Author: Digital Trade Outlook

Ripple has partnered with Jeonbuk Bank, and the deal makes Jeonbuk the first regional bank in Korea to adopt Ripple Payments for cross-border remittances. It’s a shift for a segment that has relied on transfers taking days to clear. Bank transfers typically move through several intermediary banks on the SWIFT network, which is what makes them slow. Ripple Payments cuts that out. Settlement now happens in seconds to minutes, any time of day. For Jeonbuk Bank’s business customers, including import-export firms, IT startups, and online content creators, that means remittances that are faster, more transparent, and cheaper to send. Fiona…

Stanbic Bank Tanzania has launched a direct renminbi settlement service in Dar es Salaam, letting businesses trading with China pay and receive in Chinese currency. The move should cut transaction costs and ease bilateral trade. Tanzanian Deputy Minister for Industry and Trade Dennis Londo said the launch opens the door for local businesses to compete more effectively in international markets. Exports to China rose from 442.96 million U.S. dollars in 2024 to 512.6 million dollars in 2025, he noted, while imports climbed from 4.78 billion to 5.64 billion dollars. Those numbers show China’s weight as a trading partner, Londo said.…

The People’s Bank of China has appointed Deutsche Bank as a Renminbi clearing bank for Europe, operating from Frankfurt. It is the first foreign bank to receive the designation. Deutsche Bank will handle end-to-end processing, clearing and settlement of cross-border RMB transactions for European financial institutions and businesses, acting as a local bridge to China’s payment systems. The role strengthens RMB clearing infrastructure across Europe and widens access to offshore RMB liquidity for banks and corporates. The designation lets the bank offer direct RMB solutions across payments, liquidity management, trade finance and investment, with faster transactions and lower counterparty risk…

Botim has launched Mastercard One Credential in the UAE, the first rollout of the product anywhere across Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. One card, several funding sources, one interface. Eligible Botim cardholders can move between prepaid balances and credit, spend in multiple currencies, and split any purchase into installments without carrying a second card. The demand is measurable. Mastercard’s global consumer research found 83% of UAE consumers surveyed would use card installments through One Credential, and pointed to strong appetite for pulling payment options into a single capability. For first-time credit users, embedding credit access into a card…

PaymentWorks, the vendor identity platform for secure B2B payments, has introduced Payee Profile, a standardized, reusable credential that helps businesses manage the tax, banking and compliance information required to get paid. Vendor onboarding at many organizations still relies on customer-specific forms, fragmented workflows and repeated verification of the same sensitive data. Suppliers face a high-friction process, while finance, procurement and payments teams are left with an ongoing governance challenge. Payee Profile tackles that friction by giving payees a portable, authenticated profile they can securely reuse across business relationships. For payers, it establishes a trusted vendor record before sensitive identity, tax…

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) plans to invest up to 750 million euros ($866 million) in an unfunded risk-sharing facility with Deutsche Bank to support trade finance transactions involving emerging market banks, according to a project disclosure. Known as GTLP DB Global, the project will cover a portfolio of at least 1 billion euros in trade finance assets between Deutsche Bank and emerging market issuing banks (EMIBs), giving importers and exporters across developing markets greater access to trade finance. According to the IFC, “by sustaining DB’s ability to provide trade finance services despite major macroeconomic challenges, the Project is intended…

Société Générale has appointed Joseph Chia as Head of Supply Chain Management for Asia Pacific, strengthening its transaction banking franchise as corporate demand shifts toward working capital and open-account trade solutions. Based in Singapore, Chia takes the role with immediate effect. He reports regionally to Soo Tat Kua, Head of Global Transaction and Payment Services for Asia Pacific, and globally to Aurélien Viry, CEO of Société Générale Factoring. The hire lands as corporates across the region move away from documentary trade finance toward open-account structures, pushing supply chain finance up the transaction banking agenda. Chia will oversee the bank’s accounts…

Citi has launched Citi Consolidate, an invoice processing solution powered by Infor Nexus, Infor’s multi-enterprise supply chain network, to digitise trade processes for corporate buyers and their suppliers. The solution pulls invoice approval, purchase order, and payables processes into a single end-to-end digital flow. Invoice creation, reconciliation, and payment approvals have long been fragmented manual tasks that could take weeks, leaving buyers short of data and suppliers short of financing. Citi Consolidate aims to improve straight-through processing, cut approval times, and speed access to working capital. “Citi Consolidate demonstrates our relentless commitment to driving innovative solutions to help our clients…

Onafriq has partnered with digital asset infrastructure provider Privy to expand stablecoin payments across Africa. The deal embeds Privy’s infrastructure into Onafriq’s ecosystem and adds stablecoin capabilities for businesses across its network. Phase one focuses on cross-chain stablecoin transfers, treasury optimization and settlement — setting up faster cross-border transactions and better liquidity management across African markets. Cross-border payments in Africa have long been slowed by fragmented systems, multiple intermediaries and slow settlement. As businesses hunt for faster, cheaper options, stablecoins are stepping in to cut delays and improve liquidity. Through Privy’s infrastructure, Onafriq gives banks, fintechs and mobile money operators…

AI-native financial infrastructure provider Lianlian has completed Greater China’s first live B2B agentic transaction. The payment was executed by LoopXPay, Lianlian’s AI agent, with support from Visa’s Agentic Directory for trusted AI agent interactions. In the transaction, the LoopXPay agent sourced a product sample from a supplier and completed the purchase in a single workflow — identifying the requirement, recommending suppliers, comparing options, placing the order and securely executing the payment, all within pre-defined spending controls and approval parameters. LoopXPay is registered in Visa’s Agentic Directory, which lets participating businesses and merchants identify verified AI agents in the ecosystem. Supporting…