Paystand has successfully raised $20 million in its Series B funding round, VentureBeat and others reported on Feb. 6. The company will use this money to accelerate the growth of its blockchain-based commercial payment platform. The current round includes investment from DNX Ventures, Battery Ventures, Epic Ventures, Commerce Ventures and Wildcat Ventures. Existing investors Leap Global Partners, BlueRun Ventures and others also participated. The company will use the funds to expand its teams in Scotts Valley, California and Guadalajara, Mexico, as well as funding the expansion of its product lines. Paystand offers a blockchain-based platform for its customers that digitizes …

Ripple, the firm behind the third largest cryptocurrency XRP, has made a new partnership to bolster cross-border payments between the United States and Mexico. The company has partnered with International Money Express, a money remittance services firm focused on the Latin and Caribbean corridor, Ripple announced on Feb. 5. Also known as Intermex, the new financial partner of Ripple is listed on the Nasdaq stock market with the stock quote IMXI. The new partnership could enable Intermex to implement Ripple's On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) product through RippleNet, the company’s global payment network connecting financial institutions. RippleNet’s ODL relies on the digital …

Payments behemoth Visa is reportedly planning to change merchant fees rates for United States-based merchants as part of a major update of its point-of-sale system. The development was revealed in a document Visa sent to banks announcing an upgrade of its system, which will be rolled out in April and October, Bloomberg reported on Feb. 4. With the move, the payments giant aims to push merchants to stop using checks, as well as adjust its new fee structure for new businesses. What to expect? Visa is reportedly planning to introduce higher rates for transactions on e-commerce platforms and lower rates …

The leading provider of Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency payment services, BitPay, announced on Feb. 4 that the company will soon allow invoices to be paid from any Bitcoin wallet or exchange. BitPay CEO Stephen Pair told Cointelegraph that the decision to enable merchant payments from any Bitcoin wallet was driven by merchant feedback, putting control back in the hands of over 30 thousand active merchants currently using BitPay: “BitPay’s customers want to support all the Bitcoin wallets, just like they want to support all cryptocurrencies for payments. The company has decided to re-enable support for all wallets, which is referred …

Mode, a financial services firm backed by Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, has rolled out its Bitcoin (BTC) banking app on iOS devices. The British company made its app available globally, with the exception of the United States, fintech-focused media outlet Finextra reported on Feb. 4. Customers can start using the app with as much as £50 ($65) and buy Bitcoin with bank cards or through a bank transfer. The funds are further processed through digital assets custodian BitGo. Mode addresses speed and security issues The app ostensibly allows users to credit funds almost instantly by means of a Faster Payments …

Hong Kong-based blockchain remittance startup Bitspark has abruptly announced its closure, citing internal restructuring issues. On Feb. 3, Bitspark co-founder and CEO George Harrap officially announced the platform’s plans to shut down its services on March 4, 2020. According to the statement, Bitspark users will be able to withdraw their cryptocurrencies from Feb. 3 to March 4 as the platform’s functionality will stay intact over the period. After March 4, account logins will be disabled for a period of 90 days, with users being able to withdraw their funds via Bitspark customer support, the announcement reads. Harrap emphasized that the …

During an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph, BitPay CEO Stephen Pair said that the platform would soon add support for more cryptocurrencies, along with a possible Lighting Network integration. While Pair was unable to disclose which cryptos would be added to the platform next, he mentioned there’s focus on the top performing blockchains with the highest market capitalization. He said: “I’m not going to specifically name which ones we will add, but you can look at CoinMarketCap to see all the top blockchains and come up with good guesses in what we are interested in. We are looking at cryptocurrencies that …

French fintech companies Ingenico and Worldline are set to merge, according to a Feb. 3 press release. The €7.8 billion ($8.6 billion) buyout deal was accepted by shareholders of the companies, both of which had previous exposure to crypto. The merger and significance for shareholders As part of the agreement, Worldline will offer Ingenico shareholders a mixed cash and stock compensation, with a premium of 17 percent over its Monday trading levels. The combined entity will be held primarily by Wordline shareholders, with 65 percent, while the remaining 35 percent will be in the hands of Ingenico investors. The merger …

Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga explained his concerns about Libra in a Feb. 3 interview with the Financial Times. He bashed Libra for its lack of transparency while arguing that national payment systems are “really stupid.” Mastercard was one of the founding members of the Libra association, along with Visa, PayPal and Stripe. All four left in Oct. 2019 with no proper explanation, though rumors indicated fear of running afoul of regulators. Stepping on governmental toes Compliance appears to have been the primary cause for the sudden decision. The Libra association’s key members reportedly refused to commit to “not do anything …

The National Bank of Cambodia’s new digital currency is called Bakong. It’s effectively a central bank digital currency (CBDC) that was launched on a trial basis throughout Cambodia in July. Chea Serey, director-general of the National Bank of Cambodia, said the system will be operational within the present fiscal quarter. Serey described Bakong as “the national payment gateway for Cambodia.” Bakong will play a central role in bringing all players in the payment space in Cambodia under the same platform, making it easy for end-users to pay each other regardless of the institutions they bank with. Eventually, we hope to …

Congress clearly has crypto on the brain, with the question of regulation being a matter of when. At a Jan. 30 hearing before the Fintech Task Force, a body within the United States House of Representatives, lawmakers were focused on bringing crypto into the conversation. The basics The hearing — entitled “Is Cash Still King? Reviewing the Rise of Mobile Payments” — featured testimony from witnesses with backgrounds spanning payment providers, consumer advocates and financial inclusion non-profits. While some of the written testimony provided by the witnesses before the hearing mentioned cryptocurrencies, the degree to which the industry occupied the …

BCB Group, a European crypto-focused payment processor for the likes of major global crypto firms like Coinbase, has secured a license from British regulators. The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has officially approved the firm’s core subsidiary, BCB Payments, as an authorized payment institution (API), BCB Group announced on Jan. 29. The company is now officially regulated both in the U.K. and Switzerland Having secured an API license from the FCA, BCB Group now holds two regulatory approvals to offer cryptocurrency-related services in Europe. BCB Payments sister firm, BCB OTC Trading SARL, is already regulated in Switzerland as it’s …