Inside the ‘Qatargate’ graft scandal rocking the EU | Financial Times

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People close to the investigation suspect the cash received by Panzeri and Giorgi was used to pay off others. “Otherwise they would have wired the money to offshore bank accounts,” says one person.

From Inside the ‘Qatargate’ graft scandal rocking the EU | Financial Times:

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Sber to carry out Pay Sticker user testing – ThePaypers

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Russia-based Sberbank has announced that in February 2022 it will launch one its largest Pay Sticker technology mass testing, offered to users free of charge.

Pay Stickers enable one-tap NFC payments without the need to install any apps.

From Sber to carry out Pay Sticker user testing – ThePaypers:

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Barclaycard sticker

Turkish sticker

Not everyone wants app.

Key fob

Physical wallets in decline as smartphone payments accelerate

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Half (51%) of people in the UK think physical wallets will become less relevant as digital ways to pay become more popular, according to new research from Mastercard.

The data points to a decline in physical wallets, as 21% saying they don’t expect to carry a wallet or purse within the next five years – rising to 38% among Millennials.

The findings come as data points to a global increase in the adoption of digital payment methods. 93% of consumers will consider using alternative means of payment, including contactless, QR code, biometric payments, and cryptocurrency transactions in the next year. This uptick in digital coincides with the continuing downward trajectory of cash usage in the UK – a decade ago around 60% of payments were made in cash, and UK Finance estimates that this figure will fall to 6% by 2031.

The Mastercard research shows that this is particularly the case among young people. A third (31%) of 18-24 year olds say that the digital wallet on their phone is their preferred way to pay, compared to just 5% of those aged 55+, more than half (55%) of 18-34 year olds would rather just carry their phone in place of a wallet or purse, and 41% of Gen Z say they don’t expect to ever buy a physical wallet or purse again

From Physical wallets in decline as smartphone payments accelerate:

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Clothing invented to trick CCTV into thinking people are animals | Metro News

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Start-up firm Cap-able describes its Manifesto Collection – including a £252 T-shirt, £370 sweater and £245 jogging bottoms – as ‘a wearable algorithm to protect our identity’.

The knitted fabric is woven with ‘adversarial patches’ which protect biometric face data and confuse AI computers into wrongly categorising the wearer as a dog, zebra or giraffe.

From Clothing invented to trick CCTV into thinking people are animals | Metro News:

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SSI Doesn’t Mean Accounts Are Going Away

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I don’t think accounts are going away anytime soon simply because they are a necessary part of the relationship I have with many businesses. I want them to remember me and react to me in the context of the interactions we’ve had in the past. SSI offers new ways of supporting relationships, especially ephemeral ones, that means companies need to store less.

From SSI Doesn’t Mean Accounts Are Going Away:

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8.6M fake ID users in UK: GBG report | Biometric Update

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Over eight million people in the UK have taken advantage of fake, fraudulent or someone else’s identity to access goods, services or credit.
The data comes from a report commissioned by GBG and undertaken by Censuswide. The survey was taken by 2,000 UK consumers following the Online Safety Bill returning to Parliament. The release of the reports hints at the urgency of passing the bill, which includes the enforcement of age limits and age-checking measures, and could lead to widespread use of biometrics for age verification or estimation.
“Underage kids are getting access to gambling, alcohol and porn sites, and also running up huge debts without fully understanding the consequences and, very often, at the expense of their parents,” says Gus Tomlinson, chief product officer of EMEA at GBG, commenting on the figures.
In fact, while 16 percent (8.6 million if scaled up to the national level) of all respondents admitted to having used fake identities, the number was higher (33 percent) for young people in the UK (16-24).

From 8.6M fake ID users in UK: GBG report | Biometric Update:

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A Framework for Currency Unions and IMF Lending

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Countries benefit in various ways from belonging to a currency union—a group of countries that share a single currency. Businesses can trade and invest across borders more easily. Member countries gain access to larger markets without facing currency risk. And in some circumstances, currency unions can help support their members when they are hit by external shocks.

But there are also costs to membership: countries relinquish the independence to formulate monetary policy, which can complicate a country’s adjustment to a shock. At the same time, currency union institutions face their own constraints. Currency unions have a responsibility to serve the interests of all of their members; accordingly, changes to policies with a union-wide impact, like monetary policy, are guided by the needs of the union rather than any one single member.

From A Framework for Currency Unions and IMF Lending:

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Banks Launch “Wallet” (again) | Noyes Payments Blog

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One top 5 merchants said it this way “you have got to be kidding, I wanted to accept Zelle, consumers know what that is. There is no way I’m helping banks build another new brand. If consumers demand it, we will do it, but until that happens I’ll be on the sidelines.

From Banks Launch “Wallet” (again) | Noyes Payments Blog.

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Big Sur? Argentina and Brazil are planning a joint currency.

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It may then come as a surprise that during his first visit to Argentina as Brazil’s new President, Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva, raised the possibility of his country and Argentina pursuing a joint trading currency called the ‘Sur’ (or ‘South’). The stated purpose would be to promote bilateral trade rather than seeking a monetary union such as exists in the EU, and would involve state-backed loans from Brazilian banks active in Argentina and Argentina in turn collateralising this borrowing with commodities such as grains or natural gas1.

From Big Sur? Argentina and Brazil are planning a joint currency..

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