30 seconds industry news
There are
some very exciting developments on the horizon: influential companies are
merging in a bid to expand their business scope while the payments industry is
welcoming in new players and services.
Gemalto and Thales - Two Giants Ready for Merger
Gemalto's acquisition of Thales has been approved by the EU Merger Regulation after its in-depth investigation following Gemalto's proposal.
The companies manufacture general purpose hardware security modules: dedicated hardware appliances that use encryption software to generate, protect and manage encryption keys, which are then used to protect data placed within the module.
This merger of two giants in the field of hardware security modules is expected to create new opportunities and expand the scope of their business.
WhatsApp Makes a Move for Payments
WhatsApp, the popular messaging app, has been testing its payments function in India. The app allows users to perform payments in real time via messages.
However, the Indian government demands that payment data be processed in India instead of Facebook's servers in California and the two sides have been in a deadlock since 2018.
This however has not deterred Facebook from considering launching WhatsApp payments in Latin America as well.
Visa Acquiring Earthport
Visa and
Mastercard are locked in a bidding war for Earthport Plc, a facilitator of
international transactions for banks and businesses. The Britain-based company
offers a lower-cost alternative to traditional payments: banks and money
transfer firms use Earthport as a single channel for mutual transactions
instead of maintaining multiple worldwide channels. This acquisition would be merely
the latest in a global bid to make the growing business of cross-border
payments easier. The offers for Earthport are valued at 198 million pounds,
made by Visa, and 223 million, made by Mastercard, with Earthport shares rising
four-fold since Visa's offer.
IATA Pay - a New Airline Ticket Payment Option
The International
Air Transport Association has recently performed a live test of its "IATA
Pay" ticket purchase service. The service provides a new payment option
when purchasing a ticket directly from an airline website and is made possible
by PSD2. The advantages of IATA Pay include cheaper payments, high levels of
security, instant payments to merchants and fewer lost sales. The test
transaction was conducted in partnership with the UK fintech ipagoo.