Latest global payments news

This week in global news, U.K. payment regs draw fire, Alipay expands, Italy considers a central bank digital currency and more.

Here's what's happening around the world.

U.K. trade group pushes against fraud rules

The Payments Association has warned that potential payment crime regulations could have unintended consequences and negatively impact the U.K.'s status as a market for new payment technology. The U.K.'s payment regulator has proposed new rules to address authorized push payment fraud, which involves a crook pretending to be a person or business and asking for a funds transfer to a rogue account. The pending rules, which are scheduled to go into effect in 2024, would require all consumers who experience APP fraud to be refunded unless they are found to be grossly negligent. The cost of the refunds would be split equally between the issuing and receiving bank. The Payments Association, which includes about 300 payment firms in its membership, says these rules would encourage people to fake vulnerability to receive compensation. U.K. consumer groups such as Which? support the new regulations. —John Adams

ACI Worldwide extends real-time payments to Europe

Payment technology firm ACI Worldwide is taking advantage of pending regulations to extend its real-time processing application programming interface to the U.K. and the European Union. ACI's API will enable merchants to offer instant payment technology in line with evolving EU protocols. The European Commission has proposed requiring banks in the Single Euro Payments Area to offer instant settlement through SEPA's scheme, which would create a price floor for real-time payments in SEPA countries. The U.K. is still part of SEPA despite the country's departure from the European Union. ACI has been building its cross-border payments technology over the past year, partly in anticipation of the growth of real-time settlement networks. "Payments need to keep pace with an increasingly digital society," said Basant Singh, global head of ACI's merchant business, in a release. "In our expanding 'always on' transactional world, giving and receiving money electronically should be as instantaneous as handing over cash." —John Adams

Australian fintech debuts virtual card for stablecoins

Sydney-based fintech Stables has partnered with Mastercard and Circle to launch a virtual stablecoin card that can be used at merchants on Mastercard's network. Circle's USD Coin, one of the world's largest stablecoins in circulation, will be the preferred stablecoin at launch. The card has debuted in Australia, with plans to expand to other parts of Asia and Europe later this year, followed by other markets. Mastercard has aggressively pursued cryptocurrency use cases over the past couple of years, with a particular focus on stablecoins. Stablecoins, which are backed by traditional currency, are designed to avoid the pricing volatility of other cryptocurrencies and are considered the most likely digital asset for payments at the point of sale. —John Adams

Crypto.com's gains licensing in Spain

The Bank of Spain has awarded a virtual asset service provider license to Crypto.com, which will enable the firm to offer cryptocurrency trading and payments in the country. Crypto.com is seeking to build a global network and in recent months has received regulatory approval in Singapore, Spain, the U.K., France, Australia, Greece, Canada, the U.S. and a handful of other countries. Spain, which began registering cryptocurrency providers, has drawn registrations from Binance, Bitstamp and fintech BVNK, according to Coindesk. "Receiving the VASP registration from the Bank of Spain is the latest testament to our commitment to compliance and eagerness to work with regulators and public officials in responsibly advancing crypto and blockchain technology," said Kris Marszalek, CEO of Crypto.com, in a release. —John Adams

Italy kicks the tires on a digital currency

The Bank of Italy has begun a pilot of a potential central bank digital currency, adding the country to a growing list of nations that are building or considering a CBDC. Called Project Leonidas, the initiative includes the banking trade group Associazione Bancaria Italiana and Italy's central bank. At launch, Project Leonidas includes 18 commercial banks, which will use a shared ledger to vet models for interbank payments. While the European Union is testing a CBDC, countries within the EU such as France are also operating their own CBDC projects, partly to ensure digital currency transactions are interoperable within the European Union. A final decision on a digital euro has not been made, and Germany is testing a blockchain payment system that does not require a CBDC. —John Adams

Ant Group’s Alipay expands tourists’ mobile wallet reach in Malaysia

China-based Ant Group has completed a push to further the acceptance of its Alipay mobile wallet in Malaysia, including at all local 7-Eleven locations, according to a press release. Through a partnership with Malaysia-based acquirer Razer Merchant Services, Ant Group led an integration enabling tourists from across Asia to pay at 2,400 7-Elevens using Alipay+, which includes mobile wallet users of Hong Kong's AlipayHK; the Philippines' GCash; South Korea's Kakao Pay and Thailand's TrueMoney. Alipay+ is now accepted at 80,000 merchant locations in Malaysia, with a concentration in tourist hubs. —Kate Fitzgerald

Paris fintech launches gig-worker payments in the U.K.

Aria, a Paris-based fintech that provides faster wage payments to gig workers across Europe, has opened an office in London to target a growing audience of gig workers seeking immediate payments for their work, according to a press release. Aria, launched in 2019, developed an application programming interface enabling employers using online hiring platforms including Malt, Brigad and StaffMe to pay their workers within a day. The firm aims to provide British employers using online marketplaces and transactional software-as-a-service providers to pay workers within 24 hours, versus more than two weeks it takes for the average U.K. worker to be paid, according to Aria's research. —Kate Fitzgerald

Brazilian startup Dock launches credit tool to expand lending by companies

Dock, which builds and provides payments services and digital banking to companies across Latin America, is rolling out a tool to allow firms to extend lending and control repayment terms. The service, which will launch in Brazil and be available globally, will allow Dock's clients to extend credit through payment plans without using a credit card company as an intermediary, founder and Chief Executive Officer Antonio Soares said in an interview. "The companies know their clients best and we've created simple financial services that allows them to provide the service," he said. "The decision-making process for consumers who want to make purchases using credit has to change, it has to be more transparent." Dock makes money by charging companies for access to their financial services platform and through the use of licenses that allow companies to provide financial services without being a bank. The central bank-regulated company also charges fees on some transactions. —Daniel Cancel, Bloomberg News