Asia

India’s latest efforts to shift to digital payments and reduce the nation’s tight grip on cash are in the spotlight, following the government’s recent cash recall and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) giving its blessing to about a dozen digital payments startups. The newest, BHIM, is controlled by India’s government and is off to a fast start after its first week.

Fime test labs in France and Taiwan now support terminal manufacturers and kernel developers seeking to enable acceptance of China UnionPay QuickPass.

China isn't living up to promises to open its card market, a shortcoming the incoming Trump administration should remember when forging trade policies.

Ant Financial, parent of the Chinese online payment giant Alipay, may soon expand to South Korea with a new service called Korea Pay.

PayPal's digital money transfer service Xoom will allow Japanese immigrants and others in the U.S. to send money for deposit into bank accounts in Japan.

On the heels of India’s move last month to discourage cash-hoarding by demonetizing certain bills, Prime Minister Narenda Modi on Dec. 30 announced the rollout of a government-managed mobile payments app.

Pax Global Technology has landed what it describes as a major deal to distribute its payment terminals to Chinese merchants through China UnionPay Merchant Services [UMS].

Payments software provider Ezetap says an agreement with Pax Global Technology Ltd. will bring "hundreds of thousands" of mobile and mini point-of-sale terminals to India as the country lessens its use of cash.

An agreement between First Global Data and India's Metro Infrasys will bring a one-click mobile payment option to drivers using the country's tollways.

In another move that furthers India's movement away from cash, police in Pune plan to initiate a cashless policy by the end of the first week of January.