Global Payments has received EU regulatory approval and is launching a joint venture with CommerzBank — Commerz Global Pay — this month. 

CommerzBank, based in Frankfurt, Germany, will use Global Payments’ point-of-sale and digital payment solutions for its commercial clients across the EU , Cameron Bready, chief executive of Global Payments, said during Global Payments’ first-quarter earnings call May 1.

The payments company is “laying the groundwork to deliver a comprehensive suite of innovative omnichannel payments and software offerings, including our GP POS software solutions and our GP technology at scale, providing merchants the capabilities they need to run and grow their businesses more efficiently in the large economy in Europe,” Bready said. 

For Q1, Global Payments reported: 

• Net revenue of $2.7 billion, up 7% year over year; 
• Merchant solutions revenue of $1.8 billion, up 12% YoY; and 
• Revenue from issuer solutions of $516 million, up 5% YoY. 

The Atlanta-based company also renewed a multi year agreement with Toronto-based Scotiabank as its primary payments solution provider, he said during the call. 

“We’ve made additional progress on our issuer modernization this quarter and now expect to have four North American clients piloting multiple modernized cloud services in support of both consumer and commercial portfolios over the next several months,” Bready said. 

Uber selects Klarna for BNPL services

AI-driven buy now, pay later service provider Klarna has joined forces with ride-share service provider Uber to provide customers with additional payment options, according to an April 24 release from Klarna. 

The solution will be provided to Uber and Uber Eats customers via API. Users can pay for rides and food deliveries in full on the Uber app using their Klarna app, a Klarna spokesperson told Bank Automation News. 

The solution has been rolled out in the United States, Germany and Sweden, the spokesperson said. 

Klarna customers who meet its AI-driven underwriting standards can instantly access the solution, the spokesperson said. 

HSBC, Westpac tap Mastercard for virtual card

Mastercard is working with HSBC and Westpac to provide virtual cards to businesses and their employees, according to an April 18 release from the payments behemoth. 

The virtual cards can be customized to be used at specific times and locations or for specific transactions, Chad Wallace, executive vice president of B2B solutions at Mastercard, told BAN. 

Mastercard has been innovating in the virtual card landscape for more than 10 years and has “found a number of interesting use cases in the B2B space,” he said. “The people using those cards can really pinpoint how they want that transaction to be used, and it gives them a lot of security and control around that.”  

Virtual cards can help businesses manage working capital, increase security around payments and provide an easy travel expense mechanism for employees, he said. 

NatWest teams up with FSB for business banking

NatWest’s business banking platform, Tyl, is joining forces with the Federation of Small Businesses to provide digital banking solutions to businesses in the United Kingdom, according to a May 1 NatWest release. 

Tyl will be added to business banking services provided to federation (FSB) members. FSB provides digital banking services through partner institutions including London-based Cashplus Bank and Manchester-based The Co-operative Bank, according to the FSB website.  

Tyl will provide FSB members with: 

• A choice of card machines or a phone app for in-person sales; 
• The ability to take payments online or over the phone; 
• Payment links and QR codes; 
• Bill payment services; and 
• Access to constantly updated sales data. 

FSB has more than 5 million members, according to its website, and is looking to provide digital banking and technology tools like AI to small businesses in the U.K. to help them grow operations. 

Out of 5.5 million small businesses in the U.K., 20% are already using AI, FSB wrote in a March 4 report, stating that 55% of businesses believe that AI can provide additional benefits to their organization. 

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