Asia

Contactless card and mobile payments are set to see significant uptake in Australia, already a world leader in contactless card acceptance, as the country starts to implement open transit payments.

Under the Australian government’s direction, the country is implementing an open banking plan — but it's not going as far as the U.K. and EU have.

As the trade war ramps up, some cross-border payment companies are steering into the storm by selling lower-cost automated processing as a way to offset expensive supply chains.

Banks are adjusting loan terms, making use of federal loan guarantees and working with farmers to find new markets, all in an effort to mitigate the damage from a likely drop in soybean exports.

India’s top court refused to overturn a central bank ban on lenders from dealing in cryptocurrencies, a move that effectively outlaws the nascent industry in Asia’s third-largest economy.

The day after Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com Inc.’s mid-year sale, a company drone took off from a playground in the city of Xi’an to deliver one of the orders. The six-rotor craft is one of about 40 JD.com designed to cut delivery times.

China UnionPay has qualified FIME’s personalization validation tool (PVT), marking the Chinese payment brand’s first certification of an overseas lab for testing its secure chip products.

Alipay is deepening its reach to Chinese consumers in the U.S. through a partnership with 99 Ranch Market, a 50-store chain of supermarkets specializing in Asian products and food.

Geoswift, an international payments provider, has launched an inbound P2P service with the goal of simplifying the complex regulatory processes involved in sending money to China.

South Asian remittance firm InstaReM has launched its cross-border P2P and B2B digital money transfer service in the U.K. and the EU as it prepares for an IPO in 2021. It also expects to become profitable by then.