‘You can hear the bombs’: A fintech developer’s life in Ukraine | PaymentsSource

There’s a near constant pounding of explosions, a deep rattling thunder that won’t stop. The piercing roar of jets. Air raid sirens. Traffic jams caused by fleeing vehicles. These are the sounds of war. For Yevhen Matasar, it’s the sound of his country being torn to shreds. “This is a very difficult situation,” said Matasar from his car, parked in the dark outside a home in a small Ukrainian…

Why PNC plugged into an early wage access marketplace | PaymentsSource

PNC Financial Services Group is working to help corporate clients retain their employees by supporting a number of payment technologies that can free up workers’ cash flow. PNC supports both early wage access (EWA) — a system for giving employees the portion of their paycheck they’ve already earned ahead of the traditional payday — and Request for Pay (RfP), an invoicing method tied to real-time…

Coinbase blocks 25,000 crypto wallets linked to Russia users | PaymentsSource

Cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase Global said it blocked over 25,000 wallet addresses related to Russian individuals or entities that it believes to be engaging in illicit activity. The blocked addresses represent about 0.2% of Coinbase’s 11.4 million monthly transacting users, based on 2021 data. In a company blog post, Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s chief legal officer, said the largest U.S.…

When iPhones become card readers, how will terminal makers respond? | PaymentsSource

Point of sale companies were pressured to diversify even before Apple’s decision to allow iPhones to accept payments from contactless cards. But Ingenico’s Peter Stewart contends the move will draw more interest in the innovations his own company can add on. “We welcome any development that accelerates the reach and adoption of digital payments acceptance,” said Stewart, president of the North…

NYDIG is helping employees add Bitcoin to savings plans

Would you convert your paycheck from dollars to bitcoins? Leading bitcoin company NYDIG has launched a Bitcoin Savings Plan to promote and normalize the idea of employees getting paid in the cryptocurrency, according to a press release. The Bitcoin Savings Plan will allow an employee to auto-convert a portion of their paycheck to bitcoin, which will then be held on the secure, regulated NYDIG…

How real-time bill payments can reduce overdrafts | PaymentsSource

Under public pressure to limit overdraft fees, banks are examining whether enabling billers to send digital invoices that can be paid instantly — and only when funds are available — could help customers. Request for Pay, a system that allows a digital invoice to be attached to a real-time payment, enables consumers to move funds to pay a bill at the moment it’s received or schedule a real-time…

How digital payments are shaping identity verification | PaymentsSource

Around the world, governments and the private sector are teaming up with a goal of designing digital identity systems to tackle the growing problem of fraud in digital payments. Recent examples include Business Finland investing €20 million ($22.52 million) in a five-year digital ID initiative led by TietoEVRY, while last year the Australian government accredited digital identity exchange Eftpos…

Klarna says retailers paying less in buy now/pay later frenzy | PaymentsSource

The buy now/pay later craze already has retailers demanding lower fees, according to Klarna Bank AB. “I wish I could convince them to pay 6% but it was a long time ago that I heard any deal quoted at those levels,” Klarna Chief Executive Officer Sebastian Siemiatkowski said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “The price has dropped due to competition. Buy now/pay later options now litter…