Cross border payments

In the past few years the Chinese government has loosened restrictions on foreign travel, enabling millions of its citizenry to visit foreign lands. Along with a greater ability to travel is the enhanced prosperity Chinese consumers have reaped at home — and now bring with them on vacations to purchase foreign goods.

A former Lloyds Banking Group executive is joining financial messaging service provider Swift as its head of U.K., Ireland and Nordics operations.

Ripple Labs Inc., the blockchain startup whose digital money is often used as a proxy for other cryptocurrency payments, is gaining new customers because financial firms are seeking faster, more up-to-date technology than the Swift banking network, Chief Executive Officer Brad Garlinghouse said.

Kenyans using the M-Pesa wallet to make payments and receive funds can now send cross-border payments through a connection with Western Union's global platform.

The payments and financial services industry has enjoyed an unprecedented wave of invention, but the fruits of that labor are threatened by an ideologically driven political climate that complicates the evolution of global interoperable mobile-driven commerce.

LVMH Group, makers of Louis Vuitton handbags and other luxury goods, leans heavily on cross-border transactions to distribute its products. To streamline its processes, the company has partnered with FIS.

Western Union and Amazon are collaborating to bring the e-commerce giant's services to consumers who may not currently have access to online shopping or those who prefer not to make digital payments.

There are scenarios that complicate the B2B pricing process, before the customer even requests a quote. These issues vary across industries, growing even more complex once you bring subscription-based software solutions buyers into the picture, according to Mark Bartlett, chief experience officer of FPX.

American Express Co. said the U.S. Department of Justice and several regulators have sought information on its foreign-exchange international payments business.

The international payments infrastructure has reached a point where consumers can use their cards in many parts of the world as easily as they can in their own country. But finding retailers who can accept all of these cards is a completely different story.