U.K.

Slowly and silently, 10,000 free-to-use ATMs are set to disappear from Britain’s high streets over the next four years — despite recent findings that at least 3 million people across the U.K. rely on cash for almost all of their day-to-day payments.

Bank of America pays female staff in Britain 28.7% less on average than male employees, according to a report released Tuesday.

Morgan Stanley also reported a wide disparity in gender pay, reflecting the greater proportion of men in top executive posts.

Digital money transfer provider SimbaPay has added an artificial-intelligence-powered chatbot that will enable banks and other companies to offer international money transfer to customers across Africa and Europe through text messaging.

The ClearSpend app will allow businesses to see real-time updates and make changes to company card accounts instantly.

For the U.S., being late to the real-time payments game has some tactical advantages, namely the ability to learn from other countries' successes and failures.

A partnership between SumUp and iZettle to provide mobile card readers will help the Church of England offer contactless, virtual terminal and mobile payments to its congregations.

Doubling down on its surprise pivot to blockchain technology, the former parent company of Long Island Iced Tea—now Long Blockchain Corp.—is buying a U.K. tech firm specializing in distributed ledger technology and cryptocurrency.

Coinbase Inc., one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, said it obtained an e-money license in the U.K. as it expands services in Europe. A local subsidiary also opened an account at Barclays Plc, easing deposits and withdrawal for clients.

TransferWise, which recently added a consumer-targeted account to its business-to-business services, has selected Wirecard to issue a cross-border debit card for consumers.

The wave of payments fraud that's sweeping the globe shows no signs of abating. Martina King has an answer in an artificial intelligence-driven platform that has drawn the interest of some of the world's largest banks, payment processors, merchant acquirers, insurance companies and gaming organizations.

Andrea Dunlop has more than two decades of experience in the payments industry following a stint in military service. At Paysafe, she competes in an increasingly digital and borderless technology environment.

The stance the Bank of England is taking a proactive and pragmatic approach that should be championed, writes Nigel Green, founder and CEO of deVere Group.

Google is reportedly working with a number of European banks to explore opportunities arising from PSD2.

U.S. card issuers are adding contactless technology to credit and debit cards — but they are doing so in slow, small steps.

Momentum is continuing unabated for blockchain projects and initial coin offerings as the potential for blockchain continues to be realized.

U.K. lawmakers are launching an inquiry into cryptocurrencies to investigate their benefits and risks and consider how the new technology should be regulated.

It would appear that momentum is continuing unabated for blockchain projects and ICOs (initial coin offerings), as the potential for blockchain continues to be realized.

NMI, which provides payments gateway services for resellers of payment services, has purchased U.K.-based Creditcall to expand its EMV and contactless capabilities so it can support retail, e-commerce, mobile and unattended payments through a single platform.

Many large European banks are developing their own services to comply with the data-sharing requirements of PSD2, but thousands of smaller and midsize organizations will need help, seeding the growth of startups specializing in open banking tools.