European Union

Google Payment, a company owned by Alphabet Inc., obtained an e-money license in Lithuania, joining a growing number of fintech firms that have secured permission from the Baltic nation to offer financial services across the European Union.

The Bank of Lithuania is positioning the country’s capital Vilnius as a hub for payments-related fintechs wanting to enter the European market — a move that's timed to take advantage of the uncertainty Brexit has cast over London's claim to the title.

The European data sharing regulation, PSD2, is often seen as a compliance burden for banks — but if used correctly, the rules provide a path to boosting digital payments revenue.

For all the media attention around the best options for cardholders when making transactions abroad, there's little focus on the lack of transparency on the costs involved with making a purchase in the local currencies where Visa, Mastercard and the issuers manage the conversion, argues Gino Ravaioli, chairman of the DCC Forum.

For banks, initially concerned that PSD2 would allow others to come between them and their customers, the prize comes in keeping themselves at the center of their customers’ digital banking experience, writes Huw Davies, CCO of Token.

London-based digital payment provider Revolut has applied for an e-money license in Luxembourg in case the Brexit impact creates legal complications.

The highly lucrative remittance business, once the sole purview of established players with large agent-based locations such as Western Union and MoneyGram, is under an all-out attack by digital fintechs.

British Airways may become the first high-profile company to face Europe’s far-reaching data privacy rules that come with potential fines after a computer hack compromised credit card data from some 380,000 customers.

Since his 2016 campaign, Donald Trump has loomed over the international payments system with a series of threats that are proving increasingly empty.

The U.K.’s Food Standard Agency completed its first successful blockchain pilot this month, with plans to expand the test in August.