Welcome to Innovating Payments Top 3 News Headlines for the week of Dec. 10. In a surprise announcement, Amazon told Prime users it would stop offering Venmo as a payment option. Users with Venmo enabled will continue to have it in their Amazon wallet until Jan. 10. Meanwhile, The Clearing House (TCH) announced that Sal Karakaplan is joining the company as Chief Strategy Officer. And X, formerly known as Twitter, has been laying the groundwork state by state to move further into money movement. This move comes as regulators warn of non-bank financial risks.
Read on to learn more.
1. Amazon Drops Venmo as a Payment Option. PayPal Stock Is Dropping. (Barron's)
PayPal Holdings stock was down after Amazon.com told Prime users it would stop offering the ability for shoppers to use Venmo as a form of payment. Venmo, a unit of PayPal, said it can no longer be added as a payment method by Amazon users. Users who currently have Venmo enabled as a payment option will continue to have it in their Amazon wallet until Jan. 10. In a statement to Barron's, Amazon said, "Starting Jan. 10, 2024, Venmo will no longer be accepted on Amazon.com or the Amazon mobile app. (Read more.)
2. Banking Industry Veteran Sal Karakaplan Joins The Clearing House as Chief Strategy Officer (The Clearing House)
The Clearing House (TCH), the leading innovator and operator of U.S. payments networks, announced today that Sal Karakaplan is joining the company as Chief Strategy Officer. Karakaplan, a banking and payments executive with over 25 years of experience, will join The Clearing House from Truist Financial where he was Executive Vice President for the Enterprise Payments Group, in charge of enterprise payments strategy, and also helped to establish the bank's payments vision. (Read more.)
3. X's Money Movement Push Comes as Regulators Warn of Non-Bank Financial Risks (PYMNTS)
X, formerly known Twitter, has been laying the groundwork state by state to move further into money movement. In doing so, the social media stalwart underscores the appeal of branching out into financial services holds for digital-only firms. But there are challenges in place in terms of getting to critical mass, as trust is critical component and regulators are tightening their collective gaze on the risks of non-bank firms forging new lines of business in lending, account setups and other activities. (Read more.)
What are the downstream ramifications of Amazon discontinuing Venmo as a payment option? How might regulators tightening controls around non-bank firms forging new lines of business in bank-related activities benefit traditional financial institutions?
Check back soon for our next issue, highlighting the industry's most pressing and need-to-know developments. Until then, visit us online at Innovating Payments
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AUTHOR: Joe Casali, AAP, NCP
Executive Vice President
As the EVP of Payments Innovation for NEACH, Joe focuses on exploring innovative solutions and technologies that will help position members for success, both now and in the future. Connect with Joe to read more of his blogs, articles, and posts.