Latest global payments news

By Kate Fitzgerald, John Adams, Bloomberg News

April 12, 2023 11:42 AM

This week in global news: Bank of England seeks CBDC experts, BNP Paribas' bonus pool gets larger and more.

See what's happening around the world.

Bloomberg Creative Photos/Bloomberg

Bank of England looking to staff CBDC project

The U.K. central bank has started recruiting staff to develop a potential central bank digital currency. The team will have about 30 people, according to The Times, which quotes Ian Taylor, an adviser to Crypto U.K. saying it's a "significant" resource that shows banks in the U.K. are serious about building a digital pound. The job postings include an architect to work on the design of a potential CBDC and a security expert. The central bank's postings also mention a consultation paper that details feasibility and design projects for a digital pound. The digital currency would be a retail CBDC, which is designed for consumer use. The U.K. has not yet decided to go forward with a CBDC, though the Bank of England has reported the odds are about 50/50. -John Adams

Amir Hamja/Bloomberg

Mastercard adds cross-border service for smaller banks, credit unions

Mastercard has introduced Cross-Border Services Express, a simplified approach for small and midsize banks and credit unions to install the card network's international payments service. The new service augments Mastercard's existing Cross-Border Services and provides a turnkey setup for smaller financial institutions, available through Mastercard. The card brand's partners include Fable Fintech, based in India with offices in New York, and Payall Payments Systems, based in San Jose, California. –Kate Fitzgerald

Andrew Harrer/Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

WhatsApp enables merchant payments in Brazil

Meta's WhatsApp now enables consumers in Brazil to pay local businesses directly through the messaging platform, TechCrunch reports. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted the news April 11 on his Facebook page, promising the new feature will reach more businesses in the coming months. The connection enables users to pay via Mastercard and Visa payment cards, and merchants must link to service providers including Cielo, Mercado Pago or Rede to accept payments via the messaging app. The service builds on existing infrastructure in Brazil supporting peer-to-peer payments, along with a local business directory WhatsApp launched last year. –Kate Fitzgerald

NatWest starts tech program for displaced Ukrainian women

NatWest has partnered with Code First Girls and the Capital City Partnership to recruit women who emigrated from Ukraine following Russia's invasion to participate in a technology training program. The women will gain a certification from Code First Girls, and will be placed as entry level software trainees at NatWest's Royal Bank of Scotland upon successful completion. Equate Scotland, an organization that works on gender equality in the STEM sectors, will provide additional career support. The program aims to place about 60 women in roles at the bank. NatWest anticipates many of the applications will be engineers, mathematicians and other experts who were forced to leave Ukraine.-John Adams

Bybit opens global headquarters in Dubai

In recent years, Dubai has become a hub for crypto companies, a trend that has led the crypto exchange Bybit to choose the location for its new global headquarters. The facility will include spaces for live-streaming, professional met-ups, and workshops. Bybit, which is one of the first crypto exchanges to obtain approval to operate in Dubai, is positioning the headquarters as a community hub for digital asset and fintech developers. It will host sharing sessions for its own product development, as well as that of other companies. Bybit is one of the world's ten largest cryptocurrency exchanges by volume, according to Coinmarketcap.com. -John Adams

BNP Raised Bonus Pool for Top Investment Bankers by 14% in 2022

BNP Paribas SA raised the bonus pool for its top investment bankers last year after the unit posted revenue gains on increased market volatility. The variable compensation pool for what it calls "material risk takers" at its investment banking operation rose 14% to about $550 million, according to a filing Friday. Since the number of such bankers slightly declined from a year earlier, the average bonus rose about 18%. The increase is roughly in line with the 16% revenue increase at the unit last year. The gains were driven by BNP's trading division, which gained 27%, while the global banking unit posted a 2.6% gain. The number of employees across BNP earning more than $1.25 million jumped 26% from a year earlier to 369.-Alexandre Rajbhandari, Bloomberg

U.K. regulators approve Stripe rival Ryft

The Financial Conduct Authority has granted a money transmitter license to Ryft, a U.K.-based company that supports online payments for merchants. Ryft uses an application programming interface to connect with merchants. In addition to payment acceptance, it also provides technical support for onboarding, verification and other merchant services. The company will use the license to expand into new payment types, such as enabling online marketplaces to accept payments and forge relationships with third parties for selling, marketing and other use cases. Ryft competes with Stripe and other technology companies that enable digital payments and online storefronts for merchants, including PayPal and Block. -John Adams

Bitso sees surge in Ripple-powered remittances to Mexico

Mexico-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitso's cross-border payments volume between the U.S. and Mexico more than tripled last year to $3.3 billion from less than $1 billion in 2021, Cointelegraph reports. The majority of transfers were conducted via stablecoins or cryptocurrency using Ripple's XRP technology, according to the report. Mexico is a key region for Ripple, but cryptocurrency-powered cross-border payment activity is expanding across Latin America, a Ripple executive said in the report. –Kate Fitzgerald