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Wells Fargo is launching tokenised deposits for corporate clients, allowing round-the-clock fund movement and improved liquidity management. Wells Fargo's move pressures other corporate banks to accelerate blockchain adoption for treasury and settlement, as peer banks risk losing large corporate relationships to more agile competitors if they do not fast-track tokenisation pilots.
Circle announced a roster of major validators for its Arc blockchain, with mainnet launch set for September. The move strengthens Circle’s infrastructure play and signals growing institutional buy-in for enterprise-grade blockchain rails. Stablecoin issuers like Tether and payments providers such as PayPal now face a more credible alternative for programmable money and settlement.
Source: FinextraMastercard and Pexa are piloting synchronised, programmable payments for homebuying settlements in the UK, aiming to streamline the notoriously slow real estate closing process. If successful, Mastercard and Pexa could set a new standard for real estate transactions and prompt banks and conveyancers to upgrade legacy settlement workflows. Expansion to other high-friction markets is likely if the pilot delivers measurable time and cost savings.
Source: FinextraMoment, a pan-African payments fintech, secured $22 million in Series A funding led by AlphaCode Venture Partners. The capital will fuel product expansion and geographic growth, intensifying competition for banks and regional fintechs across Africa. As Moment expands, established players will need to respond to new offerings and increased customer acquisition efforts targeting underserved markets.
Source: FinextraAugustus received FDIC approval to launch a new bank, contingent on maintaining $73.66 million in capital. FDIC approval enables Augustus to offer insured deposits and compete directly with both fintechs and traditional banks. The move highlights regulators’ willingness to license new entrants, but also sets a high bar for capital and compliance that could slow smaller challengers.
Source: Banking Dive“Despite the rise of instant payments, over 40% of global business-to-business transactions still rely on paper checks, highlighting persistent gaps in payment modernization.
Filed under: Payments History · The Long Memory
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