The fight over the future of global payments

(Image: Getty)

Sat, 20 May 2023

Over the past two decades the ways people pay, receive and transfer money have changed beyond recognition. The revolution began in 2007 when m-pesa made it possible for Kenyans to make payments with a text message. In 2011 Alipay launched payment-by-QR-code in China, a system that has all but replaced cash in cities. Since then India’s state-led Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Brazil’s Pix have vastly widened access to the financial system among the poor. Globally, the use of notes and coins has been cut by a thi...

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