ADN’co Payments Insight – October 2014

eBay and PayPal Splitting up

• UNITED STATES – PayPal’s spinoff from eBay is underway. The long-lasting rumour has been confirmed: PayPal will become a separate company in Q2 2015.

This announcement echoes eBay shareholders’ pressure as well as recent launches by rival players in the payments industry, including Apple’s moves.

Card-Linked Offers growing global, in France and worldwide

• FRANCE – Crédit Mutuel-CIC will be merging payments and loyalty services on its cards through its Fid et Moi programme. It would rely on Welcome Real-time for this initiative.
• EUROPE – Visa partners with a CLO specialist, Edo Interactive . Cash back and discounts will be sent based on the card’s actual use, a way to assert customer loyalty and drive traffic.
• UNITED STATES / BRAZIL – the British start-up Birdback set out to aim for new markets; praising a cross-channel approach, it merges and automates payments and rewards processes for final customers.

CLOs are inspiring payments players: they now use their existing offers to craft additional services. A means for banks and card schemes to draw attention to their card offers despite the current mobile-centred trend, and for new entrants to settle in the payments market through customer loyalty services.

Cross-channel approaches are being highlighted as well as the relevance of fine-tuned adjustments in using data at checkout.

Contactless and biometrics: the future of payment cards?

• UNITED KINGDOM / INTERNATIONAL – MasterCard and the Norwegian company Zwipe unveil a contactless card with embedded fingerprint sensor.

E-commerce: China opening to international developments

• CHINA – Alibaba allows abroad-located e-merchants to accept online payments from Chinese customers through Alipay’s ePass; an opportunity for them to add Alipay to their payment options.