Asia

Morgan Stanley said it expects to record its highest-ever income from Japan as bets on a shift in the nation's monetary policy fuel a trading revival.

Ripple, Coinbase and Circle all received licenses to operate under the nation's stablecoin regulations, which offer more clarity than American rules do.

It's a challenge Japan's largest lender must overcome as it focuses on growing its corporate banking presence in the US, said Fumitaka Nakahama, the firm's head of global corporate and investment banking. 

The e-commerce giant is adding a surcharge for Visa credit card payments in Singapore. It's a tactic reminiscent of the time its big-box rival outright banned the card brand in Thunder Bay, Ontario, in a bid to lower its costs.

The $29 billion deal would enable Square to better compete with PayPal and Apple, and provide an opportunity to cross-sell other services to the Australian lender's global audience.

Western central banks trying to develop sovereign cryptocurrency models face pushback from lawmakers and other obstacles, while the digital yuan has a much clearer path.

The Reserve Bank of India says the card brand failed to comply with a requirement to store transaction details locally. The handling of payment information has become a point of contention between the Asian nation and American firms.

The Australian bank's stakes in technology firms Little Birdie and Amber add price shopping for point of sale credit and bill pay.

Japan is one of the most cash-centric of all developed nations, with about 80% of consumer transactions conducted with paper or coins, but the pandemic triggered some shifts that Adyen wants to capitalize upon.

Government digital currency projects have the potential to displace banks and fintechs from the payment process. But three major participants — Accenture, Ant Group and Swift — argue that incumbents have a role to play.