Latest global banking news

October 12, 2022 11:52 AM

In global news this week, U.K. banks face more pressure on branch closures, Deutsche Bank launches a small-business banking unit with Fiserv, Bank of America adds to international payments, and more.

Here's what's happening around the world.

Deutsche Bank, Fiserv launch small-business payments unit

Deutsche Bank, which is based in Frankfurt, Germany, has teamed with Fiserv to launch Vert, a new unit to provide broad payment acceptance and banking services for small and midsize businesses. Vert offers Clover Flex, a mobile payments solution that includes a tip function and tools for business management, along with Go by Vert, enabling merchants to accept payments via Android devices, and PAX A50, a portable card reader designed for restaurants and counter service. —Kate Fitzgerald

Bank of America expands international payment capabilities

Bank of America has added new payment types to its CashPro application programming interface. It has also partnered with a U.K. fintech to enhance the bank's ability to support payments globally. The CashPro upgrade will add more than 350 payment types in 38 markets covering business-to-business and business-to-consumer transactions, including services such as Zelle in the U.S. and Pix in Brazil. It will also cover cross-border wires. The partnership with Banked, a U.K. fintech, enables e-commerce customers to pay directly from their bank accounts. The Banked collaboration adds euro acceptance to BofA's Pay by Bank service, which uses open banking to allow real-time card payments with less navigation. —John Adams

U.K. regulators pressure banks on branch closures

The Financial Conduct Authority has extended its current requirements for bank closures to include partial closures. Under the new FCA rules, banks will be required to have an alternative source of in-person banking in place before a branch closure (or a reduction in hours) if the FCA finds that such a need exists, in an effort to avoid gaps in service. The U.K.'s government is also requesting new power to protect access to cash, a request that could add fuel to a long battle between regulators and U.K. banks over the cost of maintaining cash. "We want banks to support more people to get the benefits of innovative digital services. However, we know that for many, having a branch or ATM nearby their home is an essential part of looking after their household finances," said Sheldon Mills, executive director of consumer and competition for the FCA, in a release. —John Adams

Mastercard, Italian postal service partner on real-time billing

Mastercard and PostePay will support Request to Pay, a feature that allows billers to digitally deliver invoices to customers, who can choose to pay the bill in real-time. The card network and PostePay, a unit of the national Poste Italiane Group, are positioning the service for recurring payments such as taxes, monthly bills and P2P exchanges. Mastercard cited proprietary research that found 75% of Italian businesses and retailers preferred digital means of billing. Request to Pay is similar to Request for Pay, a U.S. payment system that uses The Clearing House's RTP rail to deliver bills, which can be settled in real time based on when the payor has sufficient funds to cover the bill. —John Adams

Visa, Wildfire collaborate on global card deals

Visa has formed a partnership with Wildfire Systems to launch the new Visa Affiliate Marketing Solutions for card issuers around the world. The program enables card issuers to offer customers cash-back rewards, coupons and discounts on e-commerce purchases from more than 50,000 global merchant programs. San Diego-based Wildfire supports revenue-sharing sales programs in 55 countries with merchants including Hertz, Dell, Ace Hardware and Ticketmaster. —Kate Fitzgerald

Rabobank offers small-business financing 'button'

Dutch financial institution Rabobank and small-business app developer Bizcuit are enabling businesses to apply for financing within the Bizcuit app. A user hits a button to apply for financing, and Bizcuit collects data on that applicant to inform financing decisions. If the application is approved, the funds are wired to the user's account within 24 hours. The product comes as banks in other countries expand credit to small businesses that are suffering from supply-chain shortages and liquidity issues that date to the start of the pandemic. Banks are also trying to ward off challenges from fintechs that are providing short-term merchant credit along with payment technology. —John Adams

BNP Paribas buying currency risk firm

The French bank BNP Paribas has agreed to acquire Kantox, which develops technology that manages currency volatility risk. Firms connect to Kantox via an API, which allows the clients to construct currency hedges. The bank is an existing partner of Kantox, offering its hedging technology to bank clients for the past three years. When the deal closes, the bank will embed Kantox into its corporate and institutional banking and its commercial, personal and banking services (CPBS) divisions, which sell to large corporates and small businesses. —John Adams

Coinbase gets payments license in Singapore

The Monetary Authority of Singapore has awarded a Major Payments Institution license to Coinbase, enabling the fintech to offer regulated digital payment products in the island state, where Coinbase is also building a technology hub and hiring product managers. The company's venture arm has invested in more than a dozen Web 3.0 startups over the past three years, and plans to expand its work in the Singapore fintech community. Coinbase's core product is cryptocurrency services, though it is building additional payment and financial services as part of a super app strategy. —John Adams