Financial Services Talking Points | 09/01/2018

In today’s talking points: First national fund to guide foreign services trade; China’s forex reserves hit the highest level in 15 months; Real time payment just around the corner for Australians; Australian dollar highest in 3 months

First national fund to guide foreign services trade

China launched its first national fund of 30 billion yuan ($.4.62 billion) to facilitate the transformation of China’s foreign trade patterns and to cultivate new growth momentum for the economy. The government observed that foreign investors are shifting from labour-intensive industries to services and technology-intensive industries. The fund will focus on the areas listed in the Catalogue for Key Areas of Service Export and the Catalog for Key Development Areas in Service Outsourcing, issued in 2016, as well as other major businesses in the service trade.

Read more at: China Daily

China’s forex reserves hit the highest level in 15 months

BEIJING – China’s foreign exchange reserves rose to $3.14 trillion at the end of December. This was the 11th month of growth in a row and marked the highest level since September 2016. The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) attributed the continued increase to stronger non-dollar denominated currencies and higher asset prices, while cross-border capital flows and transactions remained stable. Looking ahead, China is projected to keep its forex reserves and international balance of payments stable in 2018 due to the increasing economy stability and further financial markets reform. The data showed that China’s economic growth rate for the first three quarters of 2017 at 6.9%, was above the government’s annual target of around 6.5%. The country has kept its gold reserves unchanged as well.

Read more at: China Daily

Real time payment just around the corner for Australians

The New Payments Platform (NPP), after years of making and testing, is finally ready for launch after Australia Day. Through NPP, businesses and individuals will be able to have electronic payments to other Australian bank accounts done within minutes. There would no longer be a need for the recipent’s BSB and account number, with simply email addresses, mobile numbers or the payees’ PayID would be enough. Apart from reducing friction with transations, the NPP should enable innovation in financial services, such as the automation in accounting where more information will be allowed to be recorded without extra descriptions or attachments like invoices and receipts. The NPP is expected to benefit the Australian economy through boosting competition and breaking the strangehold of big four banks. There are 13 shareholders co-owned the company and 50 organisations involving in the founding process, including the Big Four, other mutual banks and credit unions.