Snippings

The UK’s Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) is currently consulting the market on the issue of “big tech” and digital wallets, highlighting the importance of both in the future of retail payments. In particular, they are interested in looking at the barriers to digital wallets integrating account-to-account payments (as a means to bring more competition to the sector) and the wider issue of how wallets choose the payment system for transactions. Which, of course, raises the question of who choses and how conflicts are resolved.

The scenarios that 

So, I finish my shopping and walk out of the supermarket, at which point the supermarket

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The owner of a high street mobile phone shop has become the first person in the UK to be charged with operating an illegal cryptocurrency ATM, according to Kent Police.
Officers carried out a search warrant at the Gadcet shop in Chatham’s High Street on 28 April 2023, where they said they seized a number of crypto ATMs, including one on public display.
Habibur Rahman, 37, of Langdon Crescent in East Ham, London, was arrested on the same day and has now been charged with operating the machine without registration from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
He is also alleged to have laundered £300,000 of criminal cash by converting it into cryptocurrency.

From: Crypto: ‘First’ person in UK charged with operating illegal ATM – BBC News.

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The new reimbursement requirement will introduce, for the first time, consistent minimum standards to reimburse victims of APP fraud and essentially it will:

require sending PSPs to reimburse all-in scope customers who fall victim to APP fraud in most cases; 
involve the sharing of costs for reimbursing victims on a 50:50 ratio between sending and receiving PSPs; and 
provide additional protection for vulnerable customers.
The PSR have now published three legal instruments which give effect to the reimbursement requirement: (i) a specific requirement (SR1) imposed on Pay. UK to include the reimbursement requirement in the Faster Payments scheme rules; (ii) a specific direction (SD20) given to participants in Faster Payments, obliging them to comply with the reimbursement requirement and the reimbursement rules; and (iii) a specific direction (SD19) given to Pay.UK to create and implement an effective compliance monitoring regime for PSPs.

From: New UK APP fraud rules: what PSPs need to know – ThePaypers.

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In the United States, 63% of consumers ages 18 to 34 would consider financial services from nonfinancial brands. This sentiment extends across the Atlantic, where 52% of consumers in Europe ages 25 to 34 believe using financial products via their favorite brands is more convenient than using a conventional bank.

From: Embedded Finance Partnerships Benefit Brands and Banks Alike.

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Banking is changing. No longer the sole province of financial specialists and time-honored institutions, it has instead become woven into the digital fabric of wherever we shop and conduct business. Aptly named, embedded finance is playing a crucial role in the financial industry’s digital transformation, turning everyday brands into financial services providers. This shift is increasing brands’ profits, empowering consumers, and pressuring traditional banks to reevaluate their role in their customers’ financial lives. From retailers offering buy now, pay later (BNPL) loans to social media platforms handling payments, the lines between commerce and banking are becoming increasingly blurred.

From: Embedded Finance Partnerships Benefit Brands and Banks Alike.

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Some users believe they are behaving responsibly. Lu Tan Tu offers cash-outs against utility bills via SPayLater and e-wallet MoMo in Da Nang city in central Vietnam. The 24-year-old has been doing cash-outs for a year, with amounts ranging from 500,000 dong ($20) to 3 million dong ($119), he told Rest of World. He charges 1%–5% in service fees, “just as a side business to earn money for gas.” For borrowers, cash-outs are “a safer alternative” to loan sharks, he said.

From: Turning buy-now-pay-later credit to cash through loans in Southeast Asia – Rest of World.

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A lower threshold of £85,000 would bring the maximum sum protected in line with the financial services compensation scheme, which protects depositors if a bank goes under.

From: UK regulator to slash maximum fraud losses banks are forced to cover.

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UK regulators are set to dramatically scale back a new regime that would have forced banks and payment companies to reimburse fraud victims up to £415,000, after strong pressure from ministers and fintech firms.

The new maximum fraud payout is now expected to be set at just £85,000, according to people briefed on the plan, amid fears the higher level could have seen criminals exploit the compensation system and potentially put smaller fintech firms out of business.

From: UK regulator to slash maximum fraud losses banks are forced to cover.

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Our HR team conducted four video conference based interviews on separate occasions, confirming the individual matched the photo provided on their application. Additionally, a background check and all other standard pre-hiring checks were performed and came back clear due to the stolen identity being used. This was a real person using a valid but stolen US-based identity. The picture was AI “enhanced”.

From: How a North Korean Fake IT Worker Tried to Infiltrate Us.

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On Google, Vance said the company was “way too big, way too powerful”. He argued for tech giants to be split to promote innovation

From: FirstFT: JD Vance asks Peter Thiel to fund campaign and wants to break up Google.

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Breaking up Big Tech is a 19th-century competition solution to a 21st-century competition problem. There is a better way.

From: Big Regulation Coming For Big Tech.

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It seems to me that the U.S. regulators might use this approach to kill two birds with one stone: requiring both Big Banking and Big Tech to provide API access to customer’s data. Why shouldn’t my bank be able to use my LinkedIn graph as input to a credit decision? Why shouldn’t my Novi wallet be able access my bank account? Why shouldn’t my IMDB app be able to access my Netflix, Prime and Apple TV services (it would be great to have a single app to view all of my streaming services together).

This symmetric data exchange can lead to a creative rebalancing of the relationship between the sectors and make it easier for competitors to both emerge. Instead of turning back to the 19th and 20th century anti-trust remedies against monopolies in railroads and steel and telecoms, perhaps open banking adumbrates a model for the 21st century anti-trust remedy against all oligopolies in data, relationships and reputation. The way to deal with the power of BigTech is not to break them up, but to open them up.

From: Big Regulation Coming For Big Tech.

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In the Citi report, the Former Standard Chartered Group Chief Data Officer Shameek Kundu says that “the biggest new thing will be the growth of non-human customers”.