Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) have largely existed in the virtual realm, with transactions initiated primarily through web and mobile interfaces. However, a significant shift has occurred with the launch of Eurasia’s first CBDC cards in Kazakhstan, providing 20 million consumers with a new, tangible way to manage CBDC funds. The first CBDC card transaction in Eurasia was successfully made on 15 November 2023. It was a contactless payment on POS using a card issued by Eurasian Bank JSC on the Way4 digital payments software system. This marked a milestone in the region’s digital currency journey. Today, just six months…
Author: Rudy Gunawan, Managing Director of OpenWay Asia
Author
Rudy Gunawan, Managing Director of OpenWay Asia
Rudy has been active in the payment industry for 20 years, serving as a consultant to businesses in the Middle East and Asia Pacific. In his current leadership role at OpenWay, he oversees the company's operations in Asia while promoting the board's stategic initiatives. Rudy, who started his career as a process and technology consultant, is focused on people, innovation and corporate strategy. His passion is converting technology and ideas into better, everyday use.
Cross-border merchant acquirers are busier than ever after the pandemic accelerated e-commerce worldwide. Moreover, they are getting a boost from global tourism, which is now “on track for full recovery” in 2023, according to the international arrivals data of U.N. World Travel Organization. So the competition for cross-border payment processing is tougher than ever. But too often, incumbents are losing merchants to startups and even former partners – independent software vendors (ISV), independent sales organisations (ISOs) and payment service providers (PSPs) that have become licensed as acquirers. In a 2022 report on payments disruptors, McKinsey concludes that merchant acquirers must…
In the digital payments industry, everyone is competing like Olympic sprinters. It took digital bank Timo in Vietnam only 4 months to launch an award-winning API-based payment system on AWS, with a unique human-touch concept that targets 5 million cardholders. South-Korean conglomerate LOTTE entered a new market as a BNPL disruptor with near-instant loan approval. Enfuce, which offers Card-as-a-Service (CaaS), onboarded B2B clients in 8 weeks. What do these winners have in common? Digital banking and payment software vendor OpenWay has analysed the best practices of digital banks and cloud processors, both disruptors and incumbents, whose cards are issued on…