Latest global banking news

December 21, 2022 9:27 AM

Pay-by-bank advances in the U.K.; British banks team to protect cash; Mastercard invests in Africa, and other news.

Here's what's happening around the world.

A pedestrian passes outside a Barclays bank branch in London.

Bloomberg News

U.K. banks cooperate to protect cash access

Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group and other large banks in the U.K. plan to form a nonprofit entity called Cash Access U.K., which will provide cash access, deposits and other banking services. About 30 cash-access hubs have been announced. Cash Access is being formed as the use of cash in the U.K. declines in favor of digital banking. That has resulted in government regulations and political actions to ensure banks can provide access to cash for consumers who still use cash, as well as pressure to account for other moves such as branch closures. —John Adams

Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

Mastercard invests in financial inclusion in Africa

Mastercard has partnered with the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation to invest $50 million in organizations that are working on financial technology and improving access to financial services in Africa. The collaboration will support organizations in the Mastercard Community Pass network, which works on improving access to the internet, smartphone adoption and other challenges in rural communities. The organizations include agricultural firms, financial institutions and technology companies. Visa also recently made an investment in Africa in an effort to deepen ties to governments, mobile network operators, fintechs and merchants. —John Adams

Jasper Juinen/Bloomberg

Rabobank reports successful blockchain test

Netherlands-based Rabobank says it has successfully executed 19 commercial paper transactions in euros and pounds using a blockchain. The transactions settled in near-real time, demonstrating how the technology can be used to improve liquidity. Other parties in the test included the Dutch State Treasury, Erste Bank in Austria and Northern Trust Asset Management, a U.K.-based asset manager. Settlement took less than 30 minutes, compared to the normal two business days. Managing liquidity is considered one of the key potential benefits of real-time processing. —John Adams

Wise debuts investment account in the U.K.

Wise has introduced a new product that allows U.K. consumers to earn returns that follow interest rates offered by the Bank of England, U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank. Wise is using a Public Dect Money Market Fund, which is invested in short-term assets that are guaranteed by governments. Wise says 99.99% of the funds will be available immediately, and consumers can choose to convert funds to investments in the Wise app. These investments could produce returns that Wise refers to as "interest." Wise recently received an investment license in Estonia, and plans to introduce the investment account in other European markets over the next year. Wise traditionally focused on remittances, though it has added more financial services and markets in recent years. —John Adams

Sella Group hosts metaverse accelerator

Italy-based banking giant Sella Group's "Metaverse 4 Finance" accelerator program, co-sponsored by Visa, recently drew participation from 117 startups in 26 countries, which were narrowed to seven finalist projects to develop "crypto as a service" business-to-business solutions, decentralized metaverses, and hybrid open-banking services leveraging Web2 and Web3 systems. The five best-performing concepts will receive a prize of 100,000 euros each before being matched with a company for further testing or market-launch. Five Italian firms submitted 37 concepts, with 11 from the U.S., six from the U.K., five from India, three from Germany and the rest from other nations, according to a press release from Sella, a 400-branch independent banking firm based in Biella, Italy, which has operations in seven countries. —Kate Fitzgerald

King to appear on U.K. bills by mid-2024

King Charles III will appear on £5, £10, £20 and £50 banknotes by the middle of 2024, according to the Bank of England. The King's image will be on the front of bank notes, with no other changes in the bills' design. Charles III's image will also appear in other financial signage that has traditionally carried royal imagery. The move ends speculation on how the U.K.'s currency will change following the death of Queen Elizabeth II this year. The bank notes with the late Queen will continue to circulate and will be legal tender. The notes with the Queen's image will be replaced gradually as worn bills are removed from circulation, to minimize the environmental impact. —John Adams

Fraud-detection firm DataVisor gets $40 million funding

Mountain View, California-based DataVisor, which provides software to detect fraud across the global financial services ecosystem, has received a $40 million strategic growth investment led by Brighton Park Capital. DataVisor has offices in the U.S. and Asia, and it will use the funding to expand to new international markets and increase the scale of its platform. Experian in 2019 added DataVisor's products to its own fraud-detection tools. —Kate Fitzgerald

U.K. catering firm launches pay-by-bank feature

JJ Foodservice, a U.K.-based food and catering supplier, has launched an open-banking feature enabling its 100,000 restaurants, schools and institutional food suppliers to make wholesale purchases directly from their bank accounts, according to a press release. The pay-by-bank option uses technology from U.K.-based open-finance platform Ecospend and Berlin-based embedded-finance company Solaris to take payments and provide refunds in real time. It appears alongside other payment options, including cards, in the caterer's online checkout sequence. More than 40% of customers tried the option last month during a launch promotion providing a discount for paying by bank. —Kate Fitzgerald

JPMorgan said to seal deal to buy 48.5% of Greece’s Viva Wallet

JPMorgan Chase has signed the final terms to acquire a 48.5% stake of Greece's payment firm Viva Wallet, according to press reports in the country. The U.S. bank will buy out all the minority holders for an amount that is expected to be above €820 million ($869 million), the news website kathimerini.gr reported, without saying how it got the information. JPMorgan announced the deal in January pending regulatory approvals, while the two sides were in still talks for the details of the agreement. Athens-based Viva Wallet focuses on serving small and medium-sized businesses in 24 countries in Europe. Its services include bill payment, virtual debit card issuance and merchant cash advance. —Sotiris Nikas, Bloomberg News

Binance ousts Tokocrypto CEO and is cutting 58% of jobs at unit

Binance Holdings' Indonesian unit is cutting jobs and replacing its top executive after the parent company took nearly full control over it. The dominant cryptocurrency exchange now owns almost 100% of PT Crypto Indonesia Berkat, known as Tokocrypto, lifting its shareholding from more than 51% two years ago when the investment was first made, the local unit said in an emailed statement on Tuesday. Binance Chief Executive Officer Changpeng Zhao confirmed the move in a tweet on Monday. Following the move, Yudhono Rawis will be appointed as interim CEO at Tokocrypto, replacing Pang Xue Kai, to comply with a domestic policy to appoint local leaders, said Tokocrypto spokesperson Rieka Handayani. —Norman Harsono, Bloomberg News