Mike Walters, Form3 – Should banks ‘decouple’ their payment systems?

Advancing the preparation of a digital euro, the European Central Bank (ECB) has announced the conclusion of the framework agreements for each of the five digital euro negotiated procurement procedures (also see the notice view in the Official Journal of the EU). A cooperation between Giesecke+Devrient (G+D) partnering with Nexi and Capgemini has now been selected as the first ranked tenderer in the framework agreement to provide an end-to-end solution to make digital euro payments offline available to users and merchants across Europe. The ability to pay offline, with no third-party involvement, is a key feature of the digital euro, which would ensure privacy and resilience as only cash does today.

G2 Risk Solutions (G2RS) today announced the completion of its transaction with EverC, expanding G2RS’ global reach and adding proven AI-powered risk solutions to its product suite.

Tap Global Group plc (AIM: TAP), an innovative digital finance hub that brings money payments and crypto settlement services together in a single user-friendly app, is pleased to announce a landmark strategic partnership with Moorwand, a UK FCA regulated Electronic Money Institution (EMI). Through this partnership, Tap will integrate Moorwand's comprehensive Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform to provide customers with dedicated GBP accounts, complete with Sort Codes and Account Numbers, and EUR accounts with individual IBANs.

Eltropy, the leading AI-powered digital conversations platform for community financial institutions, announced today that First City Credit Union has selected its Unified Platform to improve how it communicates with members across all departments and channels. The partnership is a key step in the credit union's progress towards becoming a digital-first organization.

Bud Financial (“Bud”), the AI platform that turns banking data into actionable insights, today announced the release of the Bud MCP server, enabling rapid development of AI agents that benefit from a deep, real-time understanding of users’ finances. Bud’s MCP server lets AI applications integrate seamlessly with Bud’s platform so that banks can rapidly deploy AI internal and customer facing systems while safely leveraging their core customer data.

For many children, pocket money is their first step towards financial independence, giving them a chance to make their own decisions about saving and spending. But new analysis from Wealthify shows that allowances peaked almost 20 years ago and have been in long-term decline ever since, leaving today’s children with less money of their own than their peers in the mid-2000s.