Payments Recap – The ‘Best Of’ The Week: Oct. 5-9

Before the week wraps up, let’s take a little time to recap.

To name a few: Apple Pay, the Blockchain (and bitcoin), MasterCard’s ‘Selfie To Pay’, EMV protection plans, Apple Pay data, Etsy vs. Amazon and LoopPay’s hack, made some of the biggest headlines of the week on PYMNTS. Catch your weekly recap of what made the top headlines this week.

New Data Shows Apple Pay Still Stuck In The Mud

A new report provides the latest projections of just how well Apple Pay is doing and how it’s expected to trend over the next 3-5 years. Spoiler alert: The projections peg a slow burn for the next few years, but the current stats aren’t so optimistic.

The Blockchain: ‘Just Like The Internet,’ Except That It’s Not

“It’s just like the Internet.” And so starts every conversation by the devoted that rationalizes why bitcoin and the blockchain is the technology that will forever change how financial services and payments happen around the world. Karen Webster weighs in on the touchy subject.

Verizon (Finally) Says ‘Yes’ To Samsung Pay

Playing what might be termed a game of carrier catch-up, it looks like Verizon Wireless is coming around to supporting Samsung Pay. Verizon will support the payments platform through an “upcoming software update.”

Another Bank Gets Serious About The Blockchain

In the latest of a slew of financial institutions to embrace bitcoin, SAN InnoVentures, the investment and venture arm of the Santander Group, is putting $4 million into Ripple’s Series A round.

Can Etsy’s Bulked Up Manufacturing Hold Off Amazon?

Recently, Amazon rolled out its plans for a Handmade marketplace to sell handcrafted items through Amazon’s fulfillment network. Etsy announced it would be launching a new program aimed at connecting individual sellers with small manufacturers capable of producing their goods.

MasterCard To Let You Pay By Selfie

MasterCard’s formal rollout of a “Pay By Selfie” feature that will make it possible for merchants to verify the identity of a shopper by looking at a photo of their face. That rollout will continue throughout the United States in 2016 and go global in 2017.

Chinese Hackers Hit LoopPay, But Samsung Pay Not Breached

Samsung Pay launched less than two weeks ago, but the small mobile commerce platform that was acquired by Samsung in February 2015 — was hacked even before the Samsung Pay launch.

Jet.com Drops Membership Fee

Jet.com has decided to make a big change — by dropping the $50 membership fee. Curious since,  those memberships were intended to be the bulk of how the site makes money.

MasterCard, P97 Unveil Mobile Payments At The Pump

MasterCard has just announced a partnership with P97 Networks that will bring mobile payments to the gas pump. The MasterCard solution relies not on NFC but multifactor authentication and geolocation services to match the consumer to the point of purchase.

Missed The EMV Deadline? There’s A Protection Plan For That

It’s no secret that the shift to EMV may have left many a merchant unprepared (and, in some cases, unwilling) to meet the Oct. 1 deadline last week. But in the wake of that seismic change in the U.S. payments industry, one payments tech company is willing to back up those late to the party.