Payments

SaaS ecommerce platform Kooomo and French online payment solution HiPay have partnered, giving Kooomo's ecommerce merchants access to the HiPay payment solution directly from the platform. HiPay offers over 220 local and international payments methods.

Mastercard is rolling out a new technology in Europe which makes it possible for consumers to pay with a selfie. The service, officially called Identity Check Mobile, let users verify their identity by taking a photo of themselves so a payment can be completed.

Payment service provider MultiSafepay will expand its payment methods with Electronic Payment Standard (EPS), an Austrian online transfer procedure, so it can focus more on the growth market in Austria. MultiSafepay sees potential for its customers and wants to offer them the opportunity to enter new markets.

Klarna, one of Europe's leading payment providers, has announced it has partnered with Topshop-owner Arcadia Group to launch its sales financing solution 'Buy now pay later' in the United Kingdom. Customers of brands such as Topshop and Miss Selfridge now have the option to buy products online and pay for them over time.

Payment cards are the most popular payment method among Swedish ecommerce customers. A new study points out that more than half of Swedish consumers (54) percent prefer to use their card when they are ready to pay online. Another popular payment method in Sweden is invoice, which is used by 28 percent.

Shopify has launched its Shopify POS app and card reader for merchants in the United Kingdom. With the reader, retailers can accept contactless and traditional card-based payments, while the app works together with the reader device on an iPhone or iPad.

It looks like digital payments company Square is coming to Europe after all. The US company, founded by Twitter's co-founder Jack Dorsey, has posted three new job openings in Europe, one of which is based in Dublin and the other two in London.

Assist Group, a major online payment service provider in Russia, provides online stores with the ability to process MIR cards, the national payment card system in Russia. Some of the acquiring banks are already connected, the rest is at the stage of testing and integration.

Analytic software firm FICO released an interactive map of card fraud in Europe. It shows that card fraud in the United Kingdom increased by 18 percent last year, which is the biggest rise across Europe. The drastic increase has resulted in the loss of more than 100 million euros for UK cardholders.

Two Polish online payment systems, Dotpay and eCard, will join forces and expand in Central and Eastern Europe. The two companies are part of MCI.EuroVentures' fund portfolio and are specialized in online electronic payments. The company established as a result of their integration wants to become the market leader in Poland.

Paymill, the German payment provider that filed for preliminary insolvency two months ago, has been acquired by Swiss payment service provider Klik & Pay. It seems like Paymill, which is seen as the German answer to US payment service Stripe, has been saved by the Swiss company and can now live on.

Ecommerce software provider ePages launched Pay with Amazon for its UK and German based online shop owners. This integration allows the merchants' customers to check out with payment and shipping information stored in their Amazon account, while remaining within an ePages-powered shop throughout the checkout process.

PayPal has ceased operations in Turkey after the company was unable to get a new license from Turkish financial regulator BDDK. A new Turkish policy requires IT systems to be housed within the country, but that's something PayPal doesn't follow.

Online payment method iDeal from the Netherlands registered the billionth transaction that happened via its system. The milestone was reached during King's Day in the Netherlands, the national holiday that marks the birth of King Willem-Alexander. The online payment system has a market share of 56 percent and is being used since 2005.

Paydirekt, the online payment service of the German banks, wants to expand its service in Europe. The planned expansion isn't something that will happen very soon, but in the medium term the payment solution, which started as a PayPal rival, should be available for customers outside of Germany.