Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) member Citcon has attained the status of Oracle Validated Integration with Xstore Expertise for its connection of the Citcon payment gateway offering, according to a press release emailed to PYMNTS.
“Achieving Oracle Validated Integration with Xstore Expertise gives our customers the confidence that the integration of Citcon’s mobile payment solution is functionally sound and performs as tested,” David Hicks, vice-president, Worldwide ISV Cloud Business Development at Oracle, said in the release. “For solutions deployed on premise, in the cloud, or both, Oracle Validated Integration applies a rigorous technical review process that helps to reduce deployment risk and improves the user experience of the partner’s integrated offering.”
The new integration by Citcon helps Oracle Xstore merchants enable mobile wallet acceptance — such as PayPal, Venmo, Alipay and WeChat Pay — on existing point-of-sale (POS) technology. As a result, shoppers can make payments by way of touch-free technology, which Citcon says is “a trend that has and will continue to grow rapidly in the coming years.”
Moreover, the integration provides an essential payment choice for some subsets of shoppers who prefer to harness mobile wallets to transact.
The news comes as optimism in the travel sector is tangible but tentative.
Vaccines are being distributed, while vaccine passports are gaining traction. All that’s missing is the travelers. There are indications that they will return quickly, as will their spending. When they do, they will also bring digital-first behaviors that were developed in part for safety and convenience.
Perhaps the most essential one is contactless payments. And in this age of contactless commerce, Citcon CEO Chuck Huang previously told PYMNTS that QR codes will see a wide embrace.
Against that backdrop, Citcon said earlier in March that it had made a pact with Agilysys to enable international hospitality providers’ clients to access mobile wallet solutions – throughout the world.
Citcon provides a host of wallet brands, covering PayPal, Venmo, WeChat Pay and others.
As PYMNTS previously reported, the pandemic has sped up the digital shift throughout industries. A recent two-day online forum looked at the effect of digital identity on the future of the travel industry, and the overnight shift to contactless offerings.
The regulatory framework should not prevent banks from providing innovative and competitive products and services, Federal Reserve Gov. Michelle W. Bowman said Monday (Feb. 17).
Speaking at the American Bankers Association’s Conference for Community Bankers in Phoenix, Bowman said that while the framework must promote safety and soundness in the banking system, it should not impede banks’ operations.
“Our work to maintain an effective framework is never really complete,” Bowman said in a speech to be delivered at the event. “Just as complacency can be fatal to the business of a bank, complacency can also prevent regulators from meeting their statutory obligation to promote a safe and sound banking system that enables banks to serve their customers effectively and efficiently.”
In terms of bank supervision, Bowman said supervisory ratings have led to a de-prioritization of core financial risks. Pointing to a Fed report that said most large financial institutions met supervisory expectations with respect to capital and liquidity but only one-third had satisfactory ratings across all relevant ratings components, Bowman said this raised a question about whether non-core and non-financial risks had been over-emphasized.
When it comes to bank applications, Bowman said the process may have created impediments that have led to a current lack of new bank formation. She added that regulators could improve the process by developing specialized expertise, streamlining the application process and improving transparency.
In the case of mergers and acquisitions, Bowman said “the purgatory of a long application process” could be remedied by updating application forms to include all the information that is needed and by adhering to fixed approval timelines.
Addressing regulation, Bowman said that the body of regulations applied to banks has grown dramatically since the 2008 financial crises and that some of those regulations may be outdated, unnecessary and overly burdensome.
“The banking system can be an engine of economic growth and opportunity, particularly when it is supported by a bank regulatory framework that is rational and well-maintained,” Bowman said. “The work of rationalizing and maintaining this system is an ongoing cycle. While my remarks today have touched on a wide range of issues that require rationalization and ‘maintenance,’ this is by no means an exhaustive list.”