“When the blueprint for the U.K.’s New Payments Architecture was unveiled to great fanfare in 2015, it promised to transform the country’s payments systems by providing increased access for consumers, as well as fostering competition and innovation. But the initiative is in danger of falling far short of these goals, and the U.K.’s Payment Systems Regulator recently announced that the complexity of the NPA has been greatly narrowed due to its perceived risks.”

“Stripe Inc. will allow retailers to add Klarna Bank AB ’s buy-now-pay-later service as a purchasing tool for customers, a deal that pairs up two of the world’s most valuable financial technology startups. The business partnership comes at a time when rivals are striking deals worth billions in a bid to win a share of the increasingly competitive flexible repayment industry.”

“The adoption of digital payments by the country’s smaller towns has laid the groundwork for the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) digital currency based on blockchain technology. The banking regulator has been working on the phased implementation of its digital currency—the central bank digital currency (CBDC) or the rupee in electronic form. A pilot may be launched by December . The initiative, like offline digital payments , aims to actualise the government’s vision of a financial system with less cash.”

“A top U.S. bank regulator said U.S. officials are looking to provide a clearer path for banks and their clients that are looking to hold cryptocurrencies, in order to keep control over the fast-developing asset. Jelena McWilliams, who chairs the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, told Reuters in an interview on Monday that a team of U.S. bank regulators is trying to provide a roadmap for banks to engage with crypto assets.”

“Fiserv, Inc., (NASDAQ: FISV), a leading global provider of payments and financial services technology solutions, today announced the launch of a unique platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offering that enables independent software vendors (ISVs) to integrate their software directly into Clover point-of-sale devices, allowing ISV software users to be more nimble in how and where they run their business.”

“Payoneer (NASDAQ: PAYO), the commerce technology company powering payments and growth for the new global economy, and Coupang, one of the largest e-Commerce companies in Asia, today announced a new partnership that will provide hundreds of thousands of sellers from across the globe with the opportunity to more easily expand and sell into South Korea. By leveraging Payoneer’s technology and expertise to enhance Coupang’s payments capabilities, sellers on Coupang can now enjoy more seamless payments for their cross-border businesses.”

“Amount , a leading technology provider for financial institutions, and global modern card issuing platform Marqeta (NASDAQ: MQ ) announced today the first virtual card and loan origination partnership to help banks rapidly enter the buy now, pay later (BNPL) space. The partnership alleviates the digital tools gap that prevents many banks from entering the BNPL space, allowing them to go to market in months with a BNPL offering and virtual card that drives revenue, captures market share and increases loyalty online and in-stores.”

“Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a leading global provider of payments and financial services technology solutions, today announced a strategic relationship with Bakkt (NYSE: BKKT), a trusted digital asset platform that enables consumers to buy, sell, send and spend a range of digital assets. The combination of expansive capabilities from Fiserv, including the ability to move funds into and out of mobile wallets, with Bakkt’s digital asset platform will enable practical uses of crypto and emerging asset classes.”

“Modern Treasury , a payments operations software platform, today announced its Virtual Accounts product to make it easy for companies to quickly and accurately track and reconcile payments at scale. The launch of Virtual Accounts further solidifies Modern Treasury’s leadership in enabling companies to modernize, automate and accelerate payments.”

“Worldwide, 400 million Maestro cards by the brand that Mastercard introduced thirty years ago are in circulation. Nevertheless, the successful card will soon be replaced by a new debit card under the Mastercard brand. The main reason is the rise of e-commerce.  According to Henri Dewaerheijd, country manager Belgium and Luxembourg, Mastercard and Maestro have always been two different brands with their proper payment network. “The Mastercard network is twice as large and offers more possibilities to process e-commerce transactions. Due to the enormous growth of e-commerce, especially in the past few months, the importance of that network has increased even more”, he told Belgian newspaper De Tijd.”

“After much speculation and several false starts, popular online payment system PayPal is said to be launched in Bangladesh by December, at the end of this year. Salman F Rahman, private industry and investment adviser to the prime minister, mentioned this to reporters during his visit to a Walton factory at Chandra in Gazipur on Saturday. A Walton official, however, clarified to Dhaka Tribune that Walton was not involved with PayPal and its Bangladesh operations in any way.”

“Stripe has made its second investment in India, just days after disclosing the first . One of the world’s most valuable startups has backed Bangalore-based SaaS fintech firm Clear, the two said Sunday evening. The 10-year-old Indian startup, formerly known as ClearTax , said it has raised $75 million in its Series C funding.”

“Hash offers “end-to-end” payment infrastructure for non-financial B2B companies looking to offer banking services — from point-of-sale (POS) software and mobile applications to dashboards and payments. Its white-label software builds customized payment services, focusing on B2B companies with large customer chains and partners.”

“PayPal Holdings Inc. said it isn’t pursuing an acquisition of Pinterest Inc. , ending days of speculation over a potential $45 billion deal. San Jose, California-based PayPal had approached Pinterest about a potential deal, Bloomberg News reported last week. The companies discussed a potential price of around $70 a share, people with knowledge of the matter said, a price that would have valued Pinterest at about $45 billion.”

“Buy now, pay later services like Affirm, Klarna, Afterpay and many others have seen their businesses grow in huge leaps, as consumers buying goods increasingly turned to alternatives to credit to delay paying for them in full. Now a Berlin-based startup called Billie that has built a similar service — but specifically targeting B2B transactions — is seeing a lift of its own boat from that rising tide.”

“The popularity of QR codes soared after payment companies (and other fintech players) started using it in conjunction with UPI, an instant payment system developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). Startups like Paytm and PhonePe revolutionised its use in peer-to-peer payments. This trend started right after demonetisation in 2016, and gathered deeper roots around Covid-19, when people were apprehensive of exchanging currency notes.”

“American Express is aggressively pursuing younger consumers, but unlike many of its rivals , it is not making point-of-sale installment lending and cryptocurrency a focal point of this effort. “Buy now/pay later is not really a competitive threat to us,” Steve Squeri, Amex’s chairman and CEO, said during Friday’s earnings call. “It’s targeted at debit card issuers. As a customer acquisition vehicle it’s not the game we’re playing.”

“Nigeria will on Monday launch a digital currency, the eNaira, the central bank said, months after it barred banks and financial institutions from dealing in or facilitating transactions in cryptocurrencies. Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele has said the eNaira would operate as a wallet against which customers can hold existing funds in their bank account.”

“Singapore-based payments unicorn Nium has rolled out a crypto-as-a-service (CaaS) offering aimed at financial institutions. Nium provides turn-key purpose-built API suites for new and traditional finance companies. Its latest offering seeks to provide ready-made tools amid a period of high demand in crypto.The company said its new CaaS will provide institutions with “in-demand capabilities” for crypto investment and initially supports up to five cryptos, according to a statement on Monday.Through an API connection to its platform, the firm says its clients can embed crypto marketplace services, along with KYC, regulatory monitoring, brokerage, custody, and processing.”

“Payfare (TSX: PAY) and Wise (LSE: WISE), the global technology company building the best way to move money around the world, today announced plans to bring fast, low-fee and secure international money transfer capabilities to Payfare’s digital banking app in 2022. The partnership will bring together the leading instant payout and digital banking solution for contract workers, Payfare, with the low-cost leader for international money transfers in a digital payments experience tailored to the gig economy.”

“A new research paper by 451 Research, a part of S&P Global Market Intelligence, and commissioned by Discover® Global Network found digital payment services and financial technology partnerships are reshaping the way in which consumers around the world send, spend and store their money. The findings come as the payments industry converges on Las Vegas for Money 20/20 to discuss the latest trends, innovations and ideas.”

“Alliance Data Systems Corporation (NYSE: ADS ), a leading global provider of data-driven marketing, loyalty and payment solutions and Sezzle Inc. (ASX: SZL), a top-rated, purpose-driven buy now, pay later (BNPL) solution, today announced that Alliance Data’s Bread business will offer its pay-over-time installment loan product through Sezzle’s merchant network. Through the integrated partnership, Sezzle will leverage Bread’s deep underwriting and installment loan product to reach more customers buying big-ticket items, while offering a comprehensive product suite to its merchant partners.”

“Building on its position as the world’s leading instant payments bank, Citi’s Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS) division now facilitates digital bill payment for both institutional billers and their consumer customers via the RTP© network, the real-time payment system from The Clearing House (TCH). With this capability, Citi’s institutional clients in the U.S. can send electronic bills (e-bills) via Request for Payment (RfP) messages to retail account holders at Citi and other participating banks. Consumers, meanwhile, benefit from the flexibility to pay their bills immediately, at any time of day, 365 days a year, with greater control over their finances to help avoid overdraft fees.”

“Today at Money20/20, Mastercard (NYSE: MA) and Bakkt (NYSE: BKKT) announced a multifaceted partnership to make it easier for merchants, banks and fintechs in the U.S. to embrace and offer a broad set of cryptocurrency solutions and services. Consumers, in turn, will experience expanded access to the digital asset ecosystem. Bakkt extends Mastercard’s ecosystem of cryptocurrency partners enabling Crypto-as-a-Service, which provides quick access to cryptocurrency capabilities.”

“Ally Financial is giving the world of credit cards another go.  The auto-lending giant said on Thursday it’s agreed to pay $750 million for credit-card company Fair Square Financial. With the deal, Ally will be getting a business that has more than 650,000 cardholders who carry about $763 million in balances.”

“Fast-growing fintech Brex has raised $300 million in funding that propels it to decacorn status, just six months after it was valued at $7.4 billion, according to people familiar with the deal. The sources, who wished to remain anonymous since the deal is not yet public (although a term sheet has been signed), said corporate spend startup Brex is now valued at $12.3 billion.”

“Ghana is working to make a digital form of its currency available to offline users. The e-cedi, which the Bank of Ghana is set to pilot , seeks to facilitate transactions without the need for power or connectivity, according to Kwame Oppong, who heads fintech and innovation at the regulator. “Financial inclusion is limited by the availability of connectivity and power,” Oppong said at the Ghana Economic Forum Monday. “What we hope to be able to do – and we’re one of the people pioneering this – is that the e-cedi would also be capable of being used in an offline environment through some smart cards.” About half of Ghana’s population had access to the internet as of 2019, and 84% had access to power, according to World Bank data.”

“Bitcoin’s record rally helped push the value of assets used in decentralized finance to $100 billion for the first time, according to data compiled by DeFi Pulse . DeFi Pulse calculates the amount by combining the balance of Ether and other assets held in smart contracts settled on the Ethereum blockchain and multiplying them by their price in dollars. Lending on cryptocurrency platforms rose 14.9% from last week to $50.7 billion, according to DeFi Pulse. Cryptocurrency exchange transactions on DeFi networks climbed 8.6%. The number of Bitcoin used in decentralized finance rose 8% to 209,575 from 194,130 a week earlier. The number of Ether used increased 3.5%.”

“Klarna , a leading global retail bank, payments and shopping service, is bringing its signature smoooth experience to the travel sector with the acquisition of Inspirock , an online trip planner that enables consumers to quickly and easily explore a destination’s offerings and create personalized itineraries utilizing local expertise and artificial intelligence.”

“Quadient (Euronext Paris: QDT), and Flywire Corporation (NASDAQ: FLYW) (Flywire) today announced a new strategic collaboration to automate and digitize business-to-business (B2B) payments globally. As a result of the partnership, Quadient’s cloud-based accounts receivable (AR) management and automation solution, YayPay by Quadient , will extend Flywire’s digital payment solutions to its global B2B clients. As YayPay’s international footprint and customer base has grown, the need to provide seamless cross-border payments has increased.”

“BancABC Zimbabwe announced the launch of a new suite of co-branded Mastercard and Zimswitch payment cards, enabling its customers to make safe and seamless digital, domestic and international payments including e-commerce transactions. BancABC is the first bank to launch Mastercard and Zimswitch co-branded cards, following a partnership between the national payment switch and the global payment technology company announced last year .”

“Nigerian fintech startup Baxi, one of the country’s leading super-agent networks, has been acquired by the pan-African payments company MFS Africa to enable the latter’s expansion into Nigeria. Founded in 2014 by Degbola Abudu and Folu Majekodunmi, Baxi provides a cash-in/cash-out offering as well as value-added services – account opening, money transfer, bill payment and more – to the last mile through its network of more than 90,000 agents. The startup has already processed over US$1 billion in transactions this year, and has now been acquired by MFS Africa , the largest pan-African digital payments hub. MFS Africa, which acquired East African payments management startup Beyonic last year , plans to build Baxi into a key node on its digital payment network, allowing customers to make regional and global payments to and from Nigeria.”

“India’s CRED said on Tuesday it had raised $251 million in a new funding round led by existing investors and private equity firms Tiger Global and Falconedge, valuing the fintech company at $4.01 billion…Founded in 2018, CRED allows users to pay their credit card bills through its online platform and rewards them with offers from various brands and companies such as Puma and Samsung. When a user redeems a reward, the company then pays CRED an agreed-upon fee.”

“Rossum , a platform used by enterprises to automatically process and “understand” all their inbound documents, has raised $100 million in a series A round of funding. Sources say that Rossum is now valued at somewhere between $500 million and $1 billion. Some 550 billion invoices alone change hands globally each year, spanning all manner of formats across paper and digital. Processing these documents, and extracting key data, is typically a time-consuming endeavor, something that Rossum is setting out to solve.”

“Just over five months after raising a $9 million seed funding round , Latin American fintech Pomelo announced today that it is raising $35 million in Series A financing led by Tiger Global Management. The startup was founded earlier this year to build a fintech-as-a-service platform for Latin America. Its infrastructure aims to allow fintechs and embedded finance players to launch virtual accounts and issue prepaid and credit cards via “compliant” onboarding processes.”

“With Stampli Card, accounts payable or other departments within the organization can create a digital card with a set limit, expiration date, etc. to pay out the vendor without abandoning the system already set in place. For example, Accounts Payable can issue, limit, suspend or cancel cards at any time, as well as control who is authorized to make the purchase, spending limits and how often the card can be used. AP can even predefine fields of the payment, such as GL-coding or the vendor. Once used, Stampli Card transactions are automatically captured and processed just like other invoices, and the cardholder is reminded to upload the supporting documentation, such as a receipt.”

“Sweden’s Klarna Bank AB said Thursday that it has signed a strategic partnership with Israeli cloud-based website development platform Wix.com Ltd. The buy-now-pay-later payments specialist said that with the deal Wix eCommerce merchants across 17 countries can accept payments from their customers with Klarna. Wix merchants will be able to offer Klarna’s Pay in 4 and Pay in 3 solutions that enable shoppers to split their purchases into interest-free payments over time, while retailers get paid upfront and in full.”

“Japan will prioritize simplicity in its development of a central bank digital currency. A senior official at the Bank of Japan (BOJ) has stated that this will ensure the digital yen is interoperable with other local payment systems. The BOJ has been stepping up its efforts in developing the CBDC at a time when other Asian giants are taking huge leaps in this field. China is the leader in the region with its digital yuan, with other nations like Thailand and Hong Kong also quickly advancing, both at a national and regional level .”

“Financial-technology startup Plaid Inc. is making a move into the payments business, less than a year after an antitrust lawsuit scuttled its high-price sale to Visa Inc. Plaid makes software that allows banks and other fintech companies to plug into their users’ financial accounts, with their permission, and access their financial data to look up account balances or authenticate personal financial details. Plaid plans to unveil a new program Thursday that will use the software to make it easier and cheaper for consumers and businesses to make digital payments funded by their bank accounts.”

“Mastercard today announced a new supply chain finance capability within Track Business Payment Service (Track BPS) – designed to increase access to working capital while lowering costs, reducing complexity and risk, and accelerating automation when businesses pay and get paid. Launched in partnership with Demica , a leading global provider of supply chain finance technology, this new offering empowers Mastercard partners to provide their business customers with access to affordable working capital.”

“Currencycloud, the experts in simplifying business in a multi-currency world, have agreed to a strategic partnership with Plaid , open finance network and payments platform, that will deliver new joint solutions to make it easy for firms in the UK, including foreign exchange brokers, Fintech companies and banks, to operate in multiple currencies. Until now, customers using the Currencycloud Direct white-label solution have had to leave the app to make a top-up payment into their account from their chosen bank – a very manual, laborious, and time-consuming process. The partnership with Plaid allows customers to fund their accounts without ever leaving the platform, simplifying the payment journey. Embedding Plaid’s Payment Initiation Services (PIS) into Currencycloud’s platform means customers will be able to pull money directly into their account from any bank, making the process that much slicker.”

“Congress has tasked the CFPB with ensuring that markets for consumer financial products and services are fair, transparent, and competitive. To that end, it has authorized the CFPB to require participants in the marketplace to provide information that help the Bureau monitor risks to consumers and to publish aggregated findings that are in the public interest. Little is known publicly about how Big Tech companies will exploit their payments platforms. For example, will the operators engage in invasive financial surveillance and combine the data they collect on consumers with their geolocation and browsing data? Will they in turn use this data to deepen behavioral advertising, engage in price discrimination, or sell to third parties?”

“The Financial Data Exchange (FDX) today announced a major update of its common open finance standards via the release of FDX API version 5.0. The new version of the FDX API significantly increases market standardization of financial data sharing around consent, user control and consumer dashboards, and aligns with other global standards like the Open ID Foundation’s Financial-grade API (FAPI) security standard and the insurance industry’s ACORD annuity standards to promote greater interoperability and industry adoption.”

“Interactive Brokers Group (Nasdaq: IBKR), a global brokerage firm, today announced it went live with J.P. Morgan (NYSE: JPM) on Request for Payment, a real-time payment-related messaging service that is provided through The Clearing House RTP network. Request for Payment gives investors the ability to make instant deposits 24/7 to fund brokerage accounts and begin trading immediately. Request for Payment is designed to be a fast, transparent and secure method of initiating payment requests that provides investors with an alternative to legacy money transfer services that can take up to five business days to settle into brokerage accounts.”

“The Federal Reserve today launched new resources for the U.S. payments industry to facilitate education, preparation and ecosystem innovation in support of instant payments, a type of faster payment that provides payees with immediate access to funds, enabled by real-time final settlement between financial institutions.”

“In a country-first for Malawi, mobile money service provider TNM Mpamba today launched a Mastercard debit card, enabling its customers – even those without bank accounts – to make safe and seamless in-person and online digital payments on the Mastercard network. Dubbed “Khadi Mbambande”, the new card is expected to enhance financial inclusion and improve access to the digital economy. Powered by National Bank of Malawi, the physical Mastercard debit card is linked to the TNM Mpamba mobile money wallet, giving customers new ways to access and pay for products and services at the millions of retail locations that accept Mastercard in Malawi and abroad”

“PayPal Holdings Inc. is exploring an acquisition of social media company Pinterest Inc. , people with knowledge of the matter said.  San Jose, California-based PayPal has recently approached Pinterest about a potential deal, the people said, asking not to be identified because the talks are private. The companies have discussed a potential price of around $70 a share, the people said.”

“Stripe on Wednesday announced its plans to acquire Recko , a financial operations platform based in Bangalore, India. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.  Recko’s payments reconciliation software will add to the growing list of tools Stripe is providing for internet businesses, continuing Stripe’s expansion beyond payments acceptance. Recko helps automate parts of payments reconciliation — an accounting process that compares two or more sets of records, such as a company’s internal sales log and their external bank statement. A retailer, for instance, would want to reconcile a $100 purchase on their website with a $100 payment reported by their payment processor and the $99 deposit (less a $1 processing fee) received in the bank.”

“Spotify this morning announced a new partnership with e-commerce platform provider Shopify that will allow artists on its service to connect their Spotify profiles with their Shopify stores, allowing them to market their merchandise directly to fans through the Spotify app. After connecting their Spotify for Artists accounts with their Shopify online store, artists will be able to sync their product catalog to Spotify to showcase whichever products they choose on their profile in the streaming music app.”

“Goldman Sachs is partnering with American Express to upgrade its digital cash management offering, CNBC has learned. The investment bank is leaning on the world’s biggest issuer of business charge cards in its quest to displace rivals that handle trillions of dollars in deposits and payments for corporations. By integrating virtual card technology from AmEx into its platform, Goldman has automated the cumbersome process of sorting and paying bills to vendors and suppliers, according to executives of the two firms.”

“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.”

“Asset-backed stablecoins do not pose a systemic risk to the U.S. financial system and should not face a new set of rules, a major cryptocurrency lobby group told U.S. regulators on Monday, as tighter oversight of the fast-growing technology looms. Stablecoins – digital tokens usually backed by reserves of dollars or assets from gold to other cryptocurrencies – have ballooned during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“FinCEN, the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, found that more than $5 billion in bitcoin transactions were linked to payments made to the top-ten most popular ransomware variants. These findings were published by the institution in a report titled “Ransomware Trends in Bank Secrecy Act Data Between January 2021 and June 2021,” which summarizes the ransomware activity during the first two quarters of the year.”

“New York’s attorney general ordered two unlicensed cryptocurrency lending platforms to cease operating in the state as authorities continue to clamp down on crypto firms over fraud concerns. The names of the companies were not disclosed. In an order, the Office of the Attorney General said it had evidence that the platforms were illegally selling or offering security products without being registered with the state as a broker-dealer. They have 10 days to close up shop in New York. In a separate order, the state AG required three other unnamed crypto platforms to submit detailed explanations of their business models, including the nature of any lending and deposit products. Responses must be returned by Nov. 1.”

“Esther George, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City today announced that the FedNow payment system is now expected to be ready in 2023. In a conversation with American Bankers Association President and CEO Rob Nichols at ABA’s Annual Convention, George said the FedNow payment system will be delivered “sooner rather than later” and encouraged banks to start preparing for the rollout.”

“UK supermarket chain Tesco has opened its first checkout-free store in central London, enabling customers to check in at the store entrance with a smartphone app, select the products they want and leave without needing to scan their purchases or pay for them at the checkout.”

“Alloy, the recently named unicorn, has expanded its identity decisioning platform to include credit underwriting, with the intention of building comprehensive views of customers in line with their onboarding and transaction monitoring products. Ahead of taking to the stage at Money 20/20 US in Las Vegas where the news will be formally announced, the New York-based startup revealed that their aim is to allow banks and fintech firms to make better identity, risk and now, credit decisions.”

“Could Starbucks give Amazon’s retail technology a jolt? A report this afternoon by the Insider news site , citing an internal document, says the Seattle companies have discussed creating a new style of coffee shop featuring Amazon’s “Just Walk Out” technology. The co-branded stores would let people buy beverages, baked goods and hot foods without going through a traditional checkout, the report says…The report cautions that the partnership might not happen, noting that it includes milestones for the rollout that subsequently haven’t been met.”

“Square has announced two new tools in the UK to help businesses grow their sales and engage customers with just a few clicks. The two tools, Square Marketing and Square Loyalty, are now available as separate subscriptions for UK businesses of all types and sizes…Businesses can also now build a loyalty program in minutes with the launch of Square Loyalty. This new to market tool can help turn one-time visitors into regulars and increase repeat visits. It’s easy to set up a customised loyalty program that rewards customers both in-store and online.”

“Volante Technologies , the global leader in cloud payments and financial messaging, today announced it received USD 10M in growth funding from Wells Fargo Strategic Capital , bringing the total institutional investment to date to USD 45M. With this investment, the bank’s growth capital unit joins a number of global institutional and strategic investors who committed to the previous capital raise led by Wavecrest Growth Partners in August 2020.”

“Worldline, the European leader in the payments and transactional services industry and #4 player worldwide, and Chargebee, the leading subscription billing and revenue management platform, today announced their collaboration to provide an end-to-end payment, subscription and revenue operations solution for merchants operating in a subscription model. With a single, integrated solution, Worldline and Chargebee help merchants improve and expand business operations, efficiently and at scale.”