Latest global banking news

June 22, 2022 2:49 PM

In global news this week, Walmart and Payoneer team up for U.K. e-commerce, metaverse banking advances in Italy, Stripe expands its global bank transfer footprint, and more.

Here's what's happening around the world.

David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Walmart, Payoneer team for U.K. e-commerce initiative

Walmart is teaming with New York-based Payoneer on a new initiative to expand the range of goods it sells from U.K. merchants by streamlining online cross-border payments technology within Walmart Marketplace. Payoneer is providing Walmart’s U.K. sellers with integrated payment options to simplify and streamline payments connections to U.S. buyers. The move aims to enable U.K. sellers to ship goods from sectors including fashion, kitchen, home, beauty and sporting goods to U.S. consumers through two-day shipping options it’s developing. –Kate Fitzgerald

Fido executives including (left to right) Guy Shaked, chief technology officer; Alon Eitan, CEO and Kelvin Abdallah, chief commercial officer, in the Nima Market in Accra, Ghana.

Eliken Studios

African startup raises $30 million for autonomous lending platform

Ghana-based fintech Fido, which uses autonomous technology and machine learning to rapidly qualify underbanked citizens for loans, has raised $30 million from international investors. Fido’s model automatically assembles available data about prospective borrowers and makes decisions in real time via a mobile app. The startup said it will use the funding for further technology research and development, with the goal of expanding Fido’s platform to lenders across Africa. Fido’s backers include Israel-based Fortissimo Capital and Boston-based Yard Ventures. To date Fido has raised about $38 million. –Kate Fitzgerald

Italian bank launches metaverse development hub

Italy-based bank Sella and dpixel, its venture capital incubator, are launching an accelerator program seeking financial services startups operating in the Metaverse. Based within the Turin-based tech hub OGR Torino, the Metaverse 4 Finance Accelerator targets domestic and international startups seeking capital and technical help in developing finance-based Web3 concepts that will be ready for market launch within six to 10 months. The pool of interested candidates will be narrowed to five finalist startups who will each receive 100,000 euros in funding to develop their concepts, which may span socializing, gaming, marketing or finance. –Kate Fitzgerald

LATAM launches loyalty card for South American travel

Chile-based LATAM Airlines Group, which operates flights in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru, has partnered with San Francisco-based credit card company Cardless to launch a loyalty credit card programs targeting frequent U.S. travelers to South America. The Mastercard-branded credit cards, to be issued by Salt Lake City, Utah-based First Electronic Bank, provide rewards that can be redeemed for airline travel on LATAM Airlines and its partner, Delta Air Lines. One version of the card is free and a second $99-a-year version offers more options to earn rewards, perks and upgrades. –Kate Fitzgerald

Israel conducts new central bank digital currency tests

The Bank of Israel is running pilot tests of a central bank digital currency that could allow anonymous payments. The central bank is trying to determine how to offer the privacy of cash transactions while ensuring the CBDC cannot be used for laundering or other financial crimes. The government would provide a digital wallet for citizens to hold two types of digital shekels–one that is recorded in a ledger and another that is not. The wallets would have a monthly limit on how much of the CBDC could be used anonymously, with any payments beyond that limit automatically recorded in a ledger. -John Adams

Stripe adds markets to its bank transfer network

Stripe has added the U.K., EU and Mexico to markets that offer bank transfers for the payment company's business clients. The service launched in Japan earlier this year, and automates reconciliation through a virtual account number for each user. This allows businesses to determine if a payment is the proper amount, and use a dashboard and application programming interface to refund overpayments and collect for underpayments without initiating a new transfer. Stripe plans to launch the service in the U.S. later in 2022 and will add new features, such as open banking in the U.K.-John Adams

U.K. plans tougher buy now/pay later regulations

The U.K. government is tightening rules on buy now, pay later loans to try to prevent borrowers from taking on unaffordable debts. After months of consultations, the Treasury confirmed that lenders will be required to carry out affordability checks on customers and ensure advertisements are fair. Providers will need to be approved by the Financial Conduct Authority and borrowers can take complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service. The government aims to lay secondary legislation by mid-2023, after which the FCA will consult on its regulation. It comes as companies from Apple Inc. to Klarna Bank AB race to offer shoppers the chance to pay for small items in installments, which are interest-free if they pay on time. –Marion Dakers, Bloomberg News

Sumitomo plans investment in SBI Holdings

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. is preparing to take a stake in SBI Holdings Inc., according to a person familiar with the matter, marking a major alliance between two Japanese financial giants. Japan’s second-largest banking group plans to hold as much as 10% of SBI, a stake valued at about 60 billion yen ($443 million), the person said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private. The Tokyo-based companies will collaborate on the securities business, the Nikkei reported earlier Tuesday, citing a person it didn’t identify. Representatives for SBI and Sumitomo Mitsui said nothing has been decided. –Taiga Uranaka and Takako Taniguchi, Bloomberg News

Nayax expands into New Zealand's unattended retail market

Nayax, a global commerce enablement and payment platform, is expanding its footprint into New Zealand with its Onyx contactless card reader and cashless payment solutions designed for unattended businesses such as self-service laundromats, automated car washes, public transportation and other use cases. The card reader accepts all cashless and contactless payment methods and allows merchants to manage operations remotely with telemetry capabilities that provide an overview of sales, machine data and real-time alerts. – Paige Hagy

U.S., Gazelle Finance to aid displaced Ukrainian businesses

The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has opened an economic recovery facility for Ukrainian businesses displaced by the war with Russia. The DFC is partnering with Gazelle Finance, an American investment group with a focus on Eurasia, and USAID Georgia. The facility will support small and medium enterprises whose workers were displaced to Georgia, offering resources to keep the businesses running and making use of the influx of skilled labor. “The facility will protect jobs and create new market opportunities to grow their businesses,” said DFC chief executive Scott Nathan in a release. —Victoria Zhuang