Included in this issue: CPMI final report on correspondent banking; Contactless fingernails to make payments; Worldpay technical glitch affects customers and more...

REGULATORY

CPMI final report on correspondent banking

The Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) has published the final version of its report on correspondent banking. In the report, the CPMI outlines the main types of correspondent banking arrangements, summarises recent trends and identifies underlying drivers. It also sets out five recommendations on certain measures that might alleviate some of the concerns and cost issues related to correspondent banking.

CPMI, 13 July 2016

PSF consultation on unlocking competition and innovation

The Payments Strategy Forum (PSF) published for consultation its draft strategy to unlock competition and innovation in payments. The proposed strategy is designed to achieve simpler access, greater innovation, increased adaptability and better security in the payment system. Payments UK has also published a response to the draft strategy.

PSF, 13 July 2016

FCA update on cash market study

The FCA has published a final report on its cash savings market study which involved a series of randomised controlled trials to assess a number of additional potential remedies to improve competition in the cash savings market, and also looked at auto-renewal on fixed-term products.

FCA, 18 July 2016

UK

Contactless fingernails to make payments

A fashion student from London has embedded the RFID chip from an Oyster card into a set of acrylic nails to enable contactless payment for travel. Lucie Davis came up with the new concept which allows payment with a single tap for her final university project.

Express, 18 July 2016

Bank of England paper on boost to GDP central bank digital currency could bring

New research from the Bank of England (BoE) has suggested the introduction of a central bank digital currency could have significant economic benefits. Staff Working Paper No. 605 looks at the macroeconomics of central bank issued digital currencies and concludes there could be a permanent rise of up to 3% in GDP due to factors such as reduction in interest rates, distortionary taxes and monetary transaction costs.

Bank of England, 18 July 2016

WORLDWIDE

Worldpay technical glitch affects customers

Ongoing technical issues with payment processing have affected a number of Worldpay customers resulting in millions of daily payments being blocked. E-commerce users have experienced problems for over two weeks following an overload of error messages on one of Worldpay's servers after a recent software update.

Financial Times, 18 July 2016

ECB publishes updated Eurosystem oversight policy framework for FMIs

The ECB has published an updated version of the Eurosystem oversight policy framework for financial market infrastructures (FMI). Originally published in September 2015, the document has been updated to reflect changes in the ECB's oversight function.

European Central Bank, July 2016

Blockchain threat highlighted by research

Analysis by Bain has suggested slow initial responses to digital currency developments may leave banks vulnerable. Interviews with over 50 banking and financing executives found that banks are well positioned in theory but less so in practice, to confront the changes triggered by blockchain technology.

Blockchain News, 18 July 2016