Payments
BCEAO Authorised PI-SPI Public Services as Senegal Connected 43 Providers
BCEAO published the institutions authorised to offer PI-SPI services to the public, with 43 banks, microfinance institutions and mobile-money providers connected in Senegal by the 30 September deadline.
European payment groups formed ENP to link 130 million users
Bancomat, Bizum, Wero, SIBS-MB WAY and Vipps MobilePay formed the European Network for Payments, planning interoperable account-to-account services across 13 countries for roughly 130 million users.
Bradesco completed first pilot transaction on Bank of America’s cross-border real-time payments service
Bradesco completed a first pilot transaction that delivered a cross-border payment through Swift connectivity into Hong Kong’s Faster Payment System, with access through CashPro planned from 2027.
Apple Pay launched in India with Axis Bank as first issuer
Apple Pay launched in India with Axis Bank, initially supporting the lender’s Visa and Mastercard credit cards while excluding RuPay cards from the first phase of the contactless-payment rollout.
American Express expanded merchant acceptance beyond 190 million locations worldwide
American Express said its cards reached more than 190 million merchant locations worldwide after adding about 20 million during 2026 and more than doubling acceptance outside the United States in four years.
Brazil and ECB Begin Study Linking Pix With Europe’s TIPS
Brazil’s central bank and the European Central Bank began assessing whether Pix and TIPS could be interconnected, examining technical, operational, legal and business considerations.
HKMA and Bank Indonesia sign cross-border QR payments cooperation memorandum
The HKMA and Bank Indonesia signed a memorandum to explore interoperable QR-code payments between Hong Kong and Indonesia, covering technical, operational and regulatory cooperation arrangements.
Kenya proposes open-finance and interoperability rules in National Payment System Bill
Kenya’s draft payments bill proposed consent-based customer-data sharing, system interoperability and trust-account backing, with a one-year compliance transition if Parliament eventually fully enacts the measure.
Six global banks publish shared principles for trusted AI-mediated payments
Six banks spanning five countries published five principles for agentic commerce, seeking common safeguards for transparency, safety, data, customer choice and secure payments interoperability worldwide.
Canada’s six largest banks begin exploring shared tokenised deposit system
Canada’s six largest banks began exploring a shared Canadian-dollar tokenised deposit system designed to support faster, programmable transfers while keeping money inside the regulated commercial-banking system.
PhonePe secures two UAE in-principle approvals for planned payments expansion
PhonePe secured in-principle UAE approval for two licences covering retail payments, card schemes and stored value facilities, while final regulatory clearance remains necessary before the Indian fintech can begin commercial operations.
Apple Pay could reach India in October, according to separate reports
Apple Pay could enter India in October, according to Reuters and a report citing Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, although the launch and initial payment options remain unconfirmed.