(The Paypers) Cointelegraph Japan has reported that Japan-based cryptocurrency exchange Taotao will launch its trading service on 30 May.
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(The Paypers) According to a post on their website, peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchange LocalBitcoins.com has banned users living in Iran starting 24 May.
The M&A boom in the payments space shows no sign of abating, with Global Payments agreeing a $21.5 billion deal to acquire Total Systems Services.
Combined, Global Payments and TSYS will provide payments and software to approximately 3.5 million predominantly small to mid-sized (SMB) merchant locations and more than 1,300 financial institutions across more than 100 countries.
It is the latest in a series of multi-billion transaction in the payments processing market this year, as companies seek to scale up to tap the opportunities arising from the boom in global online sales.
Upon closing, Global Payments will process in excess of 50 billion transactions annually in 38 countries physically and over 100 countries virtually, employing over 3,500 sales and sales support professionals worldwide.
Billed as an all-stock merger of equals, Total Systems holders are to receive 48% of a combined company with a total equity value of roughly $40b.
(The Paypers) The Singapore government has announced plans to roll out a QR identity verification tool for businesses in the third-quarter of 2019.
(The Paypers) The majority of Swiss people appear to have rejected a decision by the government and parliament to hand control of a national eID scheme to the private sector.
(The Paypers) Al Baraka Islamic Bank (AIB Bahrain) has signed an agreement with Eazy Financial Services for the provision of biometric payment services.
P27, a new bank-owned project bidding to create a common payments platform across the Nordic region, is weighing a bid for Swedish clearing payment firm Bankgirot.
Backed by Danske Bank, Handelsbanken, Nordea, OP Financial Group, SEB and Swedbank, P27 has been set the task of connecting the 27 million people in the region for national and cross-border real-time payments in all Nordic currencies.
In order to create the infrastructure, P27 wants to buy Bankgirot, the 60-year-old Swedish player which handles more than six million transactions a day. The acquisition would strengthen operational stability during the envisaged migration from Bankgirot to the new P27 platform, says a statement, and also bring in valuable knowledge of complex payments and compliance issues.
P27 is carrying out due diligence on a takeover and any deal would need approval from regulators and Bankgirot's owners, many of which are the same banks behind P27.
Lars Sjögren, designated CEO, P27, says: "The Nordic region is ahead in both the payments and fintech industry. Exploring the possibility of establishing P27 is a natural next step for the Nordic banking sector, where we aim to combine the tradition of innovation with technical advancement."