Payments
Philippine governor touts country's microfinance expansion
Amando Tetangco outlines ways in which the central bank has facilitated developments; says recent catastrophe underscores the need for 'microinsurance'
Design of Norwegian banknotes charts new waters
Norges Bank reveals upcoming banknote series will share a maritime theme, reflecting the country's 83,000km coastline; notes will not feature human portraiture
Israeli annual report for bank customers could be first step to reduce transparency 'knowledge gap'
Bank of Israel supervisor pushes for banks to provide customers with tailored yearly reports; UK consultancy says future lies in 'single online portal' for all financial products
ECB launches public consultation on mobile payments security recommendations
The governing council of the ECB asks market participants to comment on draft recommendations intended to make mobile payments more secure; interested parties have until January 31 to weigh in
Norges Bank deputy discusses institutional underpinnings of central bank activities
Jan Qvigstad highlights the importance of institutions in facilitating payments in an era when money lacks intrinsic value; chides Argentinian government for meddling with statistics
Taiwan upgrading payments tech in RMB push
A deputy governor at the Taiwanese central bank reveals plans to expand the country’s new foreign currency clearing system to create technological backbone for offshore renminbi market
Bank of England waging payment system war on three fronts
Chief cashier Chris Salmon says the central bank must contend with issues relating to cyber security, user access and new regulation within the UK payments infrastructure
Swiss researchers sceptical about advanced settlement algorithms
SNB working paper says overhauling the algorithms used in the Swiss Interbank Clearing system would produce an ‘economically irrelevant’ reduction in settlement delay and ‘low’ cost savings
Cœuré concerned over 'big bang’ payments migration
ECB says many member states are planning to migrate to the Single Euro Payments Area in the last quarter of the year; Benoît Cœuré points to operational risks of leaving it to the last minute
RBA proposes Australian Payments Council to strengthen industry coordination
Reserve Bank of Australia and industry body Australian Payments Clearing Association launch consultation on establishment of new payments council
ECB’s Cœuré laments slow payments progress
Benoît Cœuré says closer integration of payment systems in Europe would bring major benefits, but is being held back by limited efforts at standardisation; urges banks to innovate more
UK’s Chaps continues growth despite losses to Faster Payments
High-value payments system handled an increasing value of transactions in 2012 despite widespread migration to Faster Payments, according to first ever Chaps report
RBI launches ‘advanced’ new RTGS system
New platform expected to ‘significantly’ boost efficiency, and thought to be first ISO 20022-compliant RTGS system; Rajan says it keeps central bank a step ahead of financial markets
Malaysian deputy says ATM network can drive e-banking adoption
Muhammad bin Ibrahim urges banks to go to greater pains to educate their customers in the benefits of e-banking; says ATMs are important means of making electronic transactions
BIS praises ‘complex’ payments reform in Macedonia
New payment system implemented near the turn of the century created a more efficient and sophisticated industry; potential EU membership driving additional reforms
New $100 bill the ‘most sophisticated piece of currency' to date, says Fisher
Most counterfeited US bill is embellished with new security features to 'deter bad guys' and protect consumers and businesses from losses
Fijian governor foreshadows application of mobile payments in agriculture
Barry Whiteside says mobile banking is fast becoming an ‘accepted mode of payment’ and has the ability to transform Fiji’s agricultural sector
UK prepares for mobile payment apps
The Payments Council is launching a new mobile payments platform in the UK in 2014, and seminar participants discussed the challenges it will face
ECB 'streamlines’ assessment of settlement systems
Eurosystem central banks will use a new framework with ‘considerable procedural simplifications’ to judge whether settlement systems are safe enough to be used in their credit operations
Eurosystem repatriation rule-change creates 'level playing field' for CSDs
Senior executives at Clearstream and Euroclear tell CentralBanking.com their companies are ready for the new landscape - and for the launch of T2S
Pianalto confident in case for faster retail payments
Cleveland Fed president Sandra Pianalto says the lack of 'concrete' evidence in favour of a near-real-time payment system should not stand in the way of its creation
Bank of Finland deputy urges banks to meet mobile and internet payments demand
Pentti Hakkarainen says banking sector has not met Finnish population’s demand for mobile, internet or real-time payments; says banks risks losing their data advantage over other institutions
ECB to relax CCBM collateral deposit rules from May 2014
Benoît Cœuré says the rule change will pave the way for support of cross-border, tri-party collateral management services from September next year; warns Sepa deadline looks tight for many
Central banks behind curve on innovation, says World Payments Report
Central banks are struggling to keep up with rapid growth of innovative new payment systems, report warns; risk to European firms that regulation will cause mobile payments to fall behind