Today in FinTech: BNPL Openpay leaves the US
In today’s FinTech news, Aussie BNPL company Openpay withdraws from the US while security technology provider Giesecke + Devrient acquires the payment and identity solution business of Valid USA. In addition, the European Commission (EC) concludes a consultation on Tuesday (July 5) on open finance.
Aussie BNPL company Openpay withdraws from the United States
The Australian buy now, pay later (BNPL) company Openpay Group is withdrawing from the US after only a few months in the country. The United States was supposed to be the company’s most important growth market, but rising interest rates combined with a miserable economy caused Openpay to retire, and that leaves most of its American employees going.
Facebook is piloting Ethereum, Polygon NFTs with selected creators
Selected creators on Facebook will soon be able to showcase their non-fungible tokens (NFT) on Ethereum and Polygon. The move follows the social media giant’s NFT support for some creators on Instagram in May. There is no cost to creators to post or share NFTs, and so far posts can not be converted to paid ads.
Security firm G + D Buys Valid Payment, ID Business
The security technology provider Giesecke + Devrient (G + D) has acquired the payment and identity solution business from Valid USA. The acquisition includes two manufacturing facilities in Illinois and one in Indiana. Based in Germany, G + D has been providing payment, connectivity, identities and digital infrastructure technology in the United States since 1990.
The European Commission finds an ally in the EU’s banking supervisory authority for open finance
The European Commission (EC) concludes a consultation on Tuesday (July 5) on open finance, which it defines as third-party service providers’ access to business and consumer data held by financial sector intermediaries. Even before analyzing all stakeholder feedback, the EU already knows that it can rely on support from the European Banking Authority (EBA)
Small FIs press third-party payment providers to track real-time
In the latest edition of Real-Time Payments Tracker®, PYMNTS takes a deep dive into the ecosystem of third-party payment providers that help simplify the RTP network. All but 24 of the 251 financial institutions (FIs) participating in The Clearing House’s RTP network are activated by a third party.
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NEW PYMNTS DATA: HOW TOOLS AND CONSUMER FINANCING COMPANIES CAN IMPROVE THE BILL PAYING EXPERIENCE
About: More than half of energy and consumer finance companies have the ability to process all monthly bill payments digitally. The kicker? Only 12% of them do. Digital Payments Edge, a PYMNTS and ACI Worldwide partnership, examined 207 billing and debt collection experts at these companies to find out why it is still elusive to go completely digital.
