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With untraceable cash, tax returns become voluntary.

Cash pilgrims and bricks of money: HSBC Swiss bank operated like cash machine for rich clients | Business | The Guardian:

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Payments platform Stripe announced on Thursday its Stripe Issuing, which is an API that allows users to create and control virtual and physical cards, is now open to all U.S. businesses.

Stripe’s API “Stripe Issuing” Now Open to All U.S. Businesses:

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The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) gave the green light to an application from the FinTech firm Square to create a de novo industrial bank in Utah, the agency said on Wednesday (March 18).

Square Financial Services will originate commercial loans to the retailers that use Square for payments. The headquarters will be in Salt Lake City, Utah.

FDIC Approves Square For Banking License | PYMNTS.com:

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Rubén Rivera, the finance director of Puerto Rico’s Industrial Development Company, filed a complaint with local police yesterday that his government agency had mistakenly transferred the money into a bank account run by scammers.

Over $2.6 million was reportedly wired into the fraudulent bank account, after the agency received an email requesting a change to the bank account tied to remittance payments.

Puerto Rico government falls for $2.6 million email scam:

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“If I want to open an M-Pesa line,” he said, referring to the popular mobile payment service, “I can’t register without an ID. If I get a bit of money, I don’t have a place to put it. It’s necessary for me to keep it at home. And at home, it can be lost. I don’t have any kind of [bank] account.”

In Kenya, thousands left in limbo without ID cards – Coda Story:

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Enabling host countries to build or access refugee databases has often stood in conflict with the humanitarian goals of the UNHCR.

In Kenya, thousands left in limbo without ID cards – Coda Story:

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Amina Ali Adan was born in the Kenyan town of Garissa, 65 miles away from Dadaab, one of the world’s largest refugee camps, situated near the Somali border. She is just one of tens of thousands of Kenyan citizens who have been registered as refugees — many while children. Now in her 30s and a mother of three, her life is defined by her lack of a Kenyan national ID.

In Kenya, thousands left in limbo without ID cards – Coda Story:

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“Estimates suggest that not even 1% of criminal funds flowing through the international financial system is confiscated,” says Colin Bell, group head of financial crime risk at HSBC.

What’s the new weapon against money laundering gangsters? – BBC News:

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Money laundering accounts for up to 5% of global GDP – or $2tn (£1.5tn) – every year, says the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

What’s the new weapon against money laundering gangsters? – BBC News:

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the great strategic risk for banks is competition from big tech, said Rafael Schiozer, a professor of economics at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation in São Paulo

Brazil’s banks face pincer threat from big tech and fintech | Financial Times:

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