Financial Stability
Old markka notes shredded and sent to garbage dump
FINLAND - Billions of Finnish markka are currently being shredded under tight security conditions at the Bank of Finland. The final resting place of the former currency is in a garbage dump.
UK at forefront of global card fraud prevention
FEATURE - Letter published in the Financial Times, 3 May, from Chris Pearson, Association for Payment Clearing Services, London.
Financial Sector Assessment Program
RESEARCH - Financial Sector Assessment Program-Experience with the Assessment of Systemically Important Payment Systems. Prepared by the Staffs of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, 19 April, 2002.
Banks gets electronic clearing system
UGANDA - The Uganda Banker's Association (UBA) and Bank of Uganda have introduced an electronic cheque clearing system, to replace the manual system, a statement from the bankers has said.
China's c bank steps up supervision on e-banking
CHINA - The People's Bank of China is requiring both local and foreign commercial banks to provide quarterly reports on their online banking operations in China, a PBOC notice issued on 23 April said.
Korea's forged bank notes soar in 1st quarter
SOUTH KOREA - The number of attempts to use counterfeit bank notes in the first quarter of the year increased dramatically in South Korea, due mainly to easier access to computer scanners and colour photocopiers it is reported.
Debating and preparing for the Payments Future
FEATURE - In a rare set of predictions on how the U.S. payments system's transaction mix will evolve, The Nilson Report in the American Banker says that in about 10 years debit cards will overtake credit cards, cash will remain king, and paper checks…
Thailand eases bank credit-card rules
THAILAND - Thailand's central bank Friday announced it has eased rules and regulations governing commercial banks' credit-card services in order to promote competitiveness and improve the quality of service.
Internet banking users top 12 million in Korea
SOUTH KOREA - The number of subscribers to Internet banking services reached 12.41 million at the end of March in South Korea, up 9.7 percent from 11.31 million at the end of last year, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Monday.
Ireland asks - Please be gentle with your euros
IRELAND - The new euro notes are taking a battering in Ireland. Despite being in circulation only four months some of them have deteriorated to such an extent that they will have to be replaced.
Brazil's central bank plans new payments system
BRAZIL - The Central Bank of Brazil will put in place a new payments system for large transactions, Sistema de Pagamentos Brasileiro, in 2002, following guidelines from the Basel-based Bank for International Settlements.
Brazil clearance system up and running
BRAZIL - A new Brazilian bank clearance network designed to increase efficiency and reduce risk in the financial system of Latin America's No.1 economy got off to a smooth start on Monday.
BOK encourages payments made via internet
SOUTH KOREA - The central bank is encouraging people to make payments of bills for taxes and public utility services through the Internet due to its convenience and efficiency, in the midst of banks' reluctance to handle such dealings at their windows.
Brazil's central bank aids debut of new SPB today
BRAZIL - The Central Bank reduced the interest rate charged banks in one-day rediscount operations from 6% to 1% a year, plus the variation of the Selic basic interest rate.
Vietnam's Interbank E-Payment System to begin May
VIETNAM - The central bank in Vietnam is intending to launch an interbank e-payment system early next month in an effort to speed up payments.
Fed's Minehan sees e-payments change as inevitable
US - The shift in the financial payments and settlements system to electronic transactions is proceeding apace, and the U.S. central bank is embracing that change, Cathy Minehan, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, said on Tuesday.
Russia issues world cup commemorative coins
RUSSIA - The Central Bank 5 May will introduce commemorative gold and silver coins in denominations of 3 and 50 rubles to commemorate this summer's World Cup football (soccer) finals in Japan and South Korea.
Back from a King's vault, the lone double eagle
FEATURE - It is a $20 gold piece from 1933 that was ordered destroyed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Stolen from the United States Mint, it was exported for a king after the government committed the bumble of all bumbles, was contested in an…
No note solution to fake coins in Hong Kong
HONG KONG - The Hong Kong Monetary Authority appears reluctant to re-introduce the printing of HK$10 notes, despite a surge in counterfeit HK$10 coins last year.
Speech by Jamie Stewart, New York Fed Bank, 9 Apr
SPEECH - In the speech titled 'Challenges to the payments system following September 11' Stewart focused his remarks on the shocks to the payments system stemming from the events of September 11 and the steps that are being taken to ensure even better…
When an ATM is an alien concept
FEATURE - It is only an ATM (automatic teller machine), but it might as well be an alien spacecraft, crash landed in central Vientiane. People do not know what to make of it - which is understandable when you consider that this is the first ATM in Laos.
House votes to end banking ban
US - The Senate House has voted to end a 70-year-old ban on banks paying interest on business checking accounts.
Central bank of Gambia to introduce new bank notes
GAMBIA - The Central Bank of The Gambia (CBG) is to discontinue the practice of exchanging bank notes that are fit for reissue for new uncirculated bank notes to members of the public effective 15 April.
Credit card holders set to rise if BOT eases rule
THAILAND - The number of credit card holders is expected to increase significantly if the Bank of Thailand agrees to decrease the minimum monthly salary required to be a card member from 15,000 to 10,000 baht, according to executives in the banking…