Employee reward and incentive programmes provider Halo is trialling a digital card provisioning solution that enables users to quickly and easily add a virtual prepaid rewards card directly to their digital wallet without needing to download an app or add their bank details... More
The European Credit Sector Associations (ECSAs) are calling on the European Union to re-examine clauses in legislation on the proposed European Digital Identity Wallet that appear to imply that “widely used cards and payment specifications” will have to accept the wallet for strong customer authentication (SCA) for payments “on a mandatory basis”... More
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is to build a prototype digital rupee and test it in a range of scenarios and use cases as part of its “phased implementation strategy” for introducing a central bank digital currency (CBDC)... More
PARTNER NEWS: Trust Payments has selected Dejamobile as its technology partner for the rollout of a new software-only payments acceptance service that the omnichannel payments leader will be making available to merchants across Europe from later this year... More
Providing a cash-like digital means of payment, increasing private digital payment services, supporting financial inclusion and achieving greater payment system efficiency are among the key motivations driving initiatives to develop central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) in emerging market economies around the world, according to a Bank for International Settlements (BIS) report... More
Sweden’s central bank The Riksbank has completed the second phase of its e-krona central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot and demonstrated that the blockchain-based technical solution it is testing can be integrated into existing banking and payments infrastructure... More
The European Commission has launched a targeted consultation on the expected impact of a digital euro on key industries, institutions, consumers, merchants and other stakeholders in international trade... More
Apple has launched a project to develop its own payment processing technology and infrastructure for future financial products and services including buy now, pay later instalment payments for Apple Pay, credit checking and risk assessment, according to media reports... More
The number of contactless card purchases made worldwide will increase by an average of 23% a year and reach a total of more than 522bn by 2026, up by more than 370bn on the 149bn recorded in 2020, according to a forecast by Retail Banking Research (RBR)... More
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has called on Visa and Mastercard to stop servicing payments cards issued by Russian banks following the Russian invasion of Ukraine... More
Google Pay users in India can now apply for and receive a personal loan in their bank account via the payment service’s app... More
The 12 Russian banks taking part in the first phase of the Central Bank of Russia’s digital ruble pilot scheme have started or are ready to start trialling the central bank digital currency (CBDC) across a range of payment types... More
Google is seeking to focus on developing Google Pay into a multipurpose digital wallet by extending the range of cards, passes and tickets that the service supports and is working with cryptocurrency providers to introduce digital cards that will enable users to store crypto assets but still make payments in conventional currencies... More
The total number of personal and corporate digital yuan wallets issued in China has risen from 24.5m in July to 140m as of October, an increase of nearly 600%, the People’s Bank of China’s Mu Changchun has revealed... More
Commonwealth Bank of Australia and National Australia Bank as well as supermarket chains Coles and Woolworths and fintechs Azupay, Beem It and Merchant Warrior have confirmed they will support the rollout of the national QR payments and rewards platform developed by Australia’s Eftpos payments system... More
PARTNER NEWS: Entrust, the world leader in secure payment card issuance, has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Antelop Solutions... More
Eesti Pank, the central bank of Estonia, has tested a blockchain-powered technical solution for the use of a digital euro central bank digital currency (CBDC) that it says is capable of handling more than 300,000 simultaneous payments a second and enables payees to receive a payment in less than two seconds... More
Apple is seeking to recruit a business development manager to research and form partnerships with “strategic alternative payment providers”, launch “new programs” and contribute to “business strategy and product roadmaps for the growth of Apple Pay and Wallet Services”, a job advertisement posted by the company reveals... More
Ensuring that central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are interoperable and integrated with existing payment infrastructures are among the key requirements for their successful implementation in cross border transactions, according to a joint paper published by Swift and Accenture... More
The National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan has published a public consultation document as part of its plans to develop and pilot a central bank digital currency (CBDC)... More