Latest news with #InstantPayments
Arabian Post
9 hours ago
- Business
- Arabian Post
AI Recasts UAE Financial Infrastructure as Smart Sovereign Platform
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai A bold partnership between the Central Bank of the UAE and Presight, the AI arm of G42, is unfolding a new era in financial infrastructure. The joint venture will embed artificial intelligence across core systems – spanning digital currency, instant and real-time payments, card services and open finance platforms – designed, built, and managed within the UAE. The agreement places AI at the heart of systems such as the Central Bank Digital Currency, Instant Payments, Domestic Card Scheme, National Card Switch, Real-Time Gross Settlement, and Open Finance network. The initiative underpins the Financial Infrastructure Transformation Programme, a sweeping architectural modernisation blueprint launched by CBUAE in February 2023, with full deployment anticipated by 2026. Where CBUAE once relied on external vendors for supervisory technology and data systems, the new venture shifts toward a sovereign, AI-driven approach. ADVERTISEMENT Ebrahim Obaid Al Zaabi, Assistant Governor for Monetary Policy and Financial Stability, characterised the venture as a strategic move 'to ensure the UAE's financial market infrastructure remains resilient, secure, efficient and future-ready.' He also noted that merging FIT's leadership with Presight's technological prowess will reinforce the UAE's financial ecosystem and underpin national economic stability, strengthening its position as a global financial centre. Thomas Pramotedham, Chief Executive of Presight, described the venture as a 'decisive leap forward,' stating that by 'focusing exclusively on AI-driven financial solutions, we are creating a sovereign finance technology powerhouse that will redefine how financial markets operate—faster, with applied intelligence, and more securely than ever before.' Already, FIT has delivered functional platforms like Instant Payments and the Jaywan card scheme, with CBDC infrastructure currently under development. The venture now takes over these critical functions — charged with developing, maintaining and safeguarding them under a sovereign, AI-backed framework. Beyond financial rails, this AI integration offers promise across several performance benchmarks: settlement speed, fraud detection, transparency, and cost efficiency all stand to improve. These enhancements align with broader technological sovereignty goals: reducing dependence on foreign providers, enhancing cybersecurity responsiveness, and supporting fintech innovation with locally administered smart infrastructure. In a parallel development, the Emirates Institute of Finance's Innovation Hub has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with HSBC, Al Maryah Community Bank, Presight, and Core42 to explore applications of both traditional and generative AI across banking. The objective is to augment operational efficiency, strengthen cybersecurity, and enrich customer service within the banking sector. In the broader academic and regulatory sphere, scholars have analysed the transformative potential of AI in finance, alongside its risks: regulatory opacity, bias, data privacy issues, systemic vulnerabilities, and ethical concerns. Recent studies advocate for explainability, human oversight, auditability, and adaptive, principled governance frameworks to safeguard trust while fostering innovation. By embedding AI at the infrastructure layer, the UAE initiative intersects with these academic prescriptions — though realisation of such ideals will hinge on effective governance, transparency, and operational resilience. As financial systems globalise and grow increasingly complex, ensuring AI's reliable, accountable implementation will determine whether this model achieves its promise.
Business Wire
15-07-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Highnote Expands Its Unified Product Platform with Instant Payments
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Highnote, the unified platform for embedded finance and modern card issuance, today announced the launch of Instant Payments, a new capability that enables businesses to deliver near real-time payouts from Highnote-issued cards to eligible external debit and prepaid cards. The solution is supported by Mastercard Move (Mastercard's portfolio of money transfer solutions) and Visa Direct, and is now available to all Highnote subscribers in the U.S. Unlike providers that offer push-to-card services as standalone point solutions, Highnote delivers Instant Payments as part of a fully integrated platform that includes issuing, acquiring, credit, and a built-in general ledger. Share Developed in direct response to evolving customer needs, Instant Payments reflects Highnote's commitment to anticipating and delivering the tools modern businesses require to scale. While many platforms are still stitching together legacy infrastructure, Highnote has embedded this capability directly into its unified product platform, empowering subscribers with seamless, intelligent money movement from day one. With Instant Payments, businesses can push funds to debit and prepaid cards in the U.S., giving recipients faster access to their earnings while improving liquidity and payout operations. Use cases include gig worker payouts, employee tips, insurance reimbursements, merchant settlements, refunds, and more. 'Instant Payments reflects both where our subscribers are today and where the market is headed,' said Kin Kee, CTO of Highnote. 'By embedding on-demand disbursements directly into our issuing stack, we are helping businesses move money faster and more intelligently, all within a single, unified product experience.' Unlike providers that offer push-to-card services as standalone point solutions, Highnote delivers Instant Payments as part of a fully integrated platform that includes issuing, acquiring, credit, and a built-in general ledger. This unified foundation enables businesses to manage the full payment lifecycle, from funding to disbursement and reconciliation, through a single, flexible integration. 'At Visa, we're committed to providing seamless and secure money movement capabilities that help businesses and their customers access their funds in real-time,' said Yanilsa Gonzalez-Ore, SVP, Money Movement North America, Visa. 'By enabling real-time funds transfers through Highnote's platform, we're helping businesses leverage Visa's scale and robust security infrastructure to deliver faster and more reliable payouts.' 'Collaborating across the ecosystem is essential to ensure businesses can securely access critical funds in near real-time to keep their operations up and running,' said Stefany Bello, SVP, Digital Partnerships, Fintech & Enablers, Mastercard, North America. 'This marks an exciting new chapter in Mastercard's longstanding relationship with Highnote—one filled with opportunity to enable the seamless movement of money across key verticals and segments.' Instant Payments is the first release in Highnote's larger effort to unify outbound money movement through a single, programmable framework. Additional capabilities include support for ACH, wires, RTP, FedNow, wallet-based transfers, stablecoin funding, and other emerging rails—all accessible through one API, with intelligent routing based on speed, cost, and destination. To learn more about Instant Payments, contact the Highnote team or visit About Highnote Highnote is the unified platform for embedded finance, built for modern card issuance, acquiring, credit, and real-time money movement. Designed from the ground up, Highnote combines elegantly intelligent architecture with powerful developer tooling to deliver seamless, branded financial experiences. With built-in ledgering, integrated payment capabilities, and complete program management, Highnote empowers fintechs, vertical SaaS providers, and enterprises to launch differentiated embedded payments experiences that stand out in any market. Headquartered in San Francisco, Highnote is redefining the standard for modern financial products. Visit for more information. About Mastercard Mastercard powers economies and empowers people in 200+ countries and territories worldwide. Together with our customers, we're building a resilient economy where everyone can prosper. We support a wide range of digital payments choices, making transactions secure, similar, smart and accessible. Our technology and innovation, partnerships and networks combine to deliver a unique set of products and services that help people, businesses and governments realize their greatest potential. About Visa Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement. Learn more at 1 Transaction approvals depend on the applicable payment network and receiving financial network. Actual posting times depend on the receiving financial institution.
Finextra
18-06-2025
- Business
- Finextra
Changing Regulatory Perceptions: Towards Strategy & Collaboration
Joining the FinextraTV studio at EBAday 2025, Liliana Fratini Passi, Managing Director, CBI shared her insights surrounding a key conversation at the event: regulatory compliance. Fratini Passi shared a belief that the perception of regulation is moving toward one of a strategic driver as opposed to an obstacle or inconvenience. Touching on Instant Payments in particular, Fratini Passi said that the approaches have drastically changed in recent times but that, in her opinion, the most successful ones tend to be those a collaborative nature.
Finextra
16-06-2025
- Business
- Finextra
Accept/Pay Global launches real-time payments with Interac
Accept/Pay Global (APG) today announced the launch of its Real-Time Payments with Interac product, enabling businesses across Canada to send and receive payments instantly and securely using Interac e-Transfers. 0 This content is provided by an external author without editing by Finextra. It expresses the views and opinions of the author. Enterprise customers and financial platforms looking to streamline collections and disbursements can now integrate with our API to deliver speed, convenience, and reliability in payments. The solution is now available to all Canadian enterprises, with a particular focus on high transaction volume use-cases in lending, earned wage access, and insurance. Gajen Pararajalingam, COO of Accept/Pay Global said, "Real-time payments are table stakes for delivering superior customer experiences - whether you're funding a loan, processing payroll, or settling claims. Our Interac-powered solution allows clients to move funds instantly to any Canadian bank account, securely and at scale." The Real-Time Payments with Interac product is designed to support: Instant loan disbursements for online and alternative lenders Real-time payroll and earned wage access (EWA) programs for on-demand payments Claims and customer payouts for insurance providers Faster B2B settlements and vendor payments Accept/Pay Global's API-driven platform enables seamless integration of real-time payments into existing business systems — supporting full audit trails, reporting, and automated reconciliation. Key Benefits: Instant Payments to any Canadian bank account via Interac Enterprise-grade API integration for automated payouts at scale 24/7/365 availability, including evenings, weekends, and holidays Real-time visibility into payment status and delivery Built-in compliance and fraud monitoring for regulated industries "With Accept/Pay Global's Real-Time Payments with Interac, our clients can give their customers exactly what they expect — instant access to funds," added Gajen. "We're excited to help businesses modernize their payment infrastructure and unlock new competitive advantages." Real-Time Payments with Interac is now live and available to Accept/Pay Global customers across Canada. The solution is offered as a standalone API product or as part of APG's broader electronic funds transfer (EFT) and digital payments platform.
Finextra
16-06-2025
- Business
- Finextra
Instant Payments Regulation: Facing the Skeletons in the Closet
Joining the FinextraTV Studio during EBAday 2025 were Serge Wagener, Member of the EBA Board and Chair of the EBA Practitioners Group on Instant Payments and Annick Moes, Head of Industry Issues, Cooperation Initiatives and Communications, EBA. Both Wagener and Moes pointed out ongoing challenges in implementing the Instant Payments Regulation (IPR), such as delivering Verification of Payee for bulk payments. Referencing their newest publication, they stressed how EBAday gave experts the opportunity to bring out the skeletons from the closet and discuss their implementation concerns with peers.
