Raiffeisen Bank signs for Wise Platform
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Raiffeisen, which operates in 11 markets in the region, will roll out the Wise Platform for business and personal customers.
Wise Platform is powered by more than 70 licenses and six direct connections to payment systems globally, enabling cross-border payments to some 160 countries and over 40 currencies, with 65% of transfers settled in 20 seconds or less.
Matthias Dekan, head, payments and daily banking, Raiffeisen, says: "In the past few years, we have seen growing customer demand and rising expectations for seamless international payments and we're looking forward to going live with this innovative offering."
The agreement with Raiffeisen is the latest in a series of deals struck with banking partners to adopt the money movement firm's tech stack for international payments and comes hard on the heels of recent collaborations with Bank Mandiri, Zempler Bank, Morgan Stanley and Standard Chartered.
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Finextra
6 hours ago
- Finextra
How long before the GENIUS Act helps your business run faster and cheaper?
0 This content has been selected, created and edited by the Finextra editorial team based upon its relevance and interest to our community. If you conduct business internationally to or from the US, you might be able to save a lot of money, especially on cross-border payments - and also get those payments done much more quickly - in the near future thanks to stablecoin adoption. Even better, with blockchain encryption and security in place for everyone, it could be safer and easier to manage than traditional payment practices. That's what fiat-backed stablecoin promoters and providers are promising they'll deliver for global commerce. But, while you should definitely explore potential opportunities, don't count your savings in money or time yet, as it might be a while before all the lofty predictions for 'stablecoins as saviours' to become a reality. How long depends on both political decisions and regulator policies being finalised now and in the coming months – not to mention the required coordination of many 'links' in the stablecoin value chain of system designers and operators, and financial institutions too – though all parties seem to be working hard to move the needle forward on stablecoin adoption as quickly as possible. Stablecoin traffic already exceeded value of both top card networks combined in 2024 Stablecoin statistics continue to show impressive increases in both volume and value. According to the World Economic Forum, the number of stablecoins in circulation jumped more than 28% year-over-year. Values transferred surpassed the combined totals from both Visa and Mastercard transactions in 2024 – reaching $27.6 trillion in USD equivalent. The US has joined Europe (MiCA) and Hong Kong in passing legislation governing digital assets, while a number of private firms based in the US have either issued stablecoins already or purchased companies who have done so to add to their capabilities. But they might be facing greater hurdles to operation and differentiation as a result of the new definitions and regulations passed into law. Still, when the U.S. Stablecoins Act (GENIUS Act) was signed by President Trump two weeks ago, it was hailed by crypto industry and many financial services and international business advocates as being a revolutionary leap forward for the country and its primacy in worldwide commerce. Bipartisan endorsement in Congress of the legislation signalled broad agreement among many on the potential of stablecoin to cement the US dollar's continuing position at the top of the global financial hierarchy. The GENIUS Act, the initials of which stand for Guaranteeing Essential National Infrastructure in US-Stablecoins, represents the culmination of US efforts to take top prize in the global stablecoin promotion and regulation stakes. It's a one of few measures in a sharply divided Congress that gained support from both major parties, achieving passage in the House of Representatives with about a three-fourths positive vote. In the Senate, the tally was a bit more one-sided as 50 Republicans and 18 Democrats (69% to 31% - with 30 members voting 'no') supported Senate bill 1582's passage and forwarded it to the president. As of July 18, it became the law of the land. Why is the GENIUS Act so popular? Specifically, the GENIUS Act does three things: Defines legal stablecoin issuers as limited to insured depository institutions, e.g. banks, credit unions, subsidiaries of banks and nonbank financial institutions that receive approval from the Federal Reserve and demonstrate the ability to comply with the relevant law. States can also separately qualify and regulate stablecoin issuance within their borders, but only up to $10 billion or less per issuer. Requires holding of 1:1 reserves for any stablecoins issued, in physical currency, demand deposits, US treasury bills, repurchase agreements, or other low-risk assets approved by regulators. These reserves must be reported monthly in terms of portfolio composition and also be audited regularly by 'registered public accounting firms,' according to the official bill summary. Mandates that while 'permitted payment stablecoins are not considered securities under securities law,' all stablecoin issuers must comply with the Bank Secrecy Act, and implement measures protecting against money laundering (AML) and the financing of terrorism (CFT) and bolstering consumer protection. Just like 'standard' payments must do. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is now the designated regulator of federal qualified payment stablecoin issuers, while the 'appropriate federal banking agency of an insured depository institution is the regulator of a payment stablecoin issuer that is a subsidiary of an insured depository institution,' per opinions on the issue from Sidley law firm. Additionally, foreign issuers of stablecoins may offer, sell, or make available stablecoins using digital asset service providers, though they must be fully vetted by the Department of Treasury as being subject to 'comparable foreign regulations' within their country of origin. How they'll actually be vetted is not yet clear. There might be more than bargained for in the 'whole package' of digital assets bills in DC The GENIUS Act was passed as part of what may end up as a three-bill 'package deal' – as two companion bills (or actually, three with only two likely to survive) have now cleared the House enroute to consideration within the Senate chamber in the coming weeks. Even with stablecoins defined and regulations specified in the US for their issuance, backing, and reporting, there's some confusion still on definitions, regulatory requirements, and oversight plans concerning other digital assets. One bill, called the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act reflects lingering disagreement on priorities in government and industry circles. It was passed in the US House of Representatives in early July. It's written to be a counterpoint to conservative concerns about the US developing its own central bank-issued digital currency (CBDC) and thus closely monitoring its use within the marketplace. These worries were described in Kiplinger as surrounding 'government-sponsored blockchains of citizen transactions (perceived as) too close to Big Brother financial surveillance. Hence, the name of the bill includes opposition to both CBDC as well as the 'surveillance state.'" The Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act, now passed by the US House of Representatives on a 294-134 vote and also on its way to the Senate, is the second piece of legislation related to the GENIUS Act boasting wide and bipartisan support. Still, some concerns have been voiced about its investor protections verbiage, as it transfers oversight duties on certain digital assets from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to the Commodity Futures Trading Corporation (CFTC), among other things. The CLARITY Act 'defines a digital commodity as 'a digital asset that is intrinsically linked to a blockchain system, and the value of which is derived from or is reasonably expected to be derived from the use of the blockchain system.' However, there are divergent views on how to handle crypto assets other than payments on both sides of the political aisle in the Senate. Another bill, the Responsible Financial Innovation Act of 2025 (RFIA) is also under consideration, and it would take a different approach to market regulation and classification of digital assets. The RFIA would establish a larger oversight role for the SEC, over which the Senate Banking Committee has jurisdiction. Though the CLARITY ACT and RFIA overlap in some respects, they still differ substantially. That means there must be a negotiation among Republican leadership and other supporters to choose which will survive the other and be put up to a vote in the Senate – then passed back to the House for approval before finalisation and submission for signature to the president. It's not yet certain just which proposal will win out in the Senate, but it's clear that the approach of the CLARITY Act has broad support outside the legislative chambers and in a number of diverse quarters in the business and financial arena. CLARITY's focus on standards earns support from all corners of crypto world In the words of the nonprofit Decentralization Research Center, the CLARITY Act's 'robust, control-based decentralisation test for digital assets,' would create 'a much-needed standard for evaluating when a digital asset has met a threshold to justify its transition from security to commodity,' which the organisation's leaders call 'an essential step for effective market structure legislation.' The Crypto Council for Innovation, which calls itself the 'premier global alliance for advancing the promise' of digital assets with 'seasoned experts from government, finance, tech and law,' said in its own letter to Congress that 'CLARITY strengthens disclosures, safeguards customer funds, and creates a path for compliant digital asset firms to build in the US. It balances consumer protection with market certainty and brings the US closer to frameworks already advancing overseas.' It's expected that one of these main digital asset regulatory frameworks now under consideration will advance from Congress before the end of the year, and if so, according to Akin Gump law firm, it would represent a major step forward for crypto in the financial world: 'a watershed moment for the industry not just in the U.S., but globally.' How soon will all these (passed or proposed) changes in crypto regulation impact your business? Changes in financial services always take more time than expected. The likely wait for impacts of the GENIUS and its companion bills/laws to start creating more than ripples in the financial services pool is no different. The GENIUS law governing stablecoins in the US doesn't take effect until 2027, and even then, many questions remain about potential changes in the regulation or its implementation – especially in concert with similar laws now in place or being instituted by other countries around the world. These challenges might extend its effective date as much as 120 days further into that year. Still, given what we have been reading constantly in the news regarding the GENIUS Act and its companion pieces of legislation, it's clear that no matter their ultimate forms or frameworks, these landmark digital asset laws will combine to exert a huge influence on future financial services offerings and practices in the US and abroad. Speculation ranges far and wide on just what fiat-backed, blockchain-enabled stablecoins authorised by the US government will immediately and ultimately mean to the payments world in terms of costs, timing, and verification of what will primarily be international transactions – at least to start. Fraud continues to be a concern with stablecoins as with any payment methods, as the fraudsters always seem to find ways to infiltrate nearly every legitimate transaction network designed, no matter what its protections. But, most advocates and even some opponents are hailing what they predict as a much brighter future of blockchain-secured, dramatically reduced cross-border financial transfer timelines, dropping transnational payment execution intervals from multiple days in some cases down to a few minutes or even seconds. They also foresee costs for such transfers being reduced dramatically - from double-digits of USD in expense each - to perhaps only pennies per transaction. As history has taught us, however, the pricing and efficiency of stablecoin payments will be proven in the 'real world' of daily commerce. Complete answers and transparency on actual provider expenses, operational friction, client-realised costs, transaction timing, other benefits, and, of course, potential pitfalls are for now difficult to ascertain in this nascent stablecoin marketplace. Whatever laws ultimately emerge from Congress to join the GENIUS Act's stablecoin rules and regulations, there's no doubt that the legislative and executive branch leaders now in power in the US are doing nearly all they can to encourage the acceptance of crypto and payments to ensure the country's pre-eminence in global financial affairs. It's no surprise either that the virtually exploding crypto industry, feeling the political wind at its back, is happily jumping onboard for the ride. Stablecoin providers all along the value chain – bank, nonbank, and fintech - will surely keep pressing for their offerings to supplant many traditional, and typically slower and more expensive, payment rails and methods in the US and across the globe. We'll know, maybe within a year or two, if they're successful.
Reuters
7 hours ago
- Reuters
EU banks can weather recession driven by global trade war, stress test shows
MILAN, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Banks across the European Union are strong enough to weather an economic shock driven by geopolitical and trade tensions, the European Banking Authority said on Friday as it presented the outcome of its latest health check of the sector. The EBA tested how 64 European banks, including 51 euro zone lenders, would react to a prolonged recession across the EU and other advanced economies, finding none would breach their core capital requirement, and only one would breach its leverage requirement. "The results indicate that the EU banking system could withstand a severe but plausible macroeconomic scenario, reflecting the resilience built up by banks in recent years," the EBA said, urging lenders to maintain adequate capital. European and U.S. banking authorities introduced formal, comprehensive stress tests after the global financial crisis of 2008 led to costly state bailouts of banks. Some elements of this year's adverse scenario had begun to materialise, the EBA said, pointing to U.S. trade tariffs and escalating tension in the Middle East. Lenders accounting for three quarters of EU banks' total assets took part in the exercise, which simulates the losses banks would incur by analysing their performance over a three-year period under a baseline and an adverse scenario. Under the adverse scenario, worsening geopolitical tensions and protectionist trade policies lift energy and commodity prices, disrupt supply chains and hurt consumption and investment, driving a cumulative 6.3% contraction in EU economic output over 2025-2027. That would translate into combined losses of 547 billion euros for the sampled banks, the EBA said, higher than the 496 billion euros envisaged in its 2023 stress test. While the hit to capital reserves is particularly severe for some European subsidiaries of major U.S. banks, all the lenders remained able to meet core capital requirements, the EBA said, although one would breach the requirement on the leverage ratio. For 17 lenders, the adverse scenario would entail limits or adjustments to bonus and dividend payments for at least one of the three years. In terms of capital reserves - calculated using the current 'transitional' regime that tightens progressively through 2033 - the adverse scenario would knock 3.7 percentage points off the sample's aggregate core capital ratio, pushing it to 12.1% in 2027 from 15.8%. When looking at individual countries, Irish, Danish, French, German and Belgian banks experienced the biggest capital impact, EBA data showed. For individual banks, Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg and two other German regional banks, as well France's Credit Agricole and La Banque Postale, saw the largest capital depletion effect. While there is no pass/fail threshold in the EU-wide stress test, its outcome feeds into the risk assessment of lenders carried out by supervisors every year, setting bank-specific capital requirements and guidance known as 'Pillar 2'.
The Guardian
8 hours ago
- The Guardian
Barclays follows HSBC in exit from banking industry's net zero alliance
Barclays has become the second UK bank to withdraw from a UN-backed net zero target-setting group, claiming that a wave of defections by international lenders meant it was no longer fit for purpose. It marks a fresh blow for the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), after HSBC left in early July. It came months after a wave of exits by US banks, which departed in the run-up to Donald Trump's inauguration in January. Lenders and other finance firms have come under fresh pressure over their green commitments as a result of Trump's return to the White House, which caused a climate backlash as he pushed for higher production of oil and gas. The UN environment programme's finance initiative, which is led by banks, required members to ensure their lending, investment and capital markets activities would lead them to hitting net zero emissions targets by 2050 or earlier. However, Barclays said it was no longer effective, given it no longer counted some of the world's biggest lenders as members. The US lenders who cancelled their membership at the start of the year include JP Morgan, Citigroup, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. Barclays said in a statement on Friday afternoon: 'After consideration, we have decided to withdraw from the Net Zero Banking Alliance. With the departure of most of the global banks, the organisation no longer has the membership to support our transition.' On Thursday, the chief executive of Standard Chartered, Bill Winters, condemned rival banks for dropping their climate commitments amid mounting political pressure, saying: 'Shame on them.' He criticised firms that had jumped on the climate bandwagon when it was 'fashionable', but had since rolled back on their green ambitions or gone quiet on the subject. 'We are committed to our ambition to be a net zero bank by 2050,' Barclays said, adding that its plans to issue $1tn (£750bn) in loans to fund sustainable projects and help firms transition to more climate-friendly operations 'remain unchanged'. 'We continue to work with our clients on their transition, finance the transition and scale climate tech, while helping to ensure energy security for our customers and clients,' the bank added. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion 'This is an important commercial opportunity for Barclays; in 2024, we generated approximately half a billion pounds in revenues from sustainable and transition-related activity.'
