Banked
"In a landmark deal set to put the spotlight on the continued global adoption of real-time account-to-account payments, Banked, a leading global Pay by Bank provider, today announced its acquisition of Australian payment technology firm Waave."
Ledger Insights
"Mu Changchun, head of the Digital Currency Research Institute at the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), provided an update on the roll out and adoption of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot. As of July there were 180 million personal wallets, which represents about one in eight of the 1.4 billion Chinese population. The cumulative transaction volume reached RMB 7.3 trillion."
Business Wire
"Instant and secure payments can act as a multiplier to help businesses and economies thrive and grow. To further Mastercard’s vision of bringing immediacy to card payments, the company announced that South Africa will be the first market in the world to benefit from the security and speed of immediate Mastercard card payments."
American Banker
The Canadian government is about to cut payment fees for small businesses by up to 27%, adding to international pressure on credit card companies to reduce what they charge users and find alternative sources of revenue. [Subscription Required]
Bangkok Post
"Thailand is expected to transition to a cashless society faster than its regional peers, driven by the country's rapid digital adoption and transformation, according to a Visa survey."
Global Government Fintech
"Russia’s central bank is aiming to start the ‘extensive introduction’ of a digital ruble in nine months’ time. Bank of Russia has been experimenting with a central bank digital currency (CBDC) for the past two-and-a-half years and is ramping up pilot activity towards a rollout that it envisages as progressing through three main stages."
H2FOZ
"The limitations on transfers and payments made by individuals via Pix between 4 pm and 20 am will come into effect this Monday, the 6th, and will now be limited to a maximum of R$1 in total. This is one of the measures aimed at preventing kidnappings and nighttime robberies that use this means of financial transaction."
CNBC
"Tensions are escalating between banking and payment companies and social media firms in the U.K. over who should be liable for compensating people if they fall victim to fraud schemes online. Starting from Oct. 7, banks will be required to start compensating victims of so-called authorized push payment (APP) fraud a maximum £85,000 if those individuals affected were tricked or psychologically manipulated into handing over the cash."
Business Wire
"During the 2024 National Day Golden Week, Alipay recorded a significant increase in both China’s outbound and inbound tourism spending. In China, international travelers spent 120% more year-on-year using their international card-enabled Alipay accounts at merchants during the first four days of the National Day holiday. Alipay Tap! saw transaction volume increase by 130% during the holiday compared with the same period in September."
The Full FX
"With the world and payments and settlements rapidly evolving, the Bank of England says it has been “encouraged” by the level of support for extended RTGS settlement hours, noting the current hours are “unlikely to remain sufficient in an increasingly 24/7 and global world”."
Cointelegraph
"Brazil’s central bank is developing a synthetic central bank digital currency, which aims to blend decentralization, privacy and programmability."
Medium
"The Japan Credit Association has mandated the use of EMV 3D Secure (3DS) for all Japanese credit card transactions, effective March 2025. This is part of new Credit Card Security Guidelines introduced by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to combat rising credit card fraud."
China Daily
"Starting Friday, consumers shopping on Alibaba's Taobao platform can now use Tencent's WeChat Pay for transactions, according to an official statement from Taobao. The new payment option allows users to complete purchases with WeChat Pay, and subsequent updates will enable users to access transaction records and bills directly within the WeChat app, WeChat Pay said."
BBC
"Banks will have the power to pause payments for up to four days to give them more time to investigate fraud, the government has said. Currently, transfers must be processed or declined by the end of the next business day, but the new law will allow an extension of three more days."
PR News Wire
"Worldline announced a partnership with the Bank of China (Hong Kong), making it Worldline's first customer of its open platform card solution Paysuite Essential Edition (Previously named Cardlite) in Hong Kong."
PR News Wire
"India is set to surpass the impressive mark of US$ 5.4 trillion in consumer spending by 2034, up from the current US$ 1.8 trillion, according to data from the World Data Lab analyzed by EBANX, a global technology company specializing in payment services for emerging markets."
Capital News
"Safaricom’s Mobile Money Platform, M-PESA has introduced M-PESA Ratiba, a first of its kind on mobile money feature that will allow users to set up standing orders directly from their M-PESA wallets, enabling seamless and automatic payments of recurring transactions and bills."
Reserve Bank of Australia
"The RBA undertakes regulatory and policy work on retail payment systems. Over the past year, the RBA focused on implementing policy actions aimed at enhancing competition and efficiency in the debit card market. The RBA also assisted Treasury and other regulatory bodies on reforms to the regulatory framework for payments."
Bank Negara Malaysia
"Bank Negara Malaysia, Payments Network Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. (PayNet), and financial institutions have launched the NFP as an integrated platform to strengthen the operational capabilities of the National Scam Response Centre."
MSN
"The overseas arm of India's National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) will build a digital payments system for Trinidad and Tobago, modelled after India's United Payments Interface (UPI), according to a statement on Friday."
Luxembourg Times
"The European Union’s biggest banks have spent years quietly creating a new way to pay that could finally allow customers to ditch their Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. cards — the latest sign that the region is looking to dislodge two of the most valuable financial firms on the planet."
Bitcoin News
"South Korea’s central bank, the Bank of Korea, will soon allow participants to use digital tokens for payments at supermarkets and convenience stores in a central bank digital currency (CBDC) trial. Starting in December, 100,000 participants will be part of this test."
Payment Systems Regulator
"The PSR has confirmed the maximum reimbursement limit for victims of Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams starting from 7 October. Having given careful consideration to all the feedback and information received, the PSR board has decided that the maximum reimbursement limit for Faster Payments will be £85,000."
Mastercard
"KaiOS announced a partnership with Mastercard to integrate a range of digital payments solutions. Beginning in Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria, Mastercard and KaiOS will deliver affordable payment acceptance devices and stimulate the growth of a more inclusive, connected global economy."
Australian Financial Review
"US tech giants Apple and Google will let Australian retailers choose to send customers’ tap-and-go smartphone payments to the lower-cost eftpos network, something their digital wallets have prevented to date."
Developing Telecoms
"Safaricom and Mastercard announced that they have signed a partnership to accelerate adoption of payment acceptance and cross-border remittance services in Kenya."
MSN
"India is in talks with countries in Africa and South America to help them build a digital payments system using its homegrown Unified Payments Interface (UPI) as a blueprint and expects two launches by early 2027."
Mastercard
"Mastercard updated its Consumer Fraud Risk (CFR) solution to increase the ways it helps protect consumers from Real Time Payment scams. The AI-powered insights give more UK banks greater visibility into potentially fraudulent transactions so they can stop scams before they take place."
IBS Intelligence
"Thoughtworks, a global technology consultancy, has joined Australian Payments Plus (AP+), Australia’s domestic payments organisation operating the BPAY, eftpos and NPP payment schemes, to develop new customer experience (CX) industry guidelines for PayTo."
American Express
"Optimism among the UK’s small and medium-sized businesses has grown for a third consecutive year, according to new American Express research, with almost seven in 10 (69%) saying they are confident about the future of their company — rising from 67% in 2023 and 65% in 2022."