What a crazy Q1 in the payment industry! If the FiServ/FD deal wasn’t large enough, FIS acquires WorldPay/Vantiv for $35B. And my friends over at Vantiv just got their new business cards (the least of the integration challenges). So who is left for mega-deals? Is this the result of more transactions shifting towards cards/e-payment? Meanwhile, Chase just announced its opening new bank branches – is banking following a similar model to the Apple Store (ie have a strong eCommerce presence and an engaging and inviting in-store customer experience).
In other news, as we all anticipated Instagram announced that its’ users could purchase products directly on Instagram. PayPal will handle these payments. By enabling checkout directly, Instagram users will no longer be directed to a browser to make purchases. How much longer until I get a popup during my next What’sApp call – “your call requires another 25 cent deposit…” – flashback to the payphone for those who didn’t get it.
And finally, NJ becomes the 2nd state to ban cashless stores. Perhaps the better way to deal with the unbanked is to help them become banked rather than limited the technological evolution. Strange – India demonetizes cash to become more ePayment friendly while NJ and PA force businesses to accept cash. Perhaps we meet somewhere in the middle.
Best, Evan