Welcome to The Axis, your late look at payments news from around the world. Coverage includes France’s Natixis Payments bringing Apple Pay to users of Apetiz at restaurants and retailers. In addition, UniCredit customers in Italy can now use the Google Pay digital wallet, and cybercriminals are reportedly using malware to encrypt files and asking for a ransom to be paid through WeChat Pay.
France’s Natixis Payments is bringing Apple Pay to users of Apetiz for payments at affiliated restaurants and retailers, Natixis said in an announcement. Apetiz, a company in the meal voucher market, has an array of products ranging from paper to mobile. With Apple Pay, the company noted that a one-time unique dynamic security code authorizes each transaction, and that credit or debit card numbers aren’t stored on devices or on Apple’s servers. Natixis Intertitres Head Stéphan Dixmier said in the announcement, “We favor the simplest, the most digital and diversified options for our customers, so we are proud to provide Apetiz’s customers with Apple Pay, an innovative mobile payment platform, which represents added value for employee beneficiaries, affiliated merchants and our corporate clients.”
On another note, UniCredit customers in Italy can now tap into Google Pay to make payments online, in stores and with Google products, according to an announcement from the company. To use the service, customers can activate the ‘Monhey’ app in the UniCredit app or download the Google Play application. The company noted that the service keeps payment details secure by using a virtual account number. UniCredit General Manager Gianni Franco Papa said, “Thanks to Google Pay, UniCredit now offers its seven million cardholders in Italy – collectively holding nine million debit, credit and prepaid cards – all major mobile payment services for both in-store and online payments, including Google Pay, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Alipay, with the latter addressed to our merchant customers.”
And cybercriminals are reportedly demanding ransom payments though WeChat Pay, which is one of the most popular digital wallets in China, CNET reported. The malware encrypts files on devices and pilfers passwords for shopping sites and a messaging platform, among other websites. If users want to be able to see their files, they reportedly have to scan a WeChat QR code for payment. (That is reported to be 110 yuan, which is equivalent to roughly $16). According to reports, more than 20,000 computers have been impacted by the ransomware – and that figure is said to be on the rise.
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