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Nordic nod
Mastercard and the P27 Nordic Payments platform will build a real-time payment system to work across the region.
P27, which is owned by a consortium of banks including Danske Bank, Handelsbanken, Nordea, OP Financial Group, SEB and Swedbank, will power instant account-to-account multi-currency transactions, replacing older payments infrastructure.
The platform is also expected to produce a data stream and tracking ability that will pave the way for other shared financial services among the participants.

Doubling up
This year Amazon Prime Day will be two days, 3 AM ET July 15 to 3AM July 17, and the event will be available in the U.S., U.K. and about a dozen other countries.
The event is largely a marketing ploy for Amazon, but there is reason for digital payment companies and online retailers to pay attention, since nearly three quarters of
Watch this
Driven by devices such as the
The bank is collaborating with Nordea to support contactless payments for Mastercard cardholders in Sweden, using tokenization from Fidesmo, a Swedish technology firm that adds contactless transaction capabilities for computing devices.
The collaborators started with watches, and will add other connected devices in the near future.
Campaign finance
A bipartisan group of Minnesota legislators are pushing a bill that would outlaw cryptocurrency to be used for campaign donations.
Specifically, the bill requires campaign donations to be backed by government-issued tender. This would create a grey area for stablecoins, which use traditional currency as a hedge against fluctuating cryptocurrency valuations, reports
The bill takes a political stance, since cryptocurrency is often associated with libertarian voters, though it's not unusual for politicians to take
From the Web
Forbes | Tue June 25, 2019 - The U.S. is falling behind much of Asia – especially China – when it comes to mobile wallet adoption, and the gap is growing wider. According to recent statistics, less than a quarter of Americans have embraced mobile wallets, compared to nearly half of the Chinese population.
TechCrunch | Tue June 25, 2019 - Open, a Bangalore-based startup that operates a “neo-bank” to help businesses automate and run their finances, has bagged $30 million in a new funding round as investors look to replicate a globally tried and tested business idea in emerging markets.
The Straits Times | Wed June 26, 2019 - The fintech adoption rate among Singapore consumers jumped from 23 percent in 2017 to 67 percent in 2019 - higher than the global average of 64 percent, and the Asia-Pacific average of 63 percent, its latest EY Global Fintech Adoption Indexes show.
More from PaymentsSource
It took less than 24 hours after Facebook announced its foray into cryptocurrency for Washington to mobilize against it.
NEW YORK — Citigroup will be the first major issuer to use Mastercard technology to give U.S. credit card holders the ability to instantly redeem points on eligible purchases online and through a mobile app.
Visa has agreed to acquire token services and digital ticketing technology from Rambus Inc. in a move the card brand says will expand its tokenization security beyond Visa cards into other networks.
Artificial intelligence is disrupting markets and providing a competitive advantage for early adopters for those investing in the technology now.