Payments
People: Bank of Canada appoints top payments regulator
Iceland’s central bank appoints new CEO and World Bank names country directors
Ethiopia’s central bank launches digital payments strategy
NBE pledges to launch retail real-time payments system and consider charges on cash use
Canadian cash volumes rose in pandemic
BoC says increase driven by stockpiles of big notes and interruptions in circulation
DLT handles major transaction volume in digital euro experiment
Test processed 300,000 payments simultaneously; carbon footprint smaller than current card payments
RBI could launch CBDC pilots in ‘near future’ – deputy governor
Central bank is still researching underlying technology and design features, says T Rabi Sankar
Podcast: Payment infrastructure for a digital era
Central Banking speaks to representatives from ACI Worldwide and Mastercard about why collaboration with the private sector is crucial for payment infrastructure in the digital era
UK public has ‘reasonable’ access to cash, regulators say
But pandemic made it difficult for people to access and pay with cash, new research finds
Colombian central bank joins DLT bond issuance pilot
Technology could cut costs and offer faster processing, traceability, security and risk management
Korea selects CBDC blockchain provider
Central bank chooses telecoms company subsidiary following tender process
Stablecoins neither stable nor coins – paper
Researchers argue stablecoins are not medium of exchange, and so are not money
PBoC to study cross-border payments in digital yuan
Central bank confirms digital yuan will be direct central bank liability
Swiss central bank and stock exchange to launch new network
Communications system based on Scion technology aims to increase cyber security
FCA to expand UK footprint as part of new strategy
Regulator’s priorities will include climate risk disclosures and financial sector diversity
BIS paper sees fintech creating ‘barbell’ market structure
Authors say regulators should take action as digital innovation drives changes in market structures
RBI bans Mastercard from taking on new customers
Indian central bank sanctions card issuer over failure to store all payments data locally
ECB launches digital euro project
Central bank supports European Commission plan for e-identity rollout across the eurozone
Recipe for a chief (fin)tech officer
Private-sector experience, a knowledge of supervision and a zest for innovation are key ingredients for a chief fintech officer
CBDCs provide ‘clean slate’ for cross-border payments, says report
International bodies urge central banks to bolster CBDC co-operation
Vietnam’s central bank to pilot ‘virtual currency’
Prime minister orders central bank to develop blockchain-based prototype by 2023
RBNZ to consider CBDC as cash use declines
Assistant governor says trust in financial system may be weakened by fall in cash use
Somalia’s governor on rebuilding its central bank
Governor Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi discusses reviving Somalia’s war-damaged economy, re-creating a payments system, and dealing with remittances
O CBDC, O crypto! Wherefore art thou regtech?
Putting more investment and energy into regtech, instead of solely focusing on crypto and CBDC, would help to secure more of the expected benefits from digital evolution
Fed’s CBDC efforts should not be driven by digital yuan, Fed official says
A decision on ‘Fedcoin’ should be independent of action taken by China, says David Andolfatto
BoE demands changes at Euroclear after system outage
Central bank takes supervisory action over outage that caused “notable” market disruption