Latest global payments news

U.K. politicians call to accelerate crypto regs

Members of Parliament and Lords of different political parties are calling for the appointment of a cryptocurrency czar and dozens of new regulations, and are demanding these measures be taken in the next 18 months to ensure the U.K. stays competitive in digital assets. The group, called the All Party Parliamentary Group for Crypto and Digital Assets, has made recommendations for how to govern cryptocurrency, a central bank digital currency, rules to protect and inform consumers on the risks of cryptocurrencies, and measures to ensure stablecoins are fully backed by reliable reserves such as U.K. pounds. The stablecoin policy mirrors regulatory work being done in the U.S. and elsewhere to mitigate the risks of stablecoins, which are designed to hedge against cryptocurrency volatility. The group also said existing regulators such as the Financial Conduct Authority should govern cryptocurrency, but expressed doubt that these regulators have the proper resources and expertise to do so.

JPMorgan Chase plans real-time blockchain payments test in India

JPMorgan Chase will pilot a payment network that enables dollar-based settlement for financial institutions located in India. HDFC, ICICI, Axis Bank, Yes Bank and Indusind Bank will open Nostro accounts at a JPMorgan branch in India, reports the Economic Times. JPMorgan's blockchain will enable instant settlement for these accounts. Dollar-based settlement in India is usually managed by multiple Nostro accounts, which refer to a bank account held in a foreign currency by a domestic bank. These banks use the Swift messaging system to process the cross-border payments to India in dollars, though the Swift system can process these types of payments only during U.S. office hours. The JPM pilot will operate at all hours of the day.

Nets extends its payments terminal to Finland

Nets has debuted its Npay terminal in Finland, one of the first deployments from the Nexi Digital Finland Hub. The Nexi Group, which owns Nets, opened the Finnish development hub in February. The Npay terminals accept Visa, Mastercard and most local European schemes. Sweden was the initial market for the new terminal, with Italy scheduled to launch in the next few weeks. Nexi, which is based in Italy, has made more than $15 billion in acquisitions over the past half decade to build a transaction network in Europe that can counter the large U.S.-based payment networks, international payment fintechs and U.S.-based merchant services firms that have a presence in Europe, such as FIS and Fiserv.

Mastercard teams with local fintech to launch A2A payments in UAE

Mastercard has partnered with Dapi to introduce account-to-account payments through Mastercard's Payment Gateway Services. The card brand and the United Arab Emirates-based Dapi signed the agreement at Seamless Middle East, an event that is designed to expand digital commerce in the region. Dapi is one of the first Middle Eastern participants in Mastercard's Start Path open banking program, working in the region and internationally. Dubai is emerging as a fintech hub, with crypto exchange Bybit recently expanding to the UAE, and a central bank digital currency project that is moving faster than most European and North American projects, with launch scheduled for later this year.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia dumps fees for cross-border transfers

Commonwealth Bank of Australia is removing the $6 international money transfer fee for consumers and business, while adding more security for the payments. The waiver covers outgoing transactions drawn from CBA Transaction and Foreign Currency accounts via NetBank, CommBank App or CommBiz platforms. There will also be no correspondent banking fees. CBA is additionally developing new security for cross-border payments, including new biometric and behavioral analysis. CBA is attempting to shore up its position with corporate clients that have international suppliers and consumers who are sending money to family members in other countries. The bank in February launched near-24/7 settlement for international payments in Australian dollars.