NFC World

The European Central Bank (ECB) has unveiled a new set of initiatives designed to enhance cross-currency instant payments within the European Union (EU) and potentially expand these capabilities globally. Cross-currency instant payments initiative Built on the Eurosystem’s TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) service, this ambitious project supports the G20’s objective of creating a faster, cheaper, […]

In a ground breaking move for African banking, Standard Bank, the continent’s largest bank by assets, has announced a partnership with Volante Technologies to advance payment modernisation across Africa. This ambitious project marks one of the largest Payments as a Service (PaaS) initiatives in history, covering 18 countries beyond the already live operations in South

Project Mandala, developed by the BIS Innovation Hub, is a compliance solution targeting the complexities of cross-border payments for both commercial and central banks. In its recent report on the project, which offers a highly detailed review, we can summarise by saying it has been deemed a success. This compliance-by-design framework aims to streamline the

The Global Payments Report 2025 by Ravelin offers a comprehensive overview of the evolving regulatory landscape in payments, highlighting significant developments in authentication, compliance, and fraud prevention worldwide. The report emphasises the global drive toward secure customer authentication (SCA) mandates, largely influenced by regulatory frameworks like Europe’s PSD2 and the upcoming PSD3. With SCA mandates

A new report delves into the escalating problem of synthetic identity fraud, often termed the “Frankenstein” fraud due to its complex construction of identities from real and fabricated data. This approach creates an entirely fictitious profile that passes credit checks, eluding traditional detection methods. In recent years, synthetic identity fraud has emerged as one of

The forecasted growth of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) represents a shift in global payments, with predictions indicating CBDC transactions could surge from 307 million in 2024 to 7.8 billion by 2031. CBDCs on the rise This remarkable increase of 2,430% highlights a broader effort among central banks to strengthen monetary control and streamline cross-border

European banks are eyeing cross-border mergers again, despite the challenges that stalled similar moves in the past. European bank mergers back on the table The latest shift centres on UniCredit’s recent 9% stake in Germany’s Commerzbank. After acquiring shares from the German government and building up derivatives-based holdings, UniCredit may increase its position to 21%

In a landmark move underscoring the growing influence of stablecoins in global finance, Stripe has announced the $1.1 billion acquisition of Bridge, a start-up specialising in stablecoin infrastructure. Stripe completes acquisition of Bridge The acquisition, Stripe’s largest foray into the cryptocurrency space, signals the company’s commitment to leveraging blockchain technology to drive innovation in cross-border

Gambling, as a hobby, dates back to humanity’s prehistory. Archaeologists have discovered bone-made dice, crafted by our pre-ancient ancestors, that they believe were used to play various games. Deposits and withdrawals Of course, the games they’ve played were lost to time. But, despite that, we still play dice games at casinos, both physically and online.

Europe’s banks and financial services players are seriously lagging behind those in the US in the embedded finance race, according to research by payment consultancies PSE Consulting and TSG (The Strawhecker Group). The research reveals that 33% of SMBs in the US already use embedded finance solutions via Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platforms, compared to just 11% in the UK,