12.04.17 Your morning briefing

The information you need to start your day, from PaymentsSource and around the Web:

Apple at night: Apple reportedly released an iOS update in the middle of the night on Friday that brought new features such as Apple Pay Cash, Apple’s competitive answer to PayPal’s Venmo social P-to-P transfer app. Engadget reports the iOS 11.2 update came as part of an automated reset at 12:15 AM on Dec. 2. Consumers cannot use Apple Pay Cash yet to make payments since the app isn’t live yet, reports Engadget, and Apple Pay Cash will be available only in the U.S. when it does go live. Users log into Apple Pay Cash via the cloud an add a credit or debit card before sending funds through Green Dot. There’s a 4% fee for credit cards, and debit transfers are free. The app has been in beta testing since early November. Other iOS updates on Friday night included faster wireless charging and new sports content.

Bloomberg News

Twitter’s tip: Twitter is trying to add more video producers to its Periscope streaming service, a strategy that involves the Periscope Super Broadcaster program, which supports a tipping “buy button” for viewers to send funds to content creators. TechCrunch reports the program is designed to help Twitter’s Periscope compete with Facebook Live, Twitch and YouTube. Similar to YouTube’s emotes, Periscope, which also resides in a content creator payment market with crowdfunders such as Patreon, offers “super hearts,” or animated icons that fans buy to support streamers. Periscope also recently changed its compensation program. It had paid creators 70% of the value of super hearts after taking out Apple and Google’s 30% tax on in-app purchases, according to TechCrunch. It now allows creators to keep all earnings, after a $1 administration fee.

Fuel for central bank digital currency: The argument that governments should back their own virtual currencies goes back several years, and is getting a renewed boost from the Bank of Canada, which contends central bank cryptocurrency could be less expensive than cash or cards for merchants and consumers. The Financial Post reports researchers Walter Engert and Ben Fung found several reasons why central banks would want to issue their own virtual currencies, including increased contestability in payments providing a no-fee alternative to cash and cards. The virtual currency could also encourage stability because the money would not be backed by private credit, according to the researchers, who add that argument could be offset by the negative impact on bank funding and credit provision that would result from a government-backed virtual currency.

Baconator delivery: Wendy’s is getting in on the trend that pairs digital payments with delivery for meals via the chain’s mobile app. Engadget reports Wendy’s is collaborating with DoorDash to support mobile order and delivery in 48 markets following a test in Columbus, Ohio—noting Frosties and the Baconator were popular delivery items during the test. DoorDash has similar partnerships with Taco Bell, KFC, and Baskin-Robbins. UberEats has a partnership with McDonald’s. Engadget also notes new delivery technology is rapidly developing, including a Domino’s pilot in Ann Arbor, Mich., in which a self-driving car makes deliveries. Domino’s has additionally tested drones and autonomous rovers as delivery vehicles.

Maltese blockchain: Malta is working on a national blockchain, which includes a study and public comment period for cryptocurrencies. The government will form a legal framework over the next year to govern distributed ledger technology, and has invited experts to weigh in on initial coin offerings, cryptocurrencies and other services related to alternative currency. Finextra reports the country hopes to become an international center for blockchain operators, who are increasingly using the technology to power cross-border payments, authentication and trading transactions. Statis.Net, a company that consults with governments on the construction of blockchains, has announced it will submit a set of recommendations to the Maltese government.

From the Web

Senators introduce data breach disclosure bill
CNN | Fri Dec 1, 2017 – Executives could face jail time for not reporting data breaches in a timely manner, if a proposed bill becomes law. Three Democrat senators introduced on Thursday the Data Security and Breach Notification Act, which would require companies to report data breaches within 30 days. If an individual knowingly conceals a data breach, they could face up to five years in prison. The bill’s introduction follows Uber’s recent disclosure of a major 2016 data breach. After hackers stole data on 57 million customers late last year, Uber paid them $100,000 to destroy the data. It did not disclose the breach to the public or regulators until last week.

PayPal says personal data may be compromised for 1.6 million TIO users
Fox Business | Fri Dec 1, 2017 – PayPal Holdings Inc. said Friday that personally identifiable information for roughly 1.6 million users has potentially been compromised at a company it acquired earlier this year. Last month, the payments firm suspended operations, pending a security review, of its TIO Networks unit. That company makes digital bill-payment tools for utilities and other firms and also operates a network of kiosks in physical retail stores. PayPal said Friday that an investigation into security vulnerabilities at TIO had found users’ information was potentially compromised.

Mexican remittances jump to record high in October
Reuters | Sat Dec 2, 2017 – Mexican migrants sent home a record $2.643 billion in October, a 19 percent increase compared to the same month last year, following a sharp depreciation of the peso during the month, central bank data showed on Friday. Remittances in October were the highest for any month in data going back to 1995, eclipsing a previous record of $2.638 billion in October 2008. Mexico’s peso weakened sharply against the dollar in October due to concerns that U.S. President Donald Trump could move to end the nearly 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that has underpinned Mexican export growth.

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6 ‘villages’ built around mobile payments
Mobile wallets have always had a chicken-and-egg problem: Why should merchants accept them if consumers don’t use them, and why should consumers use them if merchants don’t accept them?

Ignoring bots means missing consumers’ new payment demands
Voice-based payments are part of the “instant gratification” consumers will expect from payment and financial services companies, writes Hicham Tahiri, a Paris-based fintech entrepreneur.