Payments

Real-time payment rails, digital assets, APIs and AI are higher on the treasury agenda, HSBC's Manoj Dugar tells CT.

China's central bank has appointed the German giant as a clearing bank.

Ant Group and Alibaba Group participated in the funding round, with proceeds earmarked for the fintech firm’s global expansion and innovation in cross-border payments and financial services.

Japan's largest card network is exploring USDC to improve cross-border treasury operations and merchant payments.

The policy package seeks to deepen Hong Kong-mainland market connectivity through Bond Connect enhancements and expanded renminbi liquidity support; HKEX seeks closer CIPS connectivity.

The rollout marks the first live deployment of Citi's integrated 24/7 USD Clearing and Citi Token Services, enabling near real-time cross-border USD payments outside traditional banking hours.

As Pranav Sood returns to the company from Bain Capital, Airwallex has raised $320m from a series H funding round to help develop AI tools.

Payment Asia's merchant network will be able to connect with PayMe, which is used widely in Hong Kong, and has a user base of over 3.3 million.

The framework will support IDR-CNH settlement between Indonesia and Hong Kong, alongside moves to enhance Indonesia-China QR payment connectivity and CIPS access.

The cooperation includes USD and CNY settlement and transfer services in Hong Kong and mainland China.

Yang Wen, Swift's head of North Asia, shared his views with CT on how ISO 20222, fraud detection, AI-driven analytics and digital payments, including on wallets, are evolving in Asia Pacific.

The link is available at businesses and is between Indonesia’s Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS) and apps from Alipay and UnionPay International.