ANNOUNCEMENTSSenate and House negotiators reached agreement on legislation to reform the U.S. anti-money laundering (AML) framework and end anonymous shell companies. The compromise legislation, endorsed by the Bank Policy Institute, will be included in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021. When unveiling the agreement, negotiators noted they expected it to pass by the end of 2020. The compromise legislation closely mirrors the bipartisan Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 put forward by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, and Ranking Member Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, which is an updated version of the ILLICIT Cash Act.
Chargezoom, a platform for managing customer payments in a single dashboard, is now certified by Intuit Inc. for integration with QuickBooks and QuickBooks Online accounting software. QuickBooks users who select Chargezoom as their payment integration tool will benefit from seamless integration, time-saving automation, reduced fees and more, Chargezoom stated, adding that users can easily integrate the Chargezoom app with their existing payment processor in under five minutes and with no software to install.
Complete Merchant Solutions reached agreement with the Federal Trade Commission to resolve all outstanding issues, including CMS's lawsuit against the FTC alleging the FTC had exceeded its authority in the FTC's investigation against CMS, which focused on business practices relating to three merchants CMS serviced between 2010 and 2016. The FTC's complaint focused on three of CMS's prior merchant clients the company had stopped providing services to four years ago, noted David Decker, CEO of CMS. He also pointed out that those merchants represented only 0.2 percent of the company's merchants and 0.2 percent of total payment volume of a 12-year period. "During this time, CMS served more than 14,000 merchants processing billions of dollars in payments," Decker said.
The Financial Data Exchange heralded its fall 2020 release, which includes technical standards and updates to existing specification that have now been launched into the financial services marketplace. Don Cardinal, FDX managing director, stated this release is "another milestone and proof point of how FDX continues to deliver on its promise to unify the financial industry around secure, common, interoperable and royalty-free standards for user-permissioned data sharing and Open Finance."
Identitii Ltd. reported it was granted a U.S. patent covering its global ecosystem for secure sharing of financial transaction information. Identitii's secure financial information-sharing ecosystem overcomes key limitations of existing systems to simplify financial crime compliance, streamline regulatory reporting operations and enable faster settlement of payments, the company noted. The technology underpinning the patent powers Identitii's correspondent banking solution, which is designed to enable institutions to securely share information for Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering compliance.
Integrated payments platform Paysafe rolled out Paysafecash in the United States. Paysafecash, a payment method devised for consumers who want to pay online using cash, is expected to have strong appeal for underbanked and unbanked U.S. households. "The U.S. eCash solution is powered by the Vanilla Direct™ payment network of InComm Payments, a leading global payments technology company," Paysafe stated. With the ongoing issue of financial inclusion and cash's enduring importance, Americans not able, or wanting, to make credit or debit card payments can now pay online with Paysafecash, the company added.
RESEARCHNew data from ACI Worldwide, a provider of real-time electronic payment and banking solutions, shows that more than a third of consumers will take at least six months to catch up on missed bill payments due to COVID-19. The study, which surveyed 3,000 U.S. adults, also showed that three in 10 consumers in the United States saw a decrease in income following the onset of the pandemic, and 15 percent contacted billers for payment arrangements or deferrals—highlighting the need for more flexible payment options from billers.
Mercator Advisory Group's Primary Data report Looking at Buyers through the Lens of Segmentation is based on the company's 2020 Buyer PaymentsInsights Survey. The online survey of 3,002 U.S. adult consumers, conducted in February 2020, explores consumers' experiences as they shop in-store, online and via mixed channels. The survey was designed to define and highlight consumer expectations for optimal experiences with merchants. This third of three reports on the survey's findings explores how using segmentation techniques can help companies refine their strategies by focusing on likely buyers or users.
PARTNERSHIPSDoorDash and Payfare launch the DasherDirect platform, a banking solution for DoorDash delivery drivers (Dashers) offering a business prepaid Visa card and mobile banking app. This marks DoorDash's first financial platform for Dashers, providing them with exclusive new rewards and more flexibility and control over their earnings, the partners stated. DasherDirect, issued by Stride Bank and powered by Payfare, offers Dashers no-fee daily deposits of their DoorDash earnings, convenient digital banking functionality and cash-back rewards, they added.
Fabrick, an Open Banking platform and ecosystem, and Nets, a provider of payment solutions and instant payment processing, formed a strategic partnership for creating products, services and new ecosystem business opportunities in the instant payments space. Instant payments are driving a transformational shift in the payments landscape, meeting the demands of consumers for immediate and secure payments, the companies noted. Leveraging the strengths of their respective technologies and platforms, Fabrick and Nets aim to develop innovative solutions that deliver new revenue streams for new and existing clients.
Fingerprints Cards is enabling Rocker to launch the first contactless biometric payment card pilot with its customers in Sweden during the first quarter of 2021. Developed by Idemia, the card is integrating Fingerprints' T-Shape sensor module to deliver more secure, hygienic contactless payments, without compromising convenience, the partners stated. Following successful market pilots around the world and commercial launches in Europe, this is the first pilot by a Swedish challenger bank, they added.
IRIS CRM integrated with the NMI Reseller Boarding API to enable instant merchant onboarding for payment processing. ISOs that use IRIS CRM can now onboard merchants directly to NMI, using their own NMI reseller credentials. IRIS CRM's integration will save employees time and mitigate risk of manual data entry that was required in the past, the companies noted, adding that IRIS CRM supercharges onboarding accuracy and efficiency by enabling boarding of merchants to NMI in seconds.
Fraud-fighting firm SEON partnered with UK RegTech platform TruNarrative, enabling TruNarrative users to leverage SEON's data to make informed onboarding decisions. It will also provide customers a solution for making safe commerce simple, combining SEON's data with TruNarrative's decisioning technology, the partners stated. TruNarrative orchestrates financial crime detection, customer onboarding, transactional monitoring and compliance processes from a single platform.
ACQUISITIONSFoley Trasimene Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, and Paysafe Group Holdings Ltd. entered into a definitive agreement and plan of merger. Upon closing of the transaction, the newly combined company will operate as Paysafe and plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol PSFE. The transaction reflects an implied proforma enterprise value for Paysafe of approximately $9 billion.
Paysafe stated it is a leading integrated payments platform, with a two-sided consumer and merchant network, whose core purpose is to enable businesses and consumers around the world to connect and transact seamlessly through payment processing, digital wallet and online cash solutions.
Internet domain and web hosting company GoDaddy acquired Poynt, a payment processor reportedly used by more than 100,000 merchants. Per the agreement, GoDaddy will pay a total of $365 million for the company; $325 million will be in cash; $40 million will be in deferred cash payments subject to specified performance and employment conditions over three years. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021.
Sysnet Global Solutions, a provider of cyber security and compliance solutions, acquired Viking Cloud to further enhance its technology platform and accelerate its market expansion plans. Viking Cloud delivers asset, event and compliance management through its industry-leading next-generation cloud security platform, Sysnet stated. "The acquisition reaffirms Sysnet's commitment to enterprise-level merchants and elevates the company to the clear market leader in the industry that it serves," the company noted. "The combination also comes at a time when businesses of all sizes are being targeted by cyber criminals, especially the largest of enterprises."
APPOINTMENTSFourQ, a solutions provider for automating intercompany billing and invoice management, selected May Ma as its vice president, transformation. Ma, who previously led global finance technology and process improvement initiatives for client organizations while with Deloitte, will build strategic relationships to fuel the company's growth, develop talent to serve FourQ's global client base, and help multinational organizations address complex intercompany challenges, the company noted, adding that throughout her15-year career, Ma has helped senior finance leaders in Fortune 500 companies transform operating models, implement global financial systems, improve efficiencies and reduce risk.
Bryan Pham signed on with payment service provider Clarus Merchant Services as vice president of investor relations. Pham will be based out of the company's national headquarters in Gaithersburg, Md. Pham brings to the company a decade of experience in the financial services industry. Most recently, he was vice president of business development at Ardenton Capital, a private equity firm focused on lower middle market businesses. In his new role, Pham will lead investor relations for Clarus. Pham and report to Jonathan Turner, the company's Chief Information Officer.
Indeflex, a national merchant services provider, hired industry veteran Micah Shawn as its national sales director. Shawn brings decades of merchant services experience to the team, having worked for industry giants First Data Corp. and Bank of America Merchant Services in several executive leadership positions.
He led Bank of America Merchant Services' sales strategy through the fastest growth years of the 11-year joint venture, as they were the first company to bring Clover to the marketplace, Indeflex stated. 
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