Category: Economy

For years, Europe has been a mosaic of payment systems. Whether you were tapping your card, scanning a QR code, or using a local app, the experience often varied wildly from one country to the next. But a quiet revolution has been brewing, and its name is Wero – Europe's ambitious answer to fragmented payments and global tech giants. The Vision: One Europe, One Wallet Imagine a world where sending money to a friend in Paris is as easy as paying for groceries in Rome, all from a single, trusted app. That's the core promise of Wero, the sleek new digital wallet powered by the European Payments Initiative (EPI). It's more than just another payment app; it's a strategic move to build a truly European payment ecosystem, reducing our reliance…

BASEL – In an increasingly interconnected world, the ability to send and receive money across borders swiftly and affordably is more critical than ever. However, as highlighted by Piero Cipollone, Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB), in a recent speech at the BIS Annual General Meeting, cross-border payments remain plagued by high costs, slow transaction times, and emerging risks. Yet, a clear path forward is emerging, focusing on regional integration and the interlinking of fast payment systems globally. International transaction volumes are surging, outpacing global GDP growth. This underscores the vital role cross-border payments play in enabling trade, remittances, and investment. Despite some recent improvements, a quarter of global payment corridors still see costs exceeding 3%, and a third of retail cross-border payments took more…

Since spring 2023, Japan has been making significant efforts in its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) program. The initiative has been driven by two key objectives: testing technical feasibility and leveraging private sector expertise. A core focus of the pilot program has been to experiment with technical feasibility. This involves not only developing a robust system but also rigorously testing its performance to pinpoint and resolve any technical issue. These ongoing tests are crucial for ensuring the system can handle the demands of a real-world use of digital currency. Equally important has been the effort to utilize private sector expertise. The CBDC Forum has played a significant role here, discussions within working groups about modern retail payment practices and technologies. A standout feature has been the API Sandbox, which has…

The influence of the West has ended in Burkina Faso, and President Ibrahim Traoré's independent gold-backed currency, Sira, will replace the CFA Franc. Traoré's plan is to break all ties that kept Burkina Faso in economic servitude. Since 1945, Burkina Faso has had to exchange CFA Francs for US dollars before converting them into the intended African currency. This extra step increases the cost of intra-African currency transactions, creating unnecessary expenses instead of saving resources that could be used in many different ways. To establish Burkina Faso's new currency, Sira, and complete this mission, Traoré has taken another step by founding the Burkinabe Treasury Deposit Bank. Unlike other African countries that have central banks regulating their monetary systems, Francophone African countries do not have independent central banks. Instead, the Central…

The crisis continues and countries all over the world are bringing the world economy to its knees due to wars like the one in Ukraine, Israel and the latest conflict between Pakistan and India. Stagnation in the development of European countries after several years of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict led to a significant economic blow. The entire political situation of the EU is directly directed towards the war in Ukraine, neglecting their personal needs, EU members are increasingly stagnating in development. The de-industrialization of Germany begins and all thanks to the lack of energy resources that were imported from Russia. Despite efforts to remain the main engine of the European Union, Germany must address internal problems in order to avoid the collapse of its economy and to avoid falling production and…

After US tariffs EU started to think about its position on global market and finally realize that an independent EU is a strong EU. Regarding the evets who may occur in future a big giants company like Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, and Alipay under supervision of the country where they operate can harm the EU market. Smart move of Christine Lagarde, the president of the European Central Bank, who has called for transformation in Europe's payment system. Her bold vision? Creating a European alternative to the digital payment platforms currently dominated by U.S. and Chinese players like Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, and Alipay. Lagarde describes this initiative as a “march towards independence,” a strategic move to establish financial sovereignty across the EU and reducing the influence of American and Chinese companies on…

The announced start of a digital currency by the ECB is incorrect, and as such has met with harsh comments because a large part of the population across Europe does not want a digital currency. At a recent press conference, Christine Lagarde mentioned the deadline as well as the next phase of digital euro preparation (October 2025), leaving a message that resonated on the Internet as the media reported that the launch of the digital euro was inevitable. A large number of media as well as European parliamentarians commented on Christine Lagarde announcement as a claim that the digital euro will revive in October. This media claim is incorrect, according to Christine Lagarde, even if it spread like wildfire through the social network and other media, encountering harsh criticism from…

The consequences of the Covid19 pandemic have caused an avalanche of changes in the business operations around the world. Those consequences left a large number of offices vacant. A large number of employees received the news about online work with disbelief, however, after a long time, productivity began to decline. Several factors have highlighted the advantages and disadvantages of working online. One of the reasons why banks and funds are bringing their employees back to the office is the belief that more heads at one place mean more ideas. Interaction is the essential key to finding adequate solutions in an organizational structure. People of various professions are at the fingertips of the management. Brainstorming and direct communication with clients and colleagues at work has its advantages. While working in isolation…

Reserve bank of Australia has confirmed to start cutting interest rates this week but the economy won’t feel anything to the end of this year. The research and prediction of RBA has target to cut its interest to 4.10% next week after the board meeting on Monday and Tuesday. Australian NIEIR institute has stated that for next eight months’ inflation pressure won’t end. The reason for such inflation pressure that Australia feel is coming from USA, because of the tariffs impact. However, these pressures will be ended in 2026 from a world recession from interest rate rises caused by a meltdown in United States bond markets, thus forcing a 2nd global financial crisis. The cause of the 2nd global financial crisis will be the inability of the United States to…

Recent trade tensions between America and China will have a negative impact on the European Union. In addition to the fact that the trade war will help certain economies to get their economy back on their feet, a large number of analysts as well as bank board members around the world are looking at this situation with reserve. A recent speech by ECB chief Pierre Cipollone has worried central banks across Europe. According to him, reducing the interest rate is the goal of the ECB, but there is no need to hurry because the economy is slowly struggling with the economic crisis that is a consequence of Russian war with Ukraine and pandemic. Inflation is slowly calming down, so a possible reduction in interest rates is on the horizon. The…