Latest news with #programmablemoney
Finextra
07-08-2025
- Business
- Finextra
Finzly preps support for stablecoin and tokenized deposits
Finzly, a leader in modern, API-first payment infrastructure, announced its preparation to support stablecoin and tokenized deposits —adding to its platform that already supports Fedwire, RTP, FedNow, ACH, SWIFT, and cross-border rails. 0 The demand for stablecoin and tokenized deposits is building exponentially with a new era of programmable money - automated payments executed against predefined rules and conditions - now a reality. According to polling from a Finzly hosted webinar on July 24, 2025, attended by 723 payment leaders from the financial services industry: Nearly half (48%) of respondents are currently exploring uses cases involving programmable money. Furthermore, 44% of poll respondents are concerned with falling behind if their institution doesn't offer stablecoin functionality or tokenized deposits within the next 18 months. With the passage of the GENIUS Act providing additional clarity and certainty for US financial institutions, banks are looking to stay relevant in the programmable money era. Finzly is emerging as the ideal partner offering a composable, ISO 20022-native platform with smart routing, real-time APIs, and a programmable rules engine that mirrors the flexibility of digital assets like stablecoins. What are the use cases and benefits of stablecoins and tokenized deposits for financial institutions? Generate new revenue streams by slashing transaction fees for corporate clients while offering instantaneous settlement infrastructure Enable faster and more cost-effective cross-border payments, particularly for emerging markets where remittance costs are reduced by an average of 4.5% globally when utilizing stablecoins according to CoinLaw. Deliver enhanced treasury and cash management services through programmable money and automated compliance systems, creating new operational efficiencies 'The momentum behind stablecoins is undeniable, and we're seeing remarkable interest from US banks who recognize this isn't just a trend,' said Booshan Rengachari, Founder and CEO of Finzly. 'Financial institutions that prepare now with the right infrastructure will be positioned to capitalize on what could be a $2 trillion market by 2028, while those that wait risk being left behind in an increasingly digital financial ecosystem.' Stablecoin Market Size McKinsey & Company reports stablecoin circulation has doubled to $250 billion from $120 billion over the past 18 months, with forecasts to reach $400 billion by year-end and $2 trillion by 2028. Data reported by CoinLaw shows the average daily transaction volume for stablecoins surged to $7 billion, an increase of 8% from 2023, and are now accepted in over 70 countries, facilitating cross-border payments and remittances. In fact, the US Treasury reported that stablecoins were involved in 50% of cross-border digital transactions in 2024. How Banks Implement Stablecoin Payments with Future-Ready Infrastructure With its built-in multi-currency FX engine, Finzly's platform is designed to support conversion between fiat and digital currency pairs, such as USD to USDC, enabling smoother multi-currency flows. Virtual accounts on the platform can function as wallet-like constructs, offering banks and fintechs a way to reflect and manage balances tied to stablecoin activity, while preserving visibility, control, and compliance alignment. 'Banks are recognizing that stablecoins represent more than just another payment rail—they're a gateway to programmable money, automated financial services and agentic commerce,' said Dean Nolan, head of payment strategy at Finzly. 'We already lead with today's core rails. Our API-first architecture and programmable rules engine will be able to make it easier for banks to implement stablecoin payments thoughtfully aligned with their compliance, operational, and customer experience goals.' Finzly's infrastructure allows banks to adopt new rails like stablecoins on their own terms, with full control over policy, compliance, and business logic. The platform also makes it easy to integrate with ecosystem partners from custodians to blockchain networks supporting a secure, compliant path to stablecoin adoption.
Finextra
07-07-2025
- Business
- Finextra
Stablecoins, smart contracts and the rise of more intelligent cash: By Paul Quickenden
Fintechs already have the talent, the ingenuity and after a decade of challenger success with innovations like Wise's borderless accounts, Stripe's one-click checkout and Revolut's multi-currency wallets - the credibility to reshape finance on a global stage. Those breakthroughs gave consumers faster payments and slicker front-ends; but let's call that Act I. Act II is unfolding now: money itself is becoming programmable, composable and borderless. Stablecoins can settle in seconds, smart contracts can execute 'if-this-then-that' logic without humans in the loop and tokenised assets can move 24/7 across jurisdictions. The rails we lay today - whether they're open, interoperable and secure or fragmented and proprietary - will determine not just how fast value moves tomorrow, but how fairly it's distributed and who gets to participate in the next wave of financial innovation. The challenge to builders today is this: if your vision begins and ends with speeding up domestic payments or making bill-splitting cuter, you're missing the bigger prize. Programmable money rewrites the playbook for remittances, trade, treasury and even machine-to-machine transactions. Are we building for that horizon - or solving tomorrow's problems with yesterday's stack? What's the biggie with blockchain? Behind the scenes, blockchain infrastructure is becoming the default layer for secure, real-time, permissionless value transfer. J.P. Morgan's Onyx platform, for instance, has settled more than US $1 trillion in tokenised intrabank payments on permissioned chains. If you're designing for the next five years, on-chain rails offer instant settlement, embedded logic and global composability that legacy systems simply can't match. No, it won't replace every system but it is rapidly becoming the preferred foundation for anything that needs to be fast, transparent and interoperable. This isn't about riding the crypto wave but about recognising a smarter way to move value - one that's auditable, modular and increasingly composable. If you're designing for the next five years, building with blockchain gives you access to speed, programmability and network effects that simply don't exist in traditional architecture. We need to shift our thinking from 'What is blockchain for?' to 'What's already working, and how does it fit into my stack?' Could stablecoins be the new fuel behind an AI-driven economy? At Stripe's 2025 Sessions conference, co-founder Patrick Collison didn't mince his words: 'There are not one, but two, gale-force tailwinds... reshaping the economic landscape around us: AI and stablecoins.' In a world increasingly run by AI's, programmable stablecoins are the natural currency and could become the financial fuel behind an AI-driven economy. Stripe has just rolled out stablecoin-powered financial accounts to businesses in 101 countries which allow companies to hold, receive and send stablecoins and crucially, to hedge against inflation and plug directly into the global economy. All of this without needing a traditional bank account. And it's not just Stripe, Worldpay, Mastercard, X and even Apple are exploring how to turbocharge their business using Stablecoins. This isn't theory; this is infrastructure and entrepreneurs in high-inflation countries can now operate in stable, digital USD. What's more, startups can pay contractors in stablecoins, skip wire transfer fees and move capital in minutes via lower-cost cross-border transactions . Stablecoins have quietly moved from the fringes to becoming the go-to method for paying global contractors (instantly, with zero FX fees), cross-border commerce (settling USD payments in mere seconds), accessing savings (even in inflation-prone regions) and plugging into on-chain treasury and lending protocols (without needing a bank account). So if you're building a payments platform, now is the time to ask yourself: can my product evolve with how digital finance is actually being used? If the answer is no - it might be worth reconsidering your architecture because what works here must scale there. That sounds like 'money, but faster.' What else is cool? Think of smart contracts as 'if this, then that' logic for money - basically code that executes financial actions automatically when certain conditions are met. There's no middleman, no lag and no manual work. This is where money stops just moving and starts doing. Imagine if paying contractors happened the moment work is verified; if refunds were triggered instantly when goods didn't arrive; if cross-border trade ran on rules baked into your code, not your paperwork. This is already happening globally - programmable finance means stablecoins that plug into automated workflows and APIs that react to real-world events. The question now moves on from can we move money faster? .. to can our money move smarter? What's the next move? What separates good from game-changing companies is vision. The winners in fintech will be the ones who design for what's coming, not just what's current right now. If you believe that money will be programmable… If you see that global commerce demands truly global rails… If you know that the rules of infrastructure are being rewritten in real-time right now… … then now's the moment to double down. Build with stablecoins. Plug into on-chain rails. Create APIs that are blockchain-ready. It's time to think like the internet: borderless, open and lightning fast. Let's not just build for today's money; let's help define tomorrow's.
Forbes
26-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Tokenized Deposits Vs. Stablecoins: The Quiet War For Cross‑Border Money
Stablecoins are moving beyond crypto and becoming the plumbing of the internet. Photo: Silas ... More Stein/dpa (Photo by Silas Stein/picture alliance via Getty Images) When the United States Senate advanced the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act on 20 May, Capitol Hill finally acknowledged that privately issued dollar tokens have grown too large to ignore. Earlier, in July 2024, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) expanded its four‑year‑old Project Guardian pilot, inviting DBS, HSBC and Standard Chartered to issue on‑chain versions of customer deposits for foreign‑exchange and repo trades. Two jurisdictions, two approaches—but the same strategic question: who will own the plumbing of programmable money? Traditional deposits and fiat‑backed stablecoins both promise 24/7 settlement, atomic delivery‑versus‑payment and smart‑contract programmability. Yet their design philosophies differ. Tokenized deposits wrap an existing commercial‑bank liability in a cryptographic shell; the token inherits deposit insurance, Basel capital and lender‑of‑last‑resort support. Stablecoins, by contrast, are obligations of a non‑bank issuer, circulate on public chains and are secured by segregated reserves—usually short‑dated Treasuries. Regulators prefer the first model for its guard‑rails, while markets have so far favoured the latter for its unrestricted liquidity. That tension already shows in hard numbers. J.P. Morgan's Kinexys (formerly JPM Coin) crossed US $1.5 trillion in cumulative value this spring after settling a tokenized Treasury ETF against a deposit token on a public test‑net. Citi's Regulated Liability Network lets treasurers sweep cash across borders without SWIFT hops. Meanwhile, Tether's USDT surged past US $150 billion in market cap, Circle launched a nine‑chain Circle Payments Network, and PayPal's PYUSD landed a Coinbase listing. Stablecoin rails are now too liquid for treasurers to dismiss. Regulation is shaping the chessboard. In Washington, the GENIUS Act would force issuers to hold segregated Treasuries and operate bankruptcy-remote trusts—a half‑step toward the banking tent without deposit insurance. Europe's MiCA caps daily turnover unless a coin issuer becomes an e-money institution, while MAS talks of a three-pillar world: retail CBDC, regulated stablecoins, and tokenized deposits. The Bank for International Settlements has convened seven central banks and 41 financial institutions for Project Agorá, aiming to stitch tokenized deposits and wholesale CBDC together on a 'unified ledger.' Economics matters as much as rules. Stablecoin issuers keep the spread between T‑bill yields and the zero interest they pay holders—Tether booked more than US $5 billion in profit during the first half of 2024. Banks monetise deposit tokens by selling compliance certainty and embedding programmable workflows that off-the-shelf stablecoins still lack. Corporate treasurers are already splitting their stakes: deposit tokens for intra‑bank liquidity; stablecoins for Saturday‑night invoices in Buenos Aires. Real‑world proofs of concept are multiplying. Under Project Guardian, MAS is exploring smart contracts that bundle both legs of an SGD‑USD swap so settlement is instantaneous and counter-party risk diminishes. Kinexys now supports conditional logic, release payment when IoT sensors confirm delivery, while Circle's new network lets a multinational pay suppliers on Solana, collect receipts on Stellar and sweep surplus to a regulated custodian in New York. Trade‑finance platforms are testing tokenized deposits as real‑time collateral for letters‑of‑credit, and fintech remitters in Nigeria already settle payroll flows in USDC because correspondent wires arrive days late or get de‑risked. Yet technology cannot outrun risk. Tokenized deposits could fragment if every bank launches on a different private chain with bespoke standards. Stablecoins still face run dynamics: USDC briefly de‑pegged during the 2023 Silicon Valley Bank panic, and the SEC hints large coins might be unregistered money‑market funds. Both camps have capital questions too. If Basel weights tokenized liabilities more heavily, issuance could stall; if Treasury yields fall, the stablecoin profit machine shrinks. What happens next? BIS expects limited‑scale Agorá pilots by early 2026; J.P. Morgan plans to open Kinexys to third‑party banks later this year; Circle is lobbying U.S. regulators to let federally chartered banks hold USDC as cash equivalents. The race is now about reach: can banks persuade treasurers that compliant tokens will be just as liquid as public‑chain dollars before stablecoins burrow deeper into corporate workflows? The prize is enormous: McKinsey puts annual cross‑border friction at US $120 billion. Trim even a third and the savings rival the revenue of a top‑ten global bank. No wonder both sides are spending heavily on standards bodies, custody integrations and developer toolkits. This isn't VHS versus Betamax, with one format wiping out the other. It is more like Wi‑Fi and Ethernet—competing, interoperable, increasingly invisible to end‑users, and governed by evolving standards rather than a single victor. Whether banks or fintech issuers capture the lion's share will depend on who can scale liquidity, satisfy regulators and embed programmable dollars into everyday commerce first. The quiet war for the money pipes is already under way, and while consumers may never see the plumbing, the savings, or losses, will flow straight through corporate balance‑sheets.
Finextra
22-05-2025
- Business
- Finextra
Quant rolls out white-labelled programmable money and banking infrastructure
Quant, a global leader in fintech and innovation, today announces the rollout of Quant Flow, an industry-first programmable money and banking infrastructure now available via a white-label solution to banks, institutions and corporates across Europe, the Middle East, and APAC. 0 Quant Flow was developed in response to the growing demand for smarter forms of commercial bank money and the need to modernise financial infrastructure, driven by rising regulatory pressure and competition from stablecoins, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), neobanks and fintechs. Quant Flow delivers automation and intelligence directly into money at the account level. For banks, this means they can respond to market demand, address regulation, innovate with new forms of money and defend profitability - all without the need for costly system overhauls. For corporates, it enables them to harness programmable money to effortlessly connect to existing banking, business and financial applications. It also offers them the ability to design custom payment flows and automate financial processes to drive growth and eradicate inefficiencies through real-time programmable actions. 'Money today may look digital on the surface, but beneath the apps, most financial systems still rely on decades-old static rails. Quant Flow changes that. It brings intelligence to money itself - turning it into a programmable instrument embedded with code, not spreadsheets. This gives banks fintech-level agility without compromising on resilience, compliance or core stability,' says Gilbert Verdian, CEO and Founder of Quant. Quant Flow enables banks to: • Defend their client and market share to differentiate and innovate by offering smarter financial products like dynamic account options, automated money management tools, and custom products and services built around each customer's needs. • Rapidly test and roll out innovative new banking features quickly using PayScript®, a purpose-built language that makes creating new banking and financial products as easy as a few lines of code. • Remove friction by automating repetitive tasks such as currency conversions and cash flow adjustments based on real-time data, saving time and reducing risk. • Automate compliance processes across regions, making it easier to stay on top of changing regulations. With Quant Flow, banks can also offer their corporate business clients more control and insight over their finances. From smart automation to real-time dashboards, businesses can move from reactive to proactive financial decision-making that drives growth. Key benefits of programmable money for corporates and businesses include: • Smarter cash management. They can set programmable rules that automate things like currency conversions, tax payments, or loan repayments as events or triggers - taking advantage of market conditions, saving time and reducing human error. • Access to live financial data. They can access up-to-the-minute dashboards offering a clear picture of financial health and liquidity, helping CFOs to automate and make better decisions. • Faster, cheaper global payments. They can automate international transactions - in both traditional currencies and stablecoins - for smoother, faster payments at lower cost. • Streamlined compliance. They can eliminate manual tasks with rule-based automation for taxes, reconciliation, and reporting. David Yates, former President of Mastercard, Western Union and First Data and Vocalink Chair says: 'The world is digital—yet money remains stuck in the past. Quant Flow redefines how money works—it's intelligent, automated and efficient. Banks can deliver features that traditional systems can't match, and businesses can transform their financial operations by transforming simple transactions into next-generation workflows. Programmable money is the next generation of finance - and it's here today.' 'Quant Flow marks a fundamental shift in the way we think about money,' concludes Verdian. 'We're not simply adding features, we're creating an intelligent financial operating system fit for the digital economy. For banks, businesses, and the broader industry, this is a move from transactional finance to programmable finance, and it's built to transform.'
Finextra
22-05-2025
- Business
- Finextra
Quant launches open-source programming language for money
Quant, a global leader in fintech and innovation, today announces the rollout of Quant Flow, an industry-first programmable money and banking infrastructure now available via a white-label solution to banks, institutions and corporates across Europe, the Middle East, and APAC. 0 This content is provided by an external author without editing by Finextra. It expresses the views and opinions of the author. Quant Flow was developed in response to the growing demand for smarter forms of commercial bank money and the need to modernise financial infrastructure, driven by rising regulatory pressure and competition from stablecoins, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), neobanks and fintechs. Quant Flow delivers automation and intelligence directly into money at the account level. For banks, this means they can respond to market demand, address regulation, innovate with new forms of money and defend profitability – all without the need for costly system overhauls. For corporates, it enables them to harness programmable money to effortlessly connect to existing banking, business and financial applications. It also offers them the ability to design custom payment flows and automate financial processes to drive growth and eradicate inefficiencies through real-time programmable actions. 'Money today may look digital on the surface, but beneath the apps, most financial systems still rely on decades-old static rails. Quant Flow changes that. It brings intelligence to money itself - turning it into a programmable instrument embedded with code, not spreadsheets. This gives banks fintech-level agility without compromising on resilience, compliance or core stability,' says Gilbert Verdian, CEO and Founder of Quant. Quant Flow enables banks to: • Defend their client and market share to differentiate and innovate by offering smarter financial products like dynamic account options, automated money management tools, and custom products and services built around each customer's needs. • Rapidly test and roll out innovative new banking features quickly using PayScript®, a purpose-built language that makes creating new banking and financial products as easy as a few lines of code. • Remove friction by automating repetitive tasks such as currency conversions and cash flow adjustments based on real-time data, saving time and reducing risk. • Automate compliance processes across regions, making it easier to stay on top of changing regulations. With Quant Flow, banks can also offer their corporate business clients more control and insight over their finances. From smart automation to real-time dashboards, businesses can move from reactive to proactive financial decision-making that drives growth. Key benefits of programmable money for corporates and businesses include: • Smarter cash management. They can set programmable rules that automate things like currency conversions, tax payments, or loan repayments as events or triggers - taking advantage of market conditions, saving time and reducing human error. • Access to live financial data. They can access up-to-the-minute dashboards offering a clear picture of financial health and liquidity, helping CFOs to automate and make better decisions. • Faster, cheaper global payments. They can automate international transactions - in both traditional currencies and stablecoins - for smoother, faster payments at lower cost. • Streamlined compliance. They can eliminate manual tasks with rule-based automation for taxes, reconciliation, and reporting. David Yates, former President of Mastercard, Western Union and First Data and Vocalink Chair says: 'The world is digital—yet money remains stuck in the past. Quant Flow redefines how money works—it's intelligent, automated and efficient. Banks can deliver features that traditional systems can't match, and businesses can transform their financial operations by transforming simple transactions into next-generation workflows. Programmable money is the next generation of finance – and it's here today.' 'Quant Flow marks a fundamental shift in the way we think about money,' concludes Verdian. 'We're not simply adding features, we're creating an intelligent financial operating system fit for the digital economy. For banks, businesses, and the broader industry, this is a move from transactional finance to programmable finance, and it's built to transform.'
