Daily Fintech / Payments Brief

Daily Fintech / Payments Brief — 2026-09-24 — https://fintech-digest.pages.dev/2026-09-24/index.html 1. Saudi Arabia withdraws from mBridge cross-border CBDC platform - Why it matters: Saudi Arabia’s exit underscores that even high-profile cross-border CBDC projects may remain limited to pilot or proof-of-concept participation, affecting expectations for commercial rollout and network scale. - HKMA Relevance: Direct: This centers on mBridge, a cross-border CBDC project in which the HKMA is a core central-bank participant, so any membership change is directly relevant to HKMA’s payments and tokenization agenda. - 👉 Full details: https://fintech-digest.pages.dev/2026-09-24/1-saudi-arabia-withdraws-from-mbridge-cross-border-cbdc-platfo.html 2. Eurosystem launches Pontes for wholesale tokenised-asset settlement and the ECB starts preparing tokenised bond purchases - Why it matters: This gives Europe’s tokenised capital markets a live central-bank-money settlement rail while signaling official-sector support for tokenised bond market development. - HKMA Relevance: Direct: This is an ECB/Eurosystem central-bank initiative on tokenised settlement and wholesale digital money, which is directly relevant to the HKMA’s own central-bank work on tokenisation and market infrastructure. - 👉 Full details: https://fintech-digest.pages.dev/2026-09-24/2-eurosystem-launches-pontes-for-wholesale-tokenised-asset-set.html 3. EU central banks seek MiCA stablecoin reserve changes and support limits on multi-issuer structures - Why it matters: Any change to MiCA reserve or issuance rules could reshape how EU stablecoin issuers manage liquidity, structure reserves, and organize cross-border issuance. - HKMA Relevance: Direct: This is an ECB and EU central-bank policy push on stablecoin rules, a core central-bank and payments-regulation topic that is directly relevant to the HKMA’s comparable agenda. - 👉 Full details: https://fintech-digest.pages.dev/2026-09-24/3-eu-central-banks-seek-mica-stablecoin-reserve-changes-and-su.html 4. Canada’s six largest banks launch a joint tokenized-CAD deposit exploration - Why it matters: A coordinated multi-bank tokenized-deposit project could influence how regulated bank money is modernized for faster and more programmable interbank payments in Canada. - HKMA Relevance: Direct: This is a major commercial-bank tokenization effort in a peer jurisdiction, a policy and market area the HKMA is actively pursuing through its own tokenization and digital-money work. - 👉 Full details: https://fintech-digest.pages.dev/2026-09-24/4-canadas-six-largest-banks-launch-a-joint-tokenized-cad-depos.html 5. SoFi Bank goes live with stablecoin settlement across Mastercard network - Why it matters: A live bank-issued stablecoin settlement use case on a major card network suggests tokenized payment rails are moving from pilot projects into production-scale card infrastructure. - HKMA Relevance: Direct: This is a central-bank-relevant payments and stablecoin infrastructure development involving bank settlement and tokenisation, areas directly aligned with the HKMA’s policy agenda. - 👉 Full details: https://fintech-digest.pages.dev/2026-09-24/5-sofi-bank-goes-live-with-stablecoin-settlement-across-master.html