Latest global payments news

Westpac signs five-year cloud computing deal with Amazon

Australian multinational bank Westpac has entered a five-year agreement with Amazon Web Services, a deal that includes access to AWS' machine learning, data analytics and cloud-hosting services. The bank is in the midst of a project that will expand its use of data to improve personalization. Parts of the project include conversational artificial intelligence, banking-as-a-service and corporate banking. Other large banks have signed with AWS in recent years to accelerate technology development, such as Goldman Sachs, which uses AWS to manage data for hedge funds and other financial clients. Goldman Sachs also runs its Apple Card partnership on AWS, and other banks such as JPMorgan Chase and Capital One Financial have migrated some systems to AWS. —John Adams

CBA opens a wider settlement window

Commonwealth Bank of Australia has expanded Australian dollar clearing and settlement for inbound international payments. These transactions will now process for nearly 24 hours, up from 22 hours, filling a two-hour hole that the CBA says will improve speed and access for cross-border transactions. CBA is using Swift's Global Payments Initiative, which tracks international payments through a single source and is designed to support faster transaction processing. CBA's expansion is part of an initiative that will eventually provide real-time processing for inbound and outbound international payments. —John Adams

Canada cracks down on crypto operators

Canadian Securities Administrators now require companies operating in the cryptocurrency arena in Canada to pre-register and commit to following new rules within 30 days, CoinDesk reports. Included are new requirements for crypto exchanges and other companies to segregate crypto assets held for local clients, abide by a ban on margin or other forms of leverage and obtain the CSA's permission before selling stablecoins. The CSA said it plans to block Canadians from using the services of crypto operators that fail to pre-register for the enhanced rules. —Kate Fitzgerald

U.K. sees surge in tax payments powered by open banking

U.K. taxpayers recently sent a record £2.3 billion (US$2.7 billion) in tax payments so far this year using account-to-account payments due Jan. 31, 2023, open-banking tech provider Ecospend said in a press release. This year's total rose 65% over the amount collected during the same period last year, while total transactions rose 47%. A large share of the increase came from payments sent via Ecospend's Pay-by-Bank app introduced last year, the firm said. In 2021, Ecospend won the contract to process open-bank payments for the U.K. HM Revenue & Customs. Last year, Sweden-based Trustly acquired Ecospend. —Kate Fitzgerald

BIS forms group to bridge cross-border payment gaps

The Bank for International Settlements is recruiting banks and other companies that support international payment systems to serve on a task force that will attempt to improve interoperability for cross-border payments. Called the PIE task force, it will work on data messaging standards, legal consistency, regulations and supervisory frameworks. PIE comes as dozens of countries work on real-time payment networks and other innovations such as central bank digital currencies. One of the main challenges for both instant settlement and CBDCs is how to process transactions between countries or payments that involve different currencies. —John Adams

Spain’s Banco Sabadell sells payments unit

Spanish bank Sabadell has agreed to sell its retail payments unit to the Italian fintech Nexi for $370 million, Reuters reports. Nexi beat out Worldpay for the deal, which calls for Nexi to buy 80% of Paycomet while Sabadell retains an option to sell the remaining 20% to Nexi within three years. Sabadell has signed a 10-year agreement with Nexi, which will take over transactions for more than 380,000 retailers based in Spain. —Kate Fitzgerald

Citi’s top European dealmaker Harding-Jones to leave U.S. bank

Citigroup's senior-most dealmaker in the Europe, Middle East and Africa, Alison Harding-Jones, is leaving after a little over five years at the Wall Street bank. Harding-Jones, head of mergers and acquisitions in EMEA, will remain with the bank until the end of March to transition her responsibilities, Citigroup said in an internal memo to staff seen by Bloomberg News. London-based Harding-Jones, a managing director, was also vice-chair of corporate and investment banking at Citigroup. Prior to joining the U.S. bank in 2017, she worked at UBS Group AG. —Jan-Henrik Förster and Dinesh Nair, Bloomberg News

Japanese banking giants bump up graduate starting salaries

Japanese banking giants are raising starting salaries for new graduates by as much as 30% as competition for fresh talent intensifies and the cost of living soars. Mizuho Financial Group and Daiwa Securities Group were the latest financial firms to announce higher pay for employees joining straight from university, company statements showed Wednesday. Wage hikes by Japanese companies are in the spotlight this year as the possible exit of the central bank's ultra-easy monetary policy hinges largely on sustained salary growth. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has called on businesses to raise wages above the inflation rate, which is running at a four-decade high of 4.2%.

Mizuho, the nation's third-largest bank, said it will boost monthly salaries for college graduates joining in April 2024 to ¥260,000 ($1,900) a month, up from ¥205,000 currently. For those who completed doctoral studies, starting salaries will jump 30% to ¥300,000. The new pay scale applies to units including its securities arm as well as its core commercial bank. Daiwa said new graduates in its "expert course" for specialist positions will receive at least ¥450,000 per month from June, up from ¥400,000 currently. Regular staff will get ¥280,000, up from ¥265,000, Japan's second-largest brokerage said. —Taiga Uranaka, Bloomberg News

Revolut swung to profit in 2021, delayed accounts show

Revolut made its first annual profit in 2021 after nearly tripling its revenue, according to delayed accounts published Wednesday. Revenue growth slowed to about 30% last year. The London-based business said pretax profit of £39.8 million ($48 million) in 2021 compared to a loss of £220.7 million a year earlier, with revenue jumping to £636 million. The firm said its biggest source of revenue was foreign exchange and wealth, partly driven by a boom in crypto that's since gone into reverse. Gross margins increased to 70% from 33%. Revolut continued to grow at a slower pace in 2022, with revenue rising to about £850 million, according to a statement. —Aisha S Gani, Bloomberg News

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