

The same rationale may apply to Vodafone Albania. The reported number of M-Pesa users in the country represent a fraction of the 2.3 million subscribers GSMA Intelligence reports the operator had at end-Q1 2017.

Vodafone launched M-Pesa in Albania in 2015 as part of a broader strategy to expand availability of the service in Central and Eastern Europe.

Source: MobileWorldLive

 

Why India’s Hike Messaging App Adding Payment Services Matters

Posted by on in Banking, eCommerce, India, Remittance

Hike messenger, a popular phone messaging service app in India, has recently decided to introduce payment services on its platform.

The payment service includes both peer to peer payments that do not require bank accounts and use in-app wallets, and bank to bank payments using the UPI platform introduced by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). In doing this, Hike has emulated the services provided by WeChat, a Chinese messaging app owned by Tencent. The latter is also an investor in Hike. Such payments cater to both ad hoc requirements between app users, and special occasions such as birthdays or anniversaries on which people often send cash if they are not able to give a present.

See the full article here.

Western Union Updates Online Payments Platform for International Students

Posted by on in Banking, Remittance

The Western Union Company has updated the WU GlobalPay for students platform, which enables academic institutions to manage payments from international students.

Western Union made the announcement at Money 2020 Europe in Copenhagen where three of its leading executives are speaking this week on WU’s role in fintech movement and innovation in the international payments digital world.

The platform was developed with the involvement of international students who gave insight for improving the overall payer experience. The mobile-first user interface offers real-time payment tracking for online bank transfers and credit card payments.

Furthermore, the solution supports different online payment options in over 30 countries, including Geoswift (Unionpay, Tenpay & AliPay), POLIpayments, India Net Banking, Trustly and SOFORT.

dLocal Integrates WeChat Pay, AliPay and UnionPay

Posted by on in Banking, China, eCommerce, Remittance

dLocal has announced that it supports payments through WeChat Pay, AliPay and Union Pay on its platform.

Together, the three online payments providers cover 70% of the Chinese market which had a value of USD 2.9 trillion in online payments in 2016. The new integration allows merchants on the dLocal platform to reach 300 million Chinese consumers.

The company’s payments platform supports over 200 local payment methods used in emerging markets in APAC, Latin America, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. dLocal supports local credit cards, cash payments, and bank transfers in each region. Merchants that accept payments through dLocal can enable WeChat Pay, AliPay, and Union Pay with just one click.

The cross-border ecommerce market in China is booming. According to Boston Consulting Group, Chinese consumers spent about USD 750 billion online in 2016 and the ecommerce market will continue to grow by 20% annually.