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New Swift Launch Brings Instant Cross-Border Payments To Europe
Swift has announced the launch of a new solution that will allow instant cross-border payments destined for Europe to be processed 24/7, arriving with the beneficiary “in seconds”.
The rails are provided by Swift’s interlinking of domestic instant payment systems, with full transparency and end-to-end tracking from Swift.
Meanwhile, the funds transfer uses the European Payment Council’s (EPC) One-Leg-Out Instant Credit Transfer scheme (OCT Inst), which went live last week.
OCT Inst enables payments to and from Europe to be processed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“Interlinking market infrastructures in this way is a key method by which to achieve the G20’s goals for cross-border payments around speed, transparency, cost and access,” said Swift.
Revolut Looks To Offload Auditor As Banking Licence Remains In Limbo
UK neobank Revolut is mulling a change of auditor after doubts were raised about certain items in its 2021 financial statements.
According to the Evening Standard, Revolut may cut ties with BDO, its current auditor, after it questioned the “completeness and occurrence” of £477m of revenue in 2021.
The disputed £477m makes up about three-quarters of Revolut’s total revenue for 2021, and is suspected to be among the reasons that Revolut’s UK banking licence application remains in limbo.
However, sources told the Standard that Revolut will stick with BDO until the end of the 2023 financial year.
New Argentina QR Code Rules Hit By Double Dose Of Delays
The Central Bank of Argentina (BCRA) has confirmed that the implementation of a new rule on interoperable QR code payments will be delayed for a second time.
In a statement, the BCRA said the rule will now come into effect on February 1, 2024.
The move follows a previous extension, covered by Vixio here, which pushed the deadline for compliance from early September into mid-October.
The rule requires merchants who accept credit card payments via QR code must accept payments made using any interoperable digital wallet, regardless of the brand of the QR code.
Acquirers and payment facilitators will also be prohibited from charging merchants different fees or applying different terms based on the brand of wallet used to make a payment.
If an acquirer or payment facilitator also accepts money transfers, they must offer customers a single QR code that covers all payment methods.
