Deutsche Bank China approved as qualified primary dealer in open market business

Deutsche Bank (China) Co., Ltd. (Deutsche Bank China) has announced that it has received approval by the People's Bank of China (PBOC) to act as a qualified primary dealer for domestic open market businesses.

As the first Eurozone bank to obtain this qualification, Deutsche Bank China and PBOC will carry out open market business such as the repurchase of treasury bonds, policy financial bonds, spot bond transactions, central bank bill issuance and other trading instruments.

"The rapid development of the China market provides broad opportunities for global participants and Deutsche Bank will continue to deepen the China market, leverage its global network, and exercise best practice risk management to support the country’s continuous capital markets opening and development," said Rose Zhu, Chief Country Officer of Deutsche Bank in China."

Deutsche Bank says it is one of the most active foreign banks in China's inter-bank market. It already acts as market maker in the inter-bank bond market, bond settlement agent, and Bond Connect market maker. It is also one of two foreign banks that have qualifications as a Type-A lead underwriter for non-financial corporate debt financing instruments.  The bank’s full set of businesses are at the forefront of onshore foreign capital management.

 

Square Invoices now accept ACH payments

Square has announced businesses can now accept Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments on Square Invoices, in a move designed to bring convenience and payment flexibility to businesses and their customers alike.

ACH payment acceptance is another way that Square says it is meeting the needs of large businesses - particularly those with high ticket items where card processing fees can be cost prohibitive. Q1 beta data of Square Invoices sellers using ACH payments found that the average ACH transaction on Square Invoices was US$3,500. Additionally, a Q1 2021 survey conducted with Panel Fieldwork of 519 US active members of the buying/decision making group for business finance and operations found that 28% of larger businesses are looking to accommodate a larger volume of transactions as sales increase, while 25% were looking for ways to lower overhead. Finally, with lower transaction costs through ACH payments, businesses can reduce operational costs and ultimately save money.

"We absolutely love using ACH payments on Square Invoices since it offers our patients another way to pay that is convenient and smooth," said Renee Pickering, director of Strategy at Dr. Daniel Barrett Plastic Surgery. "ACH payments are seamless to implement and use on Square Invoices, with everything being handled on the back-end, and also offers us the opportunity to save on fees, which is a huge bonus."

"Large businesses need integrated, seamless tools that enable them to operate smarter and more efficiently, all while being able to save on expenses," said Ashley Grech, global head of Sales at Square. "ACH payments on Square Invoices allows us to compete for and better serve complex businesses like wholesalers, home and repair, and service providers that need lower transaction costs, while giving businesses another option in how they accept payments that ultimately brings huge benefits to them and their customers."

 

European Payments Council issues RfP for service provider for real-time fraud information platform

The European Payments Council (EPC), as a scheme manager, endeavours to adequately address fraud risks in the context of its Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) payment schemes. Therefore, in February 2021, the EPC decided to develop a SEPA-wide 'Malware Information Sharing Platform' (MISP) instance for real-time fraud information sharing with direct browser access by all SEPA payment scheme participants.

As part of this effort, the EPC has launched a public request for proposal to find a reliable independent service provider to which it can outsource the management and the maintenance of the EPC MISP instance.

Any potential service provider with a legitimate interest and meeting the eligibility criteria mentioned on the EPC website has until 28 May 2021 to submit an application.