Payments
Bank of England resumes settlement after 'technical issue’
UK’s high-value payment system was ‘paused’ for several hours today, but is now back up and running; central bank extends opening hours to deal with backlog
CPMI-Iosco report recommends tools for recovering FMIs
Report lays out toolkit for maintaining critical services and restoring stability in the event a financial market infrastructure comes close to collapse
RBA’s Stevens lauds ‘substantial’ progress towards real-time payments
Reserve Bank governor says Australia is now closer to delivering ‘real-time, data-rich payments’; first meeting of the Australian Payments Council expected this month
Central Bank of Nigeria implements ‘sanctions screening' service to combat financial crime
Swift service helping banks meet global best practices on financial crime will be functional in January; step towards realising 2020 ‘payment system vision'
Balance sheet saw ‘substantial’ growth in past year, says RBA’s Stevens
Combined impact of replenished capital and new financial market operations has seen balance sheet swell, according to the Reserve Bank of Australia’s annual report for 2014
Bundesbank unveils new card clearing infrastructure
Bundesbank and EBA Clearing launch new XML-based infrastructure for card clearing; payments chief says it allows banks to ‘leverage’ their Sepa investments
RBA’s Richards outlines fast settlement service at Chicago symposium
Reserve Bank of Australia head of payments policy says the fast settlement service on the country’s new payments platform will be able to deal with ‘very short response times’
Mobile money accounts trump number of adults in Kenya, IMF data show
African bank depositors increased five-fold between 2004 and 2013, IMF's fifth annual Financial Access Survey shows; includes data on mobile money for first time
Palestine Monetary Authority launches new clearing system
Automated clearing system developed in Palestime with technical assistance from the World Bank and Bank of Italy; part of PMA’s wider plans to upgrade retail payment infrastructure
Key innovation behind Bitcoin could prompt ‘fundamental change' to payment systems
Article published by Bank of England says ‘distributed ledger' technology could have ‘much broader' impact beyond payment systems
LCH payments system raises concentration concerns
A large proportion of cash payments between clearing members and LCH.Clearnet are processed by just two banks, raising concentration risk concerns from banks and regulators
CPMI report reviews the ‘growing involvement’ of non-banks in retail payments
Working group chaired by Reserve Bank of India’s Padmanabhan says the presence of non-banks in payments raises 'level playing field issues' for central banks to consider
Timor-Leste central bank green lights mobile money pilot
Initiative will allow users to execute payments, transfers and withdrawals through mobile phones, and follows the introduction of a ‘master plan’ for financial sector development
Dutch payments forum looking to ‘speed-up’ transfers
Frank Elderson hopes the forum’s plan will ‘spark real-time payment transfers’, noting this would require a ‘comprehensive renewal’ of market infrastructure
CPSS renamed the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures
Renamed body, the CPMI, handed an updated mandate to reflect ‘actual activites’; will press on with core tasks, says chair Benoît Coeuré
Finnish paper says Sepa 'not enough’ on its own
Researchers argue that Sepa is an ‘important’ initiative but further measures will be needed to create an efficient payments system; call for ‘vigorous’ competition policies
Australian payments council established with support of central bank
New payments council features members from 14 organisations across the payments industry – including the central bank – and was set up on basis of RBA recommendations
ECB designates four 'systemic' payments systems subject to new regulatory standards
European Central Bank identifies four payment systems as systemically important, which will now be governed by stricter oversight standards that entered into force last week
Central Bank of Nigeria defends reintroduction of fees on ATM withdrawals
Bank says reintroduction of fee will hinder abuse of expensive ATMs and promote its cash-less policy; fee was abolished in 2012 to encourage use of ATMs
Cœuré sees cyber threats and virtual currencies rising on payments agenda
Chair of the CPSS suggests the organisation should look beyond securities and derivatives markets in the 25th anniversary edition of Central Banking journal
Payments achitecture fit for the 21st century
Globalisation, changes in FMIs and the emergence of new payment schemes will require ever closer co-operation to ensure the safety and efficiency of the underpinnings of the financial markets
Malaysian deputy targets 'distortions’ in payments market
Muhammad bin Ibrahim says ‘more needs to be done’ to correct price distortions that he believes are holding back electronic payments in the country
Credit cards account for more than half of all payment cards in the US, report shows
Credit cards accounted for 334 million of the 776 million ‘general purpose cards' used in 2012; Over 250 million mobile payments made using mobile wallet application, Fed study finds
People: Emefiele to chair key WAMZ committee; BIS appoints chief rep for Americas
Godwin Emefiele elected as chairman of the West African Monetary Zone’s committee of governors; Spanish economist Enrique Alberola Ila takes BIS post; more