Catch up on Finextra’s most-read Payments stories from last month.
Australian banks launch nationwide Confirmation of Payee scheme
Confirmation of Payee (CoP) has officially arrived in Australia, with Australian banks having started the roll-out of the nationwide scheme early in July. Even though Australia is one of the only countries where scam losses were reducing, banks have invested
$100 million in the name-matching technology to further drive down losses.
Bank of England mulls shelving of digital pound
The BofE is allegedly willing to step back from the digital pound if private businesses continue to roll out new electronic-payment technologies. According to sources from Bloomberg, staff believe the gains from moving ahead with the launch have diminished,
and have instead been privately urging the industry to accelerate payment innovations that could result in similar benefits.
The Finextra news desk writes: “The Bank's current thinking is in stark contrast to that taken by the European Central Bank, which is accelerating work on a digital euro
to keep up with the ‘ambitious pace’ set by EU leaders. The project's urgency increases in the face of geopolitical challenges, including an increasingly hostile United States under Donald Trump.”
PayPal unveils integration with domestic wallets across the world
PayPal has announced multiple global partnerships to integrate many of the world’s largest digital wallets and payment systems in a single platform. Named Paypal World, the new initiative aims to connect almost two billion users globally and is designed
to transform the way people send money in-store online, as well as with AI agents across borders. Launch partners, apart from PayPal, include Venmo, Mercado Pago, NPCI International Payments Limited (UPI), and Tenpay Global.
PayPal unveils 'Pay with Crypto' feature
It has been a busy month at PayPal. The company also announced a new service, called Pay with Crypto, to enable US businesses to accept payments in over 100 cryptocurrencies. The service, which is expected to become available within weeks, will let customers
pay with cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as stablecoins including USDC. They will also be able to use wallets such as Coinbase and MetaMask. The service is designed to simplify cross-border commerce for merchants by allowing payments
in crypto to automatically convert to fiat or stablecoin, and also help cut transaction fees by up to 90% when compared to credit cards.
$17 million taken in TikTok ATM scam
Earlier in July, a fault in a youth job programme card scheme allowed $17 million to be withdrawn and lost across New York City. The programme had issued around 30,000 cards to 14-to 24-year-olds who could not be paid via direct deposit, and were only designed
to give users access to that week’s earnings. However, a fault allowed users to withdraw as much as $40,000 per ATM. As the fault went viral on social media, some users even sold their cards for $1,000.
Mastercard unveils A2A Protect in the UK
As account-to-account (A2A) payment fraud has soared to £592 million in the UK last year, Mastercard has rolled out a new service to help banks protect consumers from A2A payment fraud and resolve disputes. A2A Protect will initially focus on the most pressing
concerns, such as Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud. The service also includes a uniform procedure for banks to resolve disputes and recover funds, across multiple use cases. Future phases will, among other features, include processes for recovering funds
across a broader range of scenarios.
Bailey and Reeves clash over Revolut banking licence - FT
In July 2024, Revolut finally won its hard-fought-for UK banking license. The approval triggered a 'mobilisation' stage while building out its controls and infrastructure, which was expected to end after 12 months. However, in July 2025, the approval anniversary
came and went without an update. The Financial Times reports that efforts to accelerate Revolut's authorisation as a fully-licenced bank failed over a clash between The Bank of England governor Andrew John Bailey and chancellor Rachel Reeves. The Treasury
commented in the FT: “The chancellor and the governor have a strong and productive relationship and the government fully supports the operational independence of the Bank of England.” The BoE and Revolut declined to comment.