Real-time Payments

March, 2023

• 13 March

  Will a Trio of Major Bank Failures Dampen Interest in Blockchain Technology?

  

  Signature Bank on Sunday became the latest domino to fall in a reckoning that is expected to have widespread ripple effects not only for banking but for the burgeoning cryptocurrency industry. The New York City-based bank, closed by state regulators, is said to be the third-largest bank failure in U.S. …
• 13 March

  RevoluGroup To Add Visa Direct And Other Digital Transactions News briefs from 3/13/23

  

  RevoluGroup Canada Inc. said its RevoluPay mobile-payments app has added payments on the automated clearing house in the United States, the Faster Payments Service (FPS) in the United Kingdom, and SEPA Instant in Europe. The company said it will add Visa Direct in May. The total value of payments made with …
• 10 March

  Eye On Crytpo: Mercuryo Enables Fiat to Crypto Conversion; Bakkt’s Sunny Outlook

  

  Digital-currency operators are working behind the scenes despite a depressed outlook brought on by the collapse of the major exchange FTX and a general rout in most cryptocurrency values. One example is Mercuryo, a London-based fintech, which on Friday said it has introduced a banking-as-a-service (BaaS) application that enables digital-asset …
• 6 March

  Nuvei Adds Australia As It Expands in Asia-Pacific And Readies Paya for Overseas Duty

  

  The major Canadian processor Nuvei Corp. on Sunday announced the next step in its international expansion with the news that it has begun operations in Australia to process e-commerce traffic. The move follows a trend as North American processors master overseas payment methods and look to compete with local providers. …
• 1 March

  Western Union And 7-Eleven Team Up To Enable Cross Border Remittances in Mexico

  

  Western Union Co. expanded its cross-border remittance capabilities Wednesday with the announcement it is partnering with 7-Eleven Mexico to enable money transfers from 1,800 7-Eleven locations in Mexico. The agreement will enable Mexican citizens to send money to more than 200 countries and territories in which Western Union operates, in …

February, 2023

• 27 February

  Use of Digital Identity Apps Is Set To Explode

  

  More than 4.1 billion apps to enable consumers to verify their identity online are projected to be in use globally by 2027, up 82% from 2.3 billion this year, according to Juniper Research. Use of government-backed digital identities that replace physical-identity documents as a source of verification for third-party apps, …
• 24 February

  Astra’s Instant Payment API Hits $100 Million in Annualized Payment Volume

  

  Astra Inc., a provider of bank-to-bank transfer technology for financial institutions, fintech startups, and enterprises, announced late Thursday that fintech developers have processed more than $100 million of annualized gross payment volume and 650,000 in real-time transfers through its Instant Payment solution since May. Instant Payment leverages Visa Direct as …
• 21 February

  As FedNow Prepares for Launch, Bankers’ Banks Enlist Help for Real-Time Payments

  

  With the launch of the Federal Reserve’s FedNow real-time payment service expected by mid-year, payments players are lining up clients to take advantage of the service. The latest is Pidgin Inc., a startup payments platform specializing in supporting financial institutions. The Atlanta-based company early Tuesday announced that Community Bankers’ Bank …
• 20 February

  Is FTX in the Rear-View Mirror? Bitcoin Rebounds Sharply As Headwinds Persist

  

  The leading digital currency Bitcoin hasn’t returned to the values it enjoyed early last year, but it appears to have rebounded from the beating it—and the cryptocurrency industry as a whole—took in the wake of the sudden collapse in November of the major trading platform FTX.com and the bankruptcy in …
• 17 February

  Zelle Sees Promising Growth in Small Business Payments As It Confronts Senators’ Scam Probe

  

  Early Warning Services LLC, operator of the Zelle peer-to-peer payments network, is celebrating a year just passed in which both dollar volume and transactions processed rose at double-digit rates. But the company also has its eye on promising markets like small businesses and on countering charges from U.S. Senators about …