Cross border payments

Western Union Co. is seeking to acquire rival money transfer company MoneyGram International Inc., according to a person familiar with the matter.

Kenya’s biggest source of foreign currency slumped last month, with the central bank indicating that shocks caused by the coronavirus will have a greater impact on the economy for the rest of this year.

The challenge posed by digital-only remittance services has prompted a rapid change at MoneyGram.

To get a better handle on the coronavirus-driven boom in Latin American e-commerce, cross-border processors are ramping up digital alternatives for shoppers who pay cash for online purchases.

Cross River Bank, a banking-as-a-service provider to fintechs, has signed Remitly to leverage its new push-to-card international payment service for near-real-time remittances.

Cross-border payment fintech dLocal is partnering with Canadian e-commerce company Shopify to enable small businesses to offer local payment methods in more than 19 currencies in emerging markets.

Consumer remittance behaviors are being forced to change, with senders and recipients moving to mobile wallets, bank accounts, and cards. But many still want cash.

The shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) for medical workers is one of the most troublesome elements of the coronavirus outbreak, though prior work to declutter cross-border supply chain payments provides some hope.

Veem specializes in cross-border payments, but when small-business customers clamored for help this month with emergency SBA loans, the fintech responded.

Banco Santander has launched a new standalone international money transfer service called PagoFX in the U.K. to compete with fintechs.

Airwallex has raised $160 million in a Series D fundraising round to expand global payment offerings for small businesses and enterprises.

Amid the worldwide coronavirus crisis, making cross-border payments to emerging markets has been akin to putting together a jigsaw puzzle without many of its pieces.

Siam Commercial Bank is partnering with Ripple to provide instant cross-border payments for small and medium size enterprises (SMEs).

Canada’s small businesses have lagged behind the U.S. in adopting digital commerce for a variety of reasons, but coronavirus might send things in a new direction.

TransferWise has partnered with Alipay to expand money remittance options for its users to instantly send Chinese yuan to friends and family in China.

Governments are directly advancing real-time digital payments — a welcome move for Ripple, which is applying its relationship with MoneyGram and a growing base of eager partners to expand its network.

The nationwide lockdown in Italy has necessitated changes for Pellegrino personally, and for his business. The two worlds often intersect.

Australia’s Airwallex group is seeking about $200 million in a series D equity funding round to bankroll its cross-border payments business globally, according to people familiar with the matter.

As part of its financial inclusion campaign, Mastercard has partnered with Moneytrans to launch remittance-linked checking for migrant workers with a goal of obtaining 1 million users by 2025.

Something as simple as the sale of cheese can show how fear instantly affects the economy, disrupting trade and the transaction fees that processors rely on.