Tag: Payment Systems

Australia – This is Flow (Flow) has recently expanded its client base by welcoming Australian Payments Plus (AP+) as its agency to handle their media duties. AP+ amalgamates eftpos, BPAY, and NPP Australia into a unified entity aimed at the landscape of payments in Australia.

By using their data-driven methodology, Flow was able to demonstrate the outcomes produced by incorporating science, art, and value. This strategy was very appealing to AP+, which made the decision to work with Flow on an awareness campaign for PayTo. This program intends to bring about the seamless migration of many direct debits to PayTo within customers’ online banking platforms.

Charissa Brooks, head of brand marketing at AP+, said, “PayTo is a digital payment solution offering a fast, easy and secure way to pay directly from your bank account. PayTo gives consumers more visibility and control over their payments, and enables merchants and businesses to initiate real-time payments from their customers’ bank accounts.” 

She added, “Now is the perfect time to start driving awareness of PayTo, which is available within the online banking of over 50 banks, financial institutions and credit unions, with more to come. We’re excited to be working with Flow and their holistic approach in launching PayTo to our key audiences.”

Meanwhile, Jimmy Hyett, Founder and CEO at This is Flow, expressed, “It’s an exciting opportunity to work with Australian Payments Plus as they bring new payment solutions to life in market, along with established products like BPAY and eftpos. This is a dream client which gives Flow the chance to make a real impact to consumers and businesses across Australia.”

Manila, Philippines – The nation’s central bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), has issued a statement requesting the suspension of operations of Lyka, a Hong Kong-owned social media platform, as well as inviting them to be registered with the central bank as an Operator of Payment System (OPS).

Lyka operates under the premise of allowing its users to purchase, exchange, and use gift cards in electronic mode or ‘GEMs’ as payment for goods and services.Said platform is designed for both individuals and businesses that encourage engagement and content creation by compensating users for time and creativity.

Based on these premises, BSP has ascertained that these activities make Lyka an OPS and is thus required to register with the BSP, which is needed before it is allowed to continue with its OPS activities.

In response, Lyka has expressed their willingness in registering as an OPS, BSP confirms.

As a word of reminder, BSP reminds entities operating a payment system to comply with the requirement under the National Payment Systems Act (NPSA) and BSP Circular No. 1049 to register with the BSP. Said central bank circular provides for the rules and regulations on the registration of Operators of Payment System. Registration of an OPS allows the BSP to have oversight of the payment system it operates to ensure that it functions safely, efficiently, and reliably by itself, consistent with the central bank’s objectives of consumer protection and financial stability.

In addition, OPS that are required to register, but are found to be operating without registration, shall be directed to comply with the Circular’s registration requirements. Those that fail to comply may be ordered to stop operations until immediate action is taken to register with the BSP.

“This is without prejudice to other enforcement actions that may be taken against the OPS and its directors/officer and/or employees in accordance with the BSP’s authority over payment systems under RA No. 7653, as amended (The New Central Bank Act) and the NPSA,” the central bank said in a press statement.

The BSP also reminds the public to transact only with BSP-registered OPS that are listed in the BSP’s website. According to them, an OPS may be cash-in service providers, bills payment service providers, and entities such as payment gateways, platform providers, payment facilitators and merchant acquirers that enable sellers of goods and services to accept payments, in cash or digital form.

Hong Kong – In support of the growing number of small and medium business (SMB) merchants across Hong Kong, payment systems Octopus Card Limited (OCL) has announced the launch of its support scheme called the #NeighbourDOOD Merchant Support Scheme, targeted at helping local SMBs in their digital transformation strategies.

Furthermore, said support scheme also helps participating SMBs to take advantage of the Government’s Consumption Voucher Scheme (CVS). CVS is a local initiative by the Hong Kong government to stimulate consumer sentiment towards supporting local businesses by releasing said vouchers for local products and services.

The goal of Octopus’ scheme is to encourage citywide support of small businesses and bring together neighboring communities to create more business opportunities.

Through the initiative, the company will have a professional digital marketing agency to assist each merchant with setting up a social media business account and provide each of them a tailored digital promotion strategy. At the same time, OCL will offer each merchant HK$8,000 worth of online media placement and marketing budget for promotion of their unique story and signature products. 

In all, the scheme aims to help preserve and promote the city’s distinctive cultural and culinary heritage.

Speaking about the initiative, Rita Li, sales and marketing at OCL, notes that the company understands the challenges for small merchants and they see the need to go digital in order to sustain and thrive. Therefore, they want to help them by reaching out to the community and getting customers to find their way to them through digital marketing.

“OCL has been offering fast and convenient electronic payment solutions for small-and medium-sized merchants for over two decades. Through the Scheme, we hope to support even more neighborhood shops to keep pace with the trend of digital transformation,” Li stated.

She added, “This will not only increase visibility for small merchants and enhance their competitiveness, but also help people from all walks of life meet their shopping needs. OCL will promote these shops, their stories and features on Octopus social media platforms and the Octopus App.”

During the first phase of the scheme, OCL will also launch the event webpage “#NeighbourDOOD-Nomination of My Favorite Shops”, where visitors or shop owners can nominate their favourite “hidden” specialty shops in the city*. A total of 108 small shops will be selected using the following three criteria: business size, based on operating years, size and employee number; locality, where the shop is locally registered in the city; and speciality, where it is all about the unique history of the shop, its products or services.

This initiative is targeting those whose historical and cultural values contribute to the city’s identity including traditional local shops, handicraft shops and value-for-money specialty shops.