Blog

The IBDA and CashEssentials have been joined by of other industry organisations - including ATMIA, BnEI, IACA, ICA and Reconnaissance International - to develop an initiative to support global recovery post Covid-19 by bringing together all actors in our community. They are calling this initiative, ‘HUMANIA’ but the project name will be confirmed upon launch of the initiative in September 2020.

China’s antitrust agency is looking at whether to launch a probe into Ant Group’s Alipay and Tencent’s WeChat Pay, prompted by the central bank which argues the digital payment giants have used their dominant positions to quash competition.

A case currently being heard in Europe’s top court could have a major bearing on the future of banknotes in the region. The case asks the court to define the term ‘legal tender’. The judgement will be delivered in the Autumn.

Around the globe, protestors have been marching in response to the death of George Floyd in the US and against systemic and institutional racism. It is high time for banknotes to display more ethnic diversity.

16 European banks have announced the launch of the European Payments Initiative (EPI), a unified pan-European payment solution leveraging instant payments, offering a card for consumers and merchants across Europe, a digital wallet and P2P payments. The EPI has been welcomed by both the European Commission and the European Central Bank.

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way we pay. Some central banks have accelerated their digital currency programmes. This would provide governments with frightening new powers.

The collapse of the German Fintech champion has sent shockwaves through financial markets, the FinTech industry and regulators. But those who have suffered the most are the vulnerable users of its digital payment services.

For countries emerging from conflict like Ethiopia, digital payment systems are a tempting way to extend control over the people. Do Ethiopians want their government to have complete and absolute control over every financial transaction they make or would they prefer to retain the financial resilience, privacy, freedom from exploitation, and protection from poor governance which cash offers them?

The US is confronted with a coin shortage as the pandemic has disrupted the supply chain and normal flows of coin throughout the economy. The Fed, the supply chain and retailers are getting creative.

Despite the time lag – the payments figures just reported by the Reserve Bank of Australia are for activity in the month of May – the stellar cash circulation figures contrast starkly with the much weaker cash transaction numbers. Cash use in Australia has a long and uncertain road to recovery. This can also be said of other payment methods, as well as the wider economy.

During our recent webinar, four start-ups introduced their solutions and debated how they plan to address the ongoing challenges faced by cash today and in particular access to and acceptance of cash.

The growth of mobile money in Africa has been one of the great success stories in digital payments over the past decade. A new Interpol report has found that the industry is being exploited by organised crime groups.