Latest global payments news

U.K. cracks down on illegal bitcoin ATMs

The Financial Conduct Authority has conducted inspections of suspected illegal cryptocurrency ATMs in Exeter, Nottingham and Sheffield, part of the FCA's ongoing investigation of off-the-grid machines. While crypto ATMs must be licensed, the FCA said in a release, that "there are no crypto ATM operators registered with the FCA," suggesting there are no legal crypto ATMs in the U.K. Crypto ATMs enable consumers to convert traditional currency into crypto, or to buy crypto directly. The FCA, which has conducted previous illegal crypto ATM inspections in Leeds and London, said the investigation is also part of an effort to raise awareness among the public of the risk of illegal ATMs and to remind consumers that crypto products are largely unregulated, leading to potential heavy losses for investors. —John Adams

Standard Chartered upgrades cross-border e-commerce payments

Standard Chartered is collaborating with global payments company Tazapay to improve the user experience for international e-commerce transactions. It's part of a larger strategy at the bank to provide curated financial services for business transactions, including consumer and B2B payments. The two companies have developed a payment gateway that enables marketplaces and e-commerce sellers to accept payments in a local currency in more than 70 markets via an application programming interface. Standard Chartered also recently partnered with Proxtera, a Singapore-based international marketplace, to support a gateway for cross-border digital payments. The bank also worked with Tazapay on an earlier billing-as-a-service platform. As more merchants and small businesses look internationally for customers and supplies, payment companies and bank/fintech partnerships have stepped in to offer services designed to cut time and cost. —John Adams

CBA looks beyond Sydney for tech development

Commonwealth Bank of Australia has opened a new technology development hub in Perth, as the Sydney-based CBA seeks to diversify its pipeline for new technology and talent. The Perth hub will offer jobs in data science, cyber security and software engineering. The CBA Tech Hub program recruits developers from outside Sydney, reducing the bank's reliance on Australia's largest bank and technology center. CBA has recently opened hubs in Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane. The banking group is investing about $1.1 billion each year as part of its overall technology strategy, which includes digitizing more of the bank's financial services and participating in broader efforts to bring digital banking to more of Australia's population. CBA is also in the midst of an international open banking initiative to improve data sharing among international financial institutions and other technology companies. —John Adams

Westpac unveils mobile carbon tracker

Westpac released a feature in its mobile app that enables consumers to monitor their estimated carbon footprint. Consumers can view carbon emissions tracked from spending accounts in categories such as home energy, gas or groceries. The bank built the carbon trackers as part of a partnership with carbon management fintech Cogo. Consumers can additionally compare their carbon footprint against individual and household averages and can access articles and links from Cogo with information on how consumers can reduce carbon emissions. Westpac joins banks and fintechs globally that enable businesses and consumers to measure the environmental impact of their transactions. —John Adams

Interac diversifies beyond payments

Interac, Canada's bank-supported debit network, has added a verification service, the organization's initial foray beyond payments. Called Interac Verified, the service provides identity vetting for digital interactions between businesses and individuals. Users utilize existing bank login credentials to share data with Interac Verified, which authenticates users before access to services is granted, meaning all parties that transact with Interact Verified are authenticated before the payment. An additional product from Interac verifies documents, such as a government-issued ID. Interac hopes its brand recognition within Canada will build trust in the new service. "We can draw clear parallels between verification and payments and what these ecosystems fundamentally need to be grounded in, trust and security, to deliver value to Canadians," said Debbie Gamble, chief officer of innovation labs and new ventures at Interac, in a release. —John Adams

Barclays, TransferMate collaborate on cross-border B2B payments

U.K.-based Barclays has teamed up with Ireland-based cross-border payments firm TransferMate to enable Barclays' corporate customers to send invoices in recipients' local currency while receiving the payments in British pounds, according to a press release. The collaboration automatically converts currencies and matches payments with associated invoices, ensuring receivables are accurate and less costly to handle by eliminating manual processes. Barclays and TransferMate recently concluded a pilot of the program with Barclays' higher-education customers, enabling universities to invoice international students in their local currency and receive payments in British pounds. —Kate Fitzgerald

Corpay partners with Sunflower Bank for cross-border commercial payments

Corpay, a division of Atlanta-based FleetCor, is working with Denver-based Sunflower Bank to extend Corpay's global cross-border and currency risk-management services to Sunflower's U.S. corporate customers for international business transactions, according to a press release. Corpay, which is the largest Mastercard commercial card issuer in North America, provides a single point of access for corporations seeking to streamline business payments across borders. —Kate Fitzgerald