In today’s payments news, cross-border payments firm Western Union has rolled out full application programming interface (API) access to domestic as well as global payment applications. Also, Uber has rolled out its Uber Money solution. And London API provider TrueLayer is collaborating with Visa.
The Three A’s Of Alphabet’s Q3: Advertising, AI And Ambient Computing
The penultimate quarter of the year has been a challenge for Google’s parent firm. Google’s most notable miss was on its net income, which arrived at $7.07 billion or $10.12 a share. That was far under both the $12.42 per share expected and a drop from the $13.06 Alphabet was reporting at this time last year. Revenue was $40.5 billion, which was a bit above the $40.3 billion predicted by analysts pre-release and up 20 percent from the same quarter a year ago.
Western Union Rolls Out Full API Access For International Payments
Western Union has launched full application programming interface (API) access to domestic as well as global payment applications. The company said in a press release that the new set of APIs offers users a way to “integrate their financial institutions, accounting and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and their account on GlobalPay.”
Bitcoin Escalates On China’s Blockchain Endorsement
The Chinese state media advised people to stay levelheaded following a price escalation of bitcoin and blockchain stocks triggered by the support of Chinese President Xi Jinping. “Blockchain’s future is here but we must remain rational,” the People’s Daily wrote per Reuters. “The rise of blockchain technology was accompanied by that of cryptocurrencies, but innovation in blockchain technology does not mean we should speculate in virtual currencies.”
London FinTech TrueLayer Partners With Visa
TrueLayer, a London API provider, is collaborating with Visa, which now has a minority stake in the FinTech as part of a $35 million Series C funding round in June. Francesco Simoneschi, CEO and co-founder of TrueLayer, said per reports, “We want to scale open banking to a level where it manifestly impacts every aspect of financial services for consumers,” Simoneschi continued, “[This] requires large, established players to come on board and work with startups like us.”
Uber Money Wants To Be The Bank Account For Uber Drivers
Payday was a yearly event during the Middle Ages and pay cycles evolved to monthly as industrialization displaced feudalism. The modern era ushered in the notion of a weekly or bi-weekly pay cycle, which remains the norm for most U.S. workers today.
For about half of the workforce, that system works out fine, Uber’s Head of Payments Peter Hazlehurst told Karen Webster in a recent conversation. But, for the other half of the workforce, the system doesn’t work quite as smoothly. The occasional financial pothole creates problems that require expensive solutions.
It became apparent quickly that Uber could no longer ignore how this situation impacts the fleet of drivers who provide services to the company’s passengers. Today, Uber has rolled out Uber Money as a big step toward a solution.
Visa’s Kereere: eComm Firms Say X-Border Growth Critical — But Daunting
A decade ago, an antiques dealer with a shop in Kenya couldn’t have thought of selling to customers in the U.K. or anywhere beyond his or her domestic market. With the click of an app or a tap of a keyboard now, however, selling to customers outside one’s domestic market is possible. And it has also become vital for the antique shops, jewelry makers, artists and millions of firms in emerging and developing economies that view the world as their customer base.
“But there are real challenges,” Suzan Kereere, Visa’s global head of merchant sales and acquiring, told Karen Webster in an interview. “International commerce is not a level playing field, and it’s more complex, especially for the long tail of merchants, to get access to customers across borders.”
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