J.P. Morgan enhances Asia Direct
J.P. Morgan has enhanced its Asia Direct US dollar clearing solution by adding more banks to the solution’s coverage. Customers now have direct access to members of the Philippines’ Domestic Dollar Transfer System. In addition, customers who could only make US dollar payments to Asia in the past are now also able to receive US dollar wire payments through the local US dollar clearing systems without maintaining a US dollar account within Asia.
“Asia Direct helps our clients re-examine their payment flows across the region and provides a solution that recognises that payments and collections are faster when settlement occurs locally,” said Susan Webb, executive vice-president at J.P. Morgan, in a statement. “Clients are able to leverage our services to provide value-added solutions to their own customers without the large investment in technology.”
The bank also reported that it has seen an increase in the number of financial institutional clients using Asia Direct.
Standard Bank introduces renminbi settlement
Standard Bank has announced that it now allows its customers to pay in renminbi when importing goods from China and receive renminbi payments into their accounts when exporting to China. Customers can now open renminbi accounts in South Africa to settle trade with designated Chinese companies in Beijing, Tianjin, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shandong, Hubei, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Chongqing, Sichuan, Yunnan, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Tibet and Xinjiang.
“The ability of Standard Bank customers to settle in Rmb has been made possible through Standard Bank’s strategic alliance with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and now enables Standard Bank clients to mitigate their exposure to the US dollar or other foreign currencies,” said Craig Bond, chief executive of Standard Bank, in a statement. “Customers involved in cross-border trade with China will be able to denominate their transactions with China in Rmb, reducing risk for the importer/exporter and thereby potentially improving the competitiveness and stability of pricing.”
According to the bank, Africa’s trade with China has doubled every three years since 2000 and trade with China currently accounts for more than two-thirds of Africa’s trade with the Bric (Brazil, Russia, India, China) countries.
PayPal partners with RHB
PayPal has signed an agreement with RHB Banking Group to provide two new payment services for RHB customers in Malaysia. According to RHB, it is the first bank in Malaysia to allow its customers to use their bank account to instantly top-up their PayPal account with the Top-Up service and also the first bank in Asia-Pacific to let its customers send real-time payments, with the Send Money service, from their bank accounts to any e-mail address via PayPal’s open platform.
“The RHB Banking Group is proud and honoured to be a part of this esteemed collaboration with one of the world’s leading brands, PayPal. We are making internet banking simpler for our customers with these two new payment services and the experience of the PayPal team was profoundly beneficial to the RHB team,” said Tan Sri Azlan Zainol, chair of RHB Bank, in a statement. “The journey has only just begun; we realise that there is so much more coming that will change the landscape of the banking industry and the e-commerce market in Malaysia.”
I-Financial launches Cumulus
Banking software, solutions and services provider, International Financial Systems (i-Financial) has launched Cumulus, a new client cash management software. The new software allows companies that manage funds for clients to do so by retaining a single pooled account at one or more banks of their choice.
“We believe Cumulus will be of great interest to the banking community as well as to a wide range of customers with various degrees of client cash management responsibilities,” said Terry Day, chief executive of i-Financial, in a statement. “Our choice of name reflects our belief that it be run as a cloud application thus making it affordable to companies both large and small.”
