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February 8, 2024
On the web
Safaricom Reports Significant M-Pesa Growth in Ethiopia
ITWeb Africa
"M-PESA service was launched in the East African country in August of last year. Currently, M-PESA has 26,200 agents and 43,100 merchants, according to the company's third quarter 2023 update."
Ensuring Euro Money Transfers Arrive Within Ten Seconds
Europa
The new regulation aims to make sure that retail clients and businesses, especially SMEs, will not have to wait for their money, as well as to enhance the safety of transfers. Banks and other payment service providers (PSPs) will have to ensure credit transfers are affordable and immediately processed.
February 7, 2024
On the web
Consumer Card Spending Grew Just 3.1 per Cent in January as Brits Opted for Nights in and Home-Cooked Meals, Yet Confidence in Personal Finances Reached Two-Year High
Barclays
"Consumer card spending grew 3.1 per cent year-on-year in January – less than the latest CPIH* inflation rate of 4.2 per cent, yet higher than December’s growth of 2.3 per cent. Retail, hospitality and leisure spending slowed as Brits stayed at home to shelter from the cold weather and save money after a busy festive period."
Paystack Expands “Pay With Apple Pay” to Cote D’Ivoire and South Africa
Techpoint Africa
"Paystack has introduced the “Pay With Apple Pay” payment option in Cote D’Ivoire and South Africa, allowing users to make payments in iOS apps and on the web via Safari. With this development, merchants in five African countries (Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Cote d'Ivoire, and Kenya) can now accept payments from users in the US, UK, Canada, and some other African countries that support Apple Pay."
February 6, 2024
On the wires
Nepal Clearing House Taps ACI Worldwide to Pioneer Card Payment Central Infrastructure
Business Wire
"ACI Worldwide announced that Nepal Clearing House, has chosen ACI Enterprise Payments Platform for the establishment and operation of National Payment Switch (NPS) that includes interoperability of card-based transactions and the rollout of a domestic card scheme for Nepal (NEPALPAY)."
February 5, 2024
On the web
OKTO and Modulus Forge Key Partnership to Enhance Digital Payments
Contxto
"Expanding in Europe and Latin America, the collaboration aims to revolutionize gaming experiences with secure, rapid transactions."
On the wires
Thousands of Accounts at India’s Paytm Payments Bank Set Up Improperly, Sources Say
Reuters
"India's central bank has found hundreds of thousands of accounts at Paytm Payments Bank created without proper identification and has passed the information on to the country's financial crime fighting agency, three sources familiar with the matter said."
February 1, 2024
On the web
Volt and Bumper Partner to Bring Open Banking to Major Car Dealerships in the UK and Europe
Volt
"Volt, the global real-time payments platform, announces its partnership with Bumper, a payment platform for car dealerships, to harness the power of open banking and real-time payments so that consumers can pay for vehicle deposits, repairs, parts, services and even purchase vehicles outright."
January 31, 2024
Top Post
India Orders Paytm Payments Bank to Halt Business
TechCrunch
"The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued new strict curbs on Paytm’s Payments Bank, which processes transactions for financial services giant Paytm, barring it from offering many banking services, including accepting fresh deposits and credit transactions across its services."
On the web
GhIPSS, Visa Sign Domestic Processing Partnership Deal
TechFocus24
"The Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems Limited (GhIPSS), Ghana’s national payment systems infrastructure provider, announced a pioneering partnership with Visa, a global leader in digital payments, that allows GhIPSS to process domestic transactions denominated in Ghana Cedi with Visa cards issued in Ghana."
Amazon Mexico Offers Biweekly Payments Without a Credit Card Through Kueski Pay
EIN Newsdesk
"Amazon announced the launch of Pago en Quincenas with Kueski Pay, a payment method that allows users to defer their purchases into biweekly payments, making shopping on Amazon increasingly affordable."
January 30, 2024
On the web
UAE Completes First Cross-Border Digital Dirham CDBC Payment Worth $13.6M to China
Yahoo Finance
"The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has successfully completed the first cross-border payment using the Digital Dirham."
GhIPSS Instant Pay Fast Becoming the Go-To Service for Quick Transfers
GhanaWeb
GhIPSS Instant Pay is fast establishing itself as the go to platform for quick interbank transfers in Ghana.
Hong Kong to Expand e-CNY Pilot
Finance Asia
"HKMA and the PBOC announced further support for the expansion of use cases of the digital yuan in Hong Kong, targeting local consumers and travellers."
January 26, 2024
On the web
The Fed Is Falling Behind as Other Central Banks Leap Ahead on Digital Currencies
Atlantic Council
"This will be a year of divergence between the world’s major central banks. The source of this division won’t be interest rates or quantitative easing—it will be technology."
January 24, 2024
On the wires
Matera's "Pix by the Numbers" Report Reveals Surge in 2023 as Businesses Shift Away from Credit Cards
Business Wire
"Matera released its year-end report on the adoption of Brazil’s highly successful Pix instant payments scheme."
January 22, 2024
On the web
The Cheque’s End Is Nigh: Hong Kong’s Banks Set Road Map to Phase Out Paper Payment in Their Embrace of E-payments
South China Morning Post
"The Hong Kong Association of Banks will consider the future of cheques as a payment method amid a 34 per cent decline in their use over the past five years."
January 19, 2024
On the wires
Brazil Startup Is Taking Payments Tech to Us With Sights on Mars
BNN Bloomberg
"Luis Silva, the chief executive officer and founder of Brazilian payments startup CloudWalk, has lofty ambitions."
January 18, 2024
On the web
The Double-Edged Sword of Australia’s Cashless Society
BNN Breaking
"The shift towards a cashless society in Australia is accelerating, with the Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock revealing that cash transactions now account for a mere 13% of consumer purchases."
January 17, 2024
On the web
Virtual Cards Gain Traction in South Africa
ITWeb
"Two of the big-four banks have recorded strong growth in the use of virtual cards, as more South African consumers shift to digitally-driven payment methods."
Payments NZ Seeks Authorisation to Further Develop Its Open Banking Framework
Commerce Commission of New Zealand
"The Commerce Commission has received an application from Payments NZ Limited (Payments NZ) seeking authorisation to work with API providers and third parties to develop arrangements that, according to Payments NZ, will facilitate a more well-utilised, secure and innovative open banking framework."
January 12, 2024
On the web
Dubai First Takes the Lead as the First Issuer in the Region to Leverage Mastercard Token Connect Services
Zawya
"Dubai First, the consumer services platform under First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), has become the first issuer in the region to leverage Mastercard Token Connect to push customers’ tokenized card details from its mobile app to Click to Pay and digital wallets."
Major UPI Apps Enabled to Receive Remittances from Singapore via UPI-PayNow Linkage
NPCI
"The cross-border linkage between Unified Payments Interface (UPI) & PayNow is enabling Indians to receive instant, secure, and cost-effective remittances from Singapore-based Indian diaspora directly into their bank accounts."
January 11, 2024
On the web
Spanish Central Bank Unveils Partners for Wholesale CBDC Pilot
CoinGeek
"Banco de España, Spain’s banking regulator, has announced the selection of three entities to participate in its wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot, one year after issuing an open call for partners."
January 4, 2024
On the web
Fan of UPI? Watch Out for These Five New Rules Introduced This New Year
MobileAppDaily
"In its pursuit of providing cutting edge services, NPCI has introduced five new UPI rules that will make the system more secure, seamless and convenient for users."
Banco Central Do Brasil Takes Another Step Towards Implementing Pix Automático (Automatic Pix)
BCB
"Banco Central do Brasil has released operational guidelines for the Pix Automático product. Pix Automático will be available to the population in October 2024."
Adyen Partners With Straumur to Simplify Payments in Iceland
IBS Intelligence
"Adyen, the global financial platform is entering a partnership with Straumur, a subsidiary of Kvika. Straumur is a payment provider that processes payments in several verticals on the Icelandic market, including grocery stores, restaurants, pharmacies and gas stations."
Europe’s Payment System’s Big Bang: Inside the ISO 20022 Migration
International Banker
"Rolling out a new common language for global payment data is no small feat. However, the transition is gathering momentum, with one domestic payment system after another converting to ISO 20022 (a standard for financial-information interchange between financial institutions developed by ISO, the International Organization for Standardization) over the past two years, including in countries such as Singapore"
India’s Digital Currency Transactions Top 1 Million/Day in Dec
Reuters
"Indian banks disbursed some employee benefits through the digital rupee in December, helping the Reserve Bank of India meet its target of one million daily transactions by end-2023, three sources directly familiar with the development said."
January 3, 2024
On the web
Tata Pay Gets Payment Aggregator License: Why It Is Significant [India]
NewsBytes
"The Tata Group's digital payments app, Tata Payments, has been granted a payment aggregator (PA) license by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), reports the Economic Times (ET) allowing the company to facilitate e-commerce transactions on its platform, joining the likes of Razorpay, PhonePe, and Google Pay."
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