Latest news with #payments
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Modernising acquiring: What banks must consider in a changing payments landscape
The acquiring market in Europe and the wider world is undergoing a period of strategic rethinking. Traditional financial institutions are evaluating their role in the payments ecosystem, driven by the twin forces of technological disruption and evolving customer expectations. As someone who has worked closely with banks, payment service providers, and retail platforms across multiple regions, I've seen first-hand how priorities are shifting and how approaches to modernisation differ widely. For many banks, payments are not the most profitable part of the business. Revenue often comes more from ancillary services like credit, FX, M&A advisory, or liquidity management. However, payments are a crucial touchpoint in the broader retail relationship. They're the entry point through which banks build, sustain, and deepen client engagement. Losing that foothold, particularly to non-bank challengers, can lead to a cascade of missed opportunities in more lucrative business lines. As a result, we're now seeing two distinct strategies emerge. Some banks have opted to exit acquiring or reduce their role, choosing instead to partner with third-party providers who bring technical scale and modern interfaces. Others are recommitting to acquiring as a core service, but doing so requires significant modernisation of infrastructure. One common misconception I encounter is that migrating to a modern platform is inherently a years-long, high-risk, multi-million-euro endeavour. For many banks, this perception creates inertia. They recognise the need to improve but feel constrained by the expected complexity of change. The reality is that technology has advanced to the point where integration timelines and costs can be significantly reduced. I've seen implementations go live in as little as five weeks, including commercial onboarding and technical configuration. The key lies in clarity around the migration process: which components move, what remains, how risk is managed, and how internal teams are supported through the transition. Modern acquiring is no longer just about processing transactions; it's about delivering actionable data. Retailers today want transparency: real-time insight into settlement timelines, fees, reconciliation, fraud risks, etc. The ability to provide a unified view across e-commerce and in-store payments is no longer a nice-to-have; it's expected. Many legacy systems, built in an era when data storage was expensive and analytical capabilities were basic, are simply not designed to meet these demands. By contrast, modern systems are built around a centralised data model, allowing for full multi-channel visibility. That shift is transformative, not just for the banks but also for their clients, who can use the insights to improve margins, detect fraud, and streamline operations. Cloud-native architecture is now foundational to any scalable acquiring operation. It brings several benefits: Scalability: Dynamic auto-scaling allows systems to accommodate sudden volume increases without hardware constraints; Faster Development: Cloud environments include out-of-the-box tools for everything from data encryption to monitoring, enabling faster iteration, and Regulatory Flexibility: Local cloud instances satisfy data residency requirements without the need for physical infrastructure in every market. This agility is especially important as acquiring becomes increasingly global. Banks need platforms that can adapt to diverse regulatory environments while maintaining consistency and resilience. Today, acquirers are not just serving small merchants or traditional retailers. They're onboarding platform businesses, app-driven marketplaces, and large-scale fintechs. These customers expect direct integration, instant scalability, and a streamlined commercial structure. They also bring high volumes and demanding use cases, making flexibility and real-time performance critical. I've seen this dynamic play out across Europe, North America, and Southeast Asia. While the market maturity may differ, the core demands are converging – meaning better data, faster settlement, and modular services. As non-bank players grow their presence in both e-commerce and card-present transactions the competitive pressure on traditional institutions will only increase. This is no longer just about modernising for convenience; it's about defending strategic relevance. Banks must ask themselves: Do we view acquiring as a necessary service to support broader relationships, or as a core business we aim to lead in? If it's the former, partnering with external providers may make sense. If it's the latter, then investing in future-proof infrastructure is not optional – it's urgent. The tools are now available. The remaining challenge is mindset. One of the few people in the world with over 20 years of experience in online payments, Kraal is responsible for maintaining relationships with the card schemes, acquirers, PSPs and regulators "Modernising acquiring: What banks must consider in a changing payments landscape" was originally created and published by Retail Banker International, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Finextra
9 hours ago
- Business
- Finextra
Bolt launches support for stablecoin payments
Bolt, the checkout, identity and payments platform, today announced Bolt Connect, a new product designed to help marketplaces onboard merchants faster, streamline operations and scale with fewer resources. 0 This content is provided by an external author without editing by Finextra. It expresses the views and opinions of the author. Bolt Connect gives marketplace operators a single integration to support one-click merchant onboarding, built-in compliance workflows, and low-fee or no-fee payouts. With Bolt managing the infrastructure, marketplaces can grow more efficiently while controlling their own brand experience and business model. The company also announced support for stablecoin payments, giving merchants and shoppers enhanced flexibility through new digital payment infrastructure. "Marketplaces shouldn't have to choose between scale and simplicity," said Ryan Breslow, Founder and CEO of Bolt. "With Bolt Connect, we're giving them the tools to grow without the usual technical burden, while stablecoin support opens the door to faster, borderless payments for everyone in the network." Bolt Connect: Built for Marketplaces Bolt Connect is designed to manage costly and time-intensive commerce infrastructure for marketplaces. It enables them to easily onboard and support sellers—whether they have 10 or 10,000—without significant development work and resources. Bolt handles the compliance, payouts, and infrastructure behind the scenes, giving marketplaces a clean path to scale while maintaining a seamless experience for both merchants and end users. Stablecoins: Faster, Cheaper, Global Payments Bolt's support for stablecoins will benefit both sides of the transaction. For merchants, it means faster settlement, lower transaction fees, and easier cross-border payouts—especially relevant for marketplaces using Bolt Connect. Stablecoins allow operators to move money globally without relying on banks or card networks. For shoppers, stablecoins offer a private, instant and borderless way to pay, no credit card, bank account or international fees required. These announcements follow a string of recent product launches from Bolt, part of the company's mission to make commerce easier for merchants and more intuitive for shoppers, regardless of platform, payment method or geography. Recent highlights include a strategic partnership with Palantir to launch Checkout 2.0, an AI-powered, personalized checkout experience that adapts in real time to shopper behavior and preferences, and the debut of Bolt's SuperApp, an all-in-one finance and crypto hub. It also recently launched Bolt Charge, a subscription solution that powers recurring payments for digital goods with no platform fees.
Globe and Mail
16 hours ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
2 Growth Stocks to Invest $1,000 In Right Now
Growth stocks can often generate life-changing returns for investors. Imagine buying a stock that becomes a multibagger in a few years, and it's not by fluke. These are steadily growing companies, often enjoying significant competitive advantages and riding long-term growth trends, all of which eventually reflect in their share prices and generate massive returns for shareholders. Here are two such incredible growth stocks you could buy right now with as little as $1,000. This phenomenal growth stock could grow even bigger Visa (NYSE: V) is the leading payments processing company in the world. By connecting card issuers, consumers, merchants, financial institutions, and the government across the globe, Visa facilitates digital transactions and earns fees on them. Those transactions now run into trillions of dollars. In the 12 months through March 31, 2025, for instance, Visa processed over 315 billion transactions, worth a whopping $16 trillion. Moreover, Visa generates hefty margins and boatloads of cash from all of that business. Here's a 10-year chart showing the steady growth in Visa's key operational metrics over the past decade. During the period, Visa's net income and cash flows more than tripled, while the stock price quintupled. Put another way, if you'd invested $1,000 in Visa stock 10 years ago, your money would be worth $5,000 today. V data by YCharts That's how growth stocks work -- they keep multiplying your money, backed by the underlying company's strong fundamentals and growth catalysts. Visa's leadership position, asset-light business with minimal credit risk, and the rising global trend of digitization have all worked in its favor. E-commerce and digital banking are huge facilitators. As more people bank and shop online, demand for digital payment tools like credit cards, debit cards, and wallets should continue to rise. Meanwhile, Visa remains an innovator, launching new payment features, enhancing security and risk management, and leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) as it launches new products and services. As long as Visa continues to innovate to remain ahead of competition and generate hefty margins, its stock could remain an unstoppable force for years to come. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) has been a phenomenal wealth compounder over the years and decades. From an online bookstore to becoming the world's largest e-commerce company, Amazon has come a long way over its 30 years of existence. But that's not where the stock's appeal now lies. Amazon's cloud computing arm, Amazon Web Services (AWS), is the largest cloud computing platform in the world. AWS dominated 29% of the market in the first quarter of 2025, considerably ahead of the second-largest cloud provider, Microsoft, with a 22% share. You might also be surprised to know that AWS, not e-commerce, is Amazon's most profitable business. In 2024, although AWS contributed just about 14% to Amazon's net sales, it brought in a whopping 54% of the company's operating income. Not surprisingly, Amazon wants to make the most of its largest profit driver and is therefore going all out on AWS. It is aggressively rolling out new AWS features and products, and expects to spend nearly $100 billion this year primarily on its AI and AWS infrastructure. That should ensure Amazon remains at the forefront of a rapidly growing industry -- the cloud computing market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 20.4% between 2025 and 2030, according to Grand View Research. Meanwhile, Amazon is expanding its fulfillment and transportation network for e-commerce and investing in technologies like automation and robotics to cut costs and improve delivery times and consumer experiences. Amazon already dominates two huge markets globally (e-commerce and cloud computing). With CEO Andy Jassy now laser-focused on AI, even recently calling it a "once-in-a-lifetime" business opportunity, buying Amazon stock now could generate big returns for investors in the coming years. Should you invest $1,000 in Visa right now? Before you buy stock in Visa, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Visa wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $687,731!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $945,846!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is818% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to175%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 23, 2025 John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Neha Chamaria has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Microsoft, and Visa. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Coin Geek
18 hours ago
- Business
- Coin Geek
Yellow Card teams up with Visa for stablecoin payments
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... One of Africa's premier exchanges, Yellow Card, has partnered with Visa (NASDAQ: V) to expand stablecoin payments across the region. The partnership will center around cross-border transfers, which continue to be slow, inefficient, and expensive. According to the World Bank, Africans pay 8.5% in costs, with the global average at 6.6%. 'When you look at stablecoins, there's a lot of excitement in the market and all the major payment companies are exploring ways to get into the space,' Yellow Card CEO Chris Maurice told Bloomberg. Yellow Card has been shifting its business model to focus on stablecoins for years. In January 2024, the exchange told CoinGeek that its African users were now turning to stablecoins to make payments abroad and receive remittances. Under the new partnership, the exchange plans to launch its new stablecoin service in at least one African country this year, Maurice said. It intends to expand its services to more than 20 countries in which it operates next year. While the company didn't reveal which country it would launch in first, Kenya is the most likely. According to the exchange's senior legal counsel, Edline Murungi, the East African nation's recent regulatory efforts have made it among the most appealing on the continent. The proposed Virtual Asset Service Providers Bill draws a distinction between speculative 'crypto' tokens and stable assets, laying out separate policies for each category. If it passes, the bill will be the most progressive in Africa, Murungi told Bloomberg in a separate interview. 'Those use cases are going to really change the industry. And if other countries follow suit, then Kenya is going to be a hub for a lot of digital-asset activities,' she stated. In addition to the upcoming friendly laws, stablecoin adoption in Kenya is also among the highest in Africa. A report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in January revealed that a large number of Kenyan firms now pay their foreign suppliers in stablecoins owing to a dollar shortage and high costs on mainstream channels. While most African countries still lack comprehensive 'crypto' regulations, CEO Maurice believes the region is still the best place to launch digital asset products due to its fintech-friendly frameworks. 'There's no better place to be [launching] a company in stablecoins than the African continent where you have more regulators that have licensing available, there's more engagement with regulators…[Africa's] had more friendly trends over the past two and a half years than you did in any other single continent in the world,' Maurice stated while speaking at a recent event in New York. For Visa, the Yellow Card partnership is the latest in its quest to position itself as a stablecoin mainstay. It first settled a stablecoin transaction on its rails in 2023, and since then, it claims to have settled $225 million in similar transactions, a small fraction of the $28 trillion that flowed through stablecoins last year. Visa's stablecoin ventures are as much about innovation as they are about protecting its position. Industry experts have expressed concerns that stablecoins could eat into the market share that the company and Mastercard (NASDAQ: MA) have enjoyed for decades. Africa's digital wallets to record 13% CAGR, hit $59B by 2029 Away from stablecoins, a new report has revealed that Africa's prepaid card and digital wallet market will continue growing aggressively over the next four years to hit $59 billion by 2029. The report revealed that over the past four years, the sector has recorded an 18.8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), and is expected to end this year at $36.1 billion. Source: Research and Markets Digital wallets and prepaid cards have benefited from a rise in the adoption of digital solutions and concerted efforts to promote financial inclusion. This has rapidly lowered the number of unbanked and underbanked people, with some countries like Kenya and Egypt achieving a financial inclusion rate exceeding 75%. African countries continue to lead in mobile money banking. To capitalize on it, digital wallet providers have integrated their solutions into mobile money platforms, further fueling adoption. 'As the market evolves, companies that adapt to regulatory requirements, invest in security enhancements, and offer innovative solutions will be best positioned for long-term success,' the report noted. Watch: Boosting financial inclusion in Africa with BSV blockchain title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="">
Bloomberg
19 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Worldline Belgian Unit Probed as Fraud Allegations Escalate
Worldline SA 's Belgian arm is under investigation by Brussels prosecutors as the fallout continues following press reports over alleged fraud at the payment services company. 'According to these newspapers, the company allegedly processed payments for companies engaged in illegal activities and for which money laundering regulations were allegedly not respected,' the Brussels Public Prosecutor's Office said in a statement on Friday. The probe focuses on the Belgian entity of the Worldline group, and has been entrusted to the Federal Judicial Police, prosecutors added.
