Coin News

A bill that would ban so-called money surrogates such as bitcoin in Russia has an uncertain future.

Earlier this month, the Rubix by Deloitte team started rolling out their beta product, Rubix Core, with an early release to a group of...

The post Deloitte Team Launches Custom Blockchain Solution Rubix Core appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

Bitcoin exchange and wallet service Coinbase is adding support for ether, the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum network.

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Samsung Pay customers should be very pleased with the mobile wallet's new feature.

Samsung's proprietary mobile wallet added loyalty card support on Wednesday. The wallet will now support "all U.S. retail membership and loyalty cards," along with some insurance and personal identification cards, reports ZDNet. Users can store up to 100 membership or loyalty cards in the wallet and scan the barcode at checkout, according to The Verge.

Mobile wallet users crave loyalty and rewards programs. Almost 25% of users want to use their mobile phones to manage their gift cards, loyalty programs, and rewards cards, according to the U.S. Federal Reserve.

And customers actually use these services when available. Within a few months of this feature's launch on Apple Pay, approximately 25% of cards loaded into the mobile wallet were proprietary store or loyalty cards.

This new feature could help boost Samsung Pay's biggest advantage, which is that customers can use it at any terminal that accepts either magnetic stripe or NFC-based payments. That has led to solid adoption of the mobile wallet in the early going, and this loyalty feature should only help boost that adoption.

The loyalty card feature could increase Samsung Pay usage because rewards programs incentivize customers to make purchases frequently. This new feature streamlines the rewards process, so customers should be more inclined to use Samsung Pay as a result.

The introduction of this new feature is the latest piece of the rapidly evolving payments ecosystem. Mobile wallets are flooding the market, and new technologies are changing the way that we pay for goods and services.

Evan Bakker and John Heggestuen, analysts at BI Intelligence, have compiled a detailed report on the payments ecosystem that drills into the industry to explain how a broad range of transactions are processed, including prepaid and store cards, as well as revealing which types of companies are in the best and worst position to capitalize on the latest industry trends.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

• 2016 will be a watershed year for the payments industry. Payments companies are improving security, expanding their mobile offerings, and building commerce capabilities that will give consumers a more compelling reason to make purchases using digital devices.
• Payments is an extremely complex industry. To understand the next big digital opportunity lies, it's critical to understand how the traditional credit- and debit-processing chain works and what roles acquirers, processors, issuing banks, card networks, independent sales organizations, gateways, and software and hardware providers play.
• Alternative technologies could disrupt the processing ecosystem. Devices ranging from refrigerators to smartwatches now feature payment capabilities, which will spur changes in consumer payment behaviors. Likewise, blockchain technology, the protocol that underlies Bitcoin, could one day change how consumer card payments are verified.

In full, the report:

• Uncovers the key themes and trends affecting the payments industry in 2016 and beyond.
• Gives a detailed description of the stakeholders involved in a payment transaction, along with hardware and software providers.
• Offers diagrams and infographics explaining how card transactions are processed and which players are involved in each step.
• Provides charts on our latest forecasts, key company growth, survey results, and more.
• Analyzes the alternative technologies, including blockchain, which could further disrupt the ecosystem.

To get your copy of this invaluable guide, choose one of these options:

1. Subscribe to an ALL-ACCESS Membership with BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report AND over 100 other expertly researched deep-dive reports, subscriptions to all of our daily newsletters, and much more. >> START A MEMBERSHIP
2. Purchase the report and download it immediately from our research store. >> BUY THE REPORT

The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of the payments ecosystem.

Join the conversation about this story »

Bitcoin Press Releases: 247Exchange.com, the international cryptocurrency exchange now allows its Canadian and Australian customers to pay in Canadian Dollar (CAD) and Australian Dollar (AUD) through their credit and debit cards, saving them from the currency conversion charges. May 19, 2016, Belize City, Belize – 247exchange.com, the international cryptocurrency exchange, managed by InterMoney Exchange has […]

The post 247exchange.com Now Allows Users to Buy Bitcoin through Card Payments in 5 Different Currencies appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

A 2014 class action lawsuit by plaintiffs in Canada against defunct bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox has been dismissed. The law firm representing Canadian plaintiffs in the class action against Mt. Gox, a now-defunct bitcoin exchange has revealed that the case will be dismissed. The class action lawsuit was originally brought to the Ontario Superior Court […]

The post Judge Dismisses Canada’s $465 Million Mt. Gox Class Action Lawsuit appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

For many people involved with Bitcoin, altcoins are nothing more than testnets. Hundreds of digital currencies are currently listed on...

The post Features From the Most Popular Altcoins Are Planned for Bitcoin appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

For many people involved with Bitcoin, altcoins are nothing more than testnets. Hundreds of digital currencies are currently listed on...

The post Features From the Most Popular Altcoins Are Planned for Bitcoin appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

Bitcoin price Bollinger Bands gave way today as price rolled over and dropped through a second support level to below $450. Additional decline is now a certainty and we look at some of the technical factors at work. This analysis is provided by xbt.social with a 3-hour delay. Read the full analysis here. Not a […]

The post Bitcoin Price Busts Its Bollinger Band appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

UK Only Article:  standard article Issue:  When the drugs don’t work Fly Title:  Clinical trials Main image:  clinical_trials.jpg Rubric:  Blockchain technology could improve the reliability of medical trials CLINICAL trials are a murky old world. The pharmaceutical industry is keen to get new drugs to market and researchers are just as keen to report positive results. This can produce some rather unpleasant side-effects. Selective reporting of data from trials is rife. In one infamous example, a 2001 study reported that paroxetine, an antidepressant, was safe and effective for treating the illness in teenagers. It later emerged, however, that this was based on new measures of the drug’s effectiveness, introduced only after the drug had failed to show any significant improvement in the outcomes that had been specified when the trial was first drawn up. Later studies showed that the drug increased the risk of suicidal behaviour in children. How to guard against such things got Greg Irving, a family ...

Fortunejack.com, the online casino that uses digital currency to help ensure fairness and security, just got even better for lovers of online gambling, thanks to some new instant deposit bonuses. Players who love to play Live Games, Slots, Video Games and Lottery games can now increase their chances of winning. Bonuses are nothing new at […]

The post Bitcoin Casino Fortunejack.com Extends Players’ Winning Streak With New Features appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Bitcoin Press Releases: After many years of developing a brick-and-mortar presence in the world of investment, industry leader ExeBTC ( www.exebtc.com ) has taken to the World Wide Web to offer their financial services to a range of clients all across the globe. Specializing in Bitcoin investment, the company plans to take advantage of an […]

The post ExeBTC Launches Online Platform to Serve Investors Worldwide appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

The Ethereum created DAO has become one of the largest crowdsale in history, overtaking today the video game project Star Citizen, which has been a multi-year effort to raise $113,705,500. The DAO, a project curated by the founders of the Ethereum public blockchain, has raised $35 million more than that since May 28. The DAO – […]

The post A Wikipedia Edit War Has Broken out over Ethereum-Based DAO appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Bitcoin Press Releases: CoinWarz, a platform that allows miners to compare cryptocurrency mining profitability, recently launched their Ethereum mining calculator. The launch was timed perfectly with ‘The DAO’ crowdfund – a project with the potential to push Ethereum mining profitability to the moon.  Coinwarz, a service that provides mining profitability information for cryptocurrencies, has just launched an Ethereum […]

The post The DAO Push Ethereum Mining Profitability to the Moon appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Jeff Garzik, a bitcoin code veteran who recently launched the Bloq code-for-hire service to develop blockchain features, continues to defend a hard fork solution to the bitcoin scaling challenge. Garzik has engaged with individuals who disagree with him on Twitter in the last few days. Everyone agrees the block size needs to expand if the bitcoin […]

The post Jeff Garzik Defends Hard Fork Solution for Bitcoin Block Size Issue appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Voxelus, which considers itself to be the world’s first virtual reality (VR) content creation platform and marketplace, has launched a Voxel Foundation to expand the use of Voxel, its in-game cryptocurrency. Voxelus will fund the foundation with a grant of 5 million Voxels, with as much as 10 million more Voxels in the future to […]

The post Voxel Foundation To Support Outreach For Virtual Reality Development appeared first on CCN: Financial Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

This story was delivered to BI Intelligence "Payments Briefing" subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, please click here.

At the Shoptalk retail trade show, Visa announced that several major merchants, including Alaska Airlines, Chick-fil-A, Cole Haan, Emirates, and the Wyndham Hotel Group, plan to integrate Visa Checkout, the card network’s single-click buy button, into their online platforms.

Adding these merchants will help Visa continue to grow its merchant network, which already counts over 250,000 merchants that represent $113 billion in addressable volume.  

Merchants are likely turning to Visa Checkout to boost mobile buying as shopping on mobile becomes increasingly common.

• M-commerce is increasing rapidly. As mobile becomes a primary computing device, users are completing more mobile purchases — BI Intelligence forecasts that, by 2020, mobile will comprise 45% of total US e-commerce sales. But users currently prefer to buy on desktop, because of the friction associated with mobile phones’ smaller screens and slower connections. 
• Visa Checkout helps merchants convert a larger share of potential purchases. Visa Checkout conversion rates are high because it eliminates some of those pain points — users complete purchases from their shopping cart 86% of the time, and conversion rates are 51% higher on Visa Checkout compared to a merchant's traditional offering, according to comScore.
• That could be appealing to merchants looking to capitalize on increased mobile activity and boost their digital sales. Visa Checkout customers are potentially lucrative for merchants — users make 30% more online transactions per person than the average online shopper. The prospect of unlocking the full spending power of this shopper segment could convince more merchants to sign on to Visa Checkout.

Visa Checkout's success and consequent expansion is one small piece of an increasingly complex ecosystem. Mobile wallets, increased security, and alternative technologies are all shaping the way we pay for goods and services.

Evan Bakker and John Heggestuen, analysts at BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, have compiled a detailed report on the payments ecosystem that drills into the industry to explain how a broad range of transactions are processed, including prepaid and store cards, as well as revealing which types of companies are in the best and worst position to capitalize on the latest industry trends.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

• 2016 will be a watershed year for the payments industry. Payments companies are improving security, expanding their mobile offerings, and building commerce capabilities that will give consumers a more compelling reason to make purchases using digital devices.
• Payments is an extremely complex industry. To understand the next big digital opportunity lies, it's critical to understand how the traditional credit- and debit-processing chain works and what roles acquirers, processors, issuing banks, card networks, independent sales organizations, gateways, and software and hardware providers play.
• Alternative technologies could disrupt the processing ecosystem. Devices ranging from refrigerators to smartwatches now feature payment capabilities, which will spur changes in consumer payment behaviors. Likewise, blockchain technology, the protocol that underlies Bitcoin, could one day change how consumer card payments are verified.

In full, the report:

• Uncovers the key themes and trends affecting the payments industry in 2016 and beyond.
• Gives a detailed description of the stakeholders involved in a payment transaction, along with hardware and software providers.
• Offers diagrams and infographics explaining how card transactions are processed and which players are involved in each step.
• Provides charts on our latest forecasts, key company growth, survey results, and more.
• Analyzes the alternative technologies, including blockchain, which could further disrupt the ecosystem.

To get your copy of this invaluable guide, choose one of these options:

1. Subscribe to an ALL-ACCESS Membership with BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report AND over 100 other expertly researched deep-dive reports, subscriptions to all of our daily newsletters, and much more. >> START A MEMBERSHIP
2. Purchase the report and download it immediately from our research store. >> BUY THE REPORT

The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of the payments ecosystem.

Join the conversation about this story »

This story was delivered to BI Intelligence "Payments Briefing" subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, please click here.

Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) announced plans to postpone a national rollout of CurrentC, its QR-code-based mobile wallet, following feedback from customers and merchants during a trial in Columbus, Ohio, according to TechCrunch.

The firm plans to lay off 30 employees and refocus on banking partnerships; however, it implied that it still sees potential in the creation of a mobile wallet in the long run. 

For context, MCX is a consortium of retailers, including Chili’s, Kohl’s and Sunoco, that was formed in 2012 to build a mobile wallet product designed to compete with other mobile wallets and allow merchants to skirt interchange fees. 

CurrentC’s slow development likely cost it the ability to launch successfully.

• MCX has fallen behind in the mobile wallet ecosystem. The firm was founded in 2012 but has taken over three years to launch its platform. And the platform faces additional hurdles — it was never intended to come preloaded on phones, it wasn’t planned to include credit or debit compatibility, and it included a much smaller acceptance network of about 60 retailers. Wallets like Apple Pay, Android Pay, and Samsung Pay, meanwhile, built out huge networks of merchants and issuing banks, which put pressure on MCX to launch CurrentC or risk losing the loyalty of its members because the opportunity cost of staying with CurrentC was rising. 
• That’s likely pushed merchants towards other channels. MCX initially had an exclusivity clause — its member merchants weren’t allowed to accept other mobile wallet products. But as that came to a close, some major MCX partners, like Best Buy and Rite Aid, began accepting other mobile wallets, while others, like Walmart, began developing their own proprietary products, indicating that MCX merchants may have begun to lose hope in the launch of CurrentC.  

MCX plans to focus on bank partnerships moving forward. It seems increasingly less likely that a nationwide CurrentC launch is on the horizon. As a result, the firm will focus on building partnerships with financial institutions to “enable and scale mobile payment solutions,” according to TechCrunch.

This could take the form of efforts like Chase Pay, Chase’s proprietary mobile wallet that was created in partnership with MCX, but it could also be an entirely new undertaking for the firm. 

The arrival of CurrentC could be another milestone in the incredible evolution of the payments ecosystem. The flood of mobile wallets on the market (Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Android Pay, Walmart Pay, etc.) have changed the way we pay for goods, and these wallets are just one piece of the puzzle.

Evan Bakker and John Heggestuen, analysts at BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, have compiled a detailed report on the payments ecosystem that drills into the industry to explain how a broad range of transactions are processed, including prepaid and store cards, as well as revealing which types of companies are in the best and worst position to capitalize on the latest industry trends.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

• 2016 will be a watershed year for the payments industry. Payments companies are improving security, expanding their mobile offerings, and building commerce capabilities that will give consumers a more compelling reason to make purchases using digital devices.
• Payments is an extremely complex industry. To understand the next big digital opportunity lies, it's critical to understand how the traditional credit- and debit-processing chain works and what roles acquirers, processors, issuing banks, card networks, independent sales organizations, gateways, and software and hardware providers play.
• Alternative technologies could disrupt the processing ecosystem. Devices ranging from refrigerators to smartwatches now feature payment capabilities, which will spur changes in consumer payment behaviors. Likewise, blockchain technology, the protocol that underlies Bitcoin, could one day change how consumer card payments are verified.

In full, the report:

• Uncovers the key themes and trends affecting the payments industry in 2016 and beyond.
• Gives a detailed description of the stakeholders involved in a payment transaction, along with hardware and software providers.
• Offers diagrams and infographics explaining how card transactions are processed and which players are involved in each step.
• Provides charts on our latest forecasts, key company growth, survey results, and more.
• Analyzes the alternative technologies, including blockchain, which could further disrupt the ecosystem.

To get your copy of this invaluable guide, choose one of these options:

1. Subscribe to an ALL-ACCESS Membership with BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report AND over 100 other expertly researched deep-dive reports, subscriptions to all of our daily newsletters, and much more. >> START A MEMBERSHIP
2. Purchase the report and download it immediately from our research store. >> BUY THE REPORT

The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of the payments ecosystem.

Join the conversation about this story »

An effort to bring a class action lawsuit against defunct bitcoin exchange Mt Gox has been dismissed in Canada.