Financial inclusion
Spain’s interior vulnerable to loss of cash access – Bank of Spain
Rural areas have older populations and rely more on cash, but banks are closing branches
Criteria for systemically important payment infrastructure differs
Thirty-one out of 37 central banks said they designate systemically important payment infrastructure
UK public has ‘reasonable’ access to cash, regulators say
But pandemic made it difficult for people to access and pay with cash, new research finds
FCA asked to investigate ‘unwarranted’ bank account freezing
Parliamentary committee concerned AI may have caused ‘inappropriate bias’
Microfinance improves access to bank credit – Fed paper
Study finds Rwandan initiative built credit record and made bank loans more accessible
US regulators to align policies on lower income lending
OCC backs down on separate CRA rules and starts joint consultation with Fed, FDIC
Somalia’s governor on rebuilding its central bank
Governor Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi discusses reviving Somalia’s war-damaged economy, re-creating a payments system, and dealing with remittances
UK regulators propose new policies to foster diversity
Data and disclosure will be important to assess progress, regulators say
O CBDC, O crypto! Wherefore art thou regtech?
Putting more investment and energy into regtech, instead of solely focusing on crypto and CBDC, would help to secure more of the expected benefits from digital evolution
Central banks leverage multimedia communication channels
Around a third have added podcasts, mobile apps and blogs to their comms repertoire
Vast majority of central banks provide communications training
Social media, writing skills and public speaking emerged as key areas
El Salvador’s bitcoin currency experiment
Move by first nation to approve bitcoin as legal tender raises important issues
The winners of the 2021 FinTech RegTech Global Awards
Fourth annual tech awards recognise excellence among central banks and the firms they work with
El Salvador to make bitcoin legal tender
President claims the move, a first for any country, will aid remittances and financial inclusion
MAS partners with financial inclusion foundation on digital currency system
Central bank officials will sit on the Mojaloop Foundation’s management boards
Benoît Cœuré on CBDCs, stablecoins and central bank fintech co-operation
BIS Innovation Hub chief voices concerns about the timing of stablecoin and CBDC roll-outs, fintech risks for supervisors and monetary policy, and details development plans for eight innovation locations
Diversity is key for policy-making and institutional culture
Anita Bezhoska, governor of the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia, talks about the benefits of diversity for central bank policy-making, and why more needs to be done to improve the number of women within the financial sector as a whole
The importance of diversity when selecting banknote icons
The former head of currency at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Brian Lang, explains why inclusion and diversity were such important factors for the country’s 1992–93 banknote redesign
Fed’s Bostic says economic inclusion goals shape policy
Atlanta Fed president calls for more joint work with CFPB
Peru’s central bank caps consumer interest under protest
Central bank governor and president say new law will damage the economy
MAS and Bank of Thailand connect retail real-time payments
Transaction times will be reduced to minutes as opposed to one to two days, central banks say
Australia, Canada and New Zealand form network for indigenous inclusion
Ottawa will host symposium on indigenous economics later this year
Zhang Tao on the IMF’s fintech agenda, CBDCs and big tech oversight
IMF deputy managing director speaks about the fund’s perspectives on CBDC operating frameworks, regulating big tech and macrofinancial oversight in a digital world
RBI to give some non-banks access to payments systems
Indian central bank to allow non-bank payment service providers to use payments architecture