Payments
The future of cash: an update
Antti Heinonen looks at the latest trends in cash use, including a surprising turnaround for the Swedish krona
Big tech: a threat to banks?
The explosive growth of financial services offered by big tech companies in China offers important lessons
BSP’s Diokno on forward guidance and cutting reserves
The Central Bank of the Philippines governor speaks to Christopher Jeffery and Alice Shen about fintech, efforts to wean Asia off the US dollar, and why he wants to cut policy and reserve requirement rates
Swedish state needs to face dangers of falling cash use, Riksbank says
Marginal role for the state in payments could weaken competition and trust, central bank argues
Albanian central bank introduces first polymer notes
Governor calls on parliament to approve draft law on improving payments systems
Seven threats from big tech’s libra
Can central banks avoid a ‘big tech’ monetary meltdown?
Kansas Fed’s George defends proposed instant payments system
Former FDIC head Bair warns current payment systems could fail “catastrophically”
Finnish paper looks at Chinese currency swap agreements
Bilateral swap agreements increase settlement of trade transactions in renminbi – researchers
Regulators should embrace digital ID
The lack of a single ID in financial services is causing unnecessary friction, argues Dave Birch
Bank of Israel grants digital bank licence
Israel joins growing list of jurisdictions permitting online-only financial services
Central banks urged to adopt DLT-based CBDC
Industry figures argue central bank money is needed for token-based securities settlement, but central bankers are sceptical
Swift conducts 13-second cross-border payment
Trials saw payments go from origination through to clearing and settlement in seconds
Yemeni government appoints new central bank head
New appointee will be the fourth to hold the role since outbreak of civil war in 2015
ECB prepares for ‘big bang’ move to new market infrastructure
Eurozone's payments, instant payments and securities settlement systems will merge by end of 2021
Cyprus central bank adopts Maps treasury management system
The system was built by Calypso and has been used by the Bank of Spain and Banque de France since 2016
30 years of central banking
Central banks face credibility tests on a number of fronts
UK cash use squeezed by rise of fintech and ATM fee changes
Accounts with fintech firms and open banking proving increasingly popular, report finds
Regulators meet in Basel to grill stablecoin backers
Conference convened by G7 stablecoins group included Libra Association, Fnality and JP Morgan
Overseeing China’s payments revolution
The PBoC has tried to strike a balance between facilitating bigtech innovation and reining in risks, amid an explosive growth in mobile payments
Papua New Guinea upgrades payment system
More financial institutions to use new central switch in bid to improve efficiency and inclusion; international networks also to be added
UK regulator seeks ways to ‘open up’ payments data
PSR says “synthetic data” could be used in trials to protect confidentiality
Venezuela uses Bank of Spain to carry out international transfers
Maduro regime faces sanctions to prevent it accessing US financial system
MAS launches initiative to help payment firms with compliance
Two-month pilot will help connect payment firms with legal service providers
The winners of the 2019 Fintech and Regtech Global Awards
Prizes awarded for outstanding work at the cutting edge of financial technology