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Doris Neuberger, head of the money and credit department at Germany’s University of Rostock. 

Neuberger claimed much more criminal activity is conducted with digital money than with cash. “Nowadays, the ideal medium for illegal drug transactions is not cash, but Amazon gift cards,” she said. “Gift tokens allow for anonymous payments anywhere in the world and, unlike cash, do not require a face-to-face transaction. The same holds for prepaid credit cards, which can be loaded with cash anonymously.”

From Germany Is Addicted to Cash.

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In 2019, the Bundesbank conducted a study on the extent of “illicit cash use” in Germany, in collaboration with Friedrich Schneider, a professor at the Johannes Kepler University Linz. It said that without more in-depth analysis it was “impossible to distinguish those stocks of banknotes that are being held as a store of value—and kept at home under the mattress totally legally and legitimately by every citizen—from illicit banknote stocks.” On average, a German hoards more than 1,300 euros at home or in a safe deposit box.

From Germany Is Addicted to Cash.

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Over the last couple of days several more Zambian nationals have been arrested at a makeshift fake-gold processing plant, and more arrests may well follow.

From Zambia-Egypt plane seizure: The cash and fake gold that no-one is claiming – BBC News.

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The total number of active payment cards in circulation reached 36.4 million on July 1, 2023, representing a tremendous growth rate of 20.4 percent over June 20, 2022.

Furthermore, the infrastructure for payment of goods and services has grown significantly. The number of merchants accepting payment cards has increased by 1.8 times, reaching 702,482 businesses by June 2023.

Furthermore, the number of POS terminals installed by enterprises and banks climbed by 1.4 times to 934,000 units. The QR code payment capability is supported by up to 90.7 percent of POS terminals on the market.

From Cashless Transactions Take Off In Kazakhstan | MENAFN.COM.

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In a significant development, according to Changchun Mu, director of the People’s Bank of China’s Digital Currency Research Institute, China’s CBDC, the digital yuan, is undergoing major upgrades.

Digital yuan integration for retail scenarios
Mu spoke at the China International Service Trade Fair, emphasising the importance of wallet providers enabling digital yuan payments in all retail scenarios.
Mu particularly addressed prominent commercial banking apps like WeChat and Alipay, reminding them of their obligation to adhere to regulatory standards.

From Bank of China mandates digital yuan integration for retail scenarios.

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By Rob MacDonald, VP product Marketing, 1Kosmos
In today’s digital era, the remote and hybrid work paradigm has introduced new risks when it comes to new employee onboarding. According to one survey, there has been a 92% increase in candidate fraud since the pandemic, which can compromise the security of an organization in various ways.

From Four ways digital identity is transforming employee onboarding | Biometric Update.

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U.S. lender exposure to synthetic identities is nearly $3 billion; Auto loans reach $1.8 billion representing more than 60% of total exposure to synthetic identities

From TransUnion Analysis Finds Synthetic Identity Fraud Growing.

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The London Stock Exchange Group has drawn up plans for a new digital markets business, saying this will make it the first major exchange to offer extensive trading of traditional financial assets on the blockchain technology best known for powering cryptocurrency.

Murray Roos, head of capital markets at the LSE Group, told the Financial Times that the company had been examining the potential for a blockchain-powered trading venue for about a year, and had reached an “inflection point” where it had decided to take the plans forward. It has asked Julia Hoggett, head of the London Stock Exchange, one unit in the broader group, to spearhead the project.

Roos stressed that his exchange was “definitely not building anything around cryptoassets” but was looking to use the technology that underpins popular tokens such as bitcoin to improve the efficiency of buying, selling and holding traditional assets.

“The idea is to use digital technology to make a process that is slicker, smoother, cheaper and more transparent . . . and to have it regulated,” Roos said.

From LSE Group draws up plans for blockchain-based digital assets business | Financial Times.

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Signal: India’s Paytm launches a $12 hybrid PoS and soundbox
Paytm, India’s largest digital payments company, announced yesterday (4 August) that it is launching a new point-of-sale (PoS) device, combining contactless and card payments with a soundbox.

Soundboxes, simply, are devices that make a sound when a transaction has been completed and are increasingly common in markets and other loud areas to help reassure both parties that payment is received.

TechCrunch reports that only 4 million shops across South Asia currently support card transactions compared to 8.5 million that have soundboxes, so the value of a reasonably priced device that integrates popular functionality is clear.

From Signal: India’s Paytm launches a $12 hybrid PoS and soundbox – GlobalData.

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With regulatory scrutiny increasing, more European fintechs are opting for a perpetual KYC approach instead of practicing periodic KYC. Perpetual KYC involves automating recurring KYC and KYB checks based on specific triggers, instead of at periodic intervals. Triggers might include an update to a customer’s personally identifiable information or a risky transaction. The potential benefits of implementing a perpetual KYC process include reduced operational costs, better fraud prevention and an improved customer experience.

From: Managing Identity Risk Is Critical To European Fintech’s Future.

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