Today In Payments Around The World: PayPal’s Xoom Lowers Cost Of Sending Funds To Africa; Volante Accelerates Convergence For Exchange

In today’s top payments news around the world, Xoom is now offering clients in the U.S., Canada, Europe and U.K. the ability to send secure funds to 12 countries in Africa for a reduced fee, while Volante Technologies Inc. is accelerating market convergence for the Santiago Exchange. Plus, HM Treasury is seeking input on the challenges that the sharing economy brings for value-added tax (VAT).

PayPal’s Remittance Arm Xoom Enables Low-Fee Wallet Transfers Across Africa

Xoom, PayPal’s money transfer arm, is now offering clients in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Europe the ability to send secure funds to 12 nations in Africa for a reduced charge. “Sending money to Africa through traditional channels has always been expensive. We wanted to help bring down the cost and speed up the process to boost financial inclusion,” Xoom Vice President and General Manager Julian King said in a press release.

UK Gov’t Asks For Input On VAT Challenges Created By The Sharing Economy

HM Treasury, the United Kingdom’s economic and finance ministry, is looking for input on the challenges that the sharing economy makes for VAT. The ministry wrote in a document titled “VAT and the Sharing Economy: Call for Evidence” that many sharing economy platforms appear to take on a number of the roles of a traditional principal without taking on the associated VAT liability.

Volante Technologies Accelerates Market Convergence For Santiago Exchange

Volante Technologies Inc., the cloud payments and financial messaging company, is speeding up market convergence for the Santiago (Chile) Exchange (Bolsa de Santiago). “As a trusted partner, our close collaboration to build the future with Santiago Exchange demonstrates our commitment to accelerating digital transformation in the region overall,” Luis Melgarejo, vice president, Latin America Operations, Volante Technologies, said in an announcement.

France’s Ski Resorts Wage Legal Battle To Keep Lifts Open For Holidays

French ski resorts have challenged the government’s mandate to keep ski lifts shuttered at resorts this holiday season. Even though resorts can stay open, President Emmanuel Macron has requested that the lifts to move skiers to the mountains stay shuttered up until January at the earliest to help lower the coronavirus’s spread.

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