Payment Expert’s Fintech Unwrapped delivers the latest and developing news that has shaped the sector over the course of the week.
This week, PayPal is aiming to grow the exposure of its stablecoin, PYUSD; Airwallex has ambitions to expand in the Middle East; and a European neobank became the first to make its crypto trading service widely available across the continent.
PayPal’s PYUSD gains greater exposure
PayPal’s stablecoin, PYUSD, will now be available on Stable’s Layer-1 blockchain, the network which powers the largest stablecoin in the world, USDT.
Stable’s integration of PYUSD will use LayerZero‘s recent integration to bridge blockchains programmatically. The combination of Stable’s processing speeds and reduced fee structure will provide near instant settlement.
“This work with Stable reflects our commitment to expanding PYUSD’s utility across multiple blockchain ecosystems and driving adoption. Stable’s focus on fast, seamless financial transactions using stablecoins removes traditional friction points for users,” said David Weber, Head of PYUSD Ecosystem, PayPal.
Additionally, PayPal Ventures, the global venture arm of PayPal, has also invested in Stable’s latest funding round in July, which raised $28m.
Airwallex doubles down on Middle East
Airwallex is expanding in the Middle East after announcing on September 25 it had received a new licence enabling the financial platform to grow its regulatory, infrastructure and partner strategies.
In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Airwallex has secured In-Principle Approval for Stored Value Facilities and Retail Payment Services (Category II) Licences from the Central Bank of the UAE. This includes a Register of Stored Value Facilities (SVF) wallet with a limit that will support all businesses, including SMB use cases.
This will allow Airwallex to offer customers multi-currency accounts and global transfers, Payment Acceptance (PA), and Corporate Cards.
“We are building the future of global banking and finance, and when you consider the UAE’s 2031 Vision and Saudi Vision 2030, nowhere is more forward-looking than the Middle East,” said Jack Zhang, Co-Founder and CEO of Airwallex.
bunq first neobank to offer crypto across Europe
Europe’s second-largest neobank bunq has expanded its crypto service to become available in several European markets.
bunq Crypto will become available to customers in the Netherlands, France, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Ireland, Germany, as well as the wider EEA region.The crypto service offers crypto trading to earn up to 10% annually on selected cryptocurrencies.
“With flexible staking, they can now earn on the crypto they already own while keeping the freedom to buy, sell, or unstake anytime. We’re proud to be the first neobank to bring this to Europe,” said Joe Wilson, Chief Evangelist at bunq.
Paysafe’s digital wallets available to CMC Markets traders
Paysafe announced a new partnership with CMC Markets to broaden its range of payment options for traders in the European Economic Area (EEA), Southeast Asia, the Middle East and other global markets.
This will include Paysafe’s Skrill and Neteller in these markets, enabling CMC customers to use the digital wallets to fund their trading accounts, benefiting from a quicker payment solution tailored for traders
“Our digital wallets also have a long history serving the online trading community and are very popular with traders, so we look forward to facilitating transactions for new and existing customers of CMC Markets, as well as expanding the partnership into other global markets,” said Rob Gatto, Chief Revenue Officer at Paysafe,
PPRO provides localised payments for Temu users
PPRO has teamed up with Temu to bring local payment methods to consumers across Europe.
Via PPRO’s platform, Temu customers will be able to pay using their preferred local methods. The payment firm’s infrastructure allows Temu users to access a broad portfolio of local payment methods through a single integration.
“By offering the right local payment options, Temu can reduce cart abandonment, increase acceptance rates, and unlock new market opportunities,” said Tristan Chiappini, PPRO’s Senior Vice President APAC.
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