Payments and fintech news, October 18-November 1

Our bi-weekly news roundup collects some of the headlines in payments and fintech to watch, giving leaders across industries (or fintech enthusiasts) a quick glance at some of the news in the space. In Flywire’s 10+ years in delivering the most complex, high value payments, we’ve had a unique opportunity to work with many different organizations in the fintech and payments ecosystem. We’ve seen changes in how clients get paid, how their customers want to pay and how central the payments experience has become – not just across the industries we focus on, but every industry.

Here are some of the payments and fintech headlines from Oct. 18-Nov. 1.

Headlines

CFPB aims to give ‘open banking’ rule teeth in 2024 - BankingDive
Speaking at the massive payments industry trade show Money 20/20, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau head Rohit Chopra laid out a vision for what open banking may look like in the U.S. – beginning the process of developing rules that will ultimately promote open banking and open finance.

Visa profit beats as payment volumes surge on travel demand - Reuters
International travel boosted Visa last quarter, as it reported better-than-expected earnings, with Visa’s CFO saying that: "Travel outbound from the U.S. to all geographies continue(s) to pick up steam.”

Countries with better FinTech development saw greater GDP resilience, employment during Covid-19: report - BusinessWire
Is there a connection between stronger fintech ecosystems and GDP? One study by the Ant Group and the Centre for Sustainable Finance Innovation (CSFI) at the Nanyang Business School showed that making the delivery and use of financial services easy and convenient through platforms like mobile phones helped mitigate disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The World Has Changed for Cross-Border Payments, But What’s Next? - Forbes
FXC Intelligence’s Daniel Webber lends his view on cross-border payments takeaways from Money 20/20, noting the absence of technologies like crypto at the event, and adding that they are “being deprioritized in favor of practical solutions that can easily be turned into profitable product lines.”

Compliance Shortfalls Signal Increased Security Concerns - ITProToday
Despite knowledge of the risks of falling short of PCI and HIPAA compliance, many organizations are still challenged to identify what they’re responsible for adhering to, and to implement controls and devote enough resources to maintaining compliance, according to a new report by cybersecurity vendor Arctic Fox.

Video: Bank of America at Sibos 2022 – Cross-border payments trends -FinTech Futures
Speaking at Sibos 2022 in Amsterdam, Derrick Walton, head of emerging payments, GTS at Bank of America, shared how Bank of America is looking at innovating on cross-border payments, and where real-time payments may come in.

From Flywire

Euro-dollar parity: What does it mean for travel businesses?
For travel businesses that serve global travelers, navigating the currency markets has always posed complexity. But oversimplification of currency exchange can create unrealistic expectations on the part of travelers about the true cost of cross-border travel payments, because parity isn’t really equal.

How to invoice international franchisees: Three considerations
Not paying attention to foreign exchange rates and the unique considerations of international expansion can have ripple effects on your business and franchising strategy. Here are three ways to ease the complexities of cross-border invoicing.

Can cross-border B2B payments ever be as easy as domestic?
We sat down with Ryan Frere, EVP and GM of Flywire B2B, to discuss the ins and outs of doing business internationally and how small and medium-sized businesses can make international B2B payments as easy as domestic payments.

Lessons from Flywire’s journey to multi-billion dollar valuation
Mike Massaro spoke with Lars Albright of Unusual Ventures about his career path, his incredible journey at Flywire and the five major lessons he has learned along the way.

Report of the week

How the rise of PayTech is reshaping the payments landscape - EY
PayTechs make up ¼ of all fintech companies, EY’s new report estimates. The report looks at seven ways the technology PayTechs use or enable is reshaping the payments industry, with the authors writing that “PayTechs will continue to drive transformation, but incumbent PSPs (payment service providers) also have a major role to play in shaping the future outlook of the sector to better serve their customers and guide them into the next payments era.”

Stat of the week

2/3 of the treasury professionals surveyed by AFP named improving payments processes, both incoming and outgoing, as among their most challenging tasks, according to the Association for Financial Professionals’ 2022 Strategic Role of Treasury survey.

Conversation starter

JP Morgan Chase wants to disrupt the rent check with its payments platform for landlords and tenants
Could the rent check – by which 78% of renters make their housing payments – go digital? JPMorgan is piloting software that allows renters to pay their landlords online. The software also automates invoicing and receipt processes. By digitizing the payment process, JPMorgan also hopes to offer users access to data and analytics that could help with everything from setting rent levels to providing insight on where to make future investments.