

Аsia

UnionPay joins Bank Simpanan Nasional to facilitate QR payments
Thunes, Posted January 21, 2024
UnionPay International (UPI) has announced a partnership with Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN), to launch the UnionPay QR payment in Malaysia in the first half of 2025.
This partnership highlights both parties’ commitment to advancing digital payment solutions in Malaysia and enhancing the country’s evolving payment ecosystem. Through this partnership, BSN will become a member of UnionPay, expanding its portfolio of payment system operators to include UnionPay alongside Visa, Mastercard, and MyDebit.
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Revolut launches Robo-Advisor in Singapore, simplifying automated investing
Revolut, Posted January 22, 2024
Revolut, the global fintech with more than 50 million customers worldwide, has launched its own Robo-Advisor service in Singapore. The new product allows customers to save time and automate their investments, tailored to their unique needs.
With Robo-Advisor, customers can invest through a diversified portfolio without spending hours on research and continuously managing their portfolios. The new product is advantageous for customers who don’t have the time to do extensive research and actively invest, or have limited or no trading experience.
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Singapore’s Pomelo Group acquires paytech start-up Arrow Checkout
Fintech Futures, Posted January 23, 2024
Singapore-based payment infrastructure platform Pomelo Group has acquired Arrow Checkout, an e-commerce and checkout payments technology provider also based in Singapore, for an undisclosed sum.
Arrow’s checkout solution is designed to enable direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands in Southeast Asia to accept purchases across all sales channels, payment gateways and local payment methods, including bank transfers, cash-on-delivery, e-wallets and buy now, pay later (BNPL) options.
Founded by CEO Neo Liat Beng, COO Sebastian Roervig and CTO Sudhan Raj in 2021, the start-up previously received investment from venture capital firm Y Combinator and last raised $4.8 million in a 2022 seed funding round led by Peak XV (formerly Sequoia India).
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Maybank Islamic Taps audax, AWS for Digital Banking Push
Fintech News, Posted January 21, 2024
Maybank Islamic has partnered with audax Financial Technology, a digital banking solutions provider backed by Standard Chartered, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) to modernise its digital banking services.
This partnership aims to provide customers with enhanced, user-friendly digital banking experiences built on AWS’ secure cloud infrastructure. The first product launch is anticipated in 2025.
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SC Ventures introduces Labamu to support SMEs across APAC
IBS Intelligence, Posted January 24, 2024
SC Ventures, Standard Chartered’s FinTech investment and venture arm, has launched Labamu, an invoicing and billing platform designed to increase the prosperity of small businesses across the Asia Pacific (APAC) markets, starting with Indonesia.
Labamu wants to empower APAC SMEs to accelerate their growth by:
Making it easy for SMEs to increase sales through omnichannel, physical and digital marketplaces.
Increasing operational efficiency by offering digital billing, catalogue, stock, and material management, plus customer relationship management and reporting;
Offering seamless access to financial services such as embedded banking and operating accounts, and later procurement and working capital financing.
“Labamu believes that every small business contributes to shared economic prosperity, and we want to empower them. The platform stands out because we seamlessly integrate financial services into our platform. Merchants using Labamu can get invoice and bill payments directly deposited to their bank accounts,” saidEmmanuel Van De Geer, CEO of Labamu.
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Europe

Dutch Government Wants to Halt BNPL Rollout in Brick-and-Mortar Stores
PYMNTS, Posted January 22, 2024
The Dutch government reportedly wants to stop the rollout of buy now, pay later (BNPL) in the country’s brick-and-mortar retail stores.
Finance Minister Eelco Heinen said in a letter to parliament that the payment method poses financial risks to consumers, Reuters reported Wednesday (Jan. 22).
While European Union (EU) regulations prevent an outright ban, the Dutch government urged BNPL provider Klarna to stop expanding its offering of the payment method in physical stores in the country, the letter said.
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myPOS expands presence in France with Toporder acquisition
IBS Intelligence, Posted January 22, 2024
myPOS has completed its first-ever acquisition by taking over Toporder, a French cash register company. The move strengthens myPOS’s foothold in the French market while reinforcing its commitment to providing tailored payment solutions for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
The acquisition supports myPOS in expanding its footprint in the French retail, food and beverage sectors by providing integrated payment and cash register solutions tailored to streamline operations, improve efficiency and drive growth.
“France is one of our most dynamic markets, and this acquisition will help us expand the business of our clients by offering top-tier technology,” said myPOS CEO Mario Shiliashki. “We are excited to welcome Toporder to the myPOS group and together deliver solutions that save time and money, enabling merchants to focus on what matters most – growing their business.”
otly anticipated stock market listings.
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PSR sets out updated strategy to deliver competition, innovation, and growth
PSR, Posted January 16, 2024
The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has today set out commitments for the next two years following the mid-term review of its five-year Strategy. Payments are vital to the UK economy and the PSR has an important role in supporting a growing, competitive payments sector. These commitments set out an impactful programme of delivery as the regulator seeks to achieve world-leading payment systems where competition and innovation deliver secure, accessible, and value-for-money services that meet the needs of people and businesses.
Since launching its Strategy in 2022, the PSR has made strong progress in delivering positive change, including introducing world-leading protections against APP fraud, advancing Open Banking, and reviewing card fees. However, the payments landscape is constantly evolving, with new technological and market innovations.
This review reflects extensive engagement with stakeholders, trends in payments – both at home and abroad, the Government’s growth mission, and the impact of the National Payments Vision (NPV).
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HSBC shuts payments app Zing a year after launch
Financial Times, Posted January 23, 2024
HSBC is shutting its payments app Zing just a year after it launched the digital challenger, marking the latest closure of a fintech offshoot by a big bank. “Following a strategic review of Zing within the HSBC Group and after careful consideration, we have made the decision to close Zing and integrate its underlying technology platform into HSBC,” the bank said. HSBC had in January last year announced ambitious plans to offer a cheap foreign exchange app to compete with fast-growing digital rivals such as Revolut and Wise.
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Wix, Posted January 21, 2024
Wix today announced a joint strategic partnership with Worldline (Euronext: WLN), a global leader in payment services. This collaboration will bring Worldline small and medium enterprises (SMEs) a best-in-class platform to create, manage and grow their online presence, and ultimately increase revenues, while enabling Wix users access to Worldline’s local payments and banking solutions to better meet customer expectations.
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Neonomics acquires UK open banking platform, Ordo
IBS Intelligence, Posted January 23, 2024
The Neonomics Group has announced the acquisition of Ordo, an open banking payments and data service provider based in the United Kingdom.
Founded by the former management team of the UK Faster Payments scheme, Ordo is an FCA authorised open banking payments innovator and one of the very first to be licensed as such in the UK. Ordo delivers a wide range of payments and data services, including variable recurring payments, and is an official crown services supplier.
Neonomics was seeking a strategic partner to accelerate its growth further and expand its ability to offer services in the UK and beyond. Ordo’s strong UK payment propositions, including fully functioning unrestricted Variable Recurring Payments (VRP) capability, together with the knowledgeable team behind it, made them ideal partners for Neonomics and their vision for a more open and connected economy.
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USA

Trump orders formation of working group to evaluate crypto stockpile
Tech Crunch, Posted January 23, 2024
President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered the formation of a working group to propose federal regulations for “digital assets” — including cryptocurrencies, digital tokens, and stablecoins — and evaluate a national crypto stockpile.
Ex-PayPal COO and founder of VC firm Craft Ventures David Sacks, Trump’s pick for crypto an AI “czar,” will lead the working group. The group will also include the Treasury secretary, the attorney general, the secretary of Commerce, and other top officials.
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CFPB Orders Equifax to Pay $15 Million for Improper Investigations of Credit Reporting Errors
Consumer Finance, Posted January 17, 2024
Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) took action against Equifax, the nationwide consumer reporting agency, for its failure to conduct proper investigations of consumer disputes. The CFPB found Equifax ignored consumer documents and evidence submitted with disputes, allowed previously deleted inaccuracies to be reinserted into credit reports, provided confusing and conflicting letters to consumers about the results of its investigations, and used flawed software code which led to inaccurate consumer credit scores. The order requires Equifax to comply with federal law, and Equifax must pay a $15 million civil money penalty, which will be deposited into the CFPB’s victims relief fund.
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LatAm

Brazil’s Pix hits 6bn monthly transactions: What does it mean for US?
IBS Intelligence, Posted January 22, 2024
Brazil’s Pix payment system is revolutionising the way payments are made, with the latest data from Matera’s report highlighting the unprecedented growth of this instant payment platform. With over 6 billion monthly transactions in Q4 2024, Pix has not only surpassed credit and debit card transactions but also set the stage for further innovation.
Pix is an instant payment system in Brazil that allows users to make real-time, secure transactions 24/7, using QR codes or identifiers, without fees or delays.
The ‘Pix by the Numbers’ report uncovers a surge in both consumer and business adoption, providing critical takeaways for U.S. financial institutions (FIs) looking to accelerate their instant payment systems like RTP and FedNow.
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Belvo and J.P. Morgan Payments join forces to enhance recurring payments in Mexico
Latam List, Posted January 20, 2024
Belvo, Latin America’s leading open finance platform, and J.P. Morgan Payments, a global payments leader, have entered a strategic collaboration to improve recurring payment processes for businesses in Mexico.
The partnership aims to deliver an automated and efficient solution for managing recurring payments through direct debit according to FF News.
This payment method is vital for businesses seeking to streamline their financial operations, enhance customer retention, and improve the user experience.
Belvo specialises in open finance technology, providing advanced tools and seamless integration that enable businesses to automate collections and simplify payments for end users.
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Banco Mercantil partners with Atos to accelerate cloud migration
IBS Intelligence, Posted January 17, 2024
Atos, a global leader in digital transformation, was chosen by Banco Mercantil to support its cloud adoption journey through Google Cloud. The agreement, a five-year term between the bank and Google Cloud, involves an investment of millions of Brazilian reais to migrate all of the bank’s data centre servers to the cloud. The project was divided into phases, aiming to modernise the bank’s operations and optimise its entire technological infrastructure.
Banco Mercantil, a financial institution focused on the 50+ demographic, seeks faster application migration and implementation, as well as centralised data security, providing a more efficient and innovative experience for all areas of the institution and its customers throughout Brazil. Currently, its portfolio includes over 8.7 million customers, primarily serving the population aged 50 and over.
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Fast, Secure, and Seamless: Bybit Card QR Pay Revolutionizes Payments in Brazil
Bybit, Posted January 17, 2024
Bybit, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, is excited to announce the launch of Bybit Card QR Pay, an innovative payment feature exclusively available for Bybit Card users in Brazil. This cutting-edge solution aims to revolutionize the payment experience, offering faster and more seamless transactions for daily use.
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