Payment
Latest
US government payment site leaks 14 million customer records
Government Payment Service Inc -- the company thousands of local governments in the US use to accept online payments for everything from court-ordered fines and licensing fees -- has compromised more than 14 million customer records dating back to 2012, KrebsOnSecurity reports. According to the security investigation site, the leaked information includes names, addresses, phone numbers and the last four digits of credit cards.
PayPal's redesigned app is all about paying your friends
We wouldn't blame you for thinking PayPal's app has lost focus -- it seems more interested in investments and ordering food than on... well, paying people. It's a good thing the company is cleaning things up with a redesigned mobile app, then. The new version is a return to the basics of sending and receiving money, with the optional features shunted to a "more" menu. The home screen now focuses on notification cards (such as alerts when you've received funds) and includes a list of recently paid people and businesses in order to speed up your most common payments. Think of it like Instagram's Stories carousel, only here you're paying friends for your share of last night's pizza.
Three years in, Samsung Pay has a long way to go
Samsung Pay debuted roughly three years ago to much fanfare, but how's it been doing since? Pretty well -- relatively speaking. The Korean tech giant has announced that its tap-to-pay service has racked up 1.3 billion transactions worldwide and is now available on six continents thanks to a launch in South Africa at the end of July. That makes it available in 24 markets -- rather convenient when the Galaxy Note 9 is days away from hitting stores. The growth is no mean feat, although it's important to put it in context.
Square sellers no longer need signatures for card payments
Square Cash is continuing its crusade to make the business of parting with your hard-earned money a little less painful. It's just announced that it's cut down EMV transaction time on Square Reader for contactless and chip even further, to just two seconds, compared to the average eight to 13 seconds. The process uses a new "dip transaction flow" that prioritizes the parts of a transaction that are critical to security, which means less time standing in line, waiting for your card info to churn through to the issuer.
Chase links its payment app to Samsung Pay so you'll actually use it
Do you use Chase Pay for your retail shopping? No? We won't blame you -- its insistence on using QR codes for purchases makes it far less convenient than tap-to-pay services, not to mention less common. Now, however, it's admitting that it needs to get with the times. Chase has introduced an option to link its payment app to Samsung Pay, letting you use either NFC or stripe-simulating MST tech to clinch the deal. It's much easier when you're in a hurry, of course, and makes the Chase Pay app useful in millions more places. Moreover, there's strong financial incentive -- linking the two will help you earn both Chase Ultimate and Samsung reward points, and it should be easier to redeem your Chase points in the process.
Snapchat ends its peer-to-peer payment service on August 30th
Snap's one-time hope of becoming a major player in money transfers has come to an ignominious end. The company has confirmed to TechCrunch that it's discontinuing its Snapcash service on August 30th. While it didn't say what would happen to users' accounts, it promised that they'd receive notifications through both the Snapchat app itself as well as the support website. It's sad news if you're a frequent Snapchatter who used the feature to cover your share of restaurant bills, but you could see this coming given the competition and Snap's own fortunes.
Uber lets riders pay with Venmo
Uber riders in the US can now pay for their rides with Venmo. Starting today, users will see a "Pay With Venmo" option next to one for Apple Pay. This could make it easier for anyone who prefers not to link their financial informaiton to the ridesharing company, especially temporary users. Of course, it'll also benefit the lazier folks among us who just end up sending cash to their friends for ordering them a ride.
Venmo's debit card turns your balance into real-world money
After months of testing, Venmo is ready to offer its own debit card in the US. The new piece of plastic now works at Mastercard-friendly locations instead of Visa (the company hasn't explained the switch), but the concept otherwise remains the same. The card lets you spend your Venmo balance at retail locations, and helps you split bills -- you can share transactions to have friends pay for their share of dinner or movie tickets. Naturally, you can use the Venmo mobile app to manage or disable a card.
Buskers in London are the first to accept tap-to-pay cards
The move toward a cashless society has created a problem for buskers: how do they get paid when many listeners won't have physical currency? There's now a solution on hand. The Mayor of London's office and iZettle (which was recently snapped up by PayPal) have partnered on a first-ever initiative that lets buskers accept tap-to-pay contributions. Participants plug special card readers into their smartphones and set a fixed donation amount -- after that, you just have to wave your card (or a compatible NFC device) to ensure a street performer gets paid.
Gmail for iOS now sends money and snoozes emails
Gmail on your iPhone can now help you settle a tab with a friend. A quiet update to the iOS app has introduced the ability to send and receive money using Google Pay. As on Android devices, Gmail sends the payment as an attachment -- the recipient only needs an email address to receive their money. The feature might not be as simple on iOS given that you need to download an app to use it, but it's easier than some third-party apps and more widely available than Apple Pay Cash.
You can soon pay bills directly through your Outlook inbox
If you manually pay the bills that pour into your email inbox, you know it can get tiring: you typically have to launch your browser or an app and wade through any number of screens to send your money. Microsoft might have a better way. It's developing a framework that uses Microsoft Pay to handle bill and invoice payments directly inside Outlook. Companies will need to use a supported service (such as Braintree, Stripe, FreshBooks and Intuit), but this could reduce payments to just a few clicks.
BMW, Ford and GM want to bring blockchain to your car
Seemingly every company is determined to hop on the blockchain bandwagon, and that includes automakers. BMW, Ford, GM, Renault and and a string of tech partners (including Bosch and IBM) have formed the Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative, a group that hopes to use blockchain's distributed, decentralized ledger technology across many aspects of your experience, even when you're not driving. They hope to create standards that allow for secure payments for everything from autonomous car hailing to congestion charges to ridesharing.
Samsung Pay finally works with your PayPal Wallet
Samsung Pay support for PayPal was unveiled back in July of last year with promises that it would be ready "soon," but that clearly didn't happen -- you've had to use your regular payment cards in the months since. Whatever prompted the wait, it's ready. PayPal has started enabling support through Samsung's tap-to-pay feature, letting you draw from your Wallet's funds instead of a credit or debit card.
IRS' direct online payment system goes down on tax day (update: resolved)
We hope you weren't relying too heavily on internet payments to file your taxes on time. The Internal Revenue Service's Direct Pay system failed (and is still unavailable as we write this) on April 17th -- you know, the last day before the tax filing deadline. You can still pay online with a credit or debit card, but that entails a transaction fee. Otherwise, you're looking at old-school checks.
You won't have to sign for credit card purchases much longer
For all of the progress the US has made in payment technology, it still clings to the past when it comes to credit card payments. You still have to sign for many in-person purchases, which is downright backwards in an era of chip-based cards and digital tokens. And the financial industry is finally ready to kiss them goodbye. As of later in April, four of the biggest credit card networks (AmEx, Discover, Mastercard and Visa) will no longer require signatures for these credit card transactions. It's up to retailers to decide whether or not to ditch handwritten approvals. As the New York Times noted, though, it's doubtful many retailers will keep up the tradition.
Venmo temporarily halts instant money transfers
Did you need a friend to pay you back on Venmo as soon as humanly possible? You might have to twiddle your thumbs for a little while. Venmo has temporarily pulled its instant transfer feature in order to make a "few changes" to the service. You can still use regular bank transfers, but that won't help much if you need that money to pay a bill.
Amazon's first debit card arrives in Mexico
Amazon has taken a number of steps to help you shop online without a bank card, and now it's taking those efforts to their logical conclusion: the internet retailer has launched its first debit card, Amazon Rechargeable, in Mexico. Unlike a conventional debit or credit card, you can top it up using cash -- you can load it with the equivalent of $967 US every month. You get a virtual card the moment you sign up (you only need to supply basic name, gender and date of birth info), and anyone who loads Rechargeable with the equivalent of $27 or more will get a physical card.
Square's Cash app now supports direct deposits for paychecks
Square's Cash app now supports direct deposits for paychecks, which means it's one step closer to becoming a fully functional bank account, without actually being a bank account. Users just need to give their employer their account and routing number (found in Cash settings), and the app will notify them when a deposit hits their account. The funds are added to their regular Cash balance and can be spent via debit card, sent to a friend, put into another account or even used to buy bitcoin.
Barclaycard wants you to dine and dash legally
Barclaycard is testing a new payment service that could mean the end to waiting for your bill at a restaurant. It's called Dine & Dash, but in this version, dashing doesn't mean skipping out on your tab. Instead, with this service, restaurant-goers would download the Dine & Dash app and just tap their phone on the Dine & Dash device at their table once they arrive. They would then order their meals and eat as usual, and once they were done, they could just leave. When the Dine & Dash app registers that the diners have left the restaurant, it will check them out and close the bill, issuing payment from whatever payment option was loaded into the app by the diner.
Apple Pay Cash nears its first international expansion
Apple Pay Cash may not be limited to Americans for much longer. Users in Brazil, Ireland and Spain have all reported seeing the peer-to-peer payment service show up in iOS' Messages app, suggesting that launches in their countries (and potentially more) are just around the bend. Apple hasn't officially announced anything yet, but it's hard to imagine the company asking people to configure the feature and letting it sit unused for more than a short while.
