Author: Digital Trade Outlook

Mastercard has launched Advanced B2B Analytics, a platform that uses AI to help banks and their corporate clients identify which suppliers are most likely to accept card payments. The company announced the platform from Purchase, New York, on September 28, 2026.Mastercard said supplier payments remain one of the biggest pain points for banks and corporates, and that issuers and buyers often have no data driven way to decide which suppliers to approach about card acceptance. Scattered data and manual work can delay efforts to get suppliers paid by card, leaving companies on less efficient payment methods for longer, even though…

Aljazira Bank has signed an agreement with cross border payments network Thunes to modernise and widen its international remittance services, giving the Saudi lender’s retail customers faster ways to send money abroad. The announcement was made in Riyadh on September 28, 2026.Under the partnership, Aljazira will use Thunes’ Direct Global Network to add new payout options and destinations to its remittance service. Retail customers will be able to send funds in real time to bank accounts and mobile wallets around the world, with Thunes pointing to high volume routes across Asia Pacific, Europe and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) as…

Luno, the digital asset platform, has acquired GTXN, a licensed cross border payments provider, giving it a way to offer businesses a single route for moving money between developed and emerging markets. GTXN will now operate as the group’s cross border payments business across its markets. Under the new setup, businesses collect and pay out through one provider rather than arranging transfers through a series of banks and intermediaries. Payments run over the infrastructure Luno owns and are settled using Luno’s own liquidity, which the company states will speed up settlement and lower transaction costs on routes that have long been…

Bank Indonesia (BI) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to deepen cooperation on cross border payments made through QR (Quick Response) codes. BI Governor Destry Damayanti and HKMA Chief Executive Eddie Yue signed the agreement on September 24, 2026.The two authorities said the aim is to make payments between Indonesia and Hong Kong quicker, cheaper, more transparent and more inclusive. Under the MoU, they will discuss the technical, operational and regulatory questions involved, and look at arrangements that would allow QR payment systems in the two places to work with each other.…

IBM has rolled out two new beta capabilities for its Digital Asset Haven platform, aimed at helping banks, governments and other regulated organisations offer digital asset services without loosening their grip on security. The first connects the platform to permissioned blockchain networks, including Swift’s shared ledger, while the second lets clients run Digital Asset Haven entirely inside their own data centres.IBM tied the launch to a wider modernisation drive across the industry, citing J.P. Morgan Payments research showing that 93% of financial institutions are upgrading their payments infrastructure as they look for quicker ways to move money across borders and…

SOOHO.IO, a leading innovator in digital financial infrastructure, and Partior, the live global settlement network for USD, SGD and EUR, have signed a memorandum of understanding that links Korea’s deposit-token infrastructure directly to global payment rails. Announced August 26, 2026 in Seoul, the deal will let Ezys, SOOHO.IO’s liquidity-aggregation platform, settle cross-border, multi-currency payments on Partior’s tokenised deposit network. Ezys connects with multiple global financial institutions and automatically compares exchange rates and transaction terms to find the best route for each payment, then executes settlement on Partior and other global rails. Partior’s network is built to strip out the delays…

Royal Bank of Canada has formally established Global Transaction Banking (GTB) as a single, unified business, a move that sharpens the bank’s ambitions to serve clients seamlessly across borders. Announced in Toronto on August 25, 2026, the reorganization pulls together RBC’s transaction banking capabilities from Commercial Banking, in both Canada and the U.S., and Capital Markets, placing them under one leadership team and one strategy. The goal is to connect relationship coverage, product expertise, technology and execution more tightly than before. Sean Amato-Gauci, Group Head of Commercial Banking, and Derek Neldner, CEO and Group Head of RBC Capital Markets, will…

DBS has rolled out an agentic AI solution designed to change how relationship managers and credit risk managers handle complex credit assessments for large and mid-sized corporate clients. Specialised agents cover more than 70 tasks, turning raw data into a review-ready first draft of a credit memo. That means faster memo generation, sharper risk analysis, and more time for relationship managers to focus on strategic client work. The rollout follows a pilot with 150 participants and now covers around 1,500 employees globally. Credit assessments sit at the core of due diligence, helping banks gauge a company’s financial health, business prospects…

Bank of China (Hong Kong) (“BOCHK”) and Ant International have entered a strategic partnership to deepen cross-border financial connectivity. Combining BOCHK’s banking strength with Ant International’s fintech and AI capabilities, the two firms plan to explore AI-driven financial services, real-time treasury management and liquidity solutions for global enterprises, while expanding support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Sun Yu, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive of BOCHK, said the bank’s expertise spans cross-border payments, treasury management and fintech, adding that the partnership would advance fintech innovation in Hong Kong and strengthen cross-border cooperation across Southeast Asia. He pointed to BOCHK’s experience…

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is providing a trade finance limit of up to $75 million (€65 million) to Al Mansour Bank for Investment (MBI), one of Iraq’s leading private-sector banks. Under the EBRD’s Trade Facilitation Programme, the facility offers guarantees and cash advances covering political and commercial payment risks on cross-border transactions. That backing helps MBI support import and export deals for Iraqi businesses. The impact extends past individual transactions. MBI’s correspondent banking network stands to grow, and trade finance should become more accessible across a country where international banking services remain limited. Iraqi importers and exporters…