Latest global banking news

December 28, 2022 9:12 AM

In global news this week, Payments Canada asks to expand its membership, JCB extends acquiring and processing into Thailand, Brazil adopts a new bitcoin law, and more.

Here's what's happening around the world.

Canadian payments group seeks permission to add fintechs

Payments Canada, the nonprofit banking group that operates Canada's payment clearing and settlement system, wants to expand its membership to include fintechs, payment services providers or paytech firms, BetaKit reports. The group proposed the idea in an open letter to Canada's Minister of Finance earlier this month, urging expansion of the organization to non-financial institutions to support competition as payments technology rapidly expands. The move, which would require an amendment to the Canadian Payments Act as part of next year's budget, would enable any entity registered with the Bank of Canada under the Retail Payments Activities Act to join Payments Canada, whose members include the Bank of Canada, domestic banks and authorized financial institutions, the letter said. —Kate Fitzgerald

I2C launches elite Mastercard with West Indies bank

Digital card-issuing platform i2C, based in Redwood City, California, has teamed with North International Bank, based in the commonwealth of Antigua and Barbados, to launch the Mastercard Black Card. The card provides concierge and travel perks for the bank's affluent customers in Venezuela, Colombia, Central America and the Caribbean, according to a press release. The annual fee is US$200, which includes WiFi services from Boingo. For the last decade, i2C has worked with the bank, which has offices in Antigua and Barbados, on credit, debit and prepaid card-issuing. —Kate Fitzgerald

Thailand’s DeeMoney adds Visa Direct for cross-border payments

Bangkok-based cross-border fintech SawasdeeShop, branded as DeeMoney, has formed a partnership with Visa to integrate the push-payment debit service Visa Direct into DeeMoney's international payment platform, the companies announced this week. The connection will enable DeeMoney to add near real-time cross-border payments using only the recipient's Visa card credentials to more than 170 countries early next year. DeeMoney, launched in 2017, supports money transfers for individuals and businesses online and via its DeeMoney Neo mobile app and plans to become an independent challenger bank by 2025, according to the press release. —Kate Fitzgerald

Opn partners with JCB to tap Thai payments market

Tokyo-based payments technology firm Opn has teamed with international credit card network JCB, also based in Tokyo, to extend JCB's acquiring and processing capabilities to Thailand, the companies announced. Opn and JCB are supporting the partnership with a promotional campaign running in key markets through February 2023. Opn, a privately held firm whose shareholders include Toyota Motor Corp., operates in seven countries across Asia. It recently acquired Alpharetta, Georgia-based payment processing firm MerchantE. —Kate Fitzgerald

Nexi, Olivetti partner to develop digital payments

Italian digital payments provider Nexi is working with Olivetti, an Italian hardware manufacturer owned by TIM Group, to develop and market payments technology for retailers, the companies announced Tuesday. They also plan to distribute Nexi products through Olivetti's sales network, which reaches more than 300 dealers and distributors. The goal is to enable merchants to subscribe to a single offering for both the point of sale and digital payments. —Daniel Wolfe

UAE fintech buys Egyptian open-banking provider

Fintech Galaxy, a United Arab Emirates-based firm known locally as FTG, has acquired Underlie, an Egyptian open banking platform provider that offers APIs to banks and businesses, according to a press release. Dubai-based Fintech Galaxy, launched in 2017, aims to leverage Underlie's technology to accelerate open banking expansion in Egypt via a financial inclusion model, the release said. In Egypt, where cashless payments acceptance expanded by 230% last year, FTG expects the open finance market to grow by 25% annually over the next five years. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. —Kate Fitzgerald

Brazil’s president authorizes use of bitcoin

Brazil's president Jair Bolsonaro this month signed a law creating a regulatory framework for trading and use of bitcoin in the country, Bitcoin magazine reports. The move, which goes into effect in June 2023, doesn't authorize bitcoin as legal tender in Brazil, but it lays the groundwork for Brazil's financial regulators to develop rules around using bitcoin for payments and investments, according to the report. The Central Bank of Brazil is working to develop its own digital currency, to be called the Real Digital, in 2024, the magazine noted. —Kate Fitzgerald

Crypto exchange Kraken will close in Japan after global cuts

Kraken is closing its cryptocurrency exchange services in Japan as the company restructures to navigate the fallout from this year's meltdown in digital assets. Payward Asia, which operates Kraken services in Tokyo, will shutter the exchange business on Jan. 31, according to an announcement Wednesday from the firm in a Japanese government publication. The company plans to ask clients to transfer their crypto token holdings into different wallets or exchange them into fiat currencies. The implosion last month of Sam Bankman-Fried's digital asset empire FTX has added to uncertainty in crypto after a global slump in coin prices and declining trading activity. Just weeks ago, Kraken said it will cut 30% of its global workforce, or about 1,100 people. That followed similar moves by rivals including Coinbase Global and Gemini. —Takashi Nakamichi and Nao Sano, Bloomberg News