Included in this issue: Bank of Scotland unveils new £10 plastic note design; Contactless payment fraud soars to £7m; Debit cards to overtake cash in 2018 and more...
UK
Bank of Scotland unveils new £10 plastic note design
Bank of Scotland has unveiled the design of its new £10 polymer note, which is due to enter circulation in the autumn. The front of the note will continue to feature Scottish novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott alongside The Mound in Edinburgh. The Glenfinnan Viaduct will remain on the reverse of the design. However, it will now feature a steam locomotive hauling a heritage tourist train. The locomotive is a Stanier "Black 5", which was designed for London, Midland and Scottish Railway and often seen on the West Highland line.
Contactless payment fraud soars to £7m
The amount of money stolen from contactless bank cards and mobile devices has soared, it has emerged. Almost £7m was taken in 2016, compared to £2.8m in 2015, according to Financial Fraud Action UK. In the same period, contactless spending rose from £7.75bn to £25.2bn.
Debit cards to overtake cash in 2018
A new report published by Payments UK finds that the rapid growth of contactless cards means cash will be overtaken as Britain’s most frequently used payment method by the end of 2018. By 2018, when debit cards are forecast to overtake cash, 13.4 billion debit card payments are predicted, of which 4.6 billion (or one in three) are expected to be contactless. Cash is expected to be used for 13.3 billion payments in 2018, meaning it won’t be the most frequently used payment method for the first time.
Worldwide
First Data acquires CardConnect
First Data is to acquire payment processor CardConnect for $750 million. CardConnect - which processes approximately $26 billion of volume annually from about 67,000 merchant customers - went public last year when it was acquired by FinTech Acquisition Corporation. The company posted revenues of $589 million last year but turned in a loss of $16 million. A long-time distribution partner for First Data, CardConnect brings capabilities in integrated ERP payments to the table. The $15 per share deal marks First Data's largest takeover since flotation in 2015.
RBC and NAB invest in financial management software firm Wave
National Australia Bank and Royal Bank of Canada have joined a US$24 million funding round for Wave, a Toronto-based provider of financial management software for small businesses. The investment arm of PowerCorp, Portag3, and Exhibition Ventures also joined the strategic round, alongside existing investors CRV, Social Capital, BDC Capital, Omers Ventures, Harbourvest and OurCrowd. Launched in 2010, Wave offers cloud-based financial management software to small firms, integrating invoicing, payments, lending, payroll and receipt management into a double-entry accounting system.
FATF FinTech and RegTech forum 2017 summary
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has published a Chairman's summary of its FinTech and RegTech forum, held on 25 and 26 May 2017 in San Jose, California, United States.
The Financial Action Task Force, 30 May 2017
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