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21/09/2026

Mastercard and Arab Financial Services have partnered to issue corporate credit and prepaid cards in the UAE and Egypt, with both products integrated into the AFS Pro mobile application.

The rollout starts in the UAE and will extend to Egypt, with both markets positioned as priority growth targets for business payments digitalisation. The platform combines card issuance and payment acceptance in one application.

Finance teams can issue and manage corporate cards, set per-card spending controls, track transactions in real time, and run expense reconciliation from AFS Pro. Merchants can also use SoftPOS for contactless payments on a smartphone and Pay-by-Link for remote or e-commerce transactions.

AFS says the platform is also designed for banks and financial institutions that want to offer business payments products without building the underlying infrastructure themselves.

What would make a unified business payments platform most useful for finance teams?

20/09/2026

BlackRock has launched tokenised share classes for selected Institutional Cash Series money market funds in Europe, opening on-chain access across 15 markets in sterling, euro, and US dollar denominations.

The new share classes sit within existing UCITS-regulated money market fund structures. Twelve share classes have been issued across six funds, with distributing and accumulating variants in EUR, GBP, and USD.

Key details include:
- The tokens represent shares in the underlying funds
- The official shareholder register remains with the transfer agent infrastructure
- Token minting and burning is handled through Kinexys by J.P. Morgan
- The tokens are minted on Ethereum
- Approved investor wallets can transfer tokens peer-to-peer through smart contracts

BlackRock says the structure is intended to support corporate treasury optimisation, digital collateral management, and integration with tokenised financial ecosystems.

What do you think will drive adoption of tokenised fund access first, treasury use cases or collateral management?

19/09/2026

Unity Trust Bank has passed £2 billion in customer deposits for the first time, alongside record half-year lending activity and a growing customer base. The Birmingham-based ethical lender reported nearly 12,000 customers at the end of June 2026, while new lending reached £155.7 million, up 7% from the same period in 2025.

Other highlights from the half-year results include:

Profit before tax of £22.8 million, down from £28.6 million a year earlier.
64% of loans distributed to borrowers in disadvantaged communities.
Support for 4,784 homes, 646 care beds, 235 day care spaces, 3,263 jobs, and more than 2.5 million prescriptions.

Chief executive Colin Fyfe said the deposit milestone helps the bank continue supporting socially-minded customers. What stands out most to you in these results?

18/09/2026

Viva.com has established direct connectivity to Portugal’s Multibanco payment network, becoming the first international bank to do so. The integration adds direct acceptance of MB cards and MB WAY transactions across its merchant ecosystem.

This gives businesses on Viva.com access to more than 9 million active MB cardholders and over 7 million MB WAY users. It also allows in-store and e-commerce payments to be processed without intermediary payment processors.

The integration supports QR code and contactless payment flows, with acceptance available through Tap on Any Device, Smart Checkout, and integrated marketplace environments. Portuguese merchants can also use a payment setup that includes over 40 international and local payment methods, instant settlement options, and merchant analytics.

How do you see direct links to national payment networks shaping cross-border commerce?

17/09/2026

First Abu Dhabi Bank has executed live U.S. dollar transactions at scale using tokenized deposits through Swift’s Ledger Minimum Viable Product, alongside Citi.

The deployment validated end-to-end interaction between Swift messaging protocols, tokenized deposit structures, and distributed ledger smart contracts for continuous, 24/7 cross-border settlements.

Key points:

First bank in the Middle East and Africa to reach this operational milestone.
Tokenized deposits remained on the balance sheets of the participating banks.
Final interbank settlement remained distinct and was completed via established correspondent banking channels.

FAB says the milestone is part of its broader digital asset roadmap and will support future testing focused on cross-chain interoperability, 24/7 multi-currency settlement rails, and programmable treasury management.

How important is this kind of settlement model for cross-border payments?

16/09/2026

Saudi and Qatari central bank governors made the first HIMYAN card payment through the mada network on stage, marking a major step toward cross-border acceptance between the two national card schemes.

The Saudi Central Bank and Qatar Central Bank announced an agreement enabling mada in Qatar and HIMYAN in Saudi Arabia. Acceptance will roll out gradually after technical and operational integration is completed.

The event also highlighted momentum across Saudi payments and fintech:

barq closed a $329.5m Series A at a $1.85bn valuation.
Visa was certified for SAMA's new e-commerce payments interface.
Two Saudi payment firms went live on domestic financial crime tooling.
Fina launched a direct financing fund targeting SAR 500m for Saudi small businesses.

The day pointed to a market where infrastructure, compliance, and capital are moving together. Which development stands out most to you?

26/08/2026

Airwallex is investing $43 million in the United Arab Emirates over the next five years to expand its regional financial infrastructure.

The investment is aimed at helping enterprises handle more currencies, reduce operational friction, and trade internationally from day one. Airwallex is also enlarging its Dubai office and adding senior leadership hires from international and regional talent pools.

The company has secured In-Principle Approval from the Central Bank of the UAE for Stored Value Facilities and Retail Payment Services, Category II licences. It continues working toward full operational approval to launch its full suite of services later in 2026.

The UAE launch will also support autonomous products including T:0, Airi, and Kai, designed to run financial functions with limited human intervention.

How do you see multi-currency infrastructure shaping regional growth in the UAE?

25/08/2026

Nuvion has announced a partnership with Turnkey to make it easier for businesses and fintechs to deploy stablecoin-powered financial products without managing wallet architecture or private-key security in-house.

The integrated offering brings Turnkey’s wallet infrastructure into Nuvion’s platform, which already includes multi-currency accounts, card issuing, global payouts, and compliance automation across fiat and stablecoin rails.

The combined capability is designed to support embedded wallet creation, stablecoin on- and off-ramps, programmatic treasury workflows, and global payout routing over digital-asset rails.

Keisha Clark, managing director of Nuvion, said the goal is to abstract infrastructure complexity for enterprise customers. Bryce Ferguson, CEO and co-founder of Turnkey, said the fit supports wallet infrastructure without security trade-offs.

No commercial terms were disclosed. How do you see embedded wallet infrastructure shaping enterprise financial products?

24/08/2026

The London Stock Exchange plans to launch LSE 24, a new trading venue designed to operate near-continuously from Monday to Friday. The venue will extend market access well beyond the current Main Market hours.

Key details include:
- Trading from 17:00 to 07:50 each weekday, with a 30-minute pause for end-of-day processing.
- Exchange Traded Products will be the first asset class, targeted for H1 2027, subject to regulatory approval.
- Client testing is scheduled to begin by the end of 2026.
- The venue is designed for agentic trading and native connectivity for automated workflows.

LSE 24 will run on LSEG's existing financial market infrastructure and will be positioned separately from the Main Market, which will keep its current hours. How could extended access reshape trading across time zones?

23/08/2026

Alipay+ has added Hang Seng Bank as its first Hong Kong banking partner, expanding QR payment access for Hang Seng Mobile App users across a broad cross-border merchant network.

Users can now scan QR codes at more than 100 million merchants in 55 plus countries and regions, including the Chinese Mainland. The partnership adds Hong Kong to a bank partner roster that already includes institutions in Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Alipay+ connects more than 50 digital wallets and financial institutions and is accepted in over 220 markets globally. It also links to more than ten national QR infrastructure systems, including DuitNow, PromptPay, and HUMO.

The move reflects growing demand for broader payment access and stronger customer engagement across banking apps. How do you see cross-border QR networks shaping banking access in the region?

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