Bank Financial News

Russia is considering allowing cryptocurrency to be used for international payments, Interfax news agency quoted a government official saying on Friday.

You can now do your banking in the metaverse after the US lender JP Morgan opened up a lounge in the blockchain-based virtual world of Decentraland on Tuesday, becoming the first major bank to do so.

When you make a UPI payment, your bank settles the amount on your behalf at the end of the day. Digital payments like UPI are electronic instructions that authorise intermediaries such as banks to facilitate transactions. Even if they are ‘cashless’ modes of payment, they involve transfer of fiat money (government-issued currency). Now imagine a UPI-like system where digital currency issued by a central bank is transacted instead of bank balances. The need for interbank settlement disappears and you have the option to pay someone securely, without third-party risks. What if money itself could be ‘digital’? The RBI has called for a complete ban on crypto as it believes partial restrictions won’t work. But, at the same time, it is considering issuing its own digital currency by leveraging the technology that powers crypto. “A central bank digital currency (CBDC) would also potentially enable more real-time and cost-effective globalisation of payment systems. Time zone difference would no longer matter,” said T Rabi Shankar, RBI deputy governor, in a speech last year. The RBI defines a CBDC as a legal tender issued by a central bank in a digital form. “It is the same as a fiat currency and is exchangeable oneto-one with the fiat currency. Only its form is different,” said Shankar. The RBI is working towards a phased implementation strategy. Presented ByDid you Know?Producer, direc

bank to open its doors to the crypto community. After almost eight months of payment freeze by most high-street banks that continue to shun crypto investors and bourses, Kotak Bank will do business with WazirX, one of the country's largest crypto exchanges.

crypto exchange as Southeast Asia’s second-largest lender seeks to respond to customer needs, Chief Executive Officer Helen Wong said. “We are looking at it and seriously there are some work being done in the bank,” Wong told Haslinda Amin in a Bloomberg Television interview Friday, when asked whether the bank would consider offering crypto services as some of its competitors are doing.