Payments
Kyrgyz central bank partners with World Bank to deliver payments upgrade
The Kyrgyz Republic has seen rapid growth in card payments in recent years, which the central bank fears could create instability if the oversight and operation of payment systems is not improved
Cash payments still declining, Norges Bank report finds
Norwegians are making more and smaller payments using cards while cash use continues its downward trend, payments report shows
Danish payments report details challenging shift to real time
Completed in November 2014, ‘Straksclearing’ allows real-time settlement of retail payments, but has run into a few issues; National Bank of Denmark also in process of overhauling RTGS system
Exchange launches asset-backed coins for asset managers
Asset managers will be able to trade physical assets directly with each other through new asset class dubbed ABCs, which will be tradeable on newly launched exchange Abacas
Liikanen sees potential for payments revolution
Bank of Finland governor says we are yet to witness the emergence of a ‘true future payment system’ but it nonetheless feels like ‘something fundamental has changed’
ECB’s Mersch wants pan-European instant payment system
Executive board member hopes to bypass national schemes and use Sepa infrastructure to deliver pan-European instant payments
Buyer sought for RBNZ securities settlement system
Reserve Bank of New Zealand looks to sell NZClear after deciding it is no longer a ‘core business'; sell-off part of payment system facelift
People: Fed names payments director; Denmark appoints assistant governors
Federal Reserve chooses Gordon Werkema to lead its new payments strategy; Denmark promotes director of administration and adds second assistant governor; and more
Zeti sees ‘immense scope’ for greater financial integration in SE Asia
Bank Negara Malaysia governor tells SME conference that greater integration can help support small business growth; points to banking, insurance and capital markets as ‘next phase of development’
EBA prepares to toughen European payments regulation
Plans in motion for tougher and more harmonised retail payments regulation in Europe; EBA names which national regulators have failed to comply with online payment guidelines
Euroclear and Clearstream granted time to agree joint road map
Both ICSDs intend to start a feasibility assessment for real-time settlement after the completion of Target2-Securities migration in June 2017
Alexandre Lamfalussy: 1929–2015
Those who knew him pay tribute to the former president of the European Monetary Institute and general manager of the Bank for International Settlements
Opposition from big banks to RBA interchange fee curb
Large commercial banks and payments providers warn of damaging impact of regulating interchange fees, but smaller challenger payment systems are broadly in favour
Central Bank of Timor-Leste launches e-payments network
The ‘highly secure private interbank data network’ allows electronic payments to be made and received between any individuals or companies on the same day
Malaysia launches new payments system to boost online transactions
Malaysia’s central bank aims to simplify online payments with new ‘JomPAY’ platform, which has the goal of reaching 5,000 merchants by 2020 and reducing usage of cash and cheques
UK payments regulator set for launch
PSR outlines its approach ready for start of regulation on April 1, including plans to work more closely with the industry, increase transparency and boost competition
Investigation unearths flaws in BoE’s RTGS system
Combination of elderly and complex RTGS system, inadequate testing and poor contingency planning led to nine-hour outage last October; BoE adopting review’s recommendations in full
Colombian paper considers reaction functions in payments
Working paper examines how different entities within a large-value payment system react to failures within that system, finding that a range of factors are in play
Gradual rollout for China's payment system
The country’s cross-border interbank payment system will further contribute to the internationalisation of the renminbi
Bank of Latvia establishes first overnight clearing cycle
New cycle will accelerate processing of retail payments submitted late in the day and comes with an upgrade to business continuity that should see fewer payments rejected
ECB revisits virtual currencies in new report
Research concludes virtual currencies do not pose ‘material risk’ to central bank operations in eurozone, but could if they become more widely used or entwined with the real economy
RBI director calls for ‘strong law’ against cyber crime
A strong law help increase the confidence of the average person on the street in using technology in financial transactions, argues RBI executive director
Swift in talks with Fed and ECB on real-time payments
Swift’s Juliette Kennel and Carlo Palmers talk to Central Banking about the company's leap into real-time payments in Australia, and discuss launching similar systems in other countries
Fed’s Powell: Virtual currencies ‘not ready’ for role in payments reform
Governor Jerome Powell says virtual currencies could play a ‘bigger role’ in the future, but are not yet ‘mature enough’ to contribute to the Fed’s faster payments initiative