Headlines

The Wallet - A sovereignty issue for Europe's payments

• UNITED STATES - With iOS 16, Apple breaks away from banks and unveils a "Pay Later" option
• INTERNATIONAL – Samsung Wallet returns, richer than ever
• EUROPE – Study: A French plebiscite for the European digital portfolio
• INTERNATIONAL – Meta Pay officially launched, clarifying its ambitions

After Tap to Pay, the new payment service for the iPhone, Apple is unveiling Apple Pay Later, a payment facility that will enrich its range of financial services integrated into the Apple wallet. Other players such as Google and Samsung are also leading the (technological) race by unveiling new features for storing identity documents or dematerialised physical objects, such as car keys, to hook consumers into these ecosystems. More than a matter of convenience, it is also an effective way to integrate more people into their financial services. It is also a matter of sovereignty that the EU does not intend to delegate to these foreign players. The EU is therefore repositioning its EPI project around the EU Digital wallet. A study carried out by Thales shows that Europeans are quite keen on the use of a digital wallet, with the French in the lead. Eighty-five per cent of them are in favour of the issuance of a wallet by public authorities. Meta also unveils its ambitions, with Meta Pay, in this field, with the prerogatives of offering a portable identity and interoperability between the various metaverse platforms, including Meta, but also between cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies with the aim of facilitating the integration and adoption of these new universes by users.

Crypto & Metaverse - Continued interest despite difficulties

• INTERNATIONAL – Worldline launches a virtual showroom in the Metaverse
• EUROPE – Coinhouse wants to become the first crypto-bank
• FRANCE – Young Platform densifies the French crypto market
• INTERNATIONAL – Meta Pay officially launched, clarifying its ambitions

This is one of the feedbacks from Money 2020, which has become the mecca for events in the payments field. Crypto players were taking in the center of the scene, demonstrating not only that these players are benefiting from a significant influx of capital, but also that this industry is gaining a real foothold in financial services. This is also confirmed by the entry of a traditional bank, the Swiss bank Oddo Bhf, into the capital of the startup Coinhouse, a French player specialising in crypto. Another topic that is on the rise and of particular interest to payment players is the metaverse. In particular, the payment giant Worldline is offering its merchant clients a showroom to display their latest innovations, and is unveiling, in partnership with Bitcoin Suisse, a solution capable of accepting payments of any kind, whether crypto or non-crypto. This issue of matching real and virtual currencies is an important factor in driving adoption. This is also the motivation behind Moneygram's new project, which will rely on the Stellar blockchain to simplify international transfers. Recipients of these crypto-currency transfers will, in effect, be able to withdraw local currency from Moneygram ATMs. Circle, whose parent company is the provider of one of the most popular stablecoins in the US, has just announced its intention to issue a digital currency backed by the euro, taking a backseat to the Central Bank Digital Currency project that the European Union is working on.