Snippings

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The Bank and the Treasury note that in order for the digital pound to anchor the monetary system, it needs to be “usable and sufficiently adopted by households and businesses”. There is no other way to achieve this than to follow the success of introduction of contactless on the Transport for London (TfL): a masterclass in influencing payment behaviour.

On Tuesday 16th September 2014 Visa Europe announced that contactless payment via credit, debit, charge or pre-paid cards (or other devices) would be accepted on most TfL services. The announcement coincided with new figures showing that the use of contactless cards had increased month-on-month by 7%, reaching a total transaction value of £136.4 million, indicating a growth in contactless use of 207% since June 2013. Visa said that this new TfL offering would accelerate the growth of contactless further.

They weren’t wrong…

In 2016 £25 billion was spent using contactless cards, more than double the spending in the previous eight years combined (£11 billion). Between January and June 2017 £23 billion was spent using contactless, nearly double the total for 2016.

In less than 2 years the UK became the leading European market for contactless transactions and we have the cashless transit system to thank for it. It masterfully provided a safe environment for people to use a new payment method, frequently, for a very low value. This allowed them to build trust, embed it in their behaviour and then use it in other environments. After using contactless on the tube day-in-day-out, people felt confident enough to use it for small shopping trips while the limit was under £30, and then greater sprees when it was lifted to £100.

From (1) The Digital Pound needs a TfL moment to be successful | LinkedIn.

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The friction from 3DS authentication results in high abandonment rates. In the United Kingdom, Amazon and Microsoft reported abandonment rates of 3.7% and 15% respectively, and this is the country with the lowest abandonment rates. In France and Spain, abandonment rates from 3DS friction were over 40%.

 

From .

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EMV 3DS 2.2 is the new, enhanced version of the existing 3DS standard, owned by EMVCo, the global technical body for secure payment transactions.

By connecting the issuer, acquirer and card scheme (the three domains in the 3 Domain Secure protocol), 3DS gives consumers a way to directly authenticate themselves with their card issuer when shopping online. This additional layer of security helps prevent unauthorized use of cards, plus protects ecommerce businesses from exposure to certain types of disputed transactions.

What are the main differences in 3DS 2.2?
Firstly, the new specification is optimized for many more types of devices – mobile, PC, Consoles and even digital television – as well as for in-app payment. So, say goodbye to clunky pop-up windows, particularly on the smaller screen of a mobile device, and hello to a more frictionless checkout flow.

Secondly, it’s now possible for merchants to pass more than 100 data elements to card issuers for more intelligent risk scoring. That’s up from the eight data points typically exchanged as part of a 3DS 1.0 authentication. This improves risk-based authentication, meaning that checkout is friction-free for most low-risk transactions from trusted customers.

From The evolution of the 3D-Secure protocol: from 3DS to 3DS 2.2.

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Apple Pay Later1 allows users to split purchases into four payments, spread over six weeks with no interest and no fees.

From Apple introduces Apple Pay Later – Apple.

This sounds almost completely uninteresting to me, but of course I am not part of the target market.

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A City corporate lawyer stalked his ex-girlfriend with fictitious online dating profiles, who told her what a ‘good guy’ her former lover sounded to them.

Matthew Howells, 31, an associate with Bishopsgate international American law firm Cooley, championed himself via those fake identities and used them to track Sumita Mistry’s movements.

From City lawyer, 31, set up multiple dating app profiles to stalk his ex | Daily Mail Online.

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However, existing as well as new PvP arrangements face barriers to broad adoption, including: (i) weak incentives for market participants to settle FX trades using PvP; (ii) technical challenges for PvP providers to access and interoperate with real-time gross settlement systems; and (iii) legal challenges for PvP providers to reconcile differences in national legal and regulatory frameworks.

From Facilitating increased adoption of payment versus payment (PvP) – final report:

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Sweden does not yet need a central bank digital currency (CBDC) according to a government-appointed investigation. After more than two years’ work, the Payments Investigation presented over 900 pages of analysis to the government. The inquiry, led by Anna Kinberg Batra, concluded the case for a Swedish CBDC or e-krona is not yet strong enough. “We have a guarantee on bank deposits if anything happens to the banks, and banks are also heavily supervised under a rigorous regulatory framework.” However, the report recommended Sveriges Riksbank continue to study CBDC and return to Sweden’s parliament in 2024 with new proposals, if warranted. [Read the full report (in Swedish) on the parliamentary website]

The report acknowledged that “too many people are stuck outside the digital system” and suggested pressuring banks in Sweden to offer so-called “low-risk accounts” with limited functions (such as, for example, limits on international payments). It also calls on the government to to develop and run its own digital ID system, or to put out a tender for one which would be run by a private provider, to replace the private bank-run BankID system that excludes foreigners, such as refugees, foreign students, and people working on short-term contracts, making it impossible for them to identify themselves and use digital payment systems

From Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (20230331) – Kiffmeister Chronicles:

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18% are planning on writing down what they spend to track outgoings and one-in-ten (10%) using more cash.

From One-in-five inconvenienced by inability to pay in cash – Northey Point Limited.

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Hindenburg said former employees estimated that 40% to 75% of Cash App’s accounts were either fake, involved in crime, were additional accounts tied to a single user, or some combination of the three. Block employees also told Hindenburg that in order to keep growth strong during the pandemic — allowing Dorsey and Block co-founder James McKelvey to sell more than $1 billion in company stock — Cash App disregarded warning signs of criminal activity and failed to uphold basic security measures.

From Cash App is Lying to Investors and Abetting Crime, Short Seller Says | The Motley Fool:

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The Office of the United States Attorney has filed a federal criminal complaint charging Joanne Marian Segovia with attempt to illegally import a controlled substance in connection with a scheme to bring synthetic opioids into the country and distribute them throughout the United States, announced United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey and Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Tatum King. The criminal complaint was filed on March 27, 2023, and unsealed the next day.

According to the complaint, Segovia, 64, of San Jose, is the Executive Director of the San Jose Police Officers’ Association (SJPOA). The complaint alleges that Segovia used her personal and office computers to order thousands of opioid and other pills to her home and agreed to distribute the drugs elsewhere in the United States.

From Northern District of California | San Jose Police Union Executive Charged With Attempted Illegal Importation Of Fentanyl Analogue | United States Department of Justice:

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Segovia’s CashApp account was used for 127 transactions that investigators said was likely for drug purchases, and was linked to her police union email account.

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When confronted by investigators about her involvement in February, officials said she at first tried to deny she had ever ordered anything but supplements and claimed to “work for the police department.” She also refused to let investigators see her CashApp transactions.

From San Jose police union office manager charged in fentanyl scheme – San José Spotlight:

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A few weeks ago in Pittsburgh, Beth Royce said she woke up to an early morning call. Her phone lit up with her younger sister’s contact info and photo, so Royce answered. But it was not her sister’s voice on the other end of the line.

Instead, Royce said she heard an unfamiliar male voice say, “I got this girl and I’m going to kill her if you don’t send me money.” The man cautioned her not to contact the police or he would “shoot the sister in the head.” A petrified Royce silently signaled her mother, who was in town visiting, and continued talking.

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“He sounded crazy. I heard muffled sobs in the background that sounded like a woman’s voice, so of course I thought this was my sister,” Royce said.

Over the 16-minute conversation, the voice demanded money via Cash App or Zelle, and she sent a total of $1,000. Meanwhile, her mother contacted her sister separately and learned she was safe in her apartment in Seattle.

From New Personalized Scams Use Relatives’ Information To Get You To Send Money | HuffPost UK Home & Living:

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