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The Ripple Effect! Will Chase’s BNPL Decision Spark Industry-Wide Change?

In a recent move, JPMorgan Chase has announced that it will prohibit customers from using its credit cards to pay for ‘buy now, pay later’ (BNPL) services starting October 10. This decision will affect transactions with companies like Klarna, Affirm, and AfterPay. The bank has been notifying customers to update their payment methods to avoid […]

The Ripple Effect! Will Chase’s BNPL Decision Spark Industry-Wide Change? Read More »

Samsung Galaxy Ring – A Promising Smart Ring, But Can it Succeed Without Contactless Payments?

Samsung has officially joined the smart ring race with its newly launched Galaxy Ring, aiming to take on the reigning champion, the Oura Ring. This sleek titanium ring, available in three colours and a range of sizes, boasts a variety of health-tracking features, including sleep monitoring, heart rate tracking, and personalized health insights. The Galaxy

Samsung Galaxy Ring – A Promising Smart Ring, But Can it Succeed Without Contactless Payments? Read More »

Hermès Records 13% Sales Increase in Q2 Amidst Luxury Market Challenges

Hermès has demonstrated notable financial resilience ( see here ), reporting a consolidated revenue of €7.5 billion for the first half of 2024. This reflects a 15% increase at constant exchange rates and a 12% rise at current exchange rates. The second quarter alone saw sales reach €3.7 billion, a 13% increase at constant exchange

Hermès Records 13% Sales Increase in Q2 Amidst Luxury Market Challenges Read More »

Paysafe and Alchemy Pay Collaborate to Enhance Payment Options for Crypto Purchases

A renowned global payments platform, has formed a strategic alliance with Alchemy Pay, a leading provider of fiat-crypto payment solutions. This partnership aims to broaden the spectrum of payment options available to consumers, making it easier for them to use fiat currency to purchase cryptocurrencies across 130 global markets. Initial Integration and Benefits The initial

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Payone vs. Adyen – Who Offers Better Value for ecommerce Visa, Mastercard, Alipay and Setup Fees?

In the evolving landscape of e-commerce payment solutions, small andmedium ecommerce businesses must navigate a maze of fees and pricing structures to find the most cost-effective solution for their needs. This article provides a straightforward comparison between two prominent payment service providers, Payone and Adyen, based solely on their publicly advertised website pricing. We will

Payone vs. Adyen – Who Offers Better Value for ecommerce Visa, Mastercard, Alipay and Setup Fees? Read More »

Worldline Waves Goodbye to Self-Service Vending Hassle with Tap-and-Go Tech

Worldline, a leading global payment services provider, has partnered with Antenor, a provider of modular payment solutions, and Selfly Store, a developer of self-service retail technology, to introduce an advanced contactless payment system for vending machines. Selfly Store’s vending machines, known as “smart fridges,” come in three models (Ambient, Fridge, and Freezer) and utilize RFID

Worldline Waves Goodbye to Self-Service Vending Hassle with Tap-and-Go Tech Read More »

Digital Remittance Market Sales Projected to Reach US$ 83.2 Billion by 2034

The global digital remittance market is set to experience substantial growth over the next decade, with its value expected to surge from US$ 23.4 billion in 2024 to an impressive US$ 83.2 billion by 2034. This represents a robust compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.5%, according to a recent report from Fact.MR. The COVID-19

Digital Remittance Market Sales Projected to Reach US$ 83.2 Billion by 2034 Read More »

Wero – The Future of European Payments

Wero, a cutting-edge European payment platform developed by the European Payments Initiative (EPI), is poised to revolutionize digital transactions. With a focus on speed, security, and user-friendliness, Wero aims to become the go-to choice for both consumers and businesses across Europe. What is Wero? Wero is an innovative mobile payment solution designed to simplify and

Wero – The Future of European Payments Read More »

Mastering Payments, Ecommpay Clicks with Mastercard

Ecommpay has integrated Mastercard’s Click to Pay technology into its online payment interface across the UK and Europe, as reported by Yahoo Finance. This partnership aims to streamline the payment process for both merchants and consumers by eliminating the need for passwords and manual card entry. Click to Pay leverages user recognition, network tokenization, and

Mastering Payments, Ecommpay Clicks with Mastercard Read More »

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Post-Brexit: data protection
Card processor sends sensitive data to wrong address
24 August 2022

Worldline SA subsidiary Payone GmbH has been accused of breaching data protection rules after it sent sensitive employee payroll information to the wrong address by accident. The Worldline Group holdS a 60% stake in the Frankfurt based company who have a small UK market presence.

In June 2021, one of Payone GmbH’s ex UK employees (the data subject) received a “potential data breach notification” from the firm advising him that his salary, National Insurance data, nationality (Special Category Data) was amongst various bits of information sent to an incorrect home address.

This included personal information such as the former employees name, age and address.  It also included details such as the date of birth and the amount of annual work bonus he received in his bank account amongst other identifiable data.

Payone GmbH confirmed that this document was sent out in error following an employee making a mistake when re-entering data processed by their third-party payroll provider.  The error arose when the employee was fulfilling an Article 15 GDPR request. The error was spotted by the data subject when he noticed in an email version of the document that the postal address was incorrect. An attempt to notify Payone GmbH of the error went in vain as the document was already irretrievably despatched.

The data subject was alarmed with the incident which exposed him to the possibility of fraudulent activity, amidst reasonable fears his data could end up on the dark web and used by criminals.  Habitually resident in the UK he complained to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in June 2021. He similarly raised the concern in Germany via The Hessian Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (HBDI).

The ICO reprimanded Payone GmbH for the error in their final decision letter.
Similarly, the HBDI cited a violation of Article 5(f) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) relating to integrity and confidentiality.

The ICO stated in their July 2021 findings that Payone GmbH, “should take steps to ensure that all personal data records are accurate and up to date. Holding inaccurate information, such as addresses, does increase the risk of personal data breaches and poses risks to the security of information”.

The HBDI confirmed in their October 2021 findings that Payone GmbH had taken remedial action. They concluded that a monetary fine would not be imposed on Payone GmbH as they had taken technical and organisational steps in response to the data breach. Data subjects could now request their data in an autonomous portal.

The GDPR, which came into effect in 2018, gave the Information Commissioner’s Office greater powers to tackle data breaches. The new ‘UK GDPR’ charts its own course after Brexit whilst seeking to maintain EU GDPR adequacy.  In extreme scenarios, organisations face penalties of up to £20m or 4 per cent of their global worldwide turnover, whichever is more.

In the years prior to GDPR, the ICO fines were capped at £500,000.

The data subject said: “I am just glad I spotted it; they were going to resend the document again to another wrong address. Prior to Brexit the process would have been commenced via the ICO who in turn would liaise with the HBDI on the data subjects’ behalf; but I found myself communicating with both authorities separately which was an additional step but in the end was surprisingly
effective. Unfortunately, Payone GmbH again sent my incorrect address to the
Workers Pension Trust in January 2022, and documents yet again went to the wrong address. In my opinion they have not learned from the first time and my complaint is sitting with the ICO yet again”.

The former employee is pursuing a remedy under Article 82 UK GDPR via
the Court’s of England & Wales.

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