After a year of trying to appease U.S. regulators, Ant Financial and MoneyGram have terminated their merger agreement, challenging the Chinese company's strategy for global expansion.
Banks and fintechs are competing heavily to modernize cross-border payments, and Citi is using its upgraded treasury unit add speed to its own international cross-border digital payments capabilities in more than 60 countries.
The simple act of moving money can have a big impact on any political movement, so banks and payment networks are often caught up in issues of national importance. Here are some recent instances where payments and politics came head-to-head.
Stellar, which started as a splinter group from Ripple, has formed a for-profit company called Lightyear.io to help financial institutions integrate its software.
Kosta Peric, deputy director of digital payments and financial services for the poor at the Gates Foundation, discusses his efforts to expand access to low-cost financial services in developing countries.
Leaked documents appear to show NSA analysts were able to hack into Middle Eastern banks’ servers through the Swift service bureau EastNets. The same tools could conceivably be used by cybercriminals and nation-states with more sinister motives.
Euronet Worldwide Inc. offered to buy MoneyGram International Inc. in a cash deal that the firm said values the company at a higher premium than a competing bid from billionaire Jack Ma’s Ant Financial.
