Top News In Payments: Paytm Secures $1B In New Funding; Olo Pilots BMW In-Car Ordering

In today’s top payments news, India’s mobile payments startup Paytm said on Monday (Nov. 25) that it secured $1 billion in new funds from Japan’s SoftBank and China’s Alibaba affiliate Ant. Also, Olo is testing out in-car ordering to help diners purchase their favorite foods from Portillo’s Hot Dogs and Nekter Juice Bar. And a recent breach exposed the personal data of more than 1 million prepaid T-Mobile customers.

T-Mobile Data Breach Puts Personal Data Of 1M+ Customers At Risk

A recent data breach exposed the personal data of over 1 million prepaid T-Mobile customers per reports on Friday (Nov. 22). The exposed information, however, reportedly did not include password data, Social Security numbers or any financial information. But the cyber thief got users’ names, phone numbers, billing addresses, account numbers and plan information. Data about rates and features are considered customer proprietary network information (CPNI).

Olo Powers Restaurant Order Ahead For BMW Owners

Olo is testing out in-car ordering to help diners purchase their favorite foods from Nekter Juice Bar and Portillo’s Hot Dogs. Customers can order from the restaurants directly via BMV vehicles through the end of the year. Jackie Berg, VP of marketing at Olo, said in an announcement, “Ordering lunch from the car with a push of a button — we’re living in the future!”

WWW Creator Tim Berners-Lee Shapes Web Rescue Strategy

Tim Berners-Lee, the British scientist and World Wide Web (WWW) creator, has devised a strategy to save the internet from falsehoods as well as corruption. His proposed Contract for the Web asks the public, corporations and governments to make a “commitment to protect the web from abuse and ensure it benefits humanity.”

SoftBank, Ant Financial Back India’s Paytm With $1B Funding

Paytm, India’s mobile payments startup, said on Monday (Nov. 25) that it secured $1 billion in new funds from Japan’s SoftBank and China’s Alibaba affiliate Ant. The deal values Paytm’s parent company, One97 Communications, at $16 billion.  The new funds will help Paytm expand its service offers to include insurance, loans and investments.

Tackling AP Automation’s ‘Chicken-And-Egg’ Problem

Trustworthy as well as reliable relationships are essential for businesses in the logistics market, which have to deliver products as well as goods to recipients as efficiently and quickly as possible. New automated accounts payable (AP) solutions promise to deliver several benefits for logistics providers, like more seamless access to data and cost savings.

But some logistics firms are not prepared to make the switch to digital payments and AP processes. In a feature story, Rich Wessels, treasurer for transportation management and logistics firm Transplace explains the “chicken-and-egg” dilemma logistics firms face when looking at the potential benefits of AP automation.

Does ‘Google Checking’ Foreshadow Big Tech, FinTech Payments Changes?

Financial institutions (FIs) are engaging with technology players in new ways as together, they seek to create ecosystems that offer new value to consumers. That was one of the main messages from a recent PYMNTS discussion between Karen Webster and Vaduvur Bharghavan (who goes by VB), the president and CEO of Ondot Systems.

PYMNTS caught up with VB in the wake of big news from the Big Tech, payments and banking world: Google plans to launch consumer checking accounts next year in partnership with Citigroup and the Stanford Federal Credit Union. Code-named Cache, the accounts will be handled by Citi and Stanford Federal.

Much is yet to be announced about Google Cache, but VB expects them to provide an experience layer, while letting the financial institution provide the account and handle the regulatory compliance. “Google’s expertise is in UX design,” he noted. “By providing a streamlined user experience, they can add value to the financial institution and the cardholder, putting themselves into the commerce stream.”