Technology

The Marshall Islands is proceeding with the creation of a blockchain-based national currency, the Marshallese sovereign or SOV, the country said.

This ruling by the New Zealand Government shows the jurisdiction’s versatility in broaching how best to address cryptocurrencies and the implementation of regulations around their use in payments, says NEM Ventures' Dave Hodgson.

Mobile order, delivery and payment apps are proliferating at restaurants, but they're also becoming less distinguishable, posing an entirely new challenge as deep discounts become the weapon of choice.

Credit decisions were a natural place to start with artificial intelligence, but now banks and credit unions are taking the technology to all parts of their businesses.

Mastercard and blockchain software provider R3 plan to test a new blockchain-enabled cross-border payments service to connect global faster payments rails supported by a Mastercard-operated clearing and settlement network.

Brazilian payments provider Ebanx is working with Alibaba Group to test a retail store that combines physical and virtual showcases to allow consumers to obtain Chinese technology products.

Researching how pain points make consumers work harder can fix payment execution, says UJET's Anand Janefalkar.

SumUp, a U.K.-based mobile point of sale company, needed a way to differentiate itself from larger rivals such as PayPal, Square and iZettle. Its solution is to offer faster settlement, in partnership with Starling Bank.

Swiss financial regulator Finma said Libra would need a payment system license and would be subject to additional rules to take “bank-like” risks into account. The “highest international anti-money laundering standards” would also need to be applied, it said in a statement on Wednesday.

Changes in consumer behavior patterns will force banks to reassess the information they use to attract customers.