FMI
Brazil's central bank plans new payments system
BRAZIL - The Central Bank of Brazil will put in place a new payments system for large transactions, Sistema de Pagamentos Brasileiro, in 2002, following guidelines from the Basel-based Bank for International Settlements.
Brazil clearance system up and running
BRAZIL - A new Brazilian bank clearance network designed to increase efficiency and reduce risk in the financial system of Latin America's No.1 economy got off to a smooth start on Monday.
BOK encourages payments made via internet
SOUTH KOREA - The central bank is encouraging people to make payments of bills for taxes and public utility services through the Internet due to its convenience and efficiency, in the midst of banks' reluctance to handle such dealings at their windows.
Brazil's central bank aids debut of new SPB today
BRAZIL - The Central Bank reduced the interest rate charged banks in one-day rediscount operations from 6% to 1% a year, plus the variation of the Selic basic interest rate.
Vietnam's Interbank E-Payment System to begin May
VIETNAM - The central bank in Vietnam is intending to launch an interbank e-payment system early next month in an effort to speed up payments.
Fed's Minehan sees e-payments change as inevitable
US - The shift in the financial payments and settlements system to electronic transactions is proceeding apace, and the U.S. central bank is embracing that change, Cathy Minehan, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, said on Tuesday.
Russia issues world cup commemorative coins
RUSSIA - The Central Bank 5 May will introduce commemorative gold and silver coins in denominations of 3 and 50 rubles to commemorate this summer's World Cup football (soccer) finals in Japan and South Korea.
Back from a King's vault, the lone double eagle
FEATURE - It is a $20 gold piece from 1933 that was ordered destroyed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Stolen from the United States Mint, it was exported for a king after the government committed the bumble of all bumbles, was contested in an…
No note solution to fake coins in Hong Kong
HONG KONG - The Hong Kong Monetary Authority appears reluctant to re-introduce the printing of HK$10 notes, despite a surge in counterfeit HK$10 coins last year.
Speech by Jamie Stewart, New York Fed Bank, 9 Apr
SPEECH - In the speech titled 'Challenges to the payments system following September 11' Stewart focused his remarks on the shocks to the payments system stemming from the events of September 11 and the steps that are being taken to ensure even better…
When an ATM is an alien concept
FEATURE - It is only an ATM (automatic teller machine), but it might as well be an alien spacecraft, crash landed in central Vientiane. People do not know what to make of it - which is understandable when you consider that this is the first ATM in Laos.
House votes to end banking ban
US - The Senate House has voted to end a 70-year-old ban on banks paying interest on business checking accounts.
Central bank of Gambia to introduce new bank notes
GAMBIA - The Central Bank of The Gambia (CBG) is to discontinue the practice of exchanging bank notes that are fit for reissue for new uncirculated bank notes to members of the public effective 15 April.
Credit card holders set to rise if BOT eases rule
THAILAND - The number of credit card holders is expected to increase significantly if the Bank of Thailand agrees to decrease the minimum monthly salary required to be a card member from 15,000 to 10,000 baht, according to executives in the banking…
The big problem of small change
FEATURE - It is a curious fact, writes Paul Podolsky in Thursday's Wall Street Journal Europe, that the world's most trusted currency, the dollar, represents a claim on an asset no more tangible than the faith of the U.S. government. The same is true for…
Sri Lanka c bank hands cheque clearing to local Co
SRI LANKA - The Central Bank of Sri Lanka has delegated the bank's operation of clearing cheques to local company Lanka Clear Ltd., reports the Daily News, quoting the central bank governor.
RBI gets new note verification system
INDIA - Counterfeiters of currency may face a tough time now. The public can look forward to fewer soiled notes in circulation. An advanced Currency Verification and Processing System (CVPS) has been inaugurated at the Reserve Bank of India, Bangalore,…
Payments System Board Annual Report 2001
REPORT - The Reserve Bank of Australia's Payments System Board Annual Report 2001 was issued on 28 March.
The Bank of Canada Launches a New $5 Bank Note
PRESS RELEASE - The Bank of Canada officially launched Canada's new $5 bank note into circulation today, 27 March.
Electronic signatures allowed for bank payment
VIETNAM - The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) will announce regulations over the pattern and content of electronic documents to be used for payment services among banks next month, deputy governor Nguyen Van Giau said.
TFB calls for easing of credit card rules
THAILAND - TFB calls for easing of credit card rules Thai Farmers Bank Plc (TFB) is calling on the Bank of Thailand (BOT) to ease existing regulations on issuance of credit cards, Manager Daily said on 25 March.
European Central Bank Consultation Announcement
ANNOUNCEMENT - Consultation on electronic money systems security objectives, 19 March 2002.
U.S. late credit card payments rose in Q4
US - Late payments on credit card bills edged up in the final quarter of last year but fewer people were overdue on other types of consumer loans despite weak economic growth, a banking trade association said on Tuesday.
China links bank cashpoints to meet WTO challenge
CHINA - China launched an electronic network on Tuesday to link the cash machines of major banks for the first time, hoping the customer-friendly service will help Chinese banks fend off fierce foreign competition.