Dec 19, 2017  -  Bitcoin: Flipping the Coin  - You must be familiar with the above quote if you’ve watched the Christian Bale movie The Big Short. Does that mean the Bitcoin is a bubble waiting to burst? Maybe. The truth is no one knows just yet. It’s difficult to assess whether something is a bubble by simply reading the news or following the market. So, let’s begin by understanding what is a Bitcoin? Bitcoin is a decentralized, digital cryptocurrency. Confused? Let’s take an example. Let’s say that you are ordering headphones from Amazon via a seller and you want…

17 Nov 2017  - American Express business customers will be able to then to make “instant, trackable, cross-border payments” to Santander UK accounts.  American financial services giant American Express has announced that it has teamed with Ripple and Santander UK to develop a blockchain-based solution for instant business-to-business cross-border payments between the US and the UK. In a statement published today, the US revealed that Ripple’s blockchain technology had been integrated into its FX International Payments (FXIP) platform, meaning that payments made by business customers of the service will now be routed through Ripple’s enterprise blockchain network, known as RippleNet. …

The Sunday Times Business Section Cover Story today headline "Banks brace for DISRUPTION".  The accompanying article, wrtten by Rob Stock,  takes a look at the advent of "open banking", technology. This is technology  that could spell the end of the massive profits the banking giants have been raking in,he writes.  Embraced in Europe, with a former ASB banker leading the way,  here in New Zealand the banks appear to have responded with a deafening silence.     Open banking is the term used for interface systems like Revolut, which offer payments, money management and banking services, without being a bank.  Well worth…

Following others in the financial services industry, Mastercard unveiled its own blockchain distributed ledger for cross-border payments. Mastercard is launching its own blockchain network to enable partner banks and merchants to make cross-border payments faster and more securely. The Mastercard blockchain service can be used to clear credit card transactions, eliminate administration tasks using smart contract rules and thus, speed transaction settlement. "By combining Mastercard blockchain technology with our settlement network and associated network rules, we have created a solution that is safe, secure, auditable and easy to scale," Ken Moore, executive vice president for Mastercard Labs said in a…

New Ripple (XRP) gateway being developed by Ripple Exchange LLC.  The company goal is to allow everyone to have the opportunity to purchase and sell XRP in a fast, secure, affordable, and enjoyable way. It was announced from a California-based company Ripple Exchange, LLC that their new Ripple (XRP) gateway will be unveiled this month around the time of the inaugural Ripple Conference known as Swell. The company shows limited information but on a timeline from their official website, it’s documented that back in April they began development and experimenting with Ripple blockchain integration and started creating some test applications…

International payments provider Veem has announced an integration with New Zealand cloud-based accounting software Xero. The integration will enable Xero users and accounting professionals to automatically sync vendor bills from Xero into Veem to streamline international payments, save time and money, and limit human errors. With the Veem integration, Xero users can seamlessly pay international bills through the Xero platform. When a user enters a bill in Xero, the bill automatically can be paid through Veem’s global payment platform. The Veem platform supports global payments in US Dollars as well as multiple currencies to over 60 countries. Users are able…