American Express removes a hurdle for Chinese travel

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U.S. payment companies have long had difficulty establishing their business in China because of logistical and regulatory hurdles, a challenge American Express is hoping to reduce by  integrating with Alipay, one of China's largest payment companies.

Amex's consumers can link their cards to Alipay's digital wallet, enabling payments at tens of millions of merchants on the Chinese mainland. The collaboration makes it easier for Chinese merchants to accept payments from foreign travelers.

U.S.-based payment firms for years have tried to support payments inside China, though regulations requiring local-based processing and data have forced outside firms to use partnerships. Amex has been building a network in China for the past four years through a joint venture with Express (Hangzhou) Technology Service, covering more than 30 Chinese banks, third-party payment companies and mobile wallet operators.

Adding Alipay, which is affiliated with the Chinese e-commerce giant Ant, adds tens of millions of merchants to Amex's Chinese footprint.

"We are empowering our card members with more ways to transact and connect with a vast network of merchants across China," Mohammed Badi, president of global network services at Amex, said in a release.

While it has been possible to link foreign credit cards and debit cards with Alipay's digital wallet since 2023, Amex is the first foreign company that has been allowed to clear transactions in the local currency (Chinese yuan), according to Jonathan Vaughan-Burleigh, associate analyst for banking and payments at GlobalData, a data and analytics company.

Although larger stores, hotels and attractions in major Chinese cities generally support foreign payments, smaller retailers such as restaurants and bars and even larger businesses in second-tier cities are less likely to accept them, even through Alipay's digital wallet, Vaughan-Burleigh said in a research note.

"This local currency capability, therefore, bridges an important gap in the payment infrastructure," he wrote. "The ability to pay directly in Chinese Yuan not only streamlines the payment process but also alleviates concerns over additional expenses or unfavorable exchange rate differences." —John Adams

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UK government considers scrapping Payment Systems Regulator

The U.K. government is considering rolling its Payment Systems Regulator into the Financial Conduct Authority as part of a wider move to "cut red tape and stimulate the economy," according to SkyNews, which cited unnamed sources. The decision is expected "within weeks."  

The Payment Systems Regulator was established by the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act of 2013 and began work in April 2015. It is an independent regulatory subsidiary of the Financial Conduct Authority funded by the industry and accountable to Parliament with its own managing director and board, according to its website. 

The regulator's statutory objectives include ensuring that payment systems are operated and developed to promote the interests of business and consumers; promoting competition; and developing innovative payment systems infrastructure. 

The potential merging of regulators across the pond comes as the Trump administration moves to weaken regulators' power over banks and other financial institutions. Bank of America Chairman and CEO Brian Moynihan said at the Economic Club of Washington, D.C., that alleged "debanking" of conservative businesses was the result of overregulation rather than politically motivated. —Joey Pizzolato

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Klarna boosts its European merchant reach

Swedish payment company Klarna is accumulating partnerships to build merchant distribution ahead of its U.S. initial public offering, with the latest deal being with European fintech Nexi.

Nexi processes payments for more than 1 million merchants in 25 countries, and Klarna will automatically be enabled as a default in Nexi's checkout flow.

"With their extensive reach among e-commerce merchants across Europe, Nexi is a great distribution partner for us," David Sykes, chief commercial officer for Klarna, said in a release.

Klarna also recently partnered with JPMorgan Chase, which will offer Klarna's installment options at the point of sale for more than 900,000 businesses and other financial options that will be available through the JPMorgan Payments Commerce Solutions Platform.

The Nexi collaboration is live, while Klarna's JPMorgan partnership is scheduled to launch later this year. Klarna's other distribution partners include Adyen, Worldpay, Stripe and other firms. —John Adams

Rowan de Wet

U.S. small-biz fintech Lili plots overseas expansion

The New York-based small-business fintech Lili has launched international wire payments in 27 countries to keep its customers from using other processors for overseas transactions. The company's platform will support both sending and receiving payments, covering markets in North America, Europe and Asia.

The cross-border payment market totaled about $40 trillion in 2024, according to FXCIntelligence, with cross-border payments on pace to pass $62 trillion by 2032. This growth is coming alongside advancements that make it easier to move funds between nations. Fintechs and banks are expanding their business payments to support merchants and other clients to offer supply chain finance or digital sales outside of the U.S., creating more options for businesses.

"Through international payments, small-business owners will have the flexibility to connect with more vendors and customers abroad, helping them both innovate their offerings and expand their base of clients," Lilac Bar David, co-founder and CEO of Lili, said in a release. —John Adams 

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Mobile wallet scams on the rise in Singapore

Singapore is seeing an increase in the number of unauthorized card transactions resulting from phished credit card credentials. 

The Singapore Police Force, the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore and the Monetary Authority of Singapore said last week that overseas scammers were phishing card credentials and adding those credentials to their own mobile wallets. 

The agencies fielded at least 656 reports of phished card credentials being provisioned to mobile wallets between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, 2024, with losses amounting to at least 1.2 million Singapore dollars ($896,948). At least 502 of those reports involved cards linked to Apple Pay. 

Scammers obtained the victim's credentials through spoofed e-commerce websites, including social media advertisements, and then added those credentials to their own digital wallet, which spurred an SMS one-time password to be sent to the victim, "who is then tricked to enter the OTP into the phishing website operated by the scammer, thereby giving the scammer access to their card," according to the Singapore police. —Joey Pizzolato

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Avalanche Foundation launches crypto-backed credit card

The Avalanche Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the smart contracts platform Avalanche Network, has partnered with card-issuing fintech Rain to launch a physical and digital credit card that lets users make purchases backed by the value of their cryptocurrency assets.  

The Avalanche Card can be used anywhere Visa is accepted and allows users to spend USDC, USDT, Wrapped AVAX (wAVAX) and AVAX online or in-store. The company said it has seen increased sign-ups from Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America. 

"With the Avalanche Card, your cryptocurrency is a tool for empowerment," John Wu, president of Ava Labs, said. "As digital assets garner mainstream adoption, leading with uses that are as familiar as swiping a credit card." 

For Visa, the partnership is indicative of its wider strategy to ensure it's involved in alternative payment schemes outside of traditional credit and debit. The payment processing giant earlier this month partnered with Elon Musk's X Money to power payments on its social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. —Joey Pizzolato 

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Madrid-based treasury management fintech acquires API startup

Madrid-based treasury management fintech Embat acquired Necto, an New York-based API connectivity platform, for an undisclosed amount, according to canFinsmes. 

Embat provides cloud-based treasury management solutions, including payments, receivables management, cash flow forecasting, among others. The company can transact in and has integrations with more than 70 currencies. 

Necto, founded in 2023, raised $8 million in its initial seed round before the acquisition, according to Crunchbase. —Joey Pizzolato

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Citi's real estate exec Greenberger exits after 20 years

Citigroup's global head of real estate, gaming and lodging, Matthew Greenberger, has left the firm, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Paul Ingrassia, another longtime Citigroup real estate banker, will be interim head, said one of the people, all of whom asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. 

A Citigroup spokesman declined to comment. An email sent to Greenberger's work account bounced back with a message stating he is no longer with the firm. Greenberger didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Greenberger, who is based in New York, joined Citigroup in 2004, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority records show. In October, he was named part of a group the bank named its Investment Banking Operating Team. Greenberger has advised on transactions for companies including Digital Realty Trust, LifeStorage and Brandywine Realty Trust, according to filings and disclosures. —Gillian Tan, Bloomberg News