Google Wallet is now available in South Africa, the first market for this product in Africa, to make it easy for users to save and easily and securely access their payment cards, loyalty cards and boarding passes. Google said that cardholders of partner banks in South Africa that include FirstRand Bank, Discovery Bank, Investec, Standard Bank, ABSA and Nedbank can now add their details on the wallet, and make contactless payments using their android phones and Wear… Source link
Read More »Google Wallet launches in South Africa as digital payments boom
Aug 23 (Reuters) – Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) launched Google Wallet in South Africa on Tuesday, as the tech giant tries to gain a foothold in the country’s rapidly growing digital payments space. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift to digital transactions and people increasingly prefer making contactless payments via their smart devices. High smartphone penetration has also helped adoption rates. The Google Wallet app stores a consumer’s credit or debit card information and allows… Source link
Read More »EU antitrust regulators quiz developers on Google app payments – sources
The logo for Google LLC is seen at the Google Store Chelsea in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., November 17, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register BRUSSELS, Aug 4 (Reuters) – EU antitrust regulators have asked app developers whether Alphabet (GOOGL.O) unit Google’s threat to remove apps from its Play Store if they use other payment options instead of its own billing system has hurt their business, two people familiar with the matter… Source link
Read More »Most borrowers are making zero payments during the student loan freeze
Burdened by almost $90,000 in federal and private student debt, Alphi Coleman says the loan freeze has afforded her time to unplug and invest in herself. “I’m always going to be able to make money; I’m not always going to be able to make more time,” she says. “I am able to create experiences and create space and time for the people that I love.” A report from the Federal Reserve last month showed almost 60% of student borrowers made zero payments on their federal loans between August… Source link
Read More »Epic Games’ Bandcamp temporarily wins right to use its own payments system on Google Play – TechCrunch
Epic Games isn’t just fighting the app stores over the right to process its own in-app payments in its popular game Fortnite, it’s also taken up its antitrust legal battle with the tech giants via Bandcamp, the internet music company Epic acquired in March. The following month, Epic filed an injunction asking for the right to allow Bandcamp to continue operating as usual instead of being forced to adopt Google’s own payments system as is now required via a policy change, or risk… Source link
Read More »Match Group and Google reach an interim compromise over app payments – TechCrunch
Match Group, the parent company of dating apps Tinder, Hinge and OkCupid, is getting along better with Google, just by a little bit. On Friday, Match withdrew its request for a temporary restraining order against the company, which it accuses of wielding unfair monopoly power in its mobile app marketplace. Match filed an antitrust lawsuit against the search giant earlier this month over the company’s restrictions on Android in-app payments, which drive app users toward remaining in… Source link
Read More »Match Group sues Google over ‘monopoly power’ in Android app payments – TechCrunch
The parent company of dating apps Tinder, Match and OkCupid is suing Google, alleging that the company exerts too much control over payments through its Google Play app marketplace. The lawsuit, filed Monday in California’s Northern District, accuses the company of deploying “anticompetitive tactics” to maintain a monopoly on the Android mobile ecosystem: Ten years ago, Match Group was Google’s partner. We are now its hostage. Google lured app developers to its platform with… Source link
Read More »U.S. stops Russian bond payments in bid to raise pressure on Moscow
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States stopped the Russian government on Monday from paying holders of its sovereign debt more than $600 million from reserves held at U.S. banks, in a move meant to ratchet up pressure on Moscow and eat into its holdings of dollars. Under sanctions put in place after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, foreign currency reserves held by the Russian central bank at U.S. financial institutions were frozen. But the Treasury Department had been allowing the… Source link
Read More »Google to Allow Alternative In-App Payments for Spotify Users, a New Step in App Battle
Spotify Technology SA has reached a deal with Google to offer an alternative payment method within its app for users, the latest sign of the weakening grip that app stores have over third-party software. The streaming music service and Alphabet Inc.’s search giant announced the deal Wednesday, allowing Spotify’s SPOT 0.75% app within the… Source link
Read More »Google suspends Play store billing, YouTube payments in Russia – TechCrunch
Google is suspending billing on its mobile app store, Play, and pausing payment-based services for YouTube users in Russia — blaming “payment system disruption” related to Western sanctions on Russian banks. The development, which was reported earlier by Reuters, comes in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions on Russian banks that swiftly followed as the West opted for an economic response to Putin’s war in Europe. In a support note on its Android… Source link
Read More »