Lloyds Banking Group is making instant, cross-border payments possible, thanks to a partnership with global secure financial messaging services provider SWIFT.

The U.K.-based bank announced it is the first bank to go live with SWIFT’s gpi Instant Connection, a new service that helps consumers and businesses send money in seconds across the globe.

gpi, which stands for Global Payments Initiative, was launched in 2017 to facilitate international payments. Since then, SWIFT has amassed more than 4,000 financial institution clients who collectively use gpi to send more than $300 billion each day in more than 150 currencies.

“At Lloyds Bank we strive to continually evolve and create innovative solutions for our clients,” said Ed Thurman, Managing Director and Head of Global Transaction Banking at Lloyds Banking Group. “The gpi Instant service is set to be a game changer in cross-border payments and we are very excited to be the first bank globally to offer the service here into the U.K.”

The new service leverages SWIFT gpi, SWIFT’s high-speed cross-border rails, and connects with a country’s own real-time infrastructure. In Lloyds’ case, SWIFT gpi is connecting with the U.K.’s Faster Payments, the region’s own real-time payments initiative.

“We developed gpi Instant with our community through responsible innovation and equal emphasis on four core needs — speed, security, transparency and compliance,” said David Watson, Chief Strategy Officer at SWIFT. “We look forward to continuing our work with market infrastructures and financial institutions to bring the benefits of seamless cross-border payments to customers across the globe.”

The launch with Lloyds comes after SWIFT tested out the service earlier this year in a pilot with Lloyds, Barclays, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, DBS, Wells Fargo, and BBVA. The real-time payments capabilities are part of SWIFT’s new strategy to retool cross-border infrastructure to facilitate instant and frictionless transactions.

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Taking the opportunity to seize a fresh start that comes with a new year, Facebook’s Libra Association has rebranded to Diem Association.

The group chose the name Diem, which is Latin for “day” to signal a new day for the association. The rebrand will not change the mission of the organization, which is to build a safe, secure, and compliant payment system. The move will, however, serve as a way of “reinforcing its organizational independence.”

“The Diem project will provide a simple platform for fintech innovation to thrive and enable consumers and businesses to conduct instantaneous, low-cost, highly secure transactions,” said the Diem Association’s CEO Stuart Levey. “We are committed to doing so in a way that promotes financial inclusion – expanding access to those who need it most, and simultaneously protecting the integrity of the financial system by deterring and detecting illicit conduct. We are excited to introduce Diem – a new name that signals the project’s growing maturity and independence.”

As Levey suggests, the new name serves as a way for Diem to distance itself from Facebook, which initiated the association in June of 2018. This isn’t the first time the group has attempted to disassociate itself with Facebook. In May, the association changed the name of the Diem digital wallet from Calibra to Novi.

In addition to the rebrand, the Diem Association and its subsidiary that serves as the regulated payment system operator, Diem Networks, is reinforcing its ranks. The group has appointed Dahlia Malkhi as the Association’s Chief Technology Officer, Christy Clark as Chief of Staff, Steve Bunnell as Chief Legal Officer, and Kiran Raj as Executive Vice President for Growth and Innovation and Deputy General Counsel.

The news of the new hires comes on the heels of the company’s appointment of James Emmett as Managing Director, Sterling Daines as Chief Compliance Officer, Ian Jenkins as Chief Financial and Risk Officer, and Saumya Bhavsar as General Counsel.

Regardless of today’s seemingly upbeat news, Diem is still currently in limbo. The association is still waiting on regulatory approval, including a payment systems license for the operational subsidiary of the Association from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA).

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Global identity verification and authentication platform AU10TIX teamed up with ride sharing company Uber this week to make rides in certain areas a bit more safe.

Under a new program, Uber is requiring users in Mexico, Argentina, and Chile who pay for their ride in cash to scan an official identification such as their voting credentials, national ID, passport or driver’s license for verification.

“In the current business climate, more drivers and riders are wanting added reassurance for  cash payment options, and we want to give them that,” said AU10TIX active deputy chairman Ron Atzmon. “Working together with Uber, we are delivering on this with AU10TIX’s identity document verification technology that provides the reliability, efficiency and scalability required to help provide peace of mind.”

AU10TIX offers document verification, identity verification, KYC, and AML tools to firms in a range of industries. The company leverages deep learning-based image processing, biometric technology, and data, to offer an autonomous solution that increases risk assessors’ confidence to shut down fraud before it occurs.

This week’s news marks a continuation of an existing relationship between the two players. Uber and AU10TIX first teamed up last year and recently expanded their partnership to electric scooters and Uber Eats.

Hinting at what’s next, AU10TIX CEO Carey O’Connor Kolaja said, “We expect this launch to set the stage for us to expand into other countries where Uber is experiencing elevated demand for cash payments.”

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