What happened this week in payments

WorldRemit partners with Android Pay to offer payment transfers to the world’s unbanked

WorldRemit, the leading digital money transfer service, has added Android Pay to its service, offering a new way for WorldRemit’s Android Pay users to send money internationally and reach millions using mobile money accounts.

WorldRemit currently sends money to more mobile money accounts than any other operator in the world. The company enables migrants to send money from their smartphones to the mobile phones of the people they love, in over 140 countries to be paid out in cash, paid into a bank account or into a mobile money account.

Alice Newton-Rex, VP of Product at WorldRemit, comments: “Currently 60% of WorldRemit app users are on Android, which is also by far the most popular mobile operating system in the developing world, where two billion people are still unbanked, but critically half a billion use their mobiles as a bank account.”

Misys and D+H join forces as Finastra

Misys and D+H have joined forces to create a diversified global financial software provider, operating under the new company name Finastra.

The combination will create the third largest financial services technology company in the world. The company has approximately 10,000 employees and over 9,000 customers across 130 countries, including 48 of the top 50 banks globally. This follows the acquisition of D+H by Vista Equity Partners, which already owns Misys, creating a merger of two highly complementary financial technology providers.

UK payments start-up Revolut launches business accounts 

Fintech start-up Revolut has announced the launch of its business accounts, which allows companies to sign up for multi-currency accounts, make transfers worldwide, and issue employees with corporate cards. The service is currently available for users in the UK and Europe.

The company says that 12,000 of its 650,000 worldwide users have signed up for the business programme. Revolut will charge a monthly fee, ranging from £25 to £1,000 per month, depending on requirements, and the first month will be free to encourage businesses to make the switch.

Nik Storonsky, Founder & CEO of Revolut says: “Revolut has literally reinvented the way in which people spend and send money abroad, and so launching a business service was the next logical step for us. We can apply the same innovation to help businesses across the UK and Europe eliminate unfair banking fees.”

Challenger bank Monese launches direct debit accounts

UK challenger bank Monese has announced the launch of direct debit functionality for its customers. The upgrade brings Monese’s offering substantially closer to that of a traditional high street bank account – without the hidden fees and charges.

Alongside this, Monese has also gained access to Faster Payments, meaning that customers sending funds to accounts outside or within the UK will enjoy an even quicker transfer. Monese customers move over half a billion pounds annually, showing just how regularly customers use the app to send money.

Norris Koppel, CEO and Founder of Monese said: “Our single minded focus is to provide customers with the financial tools they need to build their lives and stay in complete control of their finances. We never stop moving towards a better product for our customers and we are proud that we have been able to respond to their requirement for Direct Debits.”

TSYS announces Foresight Score with Featurespace 

TSYS and Featurespace announced a new fraud prevention product this week called the TSYS Foresight Score with Featurespace. Foresight Score is a fraud and risk scoring tool that incorporates innovative machine learning — a form of Artificial Intelligence (AI) that allows software to learn over time without being explicitly programmed — to bolster an issuer’s ability to fight transactional fraud. It was built in partnership with Featurespace and relies on their powerful and proven adaptive behavioral analytics platform — known as ARIC.

“We are excited to add Foresight Score to our comprehensive suite of risk and fraud products,” said Pam Joseph, president and COO, TSYS. “We are certain that it will help our clients detect and prevent more transactional fraud while at that same time reducing false-positive alerts — helping increase revenue and improve operational efficiency.”

Read last week’s payments news round-up here.

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