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Global Banking Disruption Investigated Following Payment Delays

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International financial regulators are probing a significant disruption that temporarily hindered high-value transactions, including real estate closings, around the world on July 18. Swift, the organization overseeing global financial communications, acknowledged a critical “operational incident” that led to delays in money transfers. “We deeply regret the disruption and are working tirelessly to address the issue,” […]

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Klarna Prepares for 2025 IPO with Top Wall Street Banks

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Swedish buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) company Klarna is gearing up for a potential initial public offering (IPO) in the United States, possibly occurring in the first half of 2025. According to a recent report by the Financial Times, Klarna is in discussions with major financial institutions Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley to serve as lead

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UnionPay International Expands Global Reach with Summer Promotion Campaign

Leave a Comment / Digital, Fintech, General, Payments, Retail /

UnionPay International, a leading global payment provider, is bolstering its international presence with an extensive summer campaign designed to attract Chinese travelers venturing abroad. The campaign, spanning 25 countries and regions, offers cardholders a wide array of benefits, including discounts of up to 33% at participating merchants, favorable exchange rates, and cashback rewards of up

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Merchant Services and Payments – A Closer Look at Instant and Same-Day settlement

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In the payments sector commerce, where digital transactions predominate, understanding the intricacies of payment settlement is crucial for merchants. This process, often unseen by customers, plays a vital role in ensuring the smooth transfer of funds from the purchaser’s account to the merchant’s business account. Payment Settlement Payment settlement represents the final stage of a

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Is There a Place for Racism in the World of Digital Payments? Appeal Court To Reexamine Allegations at Payone GmbH

Leave a Comment / Employment, General /

A workplace race discrimination case that captured public attention is headed for a full appeal. The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has ruled in Logo v Payone Gmbh & others, that certain controversial allegations, including those involving ‘blackface’, racially offensive remarks, and a disputed ‘pure blonde’ beer advert, will be re-examined in a full appeal hearing.

Is There a Place for Racism in the World of Digital Payments? Appeal Court To Reexamine Allegations at Payone GmbH Read More »

Zone Revolutionises African Payments with Blockchain-Powered PoS Gateway

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Africa presents a unique landscape for financial technology (fintech) advancements. While mobile money has experienced tremendous growth across the continent, traditional Point-of-Sale (PoS) systems often rely on outdated, centralised infrastructure. This can lead to slow transaction processing times, high fees, and vulnerability to fraud. Additionally, a significant portion of the African population remains unbanked, hindering

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Royal Mail Sold to Czech Billionaire Křetínský: A New Chapter for Britain’s Iconic Postal Service?

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In a landmark deal that may raise eyebrows and spark debate, Royal Mail, the iconic British postal service, is set to be taken over by Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský. The £3.57 billion takeover offer from Křetínský’s EP Group was accepted by International Distributions Services (IDS), the parent company of Royal Mail, marking the first time

Royal Mail Sold to Czech Billionaire Křetínský: A New Chapter for Britain’s Iconic Postal Service? Read More »

Tide and Adyen Make a Splash in Germany’s Fintech Scene

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Tide and Adyen, prominent figures in the financial services sector, have merged their prowess. Tide and Adyen, leaders in the financial sector, have amalgamated. The distinguished corporate financial institution Tide has collaborated with global financial facilitator Adyen to introduce corporate accounts tailored for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Germany. These specialised Tide corporate accounts

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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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