Payments

Recently proposed by Singapore in collaboration with fintech heavy hitters, PBM can be a powerful tool for promoting accountability and efficiency, writes Anndy Lian. But it’s not without risks.

Blockchain technology has the potential to slash transaction fees, speed up money transfers and lift up the world’s poor. Why aren’t we doing that yet?

Alchemy Pay is eyeing expansion in South Korea following its US$10 million funding from blockchain investment firm DWF Labs.

WeChat, China’s leading social networking and payment app, has integrated the digital yuan into its payment network, which may help adoption of the CBDC.

American payments giant Visa is not slowing down its cryptocurrency plans despite last year’s bear market, according to the firm’s crypto head Cuy Sheffield.

Crypto industry’s interaction with regulators is important and quite common in Asia but missing in the US, says Brooks Entwistle of Ripple Labs.

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has partnered France-based global payments giant Ingenico to offer in-store crypto payments in France using Binance Pay.

Top blockchain and crypto news: Genesis bankruptcy begins. FTX chief ponders a reboot. China’s CBDC gets a smart-contract upgrade.

The Universal Digital Payments Network (UDPN), which aims to offer interoperability between regulated stablecoins and CBDCs, was launched today at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

PayProtocol, the South Korean issuer of payments-focused cryptocurrency Paycoin (PCI), will reapply for a local license to stay in business.

Wyre Payments, a San Francisco-based crypto payments firm, will implement withdrawal limits for user accounts, it said in a Twitter statement on Jan.7.

Cryptocurrency payments company Wyre is reportedly shutting down operations by the end of January, amid the broader crypto market downturn following the fall of FTX

Visa is researching ways to introduce recurring, automatic payments for self-custodial Ethereum wallets.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore is exploring blockchain-based payments solution to solve the challenges in cross-border transactions.  See related article: Singapore warms up to crypto industry — on its own terms Fast facts The current state of cross-border payments “is slow, costly, opaque, and inefficient, relying on an archaic network of correspondent banks,” Ravi Menon, […]

Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Tuesday, JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s global head of payments Takis Georgakopoulos said that demand for cryptocurrencies as a payment method has seen a drastic decline in the past six months.  See related article: JPMorgan, LRC bet on blockchain startup Ownera in US$20 mln Series A Fast facts […]

Australian consumers can use cryptocurrency to pay for gasoline and other goods — including Krispy Kreme donuts — at 175 OTR service stations through a partnership with Crypto.com and payment terminal provider DataMesh Group Pty Ltd. See related article: Crypto.com inks AU$27M deal with the Australian Football League Fast facts The service stations allow Crypto.com […]

FOMO Pay will partner with Ripple, the San Francisco-based blockchain payments company, to utilize its XRP-based tool that enables instant low cost settlement without the need to hold pre-funded capital in a destination market, the Singapore based company said. See related article: CrossTower in pact with Ripple to offer NFTs on XRP Ledger Fast facts […]

South Korean payment services platform Danal has partnered with LG CNS to develop a payments network that hopes to bring Web3-related digital assets payments to the existing financial system. See related article: South Korea’s SK Telecom to build its first Web3 wallet Fast facts LG CNS is an information technology consulting and solutions subsidiary of […]

The survey by one of the Big Four accounting firms found over 85% of U.S. merchants are prioritizing the enabling of cryptocurrency payments while around 83% are doing the same for stablecoins. See related article: AMC rival Regal enables crypto payments for moviegoers Fast facts The survey found that 87% of merchants believe accepting crypto […]

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will launch a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot project, coined CBDCPh, as part of its efforts to promote the stability of the country’s payment system. See related article: Report: Stablecoins, CBDCs may not resolve financial inclusion, international remittance challenges Fast facts The central bank’s pilot will test the […]

India’s leading banks have asked the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to issue a formal directive that explains the curbs on money transfers using the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) for trading in virtual digital assets. See related article: Coinbase snafu sets the cat among the crypto pigeons in India Fast facts Indian banks had […]

Crypto exchanges in India are switching to facilitating user-to-user bank transfers and inward remittances to work around a withdrawal of support from the developer of the country’s ubiquitous UPI payments system, local media report.   See related article: Coinbase snafu sets the cat among the crypto pigeons in India Fast facts Indian cryptocurrency exchanges are trying […]

Jack Mallers announced at Bitcoin 2022 Strike’s integration with Shopify to enable merchants to accept Bitcoin payments through the Lightning Network. See related article: Twitter chief says integration of BTC Lightning Network “a matter of time” Fast facts Mallers also revealed the Bitcoin payments platform bagged partnerships with NCR, one of the world’s largest point-of-sale […]

Cryptocurrency payments will be banned in Thailand starting April 1, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on Wednesday.  See related article: Thailand eases crypto tax burden until 2023 to promote industry Fast facts The SEC said price volatility, lack of customer safeguards, money laundering and cyber theft risks drove the decision to ban cryptocurrencies […]

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) will close its blockchain payment venture due to slow profits, Japan’s largest bank announced on Tuesday.  See related article: Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ to issue yen-pegged stablecoin: report Fast facts MUFG said it is preparing to halt and liquidate Global Open Network Japan, Inc. (GO-NET Japan). GO-NET Japan, set up in […]

CBDCs can increase financial inclusion and prevent crime, according to blockchain expert Tiana Laurence. What’s not to like about state-backed digital money?

A computer database at a supermarket in eastern China is being held hostage by cybercriminals demanding 0.042 Bitcoin, which amounts to US$1,832, according to a Chinese media report. Fast facts

Payments giant PayPal confirmed it is exploring its own stablecoin after evidence of such a project was found in its iPhone app’s code. Fast facts “We are exploring a stablecoin; if and when we seek to move forward we will of course, work closely with relevant regulators,” PayPal’s Senior Vice President of Crypto and Digital […]

From China’s ban to FATF’s travel rule, crypto regulations have been top of mind this year. How might regulatory impulses and current trends play out?

Court overturns Korean Bitcoin ruling, also are the days numbered for SWIFT?

Fast facts Blockchain-based payment platform Danal Fintech announced a new service plan that will allow BMW vehicles to be purchased with Paycoin (PCI) in its new partnership with Samchully Motors, the domestic dealer of the luxury automobile line. The recent announcement makes the first case in South Korea where an automobile can be paid in […]

Tourism officials want to attract more crypto-wealthy travelers to Thailand’s shimmering shores. But will the crypto faithful come if Thailand still has a ban on SHIB and Dogecoin?

Mastercard has partnered with three crypto companies in Asia Pacific — Hong Kong-based Amber Group, Bitkub in Thailand, and CoinJar in Australia — to launch crypto-funded payment cards, according to a Nov. 8 media statement. Fast facts The three companies are the first APAC-based cryptocurrency platforms to join Mastercard’s global Crypto Card Program, which enables […]

22 private sector finance heavyweights together with the BIS and central banks of China, Hong Kong, Thailand, and UAE aim to achieve a production-ready international trade settlement platform using CBDCs.

The Singapore government-incubated blockchain platform promises to dramatically speed up transactions and lower the cost of international trade.

Payments giant Mastercard and cryptocurrencies firm Bakkt Holdings Inc. announced on Monday they have partnered to facilitate cryptocurrency debit and credit card payments. The partnership will make it easier for merchants, banks and fintechs in the U.S. to offer a broad set of cryptocurrency services and ​​enable consumers to buy and sell digital assets through […]

Despite its legal troubles in the U.S., San Francisco-based blockchain payments company Ripple has been pushing ahead to bring faster and cheaper cross-border payments using XRP in Asia and the Middle East. Fast facts Ripple and Tranglo, a Malaysia-based cross-border payments provider, today announced that Tranglo has launched its first live On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) service […]

In a special Q&A, CEO Louis Liu describes the hoops FOMO Pay jumped through to win Singapore’s first crypto license and calls its regulator a ‘collaborator.’

Blockchain payments company Ripple has partnered with Qatar National Bank (QNB) to improve cross-border payments and launch a new remittance platform, Ripple announced on Tuesday. Fast facts QNB will pilot RippleNet, a network of banks and other payment companies developed using Ripple’s technology, with QNB Finansbank in Turkey as part of a group rollout, the […]

Malaysia’s Maybank and the National Bank of Cambodia yesterday announced the launch of a real-time funds transfer service between Malaysia and Cambodia — the first international partnership between a bank and Cambodia’s Bakong digital payments system. Fast facts The service facilitates fund transfers via NBC’s Bakong e-wallet and Maybank’s MAE app. It allows Maybank customers […]

Blockchain technology can make a big impact on the world we live in, according to authors Kosrow Dehnad and Joe Duncan. A prime example: Tesla’s driverless vehicles.

CEO Jack Dorsey announced that his mobile payments company Square has created a new division dedicated to decentralized finance (DeFi) on Bitcoin. For now, Dorsey is referring to the new Square Bitcoin DeFi platform as TBD, having not yet decided on an official name.  Fast facts The DeFi space, which has grown exponentially over last […]

In a new report, Bank for International Settlements extols central bank digital currency (CBDC) as the future of money. Will CBDCs replace Bitcoin someday?

In a recent conference, central bankers from Cambodia and Singapore discuss how digital currencies are transforming existing payment systems for the better.

Global payments giant PayPal plans to let its users move the cryptocurrency they hold on its platform into third-party wallets.

RippleNet has partnered with National Bank of Egypt and UAE-based payment services firm LuLu International Exchange for the processing of cross-border funds transfers from the United Arab Emirates to Egypt.

Fan Long, a co-founder of Chinese public blockchain network Conflux, says China’s latest broadside against the use of cryptocurrencies in the financial sector should not be interpreted as a sign that Beijing is intent on shutting down digital currencies.

DBS Bank says it has over US$60 million in crypto under custody and plans to expand trading hours to 24/7.

JPMorgan, DBS Bank and Temasek jointly form a new company, Partior, to develop a blockchain platform for cross-border payments and settlements.

Despite its legal troubles in the US, Ripple expands XRP’s uses in Southeast Asia’s lucrative and fast-growing international money transfer market.

Early Bitcoin investor and cryptocurrency promoter Roger Ver tells Forkast.News how faster transactions and lower fees are fueling Bitcoin Cash adoption.

Hong Kong Monetary Authority intensifies its CBDC efforts with a new study into ‘hybrid’ digital currencies and private CBDC-backed stablecoins.

Founded by BitTorrent creator Bram Cohen, Chia Network’s new ‘proof of space and time’ blockchain aims to be a more sustainable alternative to bitcoin.