Fed's-Bowman-Flags-Risk-of-Capital-Rules-Driving-Credit-Beyond-Banks
Federal Reserve Vice Chair Michelle Bowman warned that tightening capital requirements could push lenders to seek credit opportunities outside traditional banks. She highlighted that stricter Basel rules may constrain banks' ability to originate loans, prompting a shift toward non‑bank financial institutions and securitisation structures. Bowman cautioned that this migration could create regulatory blind spots and amplify systemic risk. The remarks come amid ongoing debates about Basel end‑game reforms and their impact on the broader credit market.
Interoperable Digital Payment Systems Bridge More Markets- #CapitalMarkets #Finance #Treasury #Finance
Cross‑border digital payments are rapidly becoming interoperable as governments link domestic payment infrastructures. India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has launched in over eight countries, enabling Indian travelers to pay in rupees abroad, while China’s DuitNow QR connects millions of Malaysian...
SE Asian Payments Project Advances in Philippines-
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has hired senior executives and established a Singapore‑based firm to operate Project Nexus, a cross‑border payments initiative. Project Nexus will standardize and streamline connections among the domestic instant payment systems (IPS) of six Southeast...
TCG Provides B14.5bn in Credit Guarantees for SME Loans
Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation (TCG) issued credit guarantees worth 14.5 billion baht in the first two months of the year, a 4.4‑fold increase from a year earlier. The guarantees enabled 17,800 SMEs to secure formal financing, injecting roughly 60 billion baht of...
Hyatt Changes Card Surcharge Practices as ACCC Compliance Monitoring Continues
Hyatt hotels in Australia have overhauled their card‑payment surcharge practices after the ACCC flagged excessive debit‑card fees at the Hyatt Regency Sydney. The regulator required the chain to separate debit and credit surcharges and ensure they do not exceed actual...
Fed Reveals Plan to Ease Banks’ Capital Requirements, Boost Mortgage Lending
The Federal Reserve announced it will overhaul capital rules for large banks, moving to a single standardized risk‑based framework that explicitly accounts for loan‑to‑value ratios. Under the proposal, lower‑LTV mortgages would carry lighter capital charges, while high‑LTV loans face higher...
Squarespace Launches Balance to Bring Business Banking In-House
Squarespace announced Squarespace Balance, a native business‑banking account embedded within its Squarespace Payments platform. The service lets merchants view earnings, manage cash flow, access funds within hours, earn rewards, and spend via a Squarespace Visa Commercial card. By bringing banking...
Banking Regulators Plan to Ease Some Capital Requirements
U.S. regulators will propose easing Basel III endgame capital rules. Fed Vice Chair Michelle Bowman said duplicative capital‑calculation requirements will be removed and adjustments made for trading and mortgage exposures. The changes aim to shrink banks’ reserve buffers, freeing funds for...
Rust-Based VENON Malware Targets 33 Brazilian Banks with Credential-Stealing Overlays
Brazilian security firm ZenoX has uncovered VENON, a Rust‑based banking trojan that targets 33 banks and digital‑asset platforms. The malware uses DLL side‑loading, shortcut hijacking, and nine evasion techniques before delivering credential‑stealing overlays. Distribution relies on a PowerShell‑driven ZIP chain,...
BioCatch’s DeviceIQ Brings Pre-Login Mobile Device Intelligence to Digital Banking
BioCatch introduced DeviceIQ, a pre‑login device identification platform for digital banking that evaluates device trustworthiness before users reach authentication screens. The solution tackles sophisticated fraud tactics such as emulators, spoofed devices, cloaked browsers, and jailbroken handsets, while maintaining a persistent...
How Can Financial Institutions Leverage eIDAS 2.0 for Strong Growth?
The EU’s eIDAS 2.0 revision introduces a mandatory European Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet that will let financial institutions exchange verified, portable credentials instantly. Key regulatory milestones are the July 2027 AMLR harmonisation and the December 2027 wallet‑mandate, which together replace 27 national KYC...
SEC Issues Guidelines for New Online Lending Platforms
The Philippine SEC released draft guidelines to end the 2021 moratorium on registering new online lending platforms (OLPs). The proposal outlines prudential, disclosure and market‑conduct standards, a single entity‑level certificate of authority, and a graduated asset‑based licensing fee effective 2027....
Vietnam’s New Wealth: How Techcombank Is Shaping Private Banking
Vietnam’s upgrade to a secondary emerging market is spurring a surge of high‑net‑worth individuals, intensifying demand for sophisticated wealth services. Techcombank Private, crowned Global Finance’s Best Private Bank in Vietnam for 2026, leverages this trend with VND 428 trillion in assets under...
South Indian Bank Enables EPF Payments on Net Banking Platform
South Indian Bank launched EPF payment services on its SIBerNet internet‑banking platform on March 12, 2026, in partnership with the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation. The integration creates a direct payment channel, letting employers remit statutory contributions without leaving the EPFO portal. The...
Bank Regulators Warn of Increased Cyber Risk From Iran War
Regulators in California and New York have issued urgent cyber‑risk bulletins as the Iran‑Israel war heightens threats to the financial sector. The DFPI and NYDFS urge banks to strengthen defenses, review incident‑response plans, and monitor supply‑chain traffic. Major institutions such as...
FCA Regulatory Priorities Report – Retail Banking
On 12 March 2026 the FCA released its annual Retail Banking Regulatory Priorities report, replacing traditional portfolio letters. The guidance stresses filling cash‑access gaps, ensuring digital‑first transformations do not harm vulnerable customers, and meeting basic‑bank‑account rules. It also requires firms to sharpen...
Truist Picks Plaid to Expand Open Banking Offering
Truist Financial announced a partnership with Plaid to broaden its open‑banking capabilities, adding Plaid’s API network to the bank’s digital platform. The collaboration follows Truist’s recent integration with Mastercard’s open‑finance technology and aims to improve data quality, fraud detection, and...
Eye on Acquiring: CardFlight Debuts SwipeSimple Marketplace; Aurora Payments To Use Jaris Onboarding Service
CardFlight announced the SwipeSimple App Marketplace, debuting March 16 with three curated applications—QuickBooks Online Sync, Appointments scheduling, and Text Loyalty & Reviews—available to its more than 125,000 merchants. The marketplace aims to embed accounting, booking, and loyalty tools directly into...
Visa, Mastercard Face U.K. Challenge
The United Kingdom’s banking sector is actively seeking to curb its dependence on Visa and Mastercard, citing strategic and economic vulnerabilities. European initiatives such as the Wero digital wallet aim to provide an alternative, but they currently lack full EU...
Top Banks In Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia’s banking sector, overseen by SAMA, has evolved into a $1.5 trillion‑plus powerhouse anchored by a mix of legacy institutions and fast‑growing digital challengers. Al Rajhi Bank remains the world’s largest Shariah‑compliant bank with nearly $300 billion in assets, while the Saudi...
IDB Invest, Banco Familiar Expand Credit for Microentrepreneurs in Paraguay
IDB Invest will provide a 540 billion‑guaraní loan to Banco Familiar to finance Paraguayan microentrepreneurs through the EKO digital wallet. The funding comes from IDB Invest’s local‑currency bond issuance program, marking a first for multilateral participation in Paraguay’s bond market. Banco...
Fraud Battle Calls for Cross-Sector Effort
Financial institutions are urging federal rule changes and cross‑sector data sharing to combat AI‑enabled fraud. Panelists highlighted the need for banks, telecoms and social‑media platforms to exchange real‑time signals, creating a unified view of fraud networks. Current safe‑harbor protections under...
Wizz Financial and BitGo Team on X-Border Stablecoin Payments
Wizz Financial announced the completion of its first stablecoin‑powered cross‑border remittance, sending funds from the United States to 80 countries using BitGo’s wallet and eTrade services. The transaction showcases the launch of Wizz’s proprietary stablecoin and blockchain strategy via the...
Santander and Visa Launch LatAm Agentic Payments Project
Santander and Visa have launched Latin America’s first end‑to‑end agentic commerce pilot, completing real‑world transactions in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Uruguay using Visa Intelligent Commerce. AI agents bought chocolates in Brazil and books in the other markets, proving that...
Policy Paper: Joint Statement: EU-UK Financial Regulatory Forum, March 2026
HM Treasury and the European Commission released a joint statement documenting the fifth EU‑UK Financial Regulatory Forum held on 11 March 2026. The forum, created under the 2023 UK‑EU Memorandum of Understanding on Financial Services Cooperation, focused on deepening regulatory alignment across...
Akurateco Payment Hub Partners with Kushki to Expand PSP Access Across Latin America
Payment infrastructure provider Akurateco announced a strategic partnership with Latin American payments firm Kushki to broaden PSP connectivity across the region. The deal integrates Kushki’s suite of local payment rails into Akurateco’s Payment Hub, giving merchants, PSPs and fintechs a...
Second Charge Mortgage Firms Told to Raise Standards for Consumers
The FCA has warned second‑charge mortgage lenders and brokers to raise standards after a review uncovered weak affordability checks, inappropriate debt‑consolidation advice, poor record‑keeping and opaque fees. The sector, which serves borrowers with high debt and low resilience, accounts for...
Zelle Ventures Into Charitable Disbursements with Bank of America
Zelle has partnered with Bank of America to launch a charitable‑disbursement service for donor‑advised funds, replacing slow ACH and check processes with instant transfers. The proof‑of‑concept uses BofA’s Charitable Gift Fund, which last year distributed over $1.3 billion through more than...
Zelle and BofA Team up and Other Digital Transactions News Briefs From 3/12/26
Zelle has partnered with Bank of America to route charitable disbursements from donor‑advised funds through its network, delivering near‑real‑time grant payments to nonprofits. ACI Worldwide reports only 26% of bill‑pay platforms consider themselves future‑ready, though 80% view the technology as...
Bangladesh Bank Governor Assures Garment Exporters of Timely Cash Incentive Payments
Bangladesh Bank Governor Md Mostaqur Rahman told BGMEA leaders that pending export cash‑incentive payments will be processed within the same month, aiming to ease manufacturers’ liquidity crunch. The guarantee comes as garment factories face cash shortages from frozen deposits at...
Equity Bank's Mwangi on Turning Banking Exclusion Into Opportunity
Equity Group Holdings, led by James Mwangi, has turned Africa’s banking exclusion into a growth engine, scaling from a modest building society to a $16.5 bn balance‑sheet institution. By targeting low‑income earners, small farmers and micro‑entrepreneurs, the bank now holds up...
New PixRevolution Malware Steals Brazil’s PIX Transfers in Real Time
Brazil’s instant payment platform PIX, handling billions of transactions monthly, is being targeted by a new Android malware called PixRevolution. The threat uses an agent‑in‑the‑loop model, displaying a fake loading screen while a human or AI operator swaps the recipient’s...
Mambu Powers Nyla’s Islamic Neobank Launch in Ghana
Mambu has partnered with Nyla, Africa’s first Islamic neobank, to supply an API‑first, AWS‑hosted core banking platform for its Ghana launch slated for June 2026. The collaboration enables Nyla to roll out digital wallets, peer‑to‑peer transfers and bill payments without...
77% of Banks Prioritise Compliance over Payment UX
European banks are increasingly putting regulatory compliance ahead of payment user experience, according to Aqua Global’s survey of 150 IT leaders. Seventy‑seven percent say compliance demands outweigh customer needs, and 67% devote more time to meeting new rules than enhancing...
TD Bank Expands Embedded Banking with Workday Integration for U.S. Business Clients
TD Bank announced a new embedded banking solution that integrates directly with Workday’s cloud‑based ERP for U.S. business clients. The service lets companies access credit, payments and cash‑management tools within Workday’s workflow, reducing manual hand‑offs. Early adopters will receive a...
Fintech Firms Accelerate Account Wins as Digital Momentum Reshapes Banking Competition
Fintech challengers are adding new banking and investment accounts faster than traditional banks, driven by streamlined digital onboarding and mobile‑first experiences. The J.D. Power report shows mass‑market customers gravitating toward neobanks, with Chime leading checking‑account acquisition and SoFi posting the...
Michelle W Bowman: Liquidity Resiliency, Financial Stability, and the Role of the Federal Reserve
Michelle Bowman opened a roundtable on the U.S. bank liquidity framework, reviewing the Liquidity Coverage Ratio, Net Stable Funding Ratio, internal stress testing and resolution planning. She argued that fifteen years after the financial crisis, these tools often create excess...
Standard Bank IT Bill Tops R14-Billion as Software Spending Shifts
Standard Bank Group reported a R14.1 billion spend on cloud, software and technology in 2025, an 8.7% year‑on‑year rise that lifted tech costs to roughly 14% of total operating expenses. At the same time, capitalised software outlays fell 28%, signalling a...
European Fintechs Remain Reliant on US Investors, but Sovereignty Gap Is Closing
Finch Capital’s latest report reveals that Europe’s fintechs remain heavily dependent on US investors for later‑stage financing, with all rounds above €1 bn in the past five years led by US capital. Without that support, a €9 bn funding gap would emerge,...
Former CFPB Counsel: Agency Is Doing More than You Think
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, under Acting Director Russell Vought, continues to issue regulatory guidance and defend select legacy rules despite a near‑absence of formal examinations or investigations. Former CFPB senior counsel Richard Horn notes that the agency’s Regulation Office...
Swaminathan J: Digitalisation for Inclusive Finance and Sustainability - Priorities for the Next Phase
Professor Partha Ray closed the International Conference on Digitalisation for Inclusive Finance and Sustainability by emphasizing that digital tools are means, not ends. He identified three strategic shifts: moving from mere access to capability and confidence, from fast to fair...
MAS Unveils Climate Transition Planning Rules for FIs
Singapore's Monetary Authority (MAS) has issued new Environmental Risk Management guidelines that focus on climate transition planning for banks, insurers and asset managers. The rules require firms to embed forward‑looking climate risk assessments, governance structures and client engagement into their...
Tiff Macklem: New Players, Old Risks - Financial Stability in a Changing Landscape
Tiff Macklem warned that the financial system’s growing reliance on non‑bank players is creating new systemic vulnerabilities, especially through hedge‑fund leveraged trading in sovereign bonds and the rapid expansion of private credit. He highlighted that hedge funds now purchase up...
Lloyds Banking App ‘Glitch’ Shows Transactions of Strangers
Lloyds Banking Group’s mobile apps briefly displayed other customers’ transaction histories on the morning of 12 March 2026. The glitch affected users of Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland apps before being resolved within minutes. The incident has reignited parliamentary...
Slice Appoints Former SBI Executive Sreedevi Pillai to Bank Board
Slice, the Indian fintech‑to‑bank, has appointed former State Bank of India risk chief Sreedevi Pillai as an Independent Director on its bank board. Pillai brings 36 years of banking leadership, notably in operational risk and fraud‑detection frameworks. The move follows the...
Banks Use AI to Make Credit Card Rewards More Personal
Banks and payment networks are deploying artificial intelligence to reshape credit‑card rewards, moving the battle from the checkout to an AI‑driven offers feed. By mining transaction histories and behavioral signals, issuers can generate merchant discounts and category bonuses that match...
House Picks New Financial Watchdog Chair After January Market Crash
The Indonesian House of Representatives appointed Friderica Widyasari Dewi as chair of the Financial Services Authority (OJK) following the January market crash triggered by an MSCI warning. The decision, made after a fit‑and‑proper test by Commission XI, also confirmed deputy...
Shawbrook Shares Dive After Profit Jump on Bullish AI Plans
Shawbrook Bank posted a pre‑tax profit of £340.5 million, up from £293.8 million, as its loan book expanded 20% to just under £20 billion and deposits rose 16% to £18.4 billion. The bank’s AI‑driven cost‑cutting pushed its cost‑to‑income ratio to 39%, down from 40.8%,...
Where Investors Can Back Africa's Trade Expansion
The article highlights that Africa’s intra‑regional trade finance market exceeds $60 bn but remains vastly under‑served, with only 7‑25% of demand met. Post‑2008 regulatory changes pushed global banks to partner with local institutions, making regional banks the primary conduit for cross‑border...
Standard Bank Delivers Record Earnings as Africa Strategy Pays Off
Standard Bank Group posted record headline earnings of R49.2 billion for 2025, delivering a 19.3% return on equity at the top of its target range. Earnings were driven by strong performance across Africa Regions, which supplied 40% of profit, and robust...