Companies

AI and the Global Economy: Implications for Central Banks

BIS

“The AI boom is driving a large, increasingly debt-financed investment surge and boosting trade and equity markets, generating sizeable terms-of-trade and wealth effects that differ across countries. The productivity payoff from AI, though potentially large, remains uncertain and uneven, across both sectors and countries. By simultaneously affecting demand and supply, AI blurs cyclical signals, complicating central banks’ […]

Tags: Bank for International Settlements

Global

Stablecoins Offer Limited Retail Payment Appeal in UK, FCA Says

Crypto News

“FCA participants identified cross border payments as the strongest current use case for stablecoins, particularly in markets with limited access to U.S. dollars. The regulator said UK consumers have little incentive to switch payment methods, though merchants could benefit from lower costs and faster settlement. Findings from the Stablecoin Sprint have informed the FCA’s stablecoin […]

Tags: UK

Industry

BIS Paper Floats FMI Style Oversight for Blockchain Sequencers, Middleware

Ledger Insights

“The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) published a Bulletin exploring why blockchain activity has fragmented across dozens of separate networks rather than converging on one or two. Buried in the policy section is its most consequential point. Some of the plumbing that connects these networks is becoming systemically important, and the BIS floats the idea […]

Companies

Google Opens the Play Store to External Billing in the US, UK, and Europe

9 to 5 Google

“Google announced that it will open up the Play Store to external payments starting on June 30 in the US, UK, and Europe. The new policy sees developers paying 10% fees on their first $1,000,000 in annual earnings regardless of billing method, whether that be Google Play Billing, an alternate built-in system, or external links […]

Tags: Google

Companies

Boston Fed Announces Formation of New Payments Advisory Council

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

“The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston announced the formation of the First District’s Payments Advisory Council. The council, made up of bankers and payments system leaders from across New England, will share industry insights and data to strengthen the Boston Fed’s understanding of payment issues. It will also inform related policy considerations and decision-making and […]

Tags: Federal Reserve

Global

Bank of England Launches Policy Statement and Draft Rules on Regulating Systemic Stablecoins

Bank of England

“The Bank of England published its policy statement and draft Code of Practice (rules) for systemic stablecoin issuers, marking a key. The policy statement and draft rules reflect feedback from last year’s consultation. The framework supports safe innovation, enabling UK issued stablecoins to develop as trusted forms of digital money. The Bank has made targeted […]

Tags: England

Industry

Education: Tokenization: What It Is and How to Think About It

Bank of Canada

“Tokenization has received a lot of attention in recent years as a technology that could revolutionize financial markets and payments. It promises fast settlement, low risk for counterparties and minimal barriers to competition. Yet tokenization is often misunderstood. It is intrinsically complex, and there is no universally recognized framework for assessing the benefits, risks and […]

Industry

Saviynt Expands Identity Security for AI Solution With Intent-Aware Runtime Authorization for AI Agents

Saviynt

“Saviynt, a provider of identity security, released enhancements to its Agent Access Gateway — a runtime authorization layer that controls what AI agents can do as they interact with applications, data, APIs, tools, infrastructure, and other agents. As enterprises move AI agents from experimentation into production, security teams face a new access problem. Agents can […]

Companies

Ant Group Overhauls Alipay With AI Agent Interface To Challenge WeChat’s Billion-User Dominance

Foreign Policy Journal

“Ant Group is testing a redesign of its Alipay super app that would introduce an AI agent interface at its core. The design allows users to ask the Alipay AI to book a car ride, order coffee, or arrange food delivery by typing or speaking requests. The AI assistant, pronounced “Ah Bao” in Chinese, will […]

Tags: Ant Group

Industry

BPI and TCH Comment on FedNow Cross-Border Payments Rule

Bank Policy Institute

“The Clearing House Association and the Bank Policy Institute appreciate the opportunity to respond to the proposed rule and request for comment on amendments to subpart C of Regulation J (governing the FedNow® Service). The Associations support the objectives of the Proposal to expand the use of always-on payments rails for cross-border payments and to […]

Global

Brazil Nixes Settlement for Stablecoin eFX

Global Finance Magazine

“Banco Central do Brasil (BCB) has banned fintech and payment providers from settling overseas payments in stablecoins or crypto. The BCB is implementing new rules regarding its electronic foreign exchange (eFX) policy, which governs how payment institutions and e-money issuers provide cross-border services. Its immediate effects, when the new rules go into effect on Oct. […]

Tags: Brazil

Industry

Banking Groups Urge Regulators to Consider Stablecoin Risks

Banking Exchange

“In a joint letter, the American Bankers Association, the Bank Policy Institute, the Consumer Bankers Association and the Independent Community Bankers of America outlined recommendations for federal regulators to include in their annual report to Congress on stablecoins. The group identified concerns, including the vulnerability of payment stablecoin issuers to runs and the contagion risk […]

Global

RBI’s ‘Payments Vision 2028’ Ushers Structural Re‑Design of Ecosystem

Deccan Herald

“The vision document…seeks to build an open and interoperable card ecosystem with emphasis on merchant choice, smart tokenisation and orchestration, and transparent pricing. The vision document calls for innovation in card payments. This creates policy space for continued development of tokenised payment models, contactless and embedded experiences, stronger authentication and fraud controls and card-linked innovation […]

Tags: India

Companies

Ignore Stablecoins at Your Own Risk

Nacha

“At the moment, you’re unlikely to use stablecoin to pay for your new lawnmower or for the mocha latte to give you the energy to use it. But will that always be the case? Molly Woodman sees a day when things will be different. “People need to understand it a little bit better before using […]

Tags: Nacha

Industry

XRP Eyes Bigger US Payments Role Amid Fed Access Talks

Bitcoin News

“A policy discussion shared April 30 by Evernorth CEO Asheesh Birla on social media platform X linked XRP to a potential shift in U.S. payment infrastructure. Evernorth is building a public XRP treasury model for institutional exposure. The Evernorth executive framed the issue around access to core settlement infrastructure. The proposal would allow certain federally […]