EMEA Daily: EU Unveils New BNPL Rules

In today’s top stories from Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the European Union prepares new rules for buy now, pay later (BNPL) companies that would reduce their transparency requirements.

Also, the Bank of England gives out a report card to lenders on their plans for a banking failure, and Morocco’s Chari acquires retail app Diago.

EU Council’s Amendments to Consumer Credit Bill Favor BNPL Providers

The EU Council has agreed to revise of the consumer credit directive (CDD), with new rules that could reduce transparency requirements for BNPL providers.

The existing CCD, introduced in 2008, covers the most consumer loans, ranging in from 200 euros to 75,000 euros in value.

However, loans under 200 euros fall outside its scope, which means most BNPL loans aren’t covered by existing rules. The proposed amendment would change this by including BNPL schemes, payday loans, short-term overdrafts, interest-free credits and loans that are provided by crowd-lending platforms.

BOE: UK Banks Need to Show They Can Fail ‘Safely’

Three of the largest lenders in the U.K. have more work to do to prove they could fail without harming customers and taxpayers, the Bank of England (BOE) announced.

The BOE has conducted an assessment to determine if HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group and Standard Chartered had made the right preparations to manage their — theoretical — collapse.

The regulator made it clear that while there were many areas where the lenders could improve, they could potentially fail while still “remaining open and continuing to provide vital banking services to the economy.”

Morocco’s Chari Buys Retail App Diago

Moroccan B2B eCommerce platform Chari has purchased Diago, a retail app that is headquartered in Ivory Coast.

The all-stock deal will keep Diago founders Amidou Diarra and Ali Ouattara remain in place as the company’s chief operating officer and CEO, with the founders overseeing local business growth before branching out to other Sub-Saharan African countries.

“Diago’s entire team will receive Chari’s full support functions,” said Cyrille Jacques, vice president of Chari, who heads the company’s international expansion. “Chari’s Casablanca back office will help the Diago team in setting up operations, IT tools and customer service.”

UK Government Pushes for Crypto Sandbox, Stablecoin Regulation

In an effort to become a worldwide “crypto hub,” the U.K. is preparing to begin testing crypto blockchain technology in financial markets activities like trading and settlement.

The country’s finance ministry says the U.K. is taking a number of steps to promote blockchain use and crypto assets, and is creating friendly regulatory environment to entice investors.

Gwyneth Nurse, the ministry’s director general for financial services, said the use of distributed ledger technology (DLT), the underlying technology used by crypto assets, is a crucial priority for making financial market innovation. That’s why the U.K. is set to launch a regulatory sandbox in 2023 to test DLT projects.

MFS Africa CEO: Prepaid Cards Open World of Online Payments to Millions in Africa

The ability to make seamless international payments varies from location to location, an imbalance that payments firm MFS Africa wants to set right.

Speaking to PYMNTS, MFS Africa founder and CEO Dare Okoudjou said one of the ways his company is working to correct the issue is through its acquisition of U.S. FinTech Global Technology Partners (GTP) to offer access to global companies like Netflix and Amazon that millions in Africa have lacked the card credentials to deal with online.

The deal will let consumers and merchants in the region who store money on mobile phones or on digital wallets get prepaid virtual card to make seamless card payments to these global companies that have evaded them until now.

FLEETCOR Buys UK’s Cross Border Payments Provider Global Reach Group

Global business payments company FLEETCOR Technologies is set to acquire Global Reach Group, a cross-border payments provider based in the U.K.

FLEETCOR says the deal will help it boost its cross-border payments capabilities, with the sale expected to close in the fourth quarter of the year.

“Global Reach is a fantastic addition to our existing cross-border business that can be quickly integrated into our global business,” said Ron Clarke, FLEETCOR’s chairman and CEO. “We anticipate the deal to be immediately accretive post-close with additional synergies to layer in during year two.”