Top FinTech News for Tech Leaders - 03/18/2024
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Summary: Mastercard has unveiled a groundbreaking tool designed to streamline subscription management for bank customers, powered by the innovative capabilities of open banking. Launched on March 13, 2024, the "Smart Subscriptions" service promises to revolutionize the way subscriptions are managed, tracked, and analyzed.
According to a Mastercard survey, a significant majority (73%) of consumers expressed interest in a tool that simplifies the management of their subscriptions, with 60% placing their trust in banks to offer such a solution. Utilizing Mastercard's open banking technology, courtesy of Finicity, Smart Subscriptions offers a unified platform where users can effortlessly manage their subscriptions across various accounts. This includes options to cancel, pause, or resume services, along with features for spending analysis and receiving personalized offers.
Aimed at fostering loyalty and enhancing customer engagement, the tool presents a win-win for both banks and their customers. With a pilot currently underway in the U.S., Mastercard anticipates the expansion of Smart Subscriptions to other markets within the year, marking a significant step towards simplifying financial management for consumers globally.
Google engineer stole AI tech for Chinese firms (March 7, 2024)
Summary: In a dramatic turn highlighting the fierce battle over technological supremacy, Linwei Ding, a former Google engineer, faces serious allegations of espionage and trade secret theft.
Arrested in California, Ding, 38, stands accused of siphoning off critical AI technology secrets to benefit Chinese firms, a move that could have far-reaching implications for the competitive edge of American innovation. Hired by Google in 2019, Ding allegedly began funneling confidential data to his personal account in 2021, culminating in over 500 files of sensitive information being transferred.
The indictment reveals Ding's calculated transition from tech engineer to purported spy, as he leveraged stolen secrets to climb the ranks of a Chinese AI startup and even founded a company aimed at advancing China's AI capabilities with supercomputing chips.
This case not only underscores the escalating tensions between the US and China over intellectual property but also casts a stark light on the lengths to which individuals might go to pilfer the cornerstone of America's technological dominance.
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With potential penalties including a lengthy prison sentence and hefty fines, the saga of Linwei Ding serves as a cautionary tale about the global race for AI superiority.
SAP launches open payments framework with leading PSPs (March 15, 2024)
Summary: SAP has launched an open payments framework for merchants to tap into numerous third-party payment service providers with just a few clicks, including the likes of Stripe, Adyen, WorldPay, and Airwallex.
The SAP Commerce Cloud allows retailers to cherry-pick payment partners tailored to their unique needs and international markets, enabling them to build at their own pace and avoid being confined to a single provider.
The framework is extensible, helping ensure the front end and back end are decoupled and operate independently, creating an opportunity to cater to a wide range of channel requirements and add on new solutions, such as buy now, pay later.
Sven Denecken, SVP and global head of product marketing for SAP Industries & CX, says: “SAP’s unique, industry-led approach to composability places the retailer's digital commerce needs front and center while we work with them to manage their digital transformation, navigate pathways to sustainable growth, and deliver on industry expectations.”
The no-code, low-code framework covers common payment needs and end-to-end payment processes across authorization, capture, refunds, and re-authorization, as well as automatic updates with security and compliance standards.
The payment framework is currently in beta, and SAP customers can join now. It is planned to be generally available in H2 2024.
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Bluebird team