The Monday Roundup: what we are watching this week | February 5th

By Puja Sharma

The Monday Roundup sets the scene for the week’s biggest news stories, industry deals, and upcoming events. For Prime subscribers only.

Bridging the gap between Fraud and AML

India’s unified payments interface (UPI) has now gone live in France, the National Payments Corporation of India announced on February 2nd.

NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) in partnership with Lyra, a French leader in securing e-commerce and proximity payments, has announced the acceptance of the UPI payment mechanism in France starting with the iconic Eiffel Tower.

This announcement is of particular significance as Indian tourists rank the second largest group of international visitors to the Eiffel Tower. Indian tourists can make secure online transactions by simply using their UPI-powered apps to scan the QR code generated on the merchant website and initiate a payment.

Acceptance of UPI in France not only provides Indian tourists with a seamless payment option but also opens up numerous opportunities for merchants across France and Europe operating in the tourism and retail sectors. While the Eiffel Tower is the first merchant to offer UPI payments in France, this service will soon be extended to other merchants in the tourism and retail space.

Tookitaki, a financial crime solution, has announced the rebranding of its Anti-Money Laundering Suite (AMLS) to FinCense. This strategic move is aimed at better representing the enhanced capabilities of its compliance platform, which seamlessly addresses both fraud and AML risks.

The convergence of fraud and AML challenges has reshaped the compliance landscape, leading financial institutions to seek a unified solution. Currently, operational silos divide anti-fraud and AML teams. As costs continue to soar, a complete solution to manage both is needed.

This is especially critical in cross-border payments, where protection from financial crime risk is vital. FinCense bridges the gap between fraud and AML with its FRAML solution.

Abhishek Chatterjee, Founder and CEO of Tookitaki stated, “Why FinCense? Because it can sense finance, aka suspicious patterns. Our transition from AMLS to FinCense signifies more than a name change; it marks a pivotal advancement in compliance solutions available in the market. By merging fraud and AML prevention into a single, powerful solution, we enable financial institutions to capitalise on the synergy to improve detection rates, reduce operational costs, and prevent fraud in real-time.”

Tap to Phone Technology

PayTabs, a payment solutions provider, has partnered with Nearpay to offer users across Jordan and other regional markets an elevated soft POS payment experience.

The collaboration aims to enhance the user experience of merchants and customers that use PayTabs Touch – the payment solution provider’s proprietary soft POS application across the region, including the MEPS FAST application in Jordan.

Eyad Musharbash, PayTabs Regional Head and Operating Partner for the LEVANT region said, “Two Saudi FinTech brands are joining hands to power contactless payments the region. We are excited to collaborate with Nearpay to introduce this elevated Soft POS experience to our users. The integration of ‘Tap to Phone’ technology into PayTabs Touch will not only streamline payment processes for businesses but also offer millions of customers a modern and secure payment option.”

ICBC New Zealand and UnionPay International have announced a strategic partnership to expand payment solutions. With this partnership, ICBC New Zealand individual customers can use their ICBC Mobile app to easily make retail payments to UnionPay QR-enabled merchants in over 40 markets from their ICBC New Zealand bank accounts.

The launch is timely, given the surge in cross-border travel to China following the normalisation of international flights. The feature was introduced given the rising popularity of QR code payments globally, especially in Asia. The feature would also be used at other popular Asian destinations, including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea, etc.

The feature, which was launched at the beginning of December, is especially useful in markets where digital apps have become key payment tools. Payments are made directly from customers’ ICBC accounts up to the daily transaction limit of NZD 20,000, sufficient for the everyday traveller’s expenses.

What is the buzz

In a noteworthy development, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has placed limitations on Paytm, a leading FinTech company, preventing it from delivering various banking services to its customers. The RBI’s decision is based on the “non-compliance and ongoing material supervisory concerns” identified at One 97 Communications, the parent company of Paytm.

This recent regulatory action by the RBI has the potential to disrupt numerous services provided by the Paytm platform.