High-value payments are becoming the norm with Bank of America’s corporate clients following The Clearing House’s February move to
Six weeks after the limit increase, payments above $1 million accounted for more than half – 52% – of all of Bank of America’s corporate transactions on the RTP network, compared with 47% in the first week following the limit increase. The overall value of these transactions rose 32% from week one to week six after the limit was raised, according to the bank.
“Our clients have been using RTP to pay vendors, employees and customers, but the larger cap has opened up use cases for different kinds of transactions, such as real estate and deal closings and other corporate activity,” AJ McCray, head of global payments products, Global Payments Solutions at Bank of America, said in a statement.
The Charlotte-based bank has been making its
Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
UK bank regulator taps NVIDIA for AI testing
The Financial Conduct Authority in October will launch a digital sandbox to enable banks and other financial firms to experiment with artificial intelligence.
The regulator will collaborate with NVIDIA, using the American technology company’s AI enterprise software to provide access to data, regulatory expertise and technical support to firms considering AI-powered products such as payments and other financial services.
“This collaboration will help those that want to test AI ideas but who lack the capabilities to do so. We’ll help firms harness AI to benefit our markets and consumers, while supporting economic growth,” Jessica Rusu, the FCA’s chief data, intelligence and information officer, said in an
The sandbox is designed for financial institutions that are in the discovery phase of AI strategy, with an existing testing service available for AI projects that are closer to launch. Seventy-five percent of U.K. banks are using AI, according to the
“AI is fundamentally reshaping the financial sector by automating processes, enhancing data analysis, and improving decision-making, which leads to greater efficiency, accuracy, and risk management across a wide range of financial activities,” Jochen Papenbrock, EMEA head of financial technology for NVIDIA, said in a release. —John Adams
Chinese payment firms team to counter cross-border giants
Mobile payment fintech LianLian and China’s government-backed UnionPay card network are combining their scale to sell remittance and business B2B payments, with a particular focus on recipients in mainland China.
LianLian has more than 6 million customers, including e-commerce platforms and business clients in more than 100 countries. More than 2,600 financial institutions issue UnionPay cards in 183 countries. UnionPay’s products include MoneyExpress, which powers remittances in the U.S., Japan, U.K., Australia and more than 50 other countries.
LianLian’s global network and UnionPay’s MoneyExpress will combine to expand remittances, largely between Chinese expats and families in China. The inbound remittance market in China totaled $52 billion in 2024 and is on pace to reach $100 billion by 2028, according to
Fiserv acquires AIB Merchant Services
Fiserv has acquired the remaining shares of AIB Merchant Services, its joint venture with AIB Group, a financial services group operating in the U.K. and Ireland.
AIB Merchant Services, or AIBMS, is a payment solution provider and an e-commerce acquirer in Europe founded in 2007. AIB Group will continue to refer clients that need merchant acquiring services to AIBMS.
Financial terms for the deal, which is expected to close in the third quarter, were not disclosed. Fiserv previously owned 50.1% of AIB Merchant Services.
“We have enjoyed a strong partnership with AIB Group, as together we grew AIBMS into one of the leading acquirers in Europe, and I look forward to continuing to work closely with them to support our mutual clients,” Katia Karpova, head of the EMEA region at Fiserv, said in a statement.
“Our focus will remain on delivering market-leading solutions to clients of all sizes across Ireland and the broader European market,” she said. “We are particularly excited for the opportunity to accelerate the local penetration and growth of Clover, the world’s smartest point-of-sale system and business management platform.”
Fiserv has been pushing its point of sale platform, Clover, abroad. In March, Fiserv
Santander UK partners with Worldpay
Santander UK has partnered with Worldpay to offer Santander Business Banking and Corporate and Commercial Banking clients access to Worldpay’s e-commerce and point of sale services.
The partnership marks a new distribution channel for Worldpay, which was
“Our new partnership with Worldpay will give our U.K. customers access to secure and innovative ways [to accept] payments, alongside a suite of value added services to help improve efficiency and grow their business,” Gerry Davies, payments commercial director at Santander UK, said in a statement.
As of December 31, 2024, Santander UK had 14 million active customers, including 7 million digital customers, according to the bank. —Joey Pizzolato
Brazil’s payment rail courts cardless consumers
Brazil’s Pix real-time payment rail plans two additions designed to reach consumers that do not have or widely use bank-issued credit cards.
Pix on Monday will launch Pix Automatico, a feature that supports recurring payments, which would enable people to access subscription services such as streaming content and other digital media. By the end of the year Pix plans to launch an installment lending service, which would enable consumers to finance purchases using a model similar to buy now/pay later lending.
EBANX, a payments platform that works with Brazil’s real-time payment rail, estimates the two services will have an addressable market of about 60 million consumers. Brazil does not have a large unbanked population — about 4% of Brazilians 18 and older do not have a bank account, according to
Brazil’s
UK payments fintech Navro secures US money transmitter license
U.K.-based payments fintech Navro has secured a money transmitter license in the United States, opening up cross-border payments to businesses across the pond.
Navro is a payments curation platform with licenses in Europe and Canada. It has raised a total of $73 million in funding, including its most recent $41 million Series B round in April, according to Crunchbase.
“The Delaware approval underlines our commitment to achieving licences within robust regulatory guardrails. It also initiates the process of extending Navro’s footprint across the US,” CEO Aran Brown said in a statement. —Joey Pizzolato
ACI adds AI finance expert to leadership team
Payment technology company ACI Worldwide has hired Robert Leibrock as chief financial officer. Leibrock, who will assume the post July 1, succeeds Scott Behrens, who is retiring after more than two decades at ACI.
Leibrock is leaving Ret Hat, where he is senior vice president, chief operating officer and CFO. At Red Hat, he led financial operations as the company financed projects that expanded artificial intelligence capabilities for Ret Hat’s users.
“Leibrock’s extensive experience leading finance organizations in global, complex environments, particularly in cloud and SaaS-focused businesses, will be invaluable,” Thomas Warsop, president and CEO of ACI Worldwide, in a release.
ACI is expanding its AI technology as other payment companies advance their use of new forms of AI such as