This week in transaction finance, Standard Bank became the first African bank authorised to clear Renminbi transactions, securing direct access to China's onshore financial system as trade between Africa and Asia continues to deepen. HSBC's TradeCash also went live in Singapore, giving sellers access to working capital without trade documentation.

Elsewhere, the IFC and Santander launched a $500 million risk-sharing facility to expand supply chain finance access for emerging-market suppliers, while Airwallex raised $320 million at an $11 billion valuation, underscoring the competitive pressure fintechs continue to place on incumbent transaction banks.

Read more on latest developments:

1. Standard Bank becomes first African bank authorised to clear Renminbi transactions

Standard Bank and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China were jointly authorised by the People's Bank of China on 26 June to clear Renminbi transactions in Africa, making Standard Bank the first Africa-based bank to receive this status. The two banks will operate jointly as the Renminbi Clearing Bank of Africa, with operational capacity to clear RMB across 19 African countries, building on Standard Bank's authorisation in November 2025 to participate in China's Cross-Border Interbank Payment System.

The clearing status gives Standard Bank's clients direct access to China's onshore financial system, including capital markets and payments infrastructure, at a time when Standard Bank's own Africa Trade Barometer shows Asian countries have become the preferred trade partner for 35% of surveyed African businesses, up from 24% in 2024, with China cited by 67% as the leading source of inputs.

2. HSBC scales document-free trade finance across key global hubs with TradeCash rollout

HSBC launched HSBC TradeCash in Singapore on 24 June, executing its first live transaction globally in the market, following earlier launches in Hong Kong and the UAE. TradeCash lets businesses upload sales invoice data via HSBCnet and draw down funds within minutes once approved, with no trade documentation required, giving sellers access to working capital sooner than a buyer's standard 30-day-plus payment cycle.

Singapore's role as a regional trade hub serving more than 4,000 regional headquarters makes it a strategically deliberate choice for the first live transaction, not merely the next stop on a rollout list. HSBC is building a paired buyer-seller digital financing architecture, TradePay and TradeCash together, rather than a single isolated product, reinforcing the credibility of that build-out.

3. IFC and Santander scale risk-sharing SCF for emerging-market suppliers

The IFC and Banco Santander launched a risk-sharing facility on 23 June to scale supply chain finance for emerging-market suppliers, covering up to $500 million in assets originated globally by Santander. The facility allows suppliers, who often face limited borrowing options on their own credit standing, to access financing based on the credit profile of their buyers instead. Over the next three years, the partnership is expected to support approximately $1.5 billion in supply chain finance transactions.

Supply chain finance is increasingly being positioned as development infrastructure as much as a corporate and transaction banking product. Multilateral risk-sharing partnerships may become a more common route for banks seeking to expand SME access in emerging markets without taking on the full credit risk themselves.

4. Crédit Agricole CIB launches AI-powered platform for trade finance ESG reporting

Crédit Agricole CIB introduced Smart Platform Assisted SustainablE (SPASE), an AI-powered trade finance platform that analyses transaction data to generate auditable environmental, social and governance metrics across suppliers, products and trade flows.

The platform integrates sustainability reporting directly into transaction banking workflows, reflecting how trade finance data is increasingly being used to support supply chain transparency and client decision-making, rather than ESG metrics being compiled separately from the transaction itself.

5. Nam A Bank joins ADB's Trade and Supply Chain Finance Programme

Vietnam's Nam A Bank signed an Issuing Bank Agreement with the Asian Development Bank on 25 June, joining ADB's Trade and Supply Chain Finance Programme to strengthen its trade finance capabilities and expand into international markets. The bank has secured nearly $300 million in international funding since the start of 2026 from partners including the International Finance Corporation, Symbiotics, BlueOrchard and responsAbility.

The agreement reflects how development finance institutions continue to work with commercial banks to expand trade finance capacity for SMEs participating in regional and global supply chains, particularly in markets like Vietnam where access to finance has lagged demand.

6. Treasury Prime broadens embedded banking cash access

Treasury Prime launched Prime Cash, a new feature powered by Green Dot's embedded finance platform that lets fintech partners offer customers cash deposits at more than 90,000 Green Dot Network retail locations across the United States, including Walmart, Walgreens and CVS. Customers generate a time-sensitive barcode within a fintech app, present it at a participating retailer, and have funds added to their digital account, typically within minutes.

The launch reflects how embedded banking is extending beyond digital account opening into nationwide cash access, combining fintech distribution with traditional retail infrastructure to reach customers who still rely on cash as a primary financial tool.

7. Nomentia strengthens multi-bank treasury connectivity

Nomentia partnered with Fides Treasury Services to offer multi-bank account statement collection as part of its broader bank connectivity offering. The partnership allows treasury teams to centralise account statement data across thousands of banks, addressing a persistent operational challenge in multi-bank environments where statements arrive in different formats and through different channels.

The tie-up improves liquidity visibility for corporate treasurers operating across multiple banking relationships, reinforcing the trend toward outsourced connectivity layers rather than banks or treasury teams building and maintaining bilateral bank connections themselves.

8. Swift advances retail cross-border payments implementation

Swift confirmed that more than 25 financial institutions are on track to go live under its new retail cross-border payments framework by the end of June, with more than 50 institutions supporting the broader initiative. The framework covers key remittance corridors including Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, Germany, India, Pakistan, Spain, Thailand, the UK and the US, and is designed to give consumers and small businesses upfront certainty on fees, full-value delivery and end-to-end traceability.

The move from announcement to live implementation marks an important milestone in correspondent banking modernisation, offering an early indication of operational readiness among the institutions rolling out the framework first.

9. FundPark expands HSBC-backed financing facility for digital SMEs

FundPark expanded its asset-backed securitisation facility with HSBC by $100 million, bringing the total facility size to $300 million and raising the company's total institutional funding capacity to more than $875 million. The expansion supports working capital financing for eCommerce businesses across Asia through FundPark's AI-enabled platform.

The deal reflects growing demand for structured funding partnerships that extend working capital to digital SMEs, allowing banks to participate in new origination models without relying solely on conventional bilateral lending.

10. Airwallex raises $320 million at $11 billion valuation to expand global payments infrastructure

Airwallex raised $320 million in Series H funding at an $11 billion valuation to accelerate global payments infrastructure, AI-enabled financial software and international business banking capabilities.

The investment underlines the growing competitive pressure from fintech providers expanding beyond payments into treasury, accounts, spend management and embedded financial services traditionally offered by transaction banks.

Transaction Finance Weekly is a regular briefing on developments shaping transaction banking, trade finance and supply chain finance globally.