Tag Archives: paypal

Cryptos’ Place In Digital Commerce’s “Walled Gardens”

Cryptocurrencies have become controversial for many reasons. These currencies are volatile, and it is hard to tell who will support them and which authorities will refuse to accept them. There’s also a sense of immaturity in some segments, as many people post social media messages bashing some currencies, not to mention some currencies are promoted more as a joke. Increased worries about how cryptocurrencies are contributing to global warming only make things harder for some parties.

There is still a potential for cryptocurrencies to become more valuable in the digital commerce world. The walled garden approach may be a necessity for the industry’s future. It will bring in many retailers who might be interested in doing business with cryptocurrencies.

The walled garden approach entails buyers and sellers getting together through many settings or a singular platform. People can exchange currencies in the environment through one infrastructure that can support all these settings or other features. A digital wallet platform can be essential to the success of the process.

The setup allows for a space where people can handle their assets. While there are rules on who can enter a walled garden ecosystem, the platform still offers a useful system that everyone can follow.

Understanding How a Walled Garden Works

The idea of a walled garden sounds like it is restrictive, what with it being in a closed setup. But the system itself can be advantageous, as it provides a more controlled approach to managing cryptocurrency payments. It can create an organized setup that allows transactions to work effectively and in moments.

A walled garden operates as a closed ecosystem. The end-user is limited to whatever services or apps one can utilize. The end-user will be led towards specific apps or solutions for handling transactions or other activities.

For cryptocurrencies, the walled garden will entail people being limited to using a specific app or exchange to handle currency transactions. The ecosystem will support various cryptocurrencies and can handle as many apps or other platforms as it wishes. The walled garden operator has control over whatever it wishes to program or utilize.

What Organizations Could Use These Walled Gardens?

There are no limits over who could use these walled gardens to keep their setups up and running. One example to explore entails how PayPal is managing cryptocurrencies.

PayPal has an ecosystem where users can link their wallets to Coinbase. Customers can then buy currencies through the exchange. PayPal’s goal is to make these currencies accessible for shopping purposes. Customers can use the crypto items they have in their wallets and use them to pay for items through various participating merchants. PayPal has reported substantial growths in its user base and activities over crypto payments, especially as the system makes it easier for people to complete these payments.

The retailer and auction site eBay also has hopes to establish a crypto walled garden. eBay hasn’t participated in the crypto market since abandoning its support of Facebook’s Libra project a few years back. But eBay has expressed some interest in returning to the crypto field, particularly with an ecosystem that supports crypto payments. The walled garden system would likely entail eBay limiting people over what they can use for collecting crypto funds and moving them. But with eBay having so many retailers out there, the places where people could spend those assets would be varied and diverse.

Will Amazon Take Flight?

Amazon could also start a separate ecosystem where it can handle cryptocurrencies. As the world’s most influential retailer, Amazon has been at the forefront of impacting different transactions in many forms. The potential for Amazon to start accepting more currencies and to use a walled garden that links customers with various entities could be significant.

Upcoming new Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has expressed an interest in entering the crypto industry. But most people who use Amazon Web Services systems use it to manage data and not handle cryptocurrency payments. But AWS will support blockchain transactions soon and could start making use of Bitcoin and other currencies. Such support might push the crypto industry further, especially since Amazon has immense influence over the digital commerce environment.

Some places have already been using cryptocurrencies in their platforms. Newegg has been a longtime supporter of Bitcoin, and Shopify has allowed business operators to accept currencies of all sorts. Shopify even joined the Facebook Libra project, possibly linking it with a new currency that the social media giant might produce someday. Facebook has been trying to produce something new for a while, but whether it will come to fruition remains unclear.

The Walled Garden Is An Evolution

The walled garden approach that so many providers might use shows how the crypto industry has evolved over the years. The walled garden allows for more freedom to manage currencies. While there are rules as to what platforms can work and who people can contact, there is greater flexibility over what assets can work on the platform. More retailers and parties can link with one another if they stay within the same walled garden system.

The walled garden system is an evolution over the Facebook Credits platform from nearly ten years ago. Facebook Credits had a platform that didn’t offer much of an incentive to retailers, keeping it from going far. But today’s new walled garden setup makes it easier for businesses to grow and succeed. They can work with a more thorough infrastructure that includes more trusted sources for funds.

People looking for new ways to spend money should see how the walled garden ecosystem can work when handling cryptocurrencies. The physical and digital fields are uniting, as more people can use cryptocurrencies for payments now than ever before. There’s a great potential for more parties to complete transactions in secure environments. People who are interested in cryptocurrencies will need to see how these could work well soon.

Fiserv Delivers POS QR Codes With PayPal and Venmo

People have been using Venmo and PayPal to handle many financial transactions as of late. People are also using QR codes more often, as they are easy to scan and are more secure than other communication methods.

The financial payment service provider Fiserv is working with both Venmo and PayPal to manage mobile transactions. Fiserv will help introduce new QR codes that can work through PayPal and Venmo to run contactless payments.

Fiserv’s new system will allow businesses that use the Clover POS platform or the Fiserv Carat omnichannel system to accept Venmo and PayPal QR codes. The effort provides businesses the option to make in-person shopping and commerce more convenient.

Contactless payment options have never been more important than they are now. Providing customers the option to handle QR payments from PayPal or Venmo will be a plus for any business to consider.

But merchants often struggle in trying to find contactless payment solutions. It can be challenging for some merchants to support multiple payment platforms. The great news about Fiserv’s move is that it can work with the same platform that one uses right now. People who use Carat or Clover platforms can produce new QR codes that can work with existing PayPal and Venmo-supported devices, making it easier for them to complete transactions in moments.

How the System Works

The Venmo and PayPal app have become essential tools for contactless payments. But not all businesses are capable of collecting payments from these sources. The QR code system that Fiserv is supporting will allow businesses that use their POS system to accept these codes from a PayPal or Venmo account. The system works in moments and does not require the company to produce anything new.

The system can work with a few steps:

The customer can open one’s PayPal or Venmo app. The app is available for all major mobile phones and tablets.
The customer will then select an option to scan an item. The setup will link to the device’s camera. The customer can then look for a QR code to scan here.
The user then scans the QR code the retailer produces on the Clover or Carat program. The QR code must be on a customer-facing display.
The buyer will then confirm the purchase information on the PayPal or Venmo app. The app will display the funds the user will send to the seller.
A second verification method may work in some situations. The buyer has the option to use this for security purposes.
The money will move between the two parties, completing the transaction.

The system is very convenient and provides a simple approach to payments that everyone will appreciate. The process offers a touch-free way to pay for items. The customer can also link one’s credit or debit card to a PayPal or Venmo account, giving that person more freedom over what someone will use when paying for items.

What Makes the Process Ideal For Businesses?

Businesses that use the Clover or Carat platform should look at how well Fiserv’s support for QR codes can work. There are many positives for businesses to note:

Accepting QR codes can boost customer loyalty. Customers will be more likely to return to a store because they know the retailer can support the payment methods they want to utilize.
Customers might prefer to use QR code payments because they are easier.
A company may be interpreted as being more modern and with the times if it can support new payment methods and processes.
QR codes are more secure than other scanning methods. All items in a QR transaction will be encrypted, as the data is hard to decipher without the proper equipment.
Each QR transaction can work with a unique code. QR codes can store more data than a traditional platform, providing a consistent system for work.
QR codes are easy to produce on any computer. The code design can also be read on any screen. A user could even scan that code if it is partially obscured or if the screen is covered in dust, fingerprints, or anything else. The user can also spot it at an angle, as a scanner can identify QR data faster than a barcode scanner can monitor that unique code.
People who use Venmo and PayPal will have an easier time linking their credit cards, bank accounts, or other things to their payments. PayPal and Venmo both support many solutions for payment purposes. Customers will appreciate how they have more control over the payment types they will manage through this setup.

Testing Has Been Working

The expansion comes as PayPal has been testing its QR code payment system. PayPal established a pilot program last year where QR code payments were made available in a few global markets. The testing helped review how well QR-based transactions work and if they can make the sale process easy to follow.

PayPal’s testing has helped forward new QR-based solutions for payment purposes. Venmo’s setup is similar to what PayPal already uses for transactions. By expanding the payment options people can use, it becomes easier for all parties to handle their transactions well and without risk.

The process ensures transactions can flow well and that they can work as necessary. The problem with some traditional payment methods is that some cards are hard for devices to read. By using QR codes, it becomes easier to transfer the data between parties. It is also a safer approach, as the QR code will be different for each transaction. Moving towards this payment option will be a necessity to explore as the payment industry continues to shift.

Fiserv’s effort in managing QR transactions will be a practice worth watching. Fiserv has been at the forefront of payment technologies for years. The group’s new effort in handling QR codes from Venmo and PayPal will be a sight to be seen to stay on top, especially as many others might adopt the same payment process.

PayPal Launches New Merchant Fraud Protection Tool

Digital threats are becoming common, and there are concerns on how well businesses can stay protected from these issues. The global pandemic has prompted many people to complete more transactions online. These include card-not-present deals that might be vulnerable to online threats and other concerns. These problems may continue well after the pandemic officially ends. People have become more used to handling online transactions.

PayPal is responding to these increasing concerns by releasing a new merchant fraud protection tool. PayPal is launching the new Fraud Protection Advanced system to protect businesses. The system will work with prior fraud details to find new instances and help flag transactions that might cause trouble.

PayPal’s Fraud Protection Advanced setup will help businesses review potential fraud situations. It uses network information and machine learning to provide smart results.

PayPal produced this setup thanks to the partnerships the company has with many analytics organizations. The company has more than twenty years of data surrounding merchant activities and signs of fraud. The team will use this data to find certain issues.

The move comes as more people are resorting to online commerce than ever. But as more people are shopping online, there is also an increased risk of fraud and other illegal activities. It is easier for data thieves to steal content. Many online merchants don’t have the tools necessary to prevent fraud.

PayPal’s aim is to use digital information and predictive analysis to find potential fraud activities. The design reduces the risk of managing transactions and ensures online deals can remain safe. It allows businesses to collect the funds they deserve.

What Does the Service Offer?

The Fraud Protection Advance service will use many technologies to identify fraudulent transactions. Much of this entails working with analytics and machine learning.

The system can identify situations where fraud is likely to occur. The work includes reviewing online consumer behavior and identifying signs of data theft or fraud.

The setup uses real-time data modeling to note unique fraud patterns and to block potential transactions. It works with prior information surrounding different transactions and fraud activities to review instances where fraud may develop. These reviews help prevent fraud and other issues from developing. The work reduces risks and ensures businesses can get the money they deserve.

The Fraud Protection Tool also reviews routine tasks and monitors how well they function. These tasks are monitored based on how well they operate and what changes might develop. It can also find potential threats and activities that are going on outside of routine efforts. Such reviews can help find potentially unusual or difficult activities that might compromise the quality of the business.

The General Goal

The goal of the Fraud Protection Advance service is to prevent chargebacks from occurring. Many cases of fraud lead to chargebacks. These instances of a card company having to reimburse a customer can be a problem, especially since many card companies have zero-liability policies. A person might commit a fraudulent transaction that leads to a chargeback. The move causes the business to lose money and inventory due to fraud.

False declines may also occur in some cases. A false decline entails a person’s card being rejected despite that person not having done anything wrong with one’s card. These false declines can be substantial hits on a business, as they might prevent some people from doing business with a website. The issue can cause some businesses to lose revenue due to people not completing their transactions as they wish.

These issues often occur during card-not-present or CNP transactions. A CNP deal can happen online, which is also where many cases of fraud may develop.

Such concerns can cause parties to lose out on future transactions. The support that PayPal has for preventing future fraud issues will be critical in ensuring everyone can stay safe and protected from various forms of harm.

Noting the Concern of Fraud

PayPal’s new fraud protection system comes as nearly a fifth of people in the United States purchased things online in 2020. The value is a record, with much of it coming from the closures of many physical businesses around the country. But it has also made it to where data thieves are more willing to steal online data from other people.

Hundreds of analysts report that businesses are losing millions of dollars each year from digital fraud. But most companies haven’t done much to try and combat the issue. The hope is for people to start putting in more of an initiative to fight data theft.

PayPal has hopes that it can help prevent data theft and reduce the risks each business holds. The Fraud Protection Advanced system will ensure businesses will have the analytics and reports necessary to help them stop data theft beforehand.

Necessary For Increased Online Sales

The new work PayPal is introducing is critical for ensuring that businesses will stay protected when handling online transactions. As the global pandemic progresses, it becomes evident that people are more willing than ever to do business online. They are also interested in handling contact-free transactions. These points have gone from being out of safety to out of convenience, especially as people see what makes such transactions beneficial.

Many of the people who are making the shift to online transactions include millennials and bridge millennials. They have been refining their digital habits over the past year, and they are leading the way in managing more online transactions. But there always exists the risk that some people may attempt to commit fraud and acquire things for free. The issue can lead to chargebacks, which can cause a business to lose more money than it can afford to manage.

PayPal’s merchant fraud protection system will potentially reduce the risk from managing online transactions. The work will reduce the general threat involved and ensure no one’s data is lost. The effort is critical for today’s increasingly online world.

PayPal Top Target for Phishing

Over the past 15 years or so, phishing has been an unfortunately effective practice whereby a thief will make an attempt to obtain peoples’ login information to a number of websites. The fact that it’s still being used extensively to this day is a testament to just how effective a scam it is. Vade Secure has recently released the quarterly Phishers’ Favorites report which has unveiled a new top target for phishers in mobile payments leader PayPal.

The top 25 imitated brands were examined in Vade Secure’s report, and it also shined a light on many of the tactics employed by the phishers as they pose as these various websites in an attempt to break security and obtain users’ data and information. Ever since the Vade Secure reports first began in the second quarter of 2018, Microsoft has had the privilege of owning the number 1 spot when it comes to the company most targeted for phishing. As of the first quarter of 2019, however, Microsoft lost that top spot to PayPal. Online streaming service Netflix, with its 158 million subscribers worldwide, is next in line at 3rd place.

There are some fairly scary statistics that come with PayPal’s sudden rise to the top of the phishing ladder. Vade’s AI engine found 16,547 unique PayPal phishing URLs, breaking down to as many as around 180 per day, up almost 70% on the previous year. It wasn’t just PayPal that was making gains in this fashion, either. Of the top 25 brands when it comes to phishing, 10 were financial services brands, such as Bank of America, Chase, and CIBC, all of which were in the top 10.

PayPal, Microsoft and Netflix, just like any bank or any high street store, are holding facilities for data. Data which, eventually down the line, is going to allow phishers the ability to access money. This is why it should come as no surprise to see financial institutions and companies such as PayPal, Microsoft, and Netflix becoming well represented in lists such as the Vade Secure Quarterly Phisher’s Favorites report due to them being the prime targets for such an effort, and also being in charge of the data that those looking to steal data would find most valuable.

And one last thing to consider if you are a merchant and you are worried about security affecting your bottom line: Host Merchant Services Data Breach Security Program. Click that link to download a PDF explaining the value-added service HMS provides its merchants that goes above and beyond just simple PCI Compliance and helps ensure a merchant’s peace of mind.

PayPal’s Xoom Launches Domestic Money Transfers with Walmart

PayPal’s international money transfer service Xoom has this week made the announcement that, for the first time, their customers will be able to make money transfers to recipients in the United States. These P2P mobile payments will occur in a matter of minutes thanks to strategic alliances set up with Walmart and money transfer company Ria.

This has the potential to benefit more than 44 million foreign-born men and women who are living in the U.S. and regularly send money to friends and family back in their native countries. The partnership with Walmart allows Americans to take advantage of Xoom to send money to one of almost 5,000 locations all over the country for almost immediate cash pickup.

In a statement earlier this week, Vice President and General Manager of Xoom Julian King said, “Many of our customers in the U.S. already send money to loved ones in the country, and they usually prefer that the money is available right away.” He went on to say, “This rollout reinforces our commitment to make money transfers fast, easy and affordable for everyone, whether they are at home or on the go.”

In addition to King’s statement, CEO of Euronet’s Money Transfer Segment Juan Bianchi said, “At Ria, we are delighted to further consolidate our relationship with Xoom and Walmart. Our continued partnership is a fine example of how Ria’s technology can serve as an enabler between platforms, offering consumers and partners an added layer of security and compliance screening, in turn facilitating value creation within the Fintech ecosystem.”

All of this comes shortly after Xoom expanded into the United Kingdom and European markets earlier in July with remittances being paid out to individuals living in 130 countries such as India, China, Nigeria, and the Philippines. Xoom also made the announcement in October that individuals in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and 31 other European markets are now able to directly send P2P payments to South Korean bank accounts. In only a matter of minutes, money can be sent from the app and received by Woori Bank, Shinhan Bank and Kookmin Bank.

Xoom has set themselves up as a pioneer in digital remittances by offering their customers fast and secure ways to send money and pay bills for friends and family living in over 160 countries worldwide. For many of these people all over the world, these remittances serve as something of a lifeline and help them to pay their day-to-day expenses such as medical bills, utility bills, and education costs. In the more traditional ways of old, the cash-based system of sending money to other countries has been full of costly fees, paperwork, and a load of uncertainty as to whether the money will arrive, or if the money will arrive in time for when it’s needed. PayPal and Xoom have been helping to improve and expand the finances of millions worldwide by providing them with speedy, secure payment options when sending money or making mobile payments across borders, only with none of the aforementioned drawbacks.

PayPal President Hacked [2023 Update]

Smart Chip Didn’t Help

Marcus speculated that thieves probably skimmed the info from the magnetic stripe on his card, even though his card had an EMV chip, a technology that makes cards in Europe more secure than the ones commonly used in the U.S.

EMV® chip technology– or EMV — is a worldwide standard for credit and debit card payments based around the use of chip card technology. The acronym stands for Europay, MasterCard, and Visa, who collaborated to create the technology. The goal of this project was to create a card that worked based off of a microprocessor chip that is read by the payment terminal. Because the U.S. has yet to widely deploy embedded chip technology, the nation has increasingly become the focus of hackers seeking to steal such information. The stolen data can easily be turned into phony credit cards that are sold on black markets around the world.

Is it Just a Marketing Ploy?

Marcus adroitly used the incident as an opportunity to plug his own company, suggesting that the fraud wouldn’t have happened if the merchant had accepted PayPal. His company is currently trying to expand its presence as a payment option in physical stores, putting it in direct competition with platforms like Square and Google Wallet.

It also comes right when data breaches are major news in the payment processing industry. On December 19 2013, Target confirmed a sophisticated data breachoccured. In their press release they stated: “Approximately 40 million credit and debit card accounts may have been impacted between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15, 2013. Target alerted authorities and financial institutions immediately after it was made aware of the unauthorized access, and is putting all appropriate resources behind these efforts. Among other actions, Target is partnering with a leading third-party forensics firm to conduct a thorough investigation of the incident.”

So Marcus’ misfortune happens right at the time identity theft, credit card fraud and hackers are on everyone’s mind. With EMV chip cards being touted as one of the best solutions to the hacking problem, Marcus’ mishap even taps into that buzz.

Stripe, Transparency, and User Rights

Discover Teams Up with PayPal [2023 Update]

Merchants United!

As we purposely pointed out to our peerless readers just mere days ago, the Merchant Customer Exchange was formed. This epic assemblage of retail industry giants teams Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Best Buy Co. and Target Corp, 7-Eleven Inc., Alon Brands Inc., CVS Caremark Corp., Darden Restaurants Inc., Lowes Co., Sunoco Inc., Sears Holding Corp. and the Publix Supermarket chains into a mega-group of retail merchant might on a mobile wallet mission.

Coming on the heels of Visa’s saturation of the 2012 London Olympics with all things Mobile and all things Visa, the mighty mingling of the MCX merchants applied unforeseen amounts of pressure on the mobile payment marketplace.

Mobile Payment Paring: Discover and PayPal

On August 22 PayPal, owned by eBay, announced a deal with Discover Financial Services to bring PayPal access to the 7 million merchants in Discover’s network. This deal will begin in the second quarter of 2013 and the announcement was made a mere two weeks after Square partnered up with Starbucks to let customers pay with Square’s app at the 7,000 U.S. Starbucks locations.

Excelsior! Retail titans are teaming up with mobile gadgeteers in one mass scramble to make it to market before the U.S. consumer becomes firmly affixed on the easiest and most widespread brand — as is wont to happen with U.S. shopper market behavior.

The PayPal deal is a particular point of note because PayPal itself is pushing from the online marketplace back into the physical realm of brick and mortar. This may indeed help bridge the gap from e-commerce to old fashioned commerce, and that bifrost of payment processing could very well buttress mobile payment processing in a brave new world of cashles-sness and contactless transactions.

The super-powered pairing of Discover and PayPal drove stock prices for each company, with Discover gaining 3.9% and eBay gaining 2.5% on the market the day the announcement was made. This arrangement will greatly accelerate PayPal’s in-store payment efforts. By riding on Discover’s network, PayPal can get into more locations and get there quickly. Best of all this movement doesn’t requiring any significant integration work by merchants. That potentially puts PayPal at a big advantage against rival mobile payment systems such as Google Wallet, Isis, and Square.

Discover is integrating PayPal’s payment system into its software, which will be uploaded to millions of point-of-sale terminals that support Discover Card payments. PayPal’s branding and rules will be presented to consumers who choose to pay in store with PayPal. PayPal currently has more than 50 million U.S. customers who will be able to take advantage of in-store payments.