This week, Wells Fargo announced plans to launch tokenised deposits for selected corporate and commercial clients. Deutsche Bank was appointed as an RMB clearing bank in Frankfurt, giving European institutions another route for direct RMB processing, clearing and settlement through a European-headquartered bank.

Elsewhere, RHB launched a bank-owned gateway connecting merchant payment acceptance with reconciliation and settlement, while Klarna went live on JP Morgan Payments’ US Commerce Platform. Maybank Singapore joined MAS’s work on programmable multi-currency settlement, BBVA upgraded its corporate banking channel and DBS launched a combined banking and advisory proposition for SMEs.

Read more on the week’s key developments:

1. Wells Fargo to launch tokenised deposits for corporate and commercial clients

Wells Fargo plans to launch tokenised deposits for selected corporate and commercial clients this autumn, initially supporting USD-to-GBP transactions. Integrated into its existing offering, the service will automatically route eligible payments through tokenised deposits and support round-the-clock transfers, settlement and conditional payments. Wells Fargo plans to expand to more clients, countries and currencies through 2027 and says the deposits will retain the regulatory protections and deposit-insurance eligibility of its existing products.

Wells Fargo is entering a market in which JP Morgan already offers JPMD, its USD deposit token, to institutional clients, while Citi and HSBC provide tokenised-deposit services for cross-border payments and liquidity management. Wells Fargo also participates in a shared initiative operated by The Clearing House and says its platform can support inter-chain connectivity in future offerings. Wider adoption will depend on interoperability across banks, currencies and platforms and integration with clients’ treasury and compliance processes.

2. Deutsche Bank gains direct RMB clearing role in Frankfurt

Deutsche Bank was appointed by the People’s Bank of China as an RMB clearing bank in Frankfurt. According to the bank, it is the first foreign bank in Europe to receive the designation. It will provide direct processing, clearing and settlement for cross-border RMB transactions involving European financial institutions and businesses. The services will cover payments, liquidity management, trade finance and investment, supported by direct access to China’s payment infrastructure and RMB liquidity.

The appointment adds direct clearing to Deutsche Bank’s existing RMB network. The bank has participated directly in China’s Cross-Border Interbank Payment System since 2015 and operates RMB capabilities across Frankfurt, London, Singapore and Hong Kong. It also adds another Frankfurt-based clearing option following Bank of China’s designation in 2014. Direct clearing can reduce the need to route transactions through correspondent banks in other financial centres and may strengthen competition in European RMB services, although Deutsche Bank has not disclosed expected transaction volumes or client take-up.

3. DBS brings banking and advisory support together under SME proposition

DBS SME Banking launched “DBS for SMEs” in Singapore on 5 August, combining onboarding workshops, one-to-one advice and industry programmes with cross-border payment, foreign exchange and financing benefits. SMEs can make payments to 190 countries in 132 currencies and lock in FX rates through SecureFX without a credit line. DBS is also expanding access to project and working-capital loans under the enhanced Enterprise Financing Scheme.

The proposition brings DBS’s existing payment and FX capabilities together with advisory programmes and expanded financing access as Singapore increases support for SME financing and overseas growth. This gives DBS more opportunities to build payment, FX and lending relationships as clients expand. Its impact will depend on take-up and financing extended, which the bank has not quantified.

4. BBVA upgrades Pivot Net, its digital banking channel platform

BBVA upgraded Pivot Net, the digital banking channel within its BBVA Pivot platform, adding improved account and payment management, payment tracking and confirmations, liquidity alerts and analytics. The 5 August update also expands Softoken, its mobile authentication solution for transaction authorisation, across Spain, Mexico, Colombia and Argentina, with Peru planned later this year. Future phases will introduce multi-country user administration, collections enhancements, expanded information downloads and a mobile app.

For businesses operating across BBVA’s markets, the upgrade provides a more consistent interface for viewing accounts, managing payments and monitoring liquidity. The benefit is greater consistency at the banking-channel level, rather than consolidation of underlying accounts or payment infrastructure, which BBVA has not claimed. It should therefore be viewed as a channel upgrade, with further multi-country functionality still under development.

5. Klarna goes live with JP Morgan Payments to expand flexible checkout for US merchants

Klarna went live on JP Morgan Payments’ Commerce Platform on 6 August, making its flexible checkout options available to eligible US merchants through JP Morgan’s payment infrastructure. Consumers can choose among immediate payment, deferred payment, instalment and longer-term financing options, subject to eligibility. The launch implements an agreement announced by the companies in April 2025.

For JP Morgan Payments, the integration expands the payment methods available through its existing merchant-acquiring relationship. For Klarna, it adds a distribution channel through JP Morgan’s Commerce Platform. The initial scope is limited to US merchants and dollar transactions, with merchants required to complete onboarding before offering Klarna at checkout.

6. RHB launches a unified payment gateway for business customers

Malaysian lender RHB Bank launched RHB PAY on 5 August, a bank-built and operated gateway combining card acceptance with PayNet-operated FPX and DuitNow Pay through one integration. Its merchant portal provides transaction monitoring, automated reconciliation and consolidated settlement reporting. RHB describes it as Malaysia’s first bank-owned payment gateway and plans to add e-wallets, QR payments, Direct Debit and Auto Debit in the fourth quarter of 2026.

Owning the gateway gives RHB greater control over merchant onboarding, transaction data and service development, while creating scope to connect payment flows with cash management, financing and trade-finance services. RHB said 20 businesses had joined the pilot by launch. The commercial test will be how quickly it expands beyond this initial base and converts merchants’ payment activity into wider banking relationships.

7. First Citizens consolidates CIT working-capital businesses under new group

First Citizens Bank will bring its factoring, asset-based lending, supply chain finance, international factoring and receivables-purchasing businesses together under a new Working Capital Finance group. The businesses, which currently operate as CIT Commercial Services, are scheduled to adopt the new group and First Citizens Bank brands in the fourth quarter of 2026. The group will operate within the Commercial Bank alongside its treasury, liquidity-management and international-banking capabilities.

The announcement consolidates and rebrands existing CIT businesses rather than introducing new financing products or additional committed capacity. Bringing factoring, receivables finance, asset-based lending and supply chain finance under one group could make it easier to connect these services with First Citizens’ treasury and liquidity-management relationships.

8. Maybank Singapore joins MAS cross-border settlement initiative

Maybank Singapore joined the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Borderless, Liquid, Open, Online, Multi-currency (BLOOM) initiative on 6 August. BLOOM is developing common approaches to settlement using tokenised bank liabilities and regulated stablecoins. Maybank’s participation builds on its March pilot with Yinson Holdings under Bank Negara Malaysia’s Digital Asset Innovation Hub, which combined tokenised deposits with on-chain MYR–SGD foreign-exchange conversion and a near-real-time payment from Malaysia to Singapore on Maybank’s permissioned blockchain.

BLOOM gives Maybank a role in developing common approaches to programmable, multi-currency settlement beyond its earlier bilateral MYR–SGD pilot. Common standards could eventually support flows across institutions and digital assets.

9. BRICS ministers adopt credit-assessment principles for export-oriented MSMEs

At the 16th BRICS trade ministers’ meeting, which concluded in Jaipur on 7 August, ministers adopted Guiding Principles for Credit Assessment Frameworks for Export-Oriented Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). Under the Jaipur Consensus, they also agreed to study a BRICS Invoice Discounting Mechanism. The measures form part of the group’s Workplan on the Internationalisation of MSMEs and seek to address trade-finance constraints. The Indian government cited an estimated global trade-finance gap of about $2.5 trillion, with smaller enterprises disproportionately affected.

The credit-assessment principles provide a reference point for financial institutions evaluating export-oriented MSMEs, but do not themselves create additional financing capacity. A BRICS invoice-discounting mechanism could provide another working-capital channel if implemented. It remains at the study stage, with no operating model, committed capacity or timetable established.

10. Westpac ends corporate bank-cheque issuance through Payments Processing System

Westpac stopped issuing bank cheques through its Payments Processing System (PPS) on 4 August for corporate and institutional clients, including cheques issued through PaymentsPlus, Corporate Online, WIBS and iLink. The bank is directing clients toward alternative digital payment methods including electronic funds transfer, Osko, real-time gross settlement, Direct Entry and virtual cards. Clients can continue using other payment services through their PPS facilities.

For Westpac’s corporate transaction-banking business, the change shifts specific cheque-based payment flows onto existing digital rails instead of introducing a new payment capability. PPS accounts with unpresented bank cheques will remain open until those cheques have been presented or the bank advises that further action is required. The immediate operational change is therefore limited to bank-cheque issuance.

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