Recent FinTech and E-Payment Initiatives in Kuwait

“We, at the Central Bank of Kuwait, are preparing the infrastructure for future aspirations that would enable a truly digital economy.” With these words in September 2019, Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) Governor Mohammad Y. Al-Hashel laid out a vision that…

The Future of Cross-Border Payments: Canada’s Journey

The momentum of the FSB roadmap comes at an excellent time as Payments Canada is midway through a multi-year payments Modernization initiative. Guiding our country’s payments Modernization journey are the needs of Canadians, including financial institutions,…

Releasing a National Strategy for Retail Payments in Portugal: Foresight of Medium-Term Evolution

The launch of Banco de Portugal's National Strategy for Retail Payments | Horizon 2022 represents the start of a new phase: implementing a wide range of initiatives to modernise the national market and payment habits within the next two years.

Estonia: Instant Payments as the New Normal and the Work to Set a New Frontier for Digitalisation

Estonia is a small e-country in the euro area with a population of 1.3 million, where each resident has a digital identity and the tools to use it online. Practically all residents find it much easier to verify their identity and sign documents electronically…

Introducing the Visa Economic Empowerment Institute

As a global network with more than six decades of experience building inclusive digital ecosystems, Visa understands that creating the conditions for sustainable growth at scale is a shared responsibility of the public and private sectors. That is why…

National Bank of Tajikistan Takes Payment System to New Level

In 2015 and under new management, the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT) started to implement a series of fundamental reforms in the country’s banking and insurance sectors, including payment systems. Thus, in order to strengthen the future development…

Argentina: Open Payments and Universal Access, Using a Functional Approach

Instant payments are now fully available across any institution in Argentina, bank or fintech, thanks to a comprehensive overhaul of the Argentine Electronic Fund Transfers regulation published in October 2020. The initiative aims to deliver 1500…

Azerbaijan Launches the New Digital Payment Platform

Aligned with one of the main goals of the State Program, the CBA developed the Instant Payment System (hereinafter—IPS), which successfully launched on October 1st, 2020. The main rationale behind this initiative is to respond to the most recent challenges…

Can Central Banks Act as True Facilitators of Innovation in Finance?

Central banks around the world have two main ways of facilitating innovation. The first is by establishing Innovation Hubs. Hubs serve as a single point of contact for all firms (new or incumbent, regulated or unregulated, technology companies, etc.)…

Albania—Chasing the Financially Excluded

Chasing excluded populations that don’t have access to financial services, which add up to around 60% of adult population, is considered to be crucial in addressing the heavily cash reliant economy in Albania and an important key to unlocking opportunities…