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Money. For most of us, it’s something we think about every day. How to earn it, save it, spend it. But have you thought much about how you pay for things? Maybe not, but the way you pay - with cash, cards, your phone - is currently going through a major upheaval.

Imagine a world where wallets are obsolete, cash is a relic of the past, and payments happen invisibly in the background through your smartphone or even a connected device. As in, you grab a candy bar, walk out of the store, and the payment processes seamlessly without you lifting a finger. Far-fetched? Not anymore.

We’re already seeing the start of a revolution in payments and financial services, driven by new technologies and the rising expectations of customers.

In this article, we’ll look at how innovators and disruptors are taking aim at outdated payment systems and processes. We’ll also explore some of the promising technologies poised to change how we pay for things in the near future. Let’s get into it.

Problems with Traditional Payment Systems

Have you ever stood in line at the checkout, shuffling through your wallet to find the right card or counting out bills and coins? Or tried to split the dinner bill between friends using Venmo, only to find out your one friend still doesn't have the app? These little payment annoyances add up to big headaches.

Traditional payment methods like cash and plastic cards just aren't cutting it for today's faster, mobile, and global economy. Here's why they desperately need an upgrade:

• Costly and slow transactions - From interchange fees to overdraft charges, old payment networks are riddled with fees and inefficiencies. And moving money between banks still takes days, which feels ridiculous in today's real-time world.
• Outdated technology - Swiping a flimsy magstripe card feels out of place compared to using a smartphone. And signature verification is laughably insecure. Old systems based on outdated tech clearly can't keep up.
• Not optimized for new needs - Brick-and-mortar checkout is fast being overshadowed by mobile and online payments. But solving for this new ecosystem requires thinking beyond old methods.
• Lack of transparency - With cash, you can see what you have left in your wallet. But good luck determining all the middlemen fees on a card payment or bank transfer. Consumers deserve more visibility.

The Rise of Tech-Savvy Customers

Younger generations are driving the adoption of new payment technologies through their tech-savviness and willingness to go cashless. Having grown up with apps and mobile tech, they expect integrated and frictionless payment experiences.

Digital natives also value services tailored to their needs and are receptive to personalized incentives and perks delivered through payment platforms. By nature, younger demographics tend to be tech-forward and early adopters, quick to try payment innovations that offer new capabilities.

As such, forward-thinking companies are gaining an advantage by catering to this new tech-native payments audience. As younger generations drive adoption, all businesses must adapt their experiences to meet the demands of the tech-savvy consumer if they want to appeal to this crucial consumer audience.

Key Enabling Technologies of the Fintech Revolution

Behind the scenes, several technological advancements are powering the fintech evolution of digital payments. Let's explore some of the most important:

Infrastructure for Faster Payments

New infrastructure like real-time payment networks enable money to move instantly between accounts rather than waiting days. This allows for quicker peer-to-peer transfers, bill pay, retail checkout, and more.

Improved Security

Tokenization improves security by masking sensitive card details during transactions. Biometric authentication like fingerprint and face scanning enables more secure identity verification. And AI/ML algorithms help detect fraud before it happens through pattern recognition and analysis.

Seamless Integration

Open APIs allow easier integration between payment apps, merchants, banks, and other players. Payment gateways seamlessly connect the complexity behind the scenes to provide users with simple, unified experiences. Developers benefit from easier access and simplicity.

Emerging Capabilities

Blockchain supports decentralized cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin that facilitate transparent global transfers without intermediaries. New proximity technologies like NFC enable contactless payments through mobile devices both online and in-store.

Unified Experiences

Ultimately, these technologies are converging to deliver user experiences that are integrated, flexible, highly secure, and frictionless. Customers can pay how they want, merchants can customize offerings, and value-added services are embedded natively into apps.

The Growth of Digital Wallets

Once a novelty, now a necessity for many. Digital wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, and Venmo are exploding. Currently, an estimated $9 trillion is transacted through digital wallets each year. This number is expected to rise to a staggering $16 trillion by 2028.

Clearly, these apps are dominating because they create seamless peer-to-peer and checkout experiences. You can easily send money to friends, pay securely online, and tap in-store - all from one place without constantly re-entering data.

Digital wallets also integrate valuable features like loyalty programs, offers, spending insights, receipts, and more. And they even enable new capabilities such as recurring billing, one-click checkout, and split payments. Adoption is surging among younger demographics and also expanding to older generations.

Final Word

For many of us, the days of reaching for a physical wallet already seem old-fashioned. After dealing with the hassles of cash and cards for decades, the payments landscape is finally getting a much-needed digital makeover. New technologies and customer expectations are driving massive changes.

It's an exciting time, especially for those of us ready to embrace the convenience of going cashless. Everyday payments are getting smarter, faster, and more personalized. Financial lives will be managed securely in one place, on our own terms. Though some may resist, for most, the benefits are too good to ignore. Digital payments are here to stay.

Digital bank N26 announced the integration of popular local payment service iDEAL to its 100% digital banking experience in the Netherlands.

Vantage (or “Vantage Markets”) is pleased to present its upgraded Copy Trading features on the Vantage App. With this upgrade, copy traders will be able to copy trades from signal providers at the click of a button or apply to become signal providers.

The copy trading user interface is now even more seamless, allowing traders to view both their copy trading and regular trading accounts on a single account management page. They are also able to view their profit-sharing summary within the same profile page, regardless of whether they are a copy trader, a signal provider, or both.

Earlier this year, Vantage received the Best-in-Class Social Copy Trading Award 2023 from ForexBrokers.com, in a nod to the team’s continued innovation and app development.

New Functional Tabs

The dedicated Copy Trading tab helps copy traders to discover new signal providers, highlighting them by their historical performance. The Community tab also enhances copy traders’ ability to search and filter for suitable signal providers by their risk appetite, preferred trading asset classes, performance data and other relevant filters. The addition of the new Academy tab provides quick access to essential educational materials like beginner-friendly copy trading articles, and a comprehensive glossary of important terms to begin their trading journey. 

Exploring individual signal providers becomes easier with the updated signal profile page clearly displaying signal providers’ experience levels, average risk band, past trade performance, number of copiers, and the volume of assets being copied.

Profit-Sharing Feature

The new upgrade also allows signal providers to be paid more frequently through a profit-sharing feature, where signal providers can set their profit-sharing ratio to a maximum of 50%. With this information displayed upfront, copiers can have the flexibility to select signal providers based on their preferred profit-sharing ratio.

Lian Jie, Assistant Director of App Marketing at Vantage, added: 

“It is with our utmost pleasure to unveil the upgraded Copy Trading function, with an exciting range of features to better suit the needs of our copiers and signal providers. Our improved copy trading functions have been so well received that one in five new clients now opt for a copy trading account just to experience this innovative way of trading.

Traders today are looking for intuitive user interface design, greater system stability, faster transaction speeds, and high-tech applications in their trading app that enhance their trading experience. These remain the key focuses for Vantage. With this in mind, every new app development is driven by the evolving needs of our clients, in line with our vision of creating an All-In-One trading app that combines speed and simplicity for our clients.”

Worldline, a global leader in payment services, announced that its Trusted Authentication solution is officially certified by FIDO Alliance, a worldwide organisation aimed at standardisation and bringing interoperability to the authentication world.

The certification is clear evidence of Worldline’s active online identification strategy in promoting strong authentication, interoperability, and the use of biometrics.

The FIDO Alliance is a global open industry association that aims to reduce the world’s over-reliance on passwords by creating authentication standards. FIDO certifications are a guarantee of quality and security.

Worldline’s FIDO-certified Trusted Authentication offering is a password-free web-based authentication solution that is suitable for all markets. The solution combines FIDO authenticators and Worldline’s back-end server to ensure strong customer authentication (SCA) for online banking use cases, 3DS payments, digital identity, and delegated authentication to retailers.

Important benefits for businesses and consumers

Using Worldline’s Trusted Authentication on FIDO provides numerous benefits for organisations that want to enhance their online security and improve the authentication experience for their customers:

• Improved security: by using cryptographic keys instead of passwords, the FIDO-certified server provides an extra layer of protection against attacks such as phishing, account takeover, and other types of online fraud.
• Interoperability: a seamless and consistent authentication experience across different devices and services is guaranteed thanks to interoperability among a wide range of FIDO-compliant devices and platforms, including smartphones, tablets and laptops.
• User convenience: the authentication process is more convenient and user-friendly, as users are not required to remember complex passwords or carry physical authentication devices. Instead, they can authenticate using biometrics such as fingerprints, facial recognition, or by using a hardware token such as a USB key.
• Cost savings: organisations can save money on password-related support costs, such as password resets and account lockouts. In addition, the risk of data breaches and additional costs such as regulatory fines, legal fees, and damage to reputation, is reduced.

Andrew Shikiar, executive director and CMO of the FIDO Alliance said: “By achieving FIDO certification, Worldline is showing its dedication to the vision of industry standards for strong authentication. They join a powerful FIDO ecosystem vital to widespread adoption of interoperable, strong authentication that simplifies the user experience while raising security and privacy at the same time.”

Tanguy Epale, Head of Digital Services at Worldline Financial Services said: “The FIDO solution helps to combat financial exclusion by offering an alternative to non-smartphone-based authentication. Moreover, the FIDO certification guarantees that our authentication solution is adaptable with other certified devices and services, providing a consistent user experience. It also ensures the solution’s commitment to rigorous security standards, helping to build user confidence in the protection of their personal data.”

HashKey Exchange, the first licensed retail cryptocurrency exchange in Hong Kong, will officially launch on August 28th. As a regulated entity under the supervision of the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong and in collaboration with top-tier banks, HashKey Exchange has pioneered automatic bank transfers for deposits and withdrawals, effectively addressing the industry pain point of frozen accounts and ensuring the security of user assets.

HSK Ecological Points
HashKey Group has introduced HashKey Ecological Points (HSK) to incentivize participants, including users and partners, within the HashKey ecosystem through various use cases. Users can utilize HSK obtained to access special features, enjoy discounted transaction fees, and exclusive benefits on the HashKey platform, among others.

HSK Mystery Box
•Customer Type: Individual customers (including retail customers and individual professional investors)
•All customers who successfully register during the event period will receive a mysterious blind box, which can be opened within 14 days after completing identity verification.
•Event Duration: From 14:00 on August 28th, 2023, to 14:00 on September 4th, 2023 (UTC+8), spanning 7 days.

Super Professional Customer Verification Rewards Event
•Customer Type: Individual professional clients / Corporate / Institutional professional clients
•During the event period, customers who complete verification will receive a generous package of 500 HSK.
•Event Duration: From August 18th, 2023, to September 30th, 2023.
•Contact for Details: VIP@Hashkey.com

Zero Trading Fees
•Customer Type: All customers
•At HashKey Exchange, spot trading incurs no fees. All customers can enjoy zero-rate transactions.
•Details: https://hashkey-pro.zendesk.com/hc/en-gb/articles/20863840032921-Zero-trading-fee-promotion-going-live
•Use item code to get an extra 20 HSK: iezc4, zijaz, ja3o0, 8bjx4, u0xny

API Trading Rewards Event
•Customer Type: All customers
•Trading Type: API trading
•Customers who achieve certain trading volumes and ranking requirements through API trading have a chance to win up to 300,000 HSK as the grand prize.
•Event Start Date: Starting from September 1st, 2023.
•Contact for Details: API@HashKey.com

Upcoming Events
Newcomer Starter Pack
•Customer Type: All customers
•All new customers can receive corresponding HSK rewards by completing beginner tasks. Completing identity verification awards 10 HSK, and an additional 15 HSK can be earned by completing the first transaction.
•Event Start Date: Starting from September 5th, 2023.

Trading Rewards Bonanza
•Customer Type: All customers
•Trading Type: Non-API trading
•During the event period, customers will receive 10 HSK for each trade reaching an equivalent of $10,000.

Coinstore, the world’s leading digital asset exchange announced today that its user base has crossed the 3.6 million milestone with daily transaction volume creating an all-time high value of $450 million. Coinstore’s dedicated local teams in the United Kingdom, India, the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and other regions demonstrate its deep commitment to serving our users with expertise and understanding of their local markets.

The rapid developments in Singapore’s regulatory landscape for digital assets will provide a fertile platform to Coinstore to expand its services and user base across the globe. The latest regulatory guidelines for digital assets issued by Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will create an environment of trust and transparency for all the stakeholders of the industry in the region.

Inspired by the exponential growth, Coinstore is hosting a mega success event in Singapore titled ‘Coinstore Brand Launch Conference 2023’ on September 12, 2023, at The Fullerton Hotel, which will witness active participation from global blockchain companies like Cardano, Dfinity, W3GG, Infinity Ventures Crypto, Emurgo Ventures. The mega event has received generous sponsorship from industry leaders including Animoca Brands, Unix Gaming, Nordek, and more.

Commenting on the development Jennifer Lu, Co-Founder at Coinstore, said “We started Coinstore in December 2020 when awareness around digital assets was limited but we are excited to reveal that Coinstore transformed into a global force with over 3.6 million users who share our vision for the industry. By 2025, our ultimate ambition is to cement our status as the primary entry point for digital assets, catering to millions of users worldwide, and becoming the premier global platform in emerging markets.”

“With over 200 international staff and 13 centres worldwide, we are committed to providing localized professional connections and services to our global user base” She added

Bringing together premium assets from around the world, Coinstore aims to establish itself as the leading premier global platform for exclusive premier listings. In the rapidly evolving landscape of cryptocurrency exchanges, Coinstore stands out by thoroughly analysing the business logic and positioning. With a strong emphasis on product and service experiences, Coinstore proudly presents its brand positioning and value proposition as "The Premier Global Platform for Exclusive Premier Listings."

Leveraging on the momentum of the world's largest blockchain event, Token2049, the upcoming Coinstore Brand Launch Conference 2023 in Singapore marks the official debut of the emerging digital asset exchange, Coinstore. During the event, Coinstore will globally unveil its fresh brand positioning, unveil key regional markets, introduce products and services, as well as outline the company’s future strategic plans.

Attendees at Token2049 are cordially invited to visit Coinstore's Token 2049 booth on the 4th floor (P124) and 5th floor (P19) on the main exhibition areas on 13-14 September 2023. Additionally, on September 13th at 7PM, Coinstore will be hosting the "Coinstore Gamefi night" at The Spot Singapore.

Investment Management firm Mangold Fondkommission has signed an agreement for use of Crosskey’s SaaS-based service for Wealth Management and Capital Markets, replacing incumbent solutions provided by other suppliers as well as numerous components developed in-house.

“We are honoured and excited to be selected as supplying partner for Mangold’s next-generation business support backbone. Crosskey’s service platform will allow Mangold to further automate and integrate several business processes, and to consolidate them onto one single platform. This facilitates improved cost efficiency as well as speedier business development, both short- and long-term. We are eagerly looking forward to continuing our journey together with Mangold” – says Eva Thelin, Business Area Manager at Crosskey Capital Markets.

”We at Mangold Fondkommission are very pleased to have chosen Crosskey's SaaS-based service for Wealth Management and Capital Markets as our integrated Investment Management Solution. We believe that this platform will enable us to automate and integrate our processes, resulting in improved cost efficiency and flexibility in our business development. We are excited to be working with Crosskey and look forward to a successful collaboration” – says David Jansson, COO at Mangold Fondkommission.

Mangold provides financial services to companies, institutions, and private individuals through its two business areas Investment Banking and Private Banking. Mangold is a trading member at Nasdaq Stockholm, Nasdaq Helsinki, Nasdaq Copenhagen, BX Swiss, Spotlight Stock Market, and Nordic Growth Market as well as a Derivatives member at Nasdaq Stockholm. In addition, Mangold acts in both a Clearing Member and an Issuing Agent capacity at Euroclear Sweden. Mangold stock is listed at the Nasdaq Stockholm Main Market under ticker symbol MANG.

Crosskey combines big-league IT capabilities with flexibility, engagement, and a personal touch. We make it easier to create new revenue from financial services, getting you to market faster with the right offering. Our solutions are open for your maximal flexibility. Our expertise covers everything from traditional banking to eBanking, card & mobile payments, capital markets and OpenBanking. A subsidiary of Ålandsbanken, we have offices in Mariehamn, Stockholm, Helsinki, and Turku. 

Malwarebytes, a global leader in real-time cyber protection, announced the acquisition of Cyrus, a disruptive innovator in online privacy solutions. This strategic acquisition reinforces Malwarebytes' commitment to privacy by giving users more control over their information, no matter where or how they choose to browse and interact online. The Cyrus team and technology will also help Malwarebytes strengthen its mobile privacy solutions.

“We firmly believe that data privacy is a human right. Hackers, trackers, location data, and even browsing history are information that individuals should control,” said Marcin Kleczynski, co-founder and CEO of Malwarebytes. “The innovative technology Cyrus has built will allow us to better advise our customers on the intersection of privacy and security while also providing us the tools to safeguard their personal data and online privacy.”

"By leveraging Cyrus’ cutting-edge technology, we can provide an even more holistic, mobile-first, experience that provides context to when, why and how users may be at risk," said Mark Beare, the General Manager of Malwarebytes’ Consumer Business Unit. "The acquisition underscores our mission to provide world-class cybersecurity and privacy solutions and is a logical continuum for our portfolio expansion from Premium Security to Privacy VPN and Browser Guard."

The Cyrus technology looks at security and privacy in a new way, exploring the kill chain for consumer threats – considering social media, dark web content and overall online presence to form a correlated view of threats specific to each individual, helping flag early indicators that something is awry.

"In an era where the digital landscape is increasingly dangerous for consumers, joining forces with Malwarebytes is a pivotal step toward realizing our mission and vision,” said Oren Arar, CEO of Cyrus. “Through this powerful collaboration, we are uniquely positioned to protect millions of people across the world from cybercrime. Our combined strengths will empower individuals to navigate the digital realm with newfound confidence and security."

As part of the acquisition, all Cyrus employees joined Malwarebytes, ensuring a seamless transition for customers and continuous innovation in the areas of mobile and online privacy.

Celerway, a leading provider of business-grade mobile connectivity, has announced the appointment of technology stalwart Marianne Styrman as Chief Operating Officer. 

Styrman, who brings almost 30 years of technology experience as a founder of start-ups and leadership positions at large international technology corporations, will be responsible for Celerway’s operations and management strategy as it continues its growth and innovation across the international market. 

Reporting into Celerway co-Founder and CEO Audun Fosselie Hansen, Styrman’s appointment comes as the company looks to continue to develop its advanced connectivity platforms, allowing businesses to operate beyond the edge and capitalise on the transformative benefits of high-speed, low-latency 5G. 

Styrman was most recently the CEO of Last Mile Solutions, launching the company from a tech start-up to a high-performing business in the loT connectivity space. She was also the CEO of Movilisto and Moustik Holding AG, two telecommunications companies that pioneered SMS services. 

Styrman’s previous experience also includes Texas Instruments as Director of Marketing for Wireless Solutions and Director of loT Solutions at Webstep ASA. Marianne is also currently a Non-Executive Director for Camfil and Radiocrafts, supporting both as an advisor. 

Marianne Styrman, Chief Operating Officer at Celerway, commented: “This is an incredibly exciting time to be joining Celerway and I’m thrilled to help the company go from strength-to-strength. With a focus on the integration of hardware and software at scale, it feels like the perfect fit; to me, Celerway embodies the perfect blend of innovation and drive, allied with an impressive track record of connectivity excellence by offering unbeatable levels of security, latency, extensibility and reliability not seen in any other edge solutions. The connectivity industry is thriving and I'm looking forward to supporting the team as we continue to be important partners for enterprises internationally.”

Audun Fosselie Hansen, Co-founder and CEO of Celerway, said: “Having someone of Marianne’s technology pedigree in our leadership team is invaluable. She brings a wealth of international experience within the connectivity industry and will be a key driver for our growth and innovation strategy.” 

Celerway delivers disruptive, leading-edge, and secured mobile connectivity solutions with unmatched performance to workforces and organisations operating in the field. A standout from its portfolio includes an ultra-compact platform which brings true mobility with built-in high-computing capabilities for ultra-fast, secure access to an organisation’s resources. With all devices configured and managed through the cloud, Celerway simplifies procurement, deployment, management and maintenance for IT teams.

GLN International, a subsidiary of Hana Bank, (GLN) has recently announced the launch of cross-border remittance service; offering instant, secure, and inexpensive money transfers from abroad to all domestic bank accounts in Korea. The service is aimed to benefit Korean residents, international students, and other remittance customers residing overseas. In collaboration with Remitly, a U.S.-based remittance platform, GLN seamlessly disburses funds to the preferred domestic bank accounts of the recipients in Korea, by leveraging GLN's bank-level secure platform.

In August, the Korean financial regulator granted GLN the license to carry out its cross-border remittance service. Through the stability in its transaction processing system and enhanced security GLN is becoming the fastest growing, bank backed fintech company, and gaining recognition of trusted companies such as Remitly.

GLN International Inc. was established as a spin-off from Hana Bank in July 2021 to run its global payment and settlement network business. To build its global financial network business GLN  leverages KEB Hana Bank's global banking network, stringent Anti-Money Laundering (AML) system and compliance policies.

GLN International Inc.'s CEO, Kim Kyung-ho, expressed his enthusiasm for the expanded opportunities for both domestic and international customers to benefit from overseas remittance services through GLN's robust global payment network. He emphasized that overseas remittance is a pivotal aspect of GLN's global market expansion strategy, and with the upcoming initiation of domestic-to-overseas remittance services, they plan to collaborate with various partners to further expand the global remittance market.