Hints and tips:
...Card networks, notably Visa and Mastercard, are parts of the modern finance infrastructure that we don’t really think about unless something goes wrong — for example, if Amazon gets into a spat with one...
...For a business to charge credit cards, it needs a merchant account from a sponsor in the Visa and Mastercard network....
...An executive at an international payments company said local banks had been issuing “timeless” Visa and Mastercard cards which lack expiry dates to reduce demand for new cards, undermining basic anti-fraud...
...Some Russian banks, including Sberbank and Alfa-Bank, have said they might issue co-badged cards linked to Russia’s Mir and China’s UnionPay international payment systems....
...The set-up will allow Apple to earn interchange fees from each transaction as well as give the company more control over data and help accelerate the international expansion of its financial products....
...The launch of Apple Pay Later in the US last month marked another push into financial services by the Silicon Valley company — which already offers a credit card with Goldman Sachs and Mastercard....
...What we have seen with regards to card schemes like Mastercard and Visa, is that the ones who have lost out as they have raised fees are smaller merchants....
...Payment networks Visa, Mastercard and American Express have halted all transactions in the country, while over the weekend accountants EY, PwC and KPMG cut loose their local units and severed ties with ...
...Although the card companies set interchange fees, they point out that they do not receive most of the money collected....
...As always, reach out to us at imani.moise@ft.com and sid.v@ft.com with thoughts and topics....
...Of the large international card companies in India, only Visa remains....
...While Citi will remain present in the four south-east Asian markets that it is exiting, UOB will acquire Citi’s credit card, wealth management and other consumer operations....
...Reach out to us at imani.moise@ft.com or sid.v@ft.com....
...Email us at imani.moise@ft.com and sid.v@ft.com....
...Sea Ltd is raising about $6bn by selling shares and convertible bonds in order to fund expansion. Lex says size is critical in south-east Asia....
...These included credit card terms and conditions, and the process behind fulfilment of mortgages....
...The potential deal highlights the ongoing investor appetite for payments companies, following the recent news that Wise — a 10 year-old international money transfer specialist — is also preparing to go public...
...Chinese customers use such cards for international travel, but most domestic merchants do not accept them....
...Automation an automatic choiceJapan Inc has found a new purpose for automation: business continuity in the uncertain era of Covid-19....
...Other international companies are responding. Amazon.com of the US is increasing its presence in Singapore....
...Tencent has made a push to expand the use of WeChat to foreign users, partnering with Visa, Mastercard and American Express to allow payments by non-Chinese credit cards on its payments system WeChat Pay...
...Unlike its fellow neobanks, Zelf has no app and no physical card. It also has no “offboarding” — meaning users can’t withdraw funds once inside....
...It represents the “first step” to further international expansion, said Rodrigo Arévalo, head of Uber Eats in Europe, the Middle East and Africa....
...Visa and Mastercard are among those foreign companies that have been kept waiting for licence approvals, despite rules in 2017 removing formal obstacles to market access....
...Global card networks Visa and Mastercard have been eyeing the same clearing business since China’s ascension to the World Trade Organization in 2001....
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