Hear how Australians from sport, entertainment and social enterprise turned doubt into action – as part of CommBank’s refreshed brand platform championing everyone to fulfil their personal potential.
Doubt is something we all face, but it’s how we respond that defines us.
CommBank’s new campaign, Doubt Never Did, shares the real stories of Australians from all walks of life who have faced self-doubt, setbacks and uncertainty – and kept going. From personal reinvention to pushing through rejections, doubt is part of the turning point that helped them succeed.
Jo Boundy, CommBank Chief Marketing Officer, said: “Doubt can hold us back – whether it’s taking the first steps to start a business or savings goal, or hitting a roadblock further along in your journey. This campaign shows Australians they’re not alone, and that doubt can be a powerful turning point. Back yourself and know that with CommBank in your corner, you can.”
Meet the Australians who turned doubt into something more
From elite sport to the stage and kitchen, the inspiring Australians who feature in the national campaign have each faced down their own moments of doubts. Hear conversations with:
Mary Fowler, CommBank Matilda’s superstar – who rose from Cairns to the world stage, overcoming pressure and expectation to become one of the most exciting talents in global football; Zoe Karatzovalis, Yellow Wiggle, inclusivity champion and business owner of inclusive dance studio, Infinite Abilities Performance Arts; and Shaun Christie-David, social entrepreneur, Founder of Plate it Forward and Colombo Social;
From today, see these stories on billboards across the country with QR codes to listen to the full audio interviews hosted by podcaster Matty J.
Mary Fowler, CommBank Matildas superstar, said: “Doubt has been a constant presence in my journey.”
Mary grew up in Cairns and quickly made her mark on football, playing professional overseas while still a teenager. But even as her career accelerated, self-doubt followed – especially during setbacks and injury.
“Sometimes the situations we’re in and the problems that we’re facing… they feel so big to overcome that it seems like there’s no way through them.”
Now, Mary is focused on flipping the mindset. “I really hate the idea of being a victim… As much as I can, I just try to flip the perspective on a lot of these things. That actually helps me see a lot more positives in what I’m doing and makes it a bit easier to get through it without feeling sorry for myself.”
Mary’s advice? “Everyone experiences doubt. I think it’s a normal part of our journey. The thing to try change is not doubt itself, but the way you react to it and how quickly you can counter it. Don’t let doubt hold you back and keep believing in yourself.”
Zoe Karatzovalis, Yellow Wiggle and Founder of Infinite Abilities Performance Arts, said: “I doubted myself more than everyone did. I think everyone believed in me more than I did… I just didn’t really know what I was doing.”
Zoe grew up in Port Lincoln, where her passion for dance started early. But it was her brother, Costa, who shaped her purpose. “My brother, Costa, he’s on the autism spectrum… we always connected through music and dance. He was a big inspiration in my life… I really wanted to be the change and to inspire others too.”
After moving to Sydney to pursue a professional dance career, Zoe faced pressure and rejection. “I felt like I was this small fish in this huge pond… I struggled to make fri
China’s manufacturing activity shrank for a third straight month in June, though at a slower pace, as increases in new orders, purchasing volumes and supplier delivery times signalled that policy support rolled out since late last year is taking effect.
But business sentiment remains subdued, Monday’s survey showed, with employment, factory gate prices and new export orders still languishing, and keeping alive calls for even more stimulus as authorities deal with U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff onslaught and chronic weakness in the property sector.
The National Bureau of Statistics purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose to 49.7 in June from 49.5 in May, matching the median forecast in a Reuters poll but remaining below the 50-mark that separates growth from contraction.
“Two months of successive improvement, that’s a decent reading given June was the first full month without Trump’s prohibitive 100%-plus tariffs,” said Xu Tianchen, senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit.
“There is still evidence of frontloading in trade, but the tariffs are lower now and manufacturers are preparing to ship holiday season goods,” he added.
The new export orders sub-index remained in contraction for a 14th straight month in June, inching up to 47.7 from 47.5 in May, while employment diverged from other indicators by deteriorating further. However, new domestic orders rose to 50.2 from 49.8, and purchasing volumes jumped from 47.6 to 50.2 — offering policymakers some hope that domestic demand may be starting to recover.
Zichun Huang, China economist at Capital Economics, said the PMIs suggested the world’s second-largest economy had regained some momentum over the past month, but warned tensions with the West would continue to squeeze its exports and there were still signs of deflationary pressures.
The non-manufacturing PMI, which includes services and construction, grew to 50.5 from 50.3.
Activity in the food and beverages, travel, hospitality and logistics sectors fell this month, NBS senior statistician Zhao Qinghe said in a statement. However, this drag was offset by a pickup in the construction PMI, which rose to a 3-month high of 52.8, Capital Economics’ Huang said.
“Fiscal support looks to have continued to support infrastructure spending,” Huang added, but cautioned that “a fading fiscal tailwind is likely to slow activity in the second half of the year.”
MORE STIMULUS
Uncertainty also lingers among factory owners, as the business outlook index – which normally moves in line with the headline PMI – dropped in June and suggested producers were waiting on a more durable trade deal to a fragile framework agreed between Beijing and Washington earlier this month.
That puts pressure on policymakers to roll out more support measures, as the government cannot afford for China’s vast manufacturing sector to stagnate or shrink, if its ambitious 2025 growth target of “around 5%” is to be met.
Profits at China’s industrial firms swung sharply back into decline in May, which officials attributed to weak demand and falling industrial product prices.
Policymakers are confident they can push ahead with reforms launched late last year to transition China’s economy from a manufacturing-led model to a consumer-driven one, Premier Li Qiang told delegates at World Economic Forum and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank meetings last week.
Such a shift in the engines of growth, which economists say is crucial to securing China’s future, could be progressed while maintaining strong growth, Li said.
But economists say the transition could take years, and that reform typically comes at the cost of a more subdued economy in the short term.
“Exports are expected to decelerate in the second half of the year, and domestic deflationary pressures will intensify,” said Dan Wang, China director at Eurasia Group, who expects more stimulus in coming months.
“Household consumption cannot be a real short-term driver, but fiscal spending in things like infrastructure can deliver the kind of growth required to hit this year’s target.”
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Despite Chelsea reached the FIFA Club World Cup quarterfinals on Saturday with a 4-1 win over Benfica in the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca insisted it was “not football.”
Maresca was furious that the match lasted for four hours and 38 minutes after U.S. safety regulations saw the two teams taken off the pitch and the game suspended for almost two hours due to a thunderstorm in the region.
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca criticized the two-hour delay that punctuated his team’s 4-1 win over Benfica.[photo: xinhua]
The United States safety regulations mean sporting events have to be suspended if there is a thunderstorm within 13 kilometers of the venue. Chelsea-Benfica was the sixth game at the FIFA Club World Cup to be suspended because of this rule, prompting Maresca to issue his displeasure.
“It’s not normal to suspend a game. In a World Cup, how many games are suspended? Probably zero. In Europe, how many games? Zero,” complained the Italian.
“For me personally, it’s not football. You cannot be inside for two hours. It is something completely new,” said Maresca, who questioned whether the U.S. – along with Mexico and Canada – would make a suitable host for next summer’s World Cup finals.
“I can understand that for security reasons, you are to suspend the game. But if you suspend six, seven games that means that probably is not the right place to do this competition,” he said.
Chelsea had controlled the game and led though Reece James’ 64th-minute strike when the match was stopped with five minutes left on the clock, but Benfica regrouped well in the stoppage, with Angel Di Maria netting an injury-time penalty to force an extra half-hour of play.
“For 85 minutes we were in control of the game. We didn’t concede anything; we created chances enough to win the game. And then after the break the game changed completely,” complained the Chelsea boss.
Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall scored the extra-time goals that saw Chelsea seal a quarterfinal place against Brazilian side Palmeiras.
The Fiji government is spending big on this year’s budget.
The country’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Biman Prasad, unveiled a FJ$4.8 billion (about NZ$3.5 billion) spending package, complete with cost of living measures and fiscal stimulus, to the Fijian Parliament on Friday.
This is about F$280 million more than last year, with the deficit widening to around $886 million.
Dr Prasad told Parliament that his government had guided the country to a better economic position than where he found it.
“When we came into office we were in a precarious economic crossroad . . . our first priority was to restore macroeconomic stability, rebuild trust in policymaking institutions, and chart a path towards sustainable and inclusive growth.”
The 2025/2026 budget consisted of a spending increase across almost every area, with education, the largest area of spending, up $69 million to $847 million overall.
The health sector received $611.6 million, the Fijian Roads Authority $388 million, and the Police force $240.3 million, all increases.
A package of cost of living measures costing the government $800 million has also been announced. This includes a value-added tax (VAT) cut from 15 percent to 12.5 percent on goods and services.
Various import duties, which firms pay for goods from overseas, have been cut, such as chicken pieces and parts (from 42 to 15 percent) and frozen fish (from 15 to 0 percent).
A subsidy to reduce bus fares by 10 percent was announced, alongside a 3 percent increase in salaries for civil servants, both beginning in August.
Drastic international conditions In a news conference, Dr Prasad said that responding to difficult global economic shocks was the primary rationale behind the budget.
“This is probably one of the most uncertain global economic environments that we have gone through. There has been no resolution on the tariffs by the United States and the number of countries, big or small,” he said.
“We have never had this kind of interest in Fiji from overseas investors or diaspora, and we are doing a lot more work to get our diaspora to come back.”
When asked why the VAT was cut, reducing government revenue and widening the deficit, Dr Prasad said there was a need to encourage consumer spending.
“If the Middle East crisis deepens and oil prices go up, the first thing that will be affected will be the supply chain . . . prices could go up, people could be affected more.”
On building resilience from global shocks, Dr Prasad said the budget would reduce Fiji’s reliance on tourism, remittances, and international supply chains, by building domestic industry.
“It kills two birds in one [stone]. It addresses any big shock we might get . . . plus it also helps the people who would be affected.”
In their Pacific Economic Update, the World Bank projected economic growth of 2.6 percent in 2025, after a slump from 7.5 percent in 2023 to 3.8 percent in 2024.
Senior World Bank economist Ekaterine Vashakmadze told RNZ that Fiji was an interesting case.
“Fiji is one of the countries that suffered the sharpest shock [post-covid] . . . because tourism stopped.”
“On the other hand, Fiji was one of the first countries in the Pacific to recover fully in terms of the output to pre-pandemic level.”
Deficit too high — opposition Opposition members have hit out at the government over the scale of the spend, and whether it would translate into outcomes.
Opposition MP Alvick Maharaj, in a statement to local media outlet Duavata News, referred to the larger deficit as “deeply troubling”.
“The current trajectory is concerning, and the government must change its fiscal strategy to one that is truly sustainable.”
“The way the budget is being presented, it’s like the government is trying to show that in one year Fiji will become a developed country.”
MP Ketal Lal on social media called the budget “a desperate cloak for scandal” designed to appeal to voters ahead of elections in 2026.
“This is what happens when a government governs by pressure instead of principle. The people have been crying out for years. The Opposition has consistently raised concerns about the crushing cost of living but they only act when it becomes politically necessary. And even then, it’s never enough.”
He also pointed out, regarding the 3 percent increase in civil servants salaries, that someone earning $30,000 a year would only see a pay increase of $900 per year.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
The Fiji government is spending big on this year’s budget.
The country’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Biman Prasad, unveiled a FJ$4.8 billion (about NZ$3.5 billion) spending package, complete with cost of living measures and fiscal stimulus, to the Fijian Parliament on Friday.
This is about F$280 million more than last year, with the deficit widening to around $886 million.
Dr Prasad told Parliament that his government had guided the country to a better economic position than where he found it.
“When we came into office we were in a precarious economic crossroad . . . our first priority was to restore macroeconomic stability, rebuild trust in policymaking institutions, and chart a path towards sustainable and inclusive growth.”
The 2025/2026 budget consisted of a spending increase across almost every area, with education, the largest area of spending, up $69 million to $847 million overall.
The health sector received $611.6 million, the Fijian Roads Authority $388 million, and the Police force $240.3 million, all increases.
A package of cost of living measures costing the government $800 million has also been announced. This includes a value-added tax (VAT) cut from 15 percent to 12.5 percent on goods and services.
Various import duties, which firms pay for goods from overseas, have been cut, such as chicken pieces and parts (from 42 to 15 percent) and frozen fish (from 15 to 0 percent).
A subsidy to reduce bus fares by 10 percent was announced, alongside a 3 percent increase in salaries for civil servants, both beginning in August.
Drastic international conditions In a news conference, Dr Prasad said that responding to difficult global economic shocks was the primary rationale behind the budget.
“This is probably one of the most uncertain global economic environments that we have gone through. There has been no resolution on the tariffs by the United States and the number of countries, big or small,” he said.
“We have never had this kind of interest in Fiji from overseas investors or diaspora, and we are doing a lot more work to get our diaspora to come back.”
When asked why the VAT was cut, reducing government revenue and widening the deficit, Dr Prasad said there was a need to encourage consumer spending.
“If the Middle East crisis deepens and oil prices go up, the first thing that will be affected will be the supply chain . . . prices could go up, people could be affected more.”
On building resilience from global shocks, Dr Prasad said the budget would reduce Fiji’s reliance on tourism, remittances, and international supply chains, by building domestic industry.
“It kills two birds in one [stone]. It addresses any big shock we might get . . . plus it also helps the people who would be affected.”
In their Pacific Economic Update, the World Bank projected economic growth of 2.6 percent in 2025, after a slump from 7.5 percent in 2023 to 3.8 percent in 2024.
Senior World Bank economist Ekaterine Vashakmadze told RNZ that Fiji was an interesting case.
“Fiji is one of the countries that suffered the sharpest shock [post-covid] . . . because tourism stopped.”
“On the other hand, Fiji was one of the first countries in the Pacific to recover fully in terms of the output to pre-pandemic level.”
Deficit too high — opposition Opposition members have hit out at the government over the scale of the spend, and whether it would translate into outcomes.
Opposition MP Alvick Maharaj, in a statement to local media outlet Duavata News, referred to the larger deficit as “deeply troubling”.
“The current trajectory is concerning, and the government must change its fiscal strategy to one that is truly sustainable.”
“The way the budget is being presented, it’s like the government is trying to show that in one year Fiji will become a developed country.”
MP Ketal Lal on social media called the budget “a desperate cloak for scandal” designed to appeal to voters ahead of elections in 2026.
“This is what happens when a government governs by pressure instead of principle. The people have been crying out for years. The Opposition has consistently raised concerns about the crushing cost of living but they only act when it becomes politically necessary. And even then, it’s never enough.”
He also pointed out, regarding the 3 percent increase in civil servants salaries, that someone earning $30,000 a year would only see a pay increase of $900 per year.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Source: African Development Bank Group The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group has approved a €25.5 million trade finance facility for the Générale de Banque de Mauritanie (GBM) to enhance its financial offerings to large corporates, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and women-led businesses in Mauritania.
From the bathroom to the boardroom, New Zealanders are responding to notifications and messages in some pretty awkward places – and it reveals just how distracted and hurried we’ve become, a new survey from BNZ shows.
The nationwide study found that most New Zealanders have responded to an email, text or notification while doing something else, with 35% admitting they’ve done so in the bathroom, 41% in the middle of a face-to-face conversation, and 28% while in a meeting or webinar.
“And when we’re rushed or distracted like this, we make mistakes,” says BNZ Head of Fraud Operations, Margaret Miller.
Nearly a quarter (24%) confess to clicking through to a “great deal” without checking if the link was legitimate, while 19% have hit a link in a text before reading it properly.
“Scammers prey on the fact that when we’re rushed, distracted, or juggling multiple things we’re more likely to click first and think later,” Miller says.
The study found that New Zealanders are generally aware of when they’re most vulnerable, with 78% recognising that being distracted, rushed, multitasking, stressed or on autopilot makes them more likely to be scammed or make a mistake with online banking.
Yet scammers are still succeeding. According to the survey, while 61% of Kiwis spotted a scam in the past year and avoided it, 12% weren’t so lucky.
Strategic design to slow scams down
While individual vigilance remains the best defence and the banking sector continues to invest tens of millions in security each year, BNZ is also exploring a different approach through strategic design features that work with how people actually behave.
“While we all expect seamless digital experiences, we’ve learned that introducing small elements of friction at critical moments helps with focus and ultimately, keeps customers and their money safer,” says BNZ Head of Design, Donal Devlin.
“In practice, this means things like swapping button locations, adding brief pause notifications, or showing “pause and think” alerts to help customers stay focused when making higher risk transactions or actions in their accounts.
“It’s about finding the right balance between convenience and security – adding just enough of a moment to think when the stakes are highest.”
BNZ is also strengthening security in other ways, including being one of only two major banks to offer app-based authentication rather than text messages, which can be intercepted by scammers.
The bank has also introduced online banking lock, which gives customers the ability to quickly disable all online banking activity and lock access to their online banking if they suspect a scammer has gained access to their accounts.
It’s all about working with human nature, not against it, Miller says.
“We know people are busy, we know they multi-task, and we know they sometimes rush.
“So, while customers should remain vigilant, we’re also designing smart security features that give you a moment to double-check when it matters most.”
Tips for improving your digital safety and security
Pause before clicking – especially if you’re doing something else at the same time
Never click on links or attachments sent by someone you don’t know or that seem out of character for someone you do know
Keep your computer and phone security software up to date
Contact your bank immediately if you think you’ve been scammed
Red flags to watch for – BNZ will never:
Email or text you links to online banking and ask you to log in
Send you a text message with a link to a website, or link to call us
Ask you for your PIN number or password
Ask you to share the authentication codes sent to you by text or email, even with a BNZ staff member
Ask you to transfer money to help catch a scammer or a bank employee who is scamming customers
Send you a text message about account issues with a link to log in
Ask you to download software to access your Internet Banking remotely
Use international phone numbers to call or send you notifications
The BNZ Safe and Secure Survey was conducted by Insights HQ in May 2025, with sample sizes ranging from n=235 to n=478 depending on the question. Overall survey results were weighted to be nationally representative by age (15+ years), gender, and region based on Census 2020.
This morning, Members of Congress joined President Donald J. Trump on the Sunday shows to discuss the overwhelmingly positive impacts of the One Big Beautiful Bill — which will deliver unprecedented tax relief, generational welfare reform, and historic spending cuts for the American people.
Here’s what you missed:
President Trump on Sunday Morning Futures
“We’re cutting $1.7 trillion … We’re going to have growth like we’ve never seen before.” (Watch)
“It takes care of the border. There’s also No Tax on Tips, No Tax on Social Security, No Tax on Overtime.” (Watch)
Senator Markwayne Mullin on Meet the Press
“This cuts spending. It’s the largest deficit cut by any Congress ever in history. It makes tax cuts permanent — which, instead of taxes going up January 1 by $4 trillion, it actually restores the tax cuts and the average household of four is going to bring home pay over $10,000 more a year.” (Watch)
“What we’re doing is cutting the waste, fraud, and abuse out of the Medicaid system and make sure it’s for the people that it was originally intended for.” (Watch)
Senator Jim Banks on Fox News Sunday
“This is the biggest spending cut in American history — a $1.6 trillion spending cut, getting rid of the Green New Deal scams from the Biden Administration, and it’s the biggest tax cut in American history for working class families.” (Watch)
“Everyone in my family is blue collar, working class. They’re all going to get socked by another $2,000, on average, every year. They already tell me they can’t keep up right now, and the Democrats want them to pay more in taxes? … Democrats are focused on screwing the working class with higher taxes … President Trump and Republicans are serious about cutting taxes on the people who need it the most.” (Watch)
Senator Katie Britt on State of the Union
“We’re going to make sure that hardworking people can keep more of their money. We’re going to make sure that we have secure borders — not just now, but for generations to come. We’re going to make sure that we have a strong national defense so that our warfighter is the best trained, equipped, and ready across the planet. We’re going to unleash American energy … We want to make sure that these programs are available for the people who need them and we want to make sure that people who are working know that we see them and that they have a great opportunity to achieve the American Dream — and that’s what this bill does.” (Watch)
“The reforms in this bill are necessary and we’re going to deliver actual solutions to the American people … This bill does No Tax on Tips, it does No Tax on Overtime. Real, hardworking Americans are going to see results from this.” (Watch)
If you want to advertise a house online in Australia, you don’t have many options. Just two companies dominate the market.
Australia’s largest property listings platform, realestate.com.au, belongs to digital media company REA Group, which is majority-owned by Rupert Murdoch’s US-based media conglomerate News Corporation (News Corp).
REA claims average traffic of 11.9 million viewers per month, substantially more than that of its nearest rival, Domain.
That’s led to widespread concern about REA’s dominant market power and the potential for price-gouging, which are currently subject to an ongoing probe by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
Meanwhile, my research has revealed that REA has expanded into mortgage lending, an important new direction which, until now, has escaped attention.
The implications here are worth considering. News Corp, a foreign-owned media company, now has a direct stake in framing the Australian housing narrative and influencing policy, while profiting through its property platform from listings, data, and its own mortgages.
It’s a shrewd business strategy. But Australia currently doesn’t have a regulator fit for overseeing such a hybrid entity, raising serious questions about who is keeping watch.
‘Good debt’
Australian households have long accepted the prevailing narrative, promoted by the media, that housing investment is their “path to wealth”. Mortgages are endorsed as the way to manage the growing gap between flatlined wages and rising house prices.
Primed for finance in this way, many households have come to embrace mortgages as an aspirational form of “good debt”, the mark of a savvy player rather than a long-term financial burden.
This has helped fuel what could be described as a housing “frenzy”, a volatile situation in which escalating housing prices and indebtedness undermine household wellbeing. Younger generations and the disadvantaged, among others, are left out in the cold.
From newspapers to platforms to finance
As digitisation has forced legacy media players such as News Corp to seek new strategies to stay viable, so too has it disrupted the finance industry by opening it up to non-bank players.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, REA Group entered the mortgage market in 2016, starting with a partnership with National Australia Bank. It purchased mortgage brokerages the following year.
The realestate.com.au platform was then redesigned to include a mortgage portal to direct millions of Australian homeseekers to lending through those channels. This provides REA with revenue from platform leads to the bank, as well as up-front and trailing mortgage commissions from their brokers.
REA also harvests the extensive financial data supplied by millions of users via their financial profiles and the calculator tools embedded in the website.
That data, an increasingly valuable asset, can be monetised through the platform’s advertiser and homebuyer markets, and News Corp’s extensive partnerships with data broker and analytics companies.
Selling mortgages
Most recently, REA Group has taken its finance strategy one step further. In October 2024, it purchased a 19.9% stake in digital non-bank lender Athena Home Loans.
This allows REA to profit directly from its own mortgages offered to platform users through its current brokerage, Mortgage Choice.
For REA Group (and its owner, News Corp), this move is both logical and strategically compelling in a challenging media environment. As well as influencing policy, REA Group and News Corp are proficient in crafting and cross-promoting a powerful message about housing and debt to the public.
With their profit now even more directly tied to the housing mortgage market – and thereby customers’ debt – the Athena acquisition can only strengthen REA’s vested interest in the continued rise in house prices and household indebtedness. This has the potential to undermine policies to improve housing affordability.
The law can’t keep up
The power imbalance against consumers is stark. So which regulator is keeping an eye on it?
Such an initiative combining housing, finance and media can slip through the cracks in Australia’s fragmented regulatory system with its narrowly-focused legislation.
The legislation lags behind the technology as well. A platform’s persuasive design, with its algorithmic tools, predetermined paths and data harvesting, obscures its prioritisation of commercial interests over that of consumers.
Players from different industries interacting through the “black box” of a platform appear to come under looser regulatory oversight than those from a single industry or operating outside a platform.
the legislation isn’t updated in the way that […] keeps pace with the evolving technology, trends and emerging markets.
In a landscape where such complex digital initiatives are becoming the norm, regulators urgently need to update their understanding and broaden their jurisdiction to include them.
And not just in Australia. REA has confirmed that a successful trial of its initiative here will lead to its rollout across its broad global property platform network.
Nor just REA. Other companies are eyeing this space. REA’s closest competitor, Domain, is currently under acquisition by CoStar, a major digital real estate player in the United States, with the aim to challenge REA.
The rapid and major disruptions caused by such initiatives, such as Airbnb’s negative impact on housing affordability globally, can be difficult to redress retrospectively.
Somebody needs to keep watch.
REA Group declined to comment on this article.
Roberta Esbitt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
If you want to advertise a house online in Australia, you don’t have many options. Just two companies dominate the market.
Australia’s largest property listings platform, realestate.com.au, belongs to digital media company REA Group, which is majority-owned by Rupert Murdoch’s US-based media conglomerate News Corporation (News Corp).
REA claims average traffic of 11.9 million viewers per month, substantially more than that of its nearest rival, Domain.
That’s led to widespread concern about REA’s dominant market power and the potential for price-gouging, which are currently subject to an ongoing probe by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
Meanwhile, my research has revealed that REA has expanded into mortgage lending, an important new direction which, until now, has escaped attention.
The implications here are worth considering. News Corp, a foreign-owned media company, now has a direct stake in framing the Australian housing narrative and influencing policy, while profiting through its property platform from listings, data, and its own mortgages.
It’s a shrewd business strategy. But Australia currently doesn’t have a regulator fit for overseeing such a hybrid entity, raising serious questions about who is keeping watch.
‘Good debt’
Australian households have long accepted the prevailing narrative, promoted by the media, that housing investment is their “path to wealth”. Mortgages are endorsed as the way to manage the growing gap between flatlined wages and rising house prices.
Primed for finance in this way, many households have come to embrace mortgages as an aspirational form of “good debt”, the mark of a savvy player rather than a long-term financial burden.
This has helped fuel what could be described as a housing “frenzy”, a volatile situation in which escalating housing prices and indebtedness undermine household wellbeing. Younger generations and the disadvantaged, among others, are left out in the cold.
From newspapers to platforms to finance
As digitisation has forced legacy media players such as News Corp to seek new strategies to stay viable, so too has it disrupted the finance industry by opening it up to non-bank players.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, REA Group entered the mortgage market in 2016, starting with a partnership with National Australia Bank. It purchased mortgage brokerages the following year.
The realestate.com.au platform was then redesigned to include a mortgage portal to direct millions of Australian homeseekers to lending through those channels. This provides REA with revenue from platform leads to the bank, as well as up-front and trailing mortgage commissions from their brokers.
REA also harvests the extensive financial data supplied by millions of users via their financial profiles and the calculator tools embedded in the website.
That data, an increasingly valuable asset, can be monetised through the platform’s advertiser and homebuyer markets, and News Corp’s extensive partnerships with data broker and analytics companies.
Selling mortgages
Most recently, REA Group has taken its finance strategy one step further. In October 2024, it purchased a 19.9% stake in digital non-bank lender Athena Home Loans.
This allows REA to profit directly from its own mortgages offered to platform users through its current brokerage, Mortgage Choice.
For REA Group (and its owner, News Corp), this move is both logical and strategically compelling in a challenging media environment. As well as influencing policy, REA Group and News Corp are proficient in crafting and cross-promoting a powerful message about housing and debt to the public.
With their profit now even more directly tied to the housing mortgage market – and thereby customers’ debt – the Athena acquisition can only strengthen REA’s vested interest in the continued rise in house prices and household indebtedness. This has the potential to undermine policies to improve housing affordability.
The law can’t keep up
The power imbalance against consumers is stark. So which regulator is keeping an eye on it?
Such an initiative combining housing, finance and media can slip through the cracks in Australia’s fragmented regulatory system with its narrowly-focused legislation.
The legislation lags behind the technology as well. A platform’s persuasive design, with its algorithmic tools, predetermined paths and data harvesting, obscures its prioritisation of commercial interests over that of consumers.
Players from different industries interacting through the “black box” of a platform appear to come under looser regulatory oversight than those from a single industry or operating outside a platform.
the legislation isn’t updated in the way that […] keeps pace with the evolving technology, trends and emerging markets.
In a landscape where such complex digital initiatives are becoming the norm, regulators urgently need to update their understanding and broaden their jurisdiction to include them.
And not just in Australia. REA has confirmed that a successful trial of its initiative here will lead to its rollout across its broad global property platform network.
Nor just REA. Other companies are eyeing this space. REA’s closest competitor, Domain, is currently under acquisition by CoStar, a major digital real estate player in the United States, with the aim to challenge REA.
The rapid and major disruptions caused by such initiatives, such as Airbnb’s negative impact on housing affordability globally, can be difficult to redress retrospectively.
Somebody needs to keep watch.
REA Group declined to comment on this article.
Roberta Esbitt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
June 29, 2025 – Ottawa, Ontario – Global Affairs Canada
Canada and Ghana’s strong relationship is rooted in shared values — peace, democracy, and inclusive growth. These values guide Canada’s longstanding development partnership with Ghana, which focuses on building a more equal, healthy, and prosperous future for all.
The Honourable Randeep Sarai, Secretary of State (International Development), yesterday concluded a successful, 2-day visit to Ghana. The visit highlighted Canada’s continued commitment to supporting the people of Ghana — especially women, girls, and youth — through climate-smart agriculture, health care access, job training, and economic empowerment. Canada is also helping young people in Ghana learn job skills — especially in farming and non-traditional trades — so they can turn their ideas into sustainable businesses.
While in Ghana, Secretary Sarai announced Canada’s support of $12.6 million to expand the EMPLOY project, a successful initiative in Ghana with World University Service of Canada (WUSC). The EMPLOY project will support more than 20,000 young women, as they build careers in well-paying trades such as welding, heavy machinery operation, solar panel installation, and auto mechanics.
During the announcement, he underscored Canada’s support for several other initiatives announced earlier this year. These projects focus on helping women farmers scale up climate-smart agriculture initiatives, supporting women’s rights organizations and feminist movements, improving access to reproductive health services and promoting peace and reducing violence in communities along Ghana’s northern border with Côte d’Ivoire.
Secretary Sarai also had the opportunity to see firsthand how Canada and its partners are helping Ghanaians reach their full potential. He visited 2 major projects:
The INVEST project, also in partnership with WUSC, challenges gender stereotypes by giving young women training and employment through internships, mentoring and scholarships, so they can pursue careers in non-traditional sectors, including construction, energy and information technology.
The SURGE project, a partnership with Ashesi University, helps entrepreneurs launch and grow successful, sustainable green businesses.
As part of Canada’s Modernizing Agriculture initiative, he met with women farmers who have been trained in new productivity-enhancing technologies and in better business approaches to farm management. This nation-wide initiative has already helped 3.5 million farmers. He also toured a Grand Challenges Canada project in Ashaiman that converts organic waste into renewable energy, using leftover materials as organic fertilizer. Finally, while visiting a Marie Stopes International (MSI) clinic, he spoke with patients and health professionals who deliver family planning and comprehensive abortion care services to the poorest and most underserved women and girls in 11 of Ghana’s 16 regions.
During his visit, Secretary Sarai also held several bilateral meetings, including with Deputy Minister Food and Agriculture John Matthew Kofi Setor Dumelo. They discussed plans to grow the economy and support development, with a focus on agriculture. At a roundtable with the African Continental Free Trade Area, the conversation centered on economic security, the potential to drive trade, investment, income growth, job creation, and poverty reduction for the region and beyond. Secretary Sarai also met with representatives of the World Bank, EU and AfDB, as well as with peace and security stakeholders to discuss security challenges in the northern border regions.
GATINEAU – Canadian Heritage would like to inform residents and visitors that access to streets in the downtown cores of Ottawa and Gatineau will be restricted during Canada Day celebrations on July 1, 2025.
Only those displaying an official Canada Day access pass, hotel guests (with proof of reservation), residents (with a driver’s licence as proof of residence) and emergency responders will be allowed vehicular access to streets that are closed. No vehicles will be allowed on the Portage Bridge or the Chaudière Crossing.To fully enjoy activities throughout the day, residents and visitors are encouraged to use public transit or bicycles to get to the celebration sites.
Tips for commuting on July 1
Plan your routes
Ottawa
For the most recent changes regarding street closures, visit the City of Ottawa website.
In Ottawa, the following street closures are required from 6 a.m. on July 1 to 2 a.m. on July 2:
Wellington Street between Elgin Street and Vimy Place
Kichi Zibi Mikan Parkway between Vimy Place and Parkdale Avenue
Sparks Street between Lyon Street North and Bronson Avenue
Queen Street between Elgin Street and Bronson Avenue
Metcalfe Street between Wellington Street and Albert Street
O’Connor Street between Wellington Street and Albert Street
Bank Street between Wellington Street and Albert Street
Kent Street between Wellington Street and Albert Street
Lyon Street North between Wellington Street and Albert Street
Bay Street between Wellington Street and Albert Street
Bronson Avenue between Sparks Street and Albert Street
Commissioner Street between Wellington Street and Albert Street
Booth Street between the Chaudière Crossing and Albert Street
Vimy Place between Kichi Zibi Mikan Parkway and Booth Street
Chaudière Private at the Chaudière Crossing
Miwate Private at Chaudière Private
Zaida Eddy Private at the Chaudière Crossing
Fleet Street between Booth Street and Lett Street (resident access at the corner of Booth Street and Albert Street)
Lloyd Street between Fleet Street and Lett Street (resident access at the corner of Booth Street and Albert Street)
Lett Street between Lloyd Street and Wellington Street (resident access at the corner of Booth Street and Albert Street)
Onigam Street between Lemieux Island and Kichi Zibi Mikan Parkway
The following street closures are required from 7 p.m. on July 1 to 2 a.m. on July 2:
Metcalfe Street between Albert Street and Slater Street
O’Connor Street between Albert Street and Slater Street
Bank Street between Albert Street and Slater Street
Kent Street between Albert Street and Slater Street
Lyon Street between Albert Street and Slater Street
Bay Street between Albert Street and Slater Street
Albert Street between Bronson Avenue and Elgin Street
Slater Street between Bronson Avenue and Elgin Street
Bronson Avenue between Slater Street and Laurier Avenue
Albert Street between City Centre Avenue and Bronson Avenue
The above street closures may be in effect from 6 a.m. on July 1 to 2 a.m. on July 2 if there is a public safety requirement to support OC Transpo light rail queues.
The following streets are open to local traffic from 6 a.m. on July 1 to 2 a.m. on July 2:
Upper Lorne Place from Somerset Street West to the end of the street
Lorne Avenue between Booth Street and Albert Street
Perkins Street from Albert Street to the end of the street
Empress Avenue North from Albert Street to the end of the street
Booth Street between Somerset Street West and Albert Street
Rochester Street from Somerset Street West to the end of the street
Preston Street between Somerset Street West and Albert Street
Primrose Avenue between Walnut Court and Booth Street
Elm Street West between City Centre Avenue and Elm Street
Elm Street between Elm Street West and Booth Street
Spruce Street West between City Centre Avenue and Spruce Street
Spruce Street between Spruce Street West and Booth Street
The following streets are open to local traffic from 7 p.m. on July 1 to 2 a.m. on July 2:
City Centre Avenue
The following multi-use pathways are closed from July 1 at 6 a.m. to July 2 at 2 a.m. with a detour in place from July 1 at 6 a.m. to July 2 at 2 a.m.:
The Trans-Canadian pathway (Ottawa River Pathway) from the access point on Mill Street to the access point on Onigam Street at the corner of Kichi Zibi Mikan Parkway
The Trillium pathway from the junction with the Trans-Canadian pathway (Ottawa River Pathway) to the pathway located at the back of the Bayview O-Train station
The following multi-use pathway is closed from 8 p.m. on June 30 to 2 a.m. on July 2:
Chief William Commanda Bridge
Gatineau
In Gatineau, the following street closures are required from 10 a.m. on June 30 to 10 p.m. on July 1:
Laval Street between Hôtel-de-Ville Street and Promenade Portage
Wellington Street from Laval Street for about 15 metres
Wright Street from Laval Street for about 20 metres
In Gatineau, the following street closures are required from 6 a.m. on July 1 to 2 a.m.on July 2:
Jos Montferrand Street between Laurier Street and Eddy Street
Eddy Street between Laurier Street and the Chaudière Crossing
Please note that from 6 a.m. on July 1 to 2 a.m. on July 2, the Portage Bridge will be closed to all vehicular traffic. The bridge will remain open to pedestrians only.
The Alexandra Bridge will be closed to all southbound vehicles (from Gatineau to Ottawa) from 6 a.m. on July 1 to midnight. During this period, the centre lane will remain open to pedestrians only.
The Chaudière Crossing is closed to vehicle traffic from 6 a.m. on July 1 to 2 a.m. on July 2.
The Chaudière Crossing will be closed to pedestrians from 6 a.m. to 10:15 p.m. on July 1.
Take advantage of the free OC Transpo and Société de transport de l’Outaouais (STO) service on all routes on July 1. For more information, visit the OC Transpo and STO websites.
Ride your bike to the celebrations
Use the bike route to ride your bicycle to the heart of the celebrations. A free supervised bike station will be available at LeBreton Flats Park.
Main Entrance to LeBreton Flats Park
The main entrance is located near the intersection of Wellington Street and Booth Street.
Universal Accessibility
LeBreton Flats Park, the Supreme Court of Canada and Parliament Hill are accessible to persons with special needs.
For more information regarding universal accessibility at the Canada Day official sites, visit our website or contact the Ottawa Visitor Centre.
Please note that all details are subject to change.
Following a fire accident at a vaccine depot in Guinea’s capital Conakry, World Health Organization (WHO) is supporting the authorities to devise urgent measures, including securing remaining vaccine stocks, to limit loss and prolonged impact of the damage.
A crisis cell has been set up and contingency plans are being reinforced.
WHO is working closely with the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene, UNICEF, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, World Bank, Médecins Sans Frontières and other partners to mobilize the resources to replenish vaccine stocks, relaunch vaccination campaigns and restore cold chain infrastructures.
The fire, which was brought under control thanks to the rapid intervention by the fire brigade and security forces, caused huge losses. According to official estimates, around 36% of the vaccines were destroyed, or more than 4 million doses, valued at US$ 6.7 million. Three out of the six cold storage facilities were destroyed – a 61% loss of the total storage capacity. Medical, IT and logistical equipment were also damaged, representing a further loss of US$ 2.4 million.
“WHO stands in solidarity with the people of Guinea following this tragic incident. We remain fully committed to supporting Guinea to rapidly restore its vaccination capacity and ensure the continuity of essential health services,” said Dr Jean Marie Kipela, WHO Representative in Guinea.
In collaboration with partners, WHO is commitment to supporting Guinea assess the damage, implement emergency measures and restock essential vaccines.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of World Health Organization (WHO) – Guinea.
Heightened policy uncertainty and fraying trade ties have weakened the growth outlook, while existing vulnerabilities compound the risks and make economies more prone to inflation pressures.
While central banks focus on price stability, governments must support structural reforms and manage public finances sustainably to foster growth to meet future needs.
The increased role of non-banks, including a shift towards financing public debt, brings stronger international transmission of financial conditions and also financial stability risks.
Trade tensions and heightened uncertainty cloud the outlook for growth and inflation and risk exposing deeper fault lines in the global economy and financial system, the Bank for International Settlements said in its flagship economic report. It called on policymakers to step up as a stabilising force.
The BIS’s Annual Economic Report 2025 says prospects for the global economy have become much more uncertain and unpredictable in recent months, with trade disruptions roiling financial markets and threatening to reshape the global economic landscape.
These developments are unfolding in a world already grappling with economic fragmentation, declining productivity, high and rising public debt, and a growing footprint of less regulated nonbank financial institutions. Public policy is crucial as a stabilising force. Policymakers must act decisively on multiple fronts to ensure price stability and promote sustainable economic growth while preserving economic and financial stability.
Agustín Carstens, General Manager
The report analyses vulnerabilities in the real economy and financial system including:
Shifts towards greater economic fragmentation and protectionism, further exacerbating the decades-long decline in economic and productivity growth across many economies.
Scars from the post-pandemic inflation surge, which could leave a lasting imprint on household inflation expectations.
High and rising public debt, increasing the financial system’s vulnerability to interest rate rises while reducing governments’ ability to respond to new shocks.
The report also presents the results of a deep dive into global financial conditions. Structural shifts in the global financial system have led to tighter links between financial markets, reflecting the rapid growth of sovereign bond markets and a bigger role for non-banks such as investment and hedge funds. The greater connectedness is underpinned by the expansion of FX swap markets that allow asset managers to invest globally while hedging currency risk.
The reshaping of the financial system in recent years means that financial conditions are transmitted more swiftly across economies. The increased footprint of non-banks in the financial system in tandem with the growth in bond markets also brings financial stability risks. Institutions and activities that pose similar risks should be regulated with similar stringency.
Hyun Song Shin, Economic Adviser and Head of the Monetary and Economic Department
Other public policy priorities include long overdue structural reforms to address the persistent challenges of low productivity growth and make economies less rigid, the BIS said. Removing barriers to trade would help offset the damage from trade conflicts. Fiscal policy must ensure that the trajectory of public debt is sustainable and restore space for supporting the economy when needed. Central banks must retain their focus on keeping prices stable.
The experience of recent years has been a sharp reminder that price stability is the cornerstone for sustainable growth. For households, price stability means safeguarding the value of their hard-earned money, ensuring that what they save today maintains its worth tomorrow. Stable prices create the foundation for families to plan their futures with confidence, businesses to invest and grow, and economies to thrive. In an era of heightened uncertainty, preserving this foundation is more important than ever.
Agustín Carstens, General Manager
A special chapter, “The next-generation monetary and financial system”, was released on 24 June.
The BIS also publishes its Annual Report 2024/25 today. It highlights the achievements of the BIS’s most recent medium-term strategy, Innovation BIS 2025, and shows how the BIS has supported stakeholders during the year.
Thank you for joining us at this pivotal moment for the global economy. As we gather here today, we find ourselves at a crossroads – one shaped by challenges that are both immediate and structural. At the same time, we also have opportunities to reshape and improve our monetary and financial systems.
Just a few months ago, the near-term outlook for the global economy was favourable. After the Covid-19 pandemic and a struggle to restore price stability, a soft landing was finally in sight.
But, as history has shown us time and again, stability can be elusive. In early April, larger-than-expected tariffs were announced by the US administration. This fraying of long-established economic ties came on top of other policy ruminations in the United States that stoked concerns about policy direction and stability.
These events jolted the global economy. Asset prices swung wildly. Growth forecasts were cut.
The global economy entered a new era of heightened uncertainty and unpredictability.
Yet, with the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that the global economy faced serious challenges even before these tumultuous events. Productivity growth has been persistently weak in many economies. Fiscal positions are fragile. Financial vulnerabilities have built up, often in opaque ways. These challenges are compounded by the threat to prosperity from active conflicts on multiple continents.
So, where do we go from here? How do we navigate these turbulent waters?
Trust and policy
Let me begin by emphasising a principle that lies at the heart of successful public policy: trust.
Trust in public institutions, in central banks and in the very foundation of our economic systems – money itself. Today, as we face new uncertainties, this trust remains essential. It is the bedrock upon which economic stability is built.
Trust cannot stop at monetary policy and the door of the central bank. It must extend to every aspect of public policy. People must trust that policymakers and elected officials will act to advance legitimate objectives and will do so effectively. They must trust that the foundations of our economic systems are sound. And they must trust that innovation will be used to benefit society, not merely disrupt it.
This year’s Annual Economic Report reflects on these important themes. It reviews the state of the global economy, examines the key policy challenges and takes a closer look at two critical issues: how financial conditions are determined in today’s evolving global financial system and how the future monetary and financial system will be designed.
From soft landing to turbulence and uncertainty
In early 2025, the global economy appeared to be on track for a soft landing. Inflation was either on target or converging to central bank targets. Labour markets had largely normalised. The global economy was expanding at a respectable pace. And the mood in financial markets was growing more upbeat. To be sure, challenges were on the horizon for policymakers. But it seemed, for a moment, that the worst was behind us.
The outlook has since darkened. The announcement of broad-based US tariffs sent shockwaves through markets. Trade policy changes have been accompanied by the prospect of an ambitious fiscal expansion, questioning of central bank independence, discussions about penalising foreign holders of US securities and challenges to the legal system, among others. The repeated cycle of announcements, adjustments and reversals has fostered an atmosphere of uncertainty and unpredictability.
The market reaction was telling. Volatility soared. The US dollar depreciated even as government bond yields rose – an extraordinary, troubling combination. These unusual dynamics led to speculation in some quarters about the US dollar’s long-standing safe haven status.
Some of the more extreme policy changes that triggered market reaction seem to have been walked back. This has prompted a recovery in markets. But there is still very little clarity about the eventual scope of trade and other key policies amid the daily flow of ruminations.
Reverberations will make their way through the global economy, amplifying existing vulnerabilities. The full impact will take time to show.
Tariffs remain at levels not seen in decades and will exert pressure on both output and inflation.
In the meantime, elevated uncertainty may already be taking a toll. Firms are reporting delays in their hiring and investment decisions.
Past bouts of uncertainty have typically been followed by weaker economic activity and, in particular, business investment. Consistent with this, growth forecasts have been revised downward. Confidence indicators point to deteriorating economic activity.
Structural vulnerabilities in a shifting world
The recent turbulence has exposed and amplified long-standing vulnerabilities in the global economy. These include structurally low economic growth, unsustainable fiscal positions amid historically high public debt and the growing footprint of less regulated non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs). In combination, these developments make economies less flexible and less resilient. Policy is less able to respond when needed. And markets are more fragile and more likely to propagate risk.
Rising trade fragmentation is particularly concerning. Globalisation has been a vital force in sustaining income growth. It has also facilitated technological diffusion through foreign direct investment, especially among emerging market economies. But growth in global trade slowed considerably after the Great Financial Crisis. The recent imposition of tariffs could intensify this trend.
Tariffs are often justified as tools to address trade imbalances or protect domestic industries. Past experience tells us that they will not achieve these goals. Instead, they risk reducing economic growth further and exacerbating inflationary pressures. They will also make aggregate supply less flexible and economies more inflation-prone.
The global economy is becoming less resilient to shocks. Population ageing, climate change, geopolitical tensions and a less elastic supply side all contribute to a more volatile environment. Inflation expectations, already scarred by the pandemic, might be less firmly anchored. Households and firms, having been surprised by the persistence of inflation in recent years, might now be more sensitive to price changes.
To address these challenges, structural reforms are essential to make aggregate supply more nimble. Policymakers must focus on three key areas: bolstering labour and product market flexibility, reducing barriers to trade and enhancing public investment. These reforms will not only strengthen economic resilience but also lay the groundwork for sustainable, long-term growth.
The burden of debt
High levels of public debt are a significant vulnerability that governments can no longer ignore. Since the Great Financial Crisis, public debt has reached levels near or exceeding peacetime highs in many countries. While high debt can be sustainable when growth is robust and interest rates low, today’s conditions are far less supportive.
Rising interest payments, driven by higher rates and refinancing needs, are putting pressure on fiscal accounts and increasing fiscal sustainability risks. Already, there are signs of weakening investor appetite for government bonds and rising intermediation challenges. The absorption of debt issuance, particularly at longer tenors, has proved difficult on occasion. High debt may increase political pressures on central banks to keep interest rates lower than warranted by developments in inflation and output.
High debt makes the financial system more vulnerable. Repricing of government debt can lead to losses for banks and NFBIs, tightening financial conditions and dampening economic activity.
To minimise these risks, maintaining a credible and sustainable fiscal policy framework is critical. For some countries, this will require fiscal consolidation. For all, it will mean improving the “quality” of fiscal policy to make it growth-friendly.
Fiscal authorities need to build capacity to confront future shocks. This will allow them to support the economy when required, and it will ease the pressure on monetary policy to be a source of sustained growth.
The evolving financial landscape
The global financial system has undergone profound changes in recent years.
Two structural changes, in particular, stand out. The first is the shift in underlying claims from those on private sector borrowers to claims on the government. The second structural change is the shift in the source of funding from banks to NBFIs.
The increasingly central role of NBFIs introduces new risks and challenges, including for banks. While NBFIs have brought innovation and diversity to financial markets, they are also more opaque and less regulated than traditional banks.
The growth of private credit markets, for example, raises questions about credit quality and resilience in the face of economic downturns. A growing share of the long-term credit to small or medium-sized and highly indebted companies is now provided by private credit funds. While this has brought a range of benefits, we need to recognise the risks. The resilience of this young sector to a sizeable downturn in the credit cycle remains largely untested.
Similarly, the greater role of alternative asset managers and hedge funds in key financial markets has raised the likelihood that financial instability could be amplified by liquidity stresses. NBFIs have facilitated the funding of governments, but often with financial engineering that can be fragile. Their complex leveraged positions are vulnerable to adverse shocks, as we have seen in recent years and will likely see again. This deterioration in market function has increased the likelihood of financial stress episodes triggering central bank intervention. Stablecoins, while still small, are also gradually emerging as another potential source of liquidity risk.
Banks interact with the NBFI ecosystem through several channels. For example, banks provide liquidity to private credit funds through subscription lines, offer credit lines to hedge funds and collaborate in the securitisation of leveraged loans. Meanwhile, banks’ intermediation in repo and foreign exchange swap markets facilitates the growing footprint of internationally active NBFIs.
We know that even safe, liquid claims can be at the centre of a stress event, with potential spillovers that tighten financial conditions for the real economy. These risks to the safety and soundness of the banking system need to be carefully monitored.
Together, these developments have heightened the sensitivity of financial conditions to global risk factors. Emerging market economies have long experienced the spillovers of financial conditions from advanced economies. As Hyun will discuss shortly, major advanced economies increasingly figure in the transmission of financial conditions, both as the originators and as the recipients.
To address the risks presented by a larger NBFI sector, regulators must adopt a holistic approach. Banking and non-banking activities that pose similar risks should be subject to similarly stringent regulatory standards. Regulatory measures could entail a mix of activity-based and entity-based regulatory controls. This will help prevent the build-up of systemic risks and minimise competitive distortions among different providers of financial services.
Central bank priorities
Let me now turn to central bank priorities.
As they face these new challenges, central banks can draw on the valuable lessons learned in recent years. The pandemic era has reminded us that inflationary pressures can arise from multiple sources, not just strong demand. Structural shifts and supply side rigidities mean that economic shocks may now have a larger and more lasting impact on inflation. The recent inflation surge has left scars on inflation expectations, making the role of independent central banks as trusted anchors of price stability more important than ever.
Trade tensions exemplify the challenges central banks face. For some economies, recent developments will resemble a stagflationary shock. As such, they present a difficult trade-off for monetary policy. Central banks must carefully balance supporting growth and employment with preventing temporary price increases from turning into persistent inflation. Households, in particular, may show less tolerance for price increases and real wage declines following the sharp rise in living costs after the pandemic. If evidence of de-anchoring emerges, central banks must respond quickly and forcefully to inflationary shocks. The uncertainty surrounding the timing, magnitude and future trajectory of tariffs further complicates this task.
Countries that have not imposed tariffs or retaliatory measures are likely to face something more akin to an adverse demand shock. As a result, the disinflationary effects in these economies, including from lower prices for goods, are likely to dominate. Economies in this group, particularly those where inflation is low, may therefore have greater room to continue supporting growth with monetary easing.
For all central banks, three key lessons from the experience of recent years stand out. First, while inflation targeting should be symmetric, central banks should pay particular attention to preventing large inflation surges. Second, agility is key. Central banks must prioritise flexible tools, use balance sheets cautiously and rely on macroprudential measures to bolster financial system resilience. Third, humility is vital. Unexpected developments will happen. The use of alternative scenarios could help communicate the extent of uncertainty economies face. Scenarios do add complexity, but they can help clarify the central bank’s reaction function, thus helping households and businesses to navigate uncertainty and aligning their expectations.
By staying true to their mandates and adapting to evolving circumstances, central banks can continue to anchor expectations and foster stability in an unpredictable world. This is the path to maintaining trust and contributing to sustainable economic growth.
Building a monetary and financial system for the future
Finally, let me turn to the future of the financial system. Digital innovation offers many promises. For one, technologies such as artificial intelligence should be part of the solution for monitoring financial market risks such as those arising from the growing heft of NBFIs. More importantly, digital innovation offers immense potential to transform the monetary and financial system. Technologies like tokenisation and programmable payments hold the promise of faster, more secure and more efficient transactions.
Innovation must be guided by trust. Central banks have a critical role to play in ensuring that the foundations of the monetary system remain sound. This includes building on top of the two-tier system with central bank and commercial bank money at its core, providing regulatory frameworks, fostering public-private partnerships and articulating a clear vision for the future.
By contrast, alternatives built on privately issued currencies, including stablecoins, fall short when set against the three key tests that money must fulfil to serve society. The first is the singleness of money, which is the acceptance of money at par with no questions asked. The second is elasticity, the ability to flexibly meet the demand for money. The third is the integrity of the monetary system against illicit activity.
At the BIS, we have been working to shine light on developments in technology that may be harnessed by central banks. Major innovations like the entry of big tech into finance, central bank digital currencies and artificial intelligence are challenging and reshaping the financial system. Through the Annual Economic Report, we have worked – for each of the past eight years – to support the central banking community in understanding how to harness these innovations while preserving trust in money. This year’s chapter is in line with these efforts. We envision a next-generation monetary and financial system centred around a trilogy of tokenised central bank reserves, commercial bank money and government bonds. This system can set the stage for further innovation. It could enable seamless, automated transactions, reducing frictions and unlocking new possibilities for commerce and finance globally.
Conclusion
The challenges we face are formidable, but they are not insurmountable. By addressing structural vulnerabilities, maintaining trust in our institutions and embracing innovation, policymakers can help build a more resilient and inclusive global economy.
Let us grasp this moment to lay the foundations for a better future – one that is defined not by uncertainty and fragmentation, but by stability, cooperation and shared prosperity. In times of great uncertainty, central banks can play a vital role as a stabilising force delivering on their mandates with the public interest and stability at the heart of policy decisions. This will foster trust and ensure the success of the policy response, for the benefit of all.
The BIS Annual Economic Report 2025 highlights the growing interconnectedness of the global financial system and the central role of trust in maintaining its stability. It identifies two major structural changes since the Great Financial Crisis: the increasing dominance of sovereign bonds over private sector credit and the expanding role of non-bank financial institutions. These changes are tied to the interconnected dynamics of financial conditions, portfolio flows and FX swaps, which facilitate cross-border investments but also amplify the transmission of financial shocks. The report further explores how trust underpins the monetary system, emphasising the critical role of central banks in ensuring the stability of money and markets. It examines how tokenisation could enhance trust by integrating central bank money, deposits and government bonds, while safeguarding the system’s resilience and integrity.
This letter provides information about the budgetary effects of an Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute to H.R. 1. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) have estimated the effects of the amendment relative to the baseline used for budget enforcement for consideration in the Senate.
Title II of H. Con. Res. 14, the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2025, included reconciliation instructions directing committees to propose legislation that would produce specified budgetary results. CBO has reviewed the Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute to H.R. 1 and determined the following:
Title I, Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, would reduce deficits by not less than $1 billion over the 2025–2034 period.
Title II, Committee on Armed Services, would increase deficits by not more than $150 billion over the 2025–2034 period.
Title III, Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, would reduce deficits by not less than $1 billion over the 2025–2034 period.
Title IV, Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, would increase deficits by not more than $20 billion over the 2025–2034 period.
Title V, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, would reduce deficits by not less than $1 billion over the 2025–2034 period.
Title VI, Committee on Environment and Public Works, would increase deficits by not more than $1 billion over the 2025–2034 period.
Title VII, Committee on Finance, would increase deficits by not more than $1.5 trillion over the 2025–2034 period.
Title VIII, Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, would reduce deficits by not less than $1 billion over the 2025–2034 period.
Title IX, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, would increase deficits by not more than $175 billion over the 2025–2034 period.
Title X, Committee on the Judiciary, would increase deficits by not more than $175 billion over the 2025–2034 period.
In addition, CBO projects that the legislation and each individual title would not increase on-budget deficits after 2034.
H. Con. Res.14 provides the Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Budget with the authority to make adjustments regarding current tax policy that include extending provisions of the 2017 tax act (Public Law 115-97) in the baseline. For those adjustments, JCT estimated the budgetary effects of extending 26 provisions of P.L. 115-97 relative to CBO’s January 2025 baseline budget projections. CBO and JCT have estimated the effects of H.R. 1 relative to a baseline that reflects the budgetary effects of extending those 26 provisions and that has been updated for enacted legislation.
Headline: American Clean Power Statement: Clean Energy Tax Hikes in Senate Budget Bill
WASHINGTON DC, June 28, 2025 – The American Clean Power Association (ACP) issued the following statement from CEO Jason Grumet after the Senate released updated bill text late Friday night. The text imposes new taxes that would freeze energy investments, reduce domestic energy production, and drive-up household energy bills.
“With no warning, the Senate has proposed new language that would increase taxes on domestic energy production.
“In what can only be described as ‘midnight dumping,’ the Senate has proposed a punitive tax hike targeting the fastest-growing sectors of our energy industry. It is astounding that the Senate would intentionally raise prices on consumers rather than encouraging economic growth and addressing the affordability crisis facing American households.
“These new taxes will strand hundreds of billions of dollars in current investments, threaten energy security, undermine growth in domestic manufacturing and land hardest on rural communities who would have been the greatest beneficiaries of clean energy investment.
“We understand the Senate’s desire to meet the President’s July 4th deadline, but the stakes here are very high. We urge Senate leadership to strike these last-minute tax increases and to take the time to responsibly analyze the impacts of this new tax regime on American businesses and communities.”
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Below is our recommended lender for payday loans without credit checks.
Payday Loan No Credit Check US
With just a simple tap, you can easily pick the company that aligns most with your needs and obtain the payday loan no credit check is required to handle your unpaid expenses or unforeseen costs or bridge the financial divide between the application time and your next payday.
If you’re seeking a payday loan with no credit check, you’ll want a lender that caters to various credit scores. Look no further than Low Credit Finance. Their streamlined application process for payday loans takes just about two minutes to complete.
On their online platform, a vast array of lenders are eager and prepared to offer payday loans no credit check up to $5,000. It’s worth noting their transparency in operations, ensuring borrowers there are no hidden fees, which makes the loans accessible and affordable for all.
Also, when it comes to repayments, Low Credit Finance presents highly flexible terms, allowing borrowers extended durations to manage their finances and make timely payments.
Features of Low Credit Finance
No credit checks are done on payday loan lenders.
It offers affordable loans.
No hidden charges on payday loans.
Easy and convenient payday loan application.
Flexible repayment terms.
Understanding Payday Loans No Credit Check
A payday loan no credit checks is an unsecured form of a short-term financial alternative that has been designed primarily for individuals facing urgent financial needs with limited alternatives. It diverges from conventional lending norms in the sense that it grants individuals with limited credit histories and poor credit scores payday loans with little to no credit assessment since the approvals are made based on the borrower’s ability to repay the loan as opposed to their credit ratings.
Contrary to conventional loans, payday loans no credit checks are offered by online lenders that provide a convenient and accessible platform for those in need of immediate cash. The process of getting one is smooth, and it takes a short time to access the approved funds as the process is done online, from application to disbursement of funds.
However, convenience comes at a cost as it often comes with relatively high fees and interest rates. Additionally, the regulation of payday loans no credit checks operates in a gray area as they are not subject to the same laws and protections across all the states as other types of conventional loans. Therefore, this lack of regulation means that you must exercise caution and due diligence when considering these loans, ensuring you fully understand the terms of getting payday loans no credit checks in your state.
How to Qualify for Payday Loans No Credit Check
To qualify for a payday loan with no credit check, you must meet several key eligibility criteria. Here’s a breakdown of these essential qualifications:
Age and citizenship – You must be at least 18 years old and either a US citizen or a permanent resident to ensure that you meet the legal age and residency standards to access these loans.
Income verification – Having a verifiable source of income is a crucial aspect as lenders require evidence of a consistent income source to ensure you have the means to repay the loan. This income could come from employment, benefits, or another reliable source.
Debt-to-income ratio – Maintaining a favorable debt-to-income ratio is a significant criterion as lenders assess this ratio to evaluate your ability to manage additional debt responsibly. Thus a lower debt-to-income ratio is favorable.
Bank account – You must possess a bank account that serves multiple functions, such as receiving fund deposits and facilitating automatic deductions for loan repayments, as required by the lender.
Contact information – You must have a valid email address and/or phone number from which the lender will use as a means of communication with you throughout the application and repayment processes.
Meeting these eligibility criteria ensures that you are in a strong position to qualify for a payday loan with no credit check. Also, since all the above qualifications are easy to meet, payday loans no credit checks have high approval rates.
If you meet all these qualifications, below is the process you can follow to get a payday loan no credit check from any of our recommended lenders.
How to Apply for A Payday Loan No Credit Check
In contrast to traditional loans, obtaining a payday loan no credit check is a notably straightforward process, and extensive credit checks are not a prerequisite. Additionally, with the widespread availability of the Internet, applying for a payday loan no credit check has become significantly more convenient, eliminating the need for paperwork and long queues. Here is a step-by-step guide to applying for a cash advance:
Select a payday loan no credit check provider from the recommended list.
Allow the system to verify and evaluate your application.
Receive notification of your application’s approval status from the lender.
Access the approved cash advance funds directly in your bank account.
Whether you’re a seasoned borrower or a first-time applicant, rest assured that the application process is designed to be user-friendly. The interfaces are thoughtfully streamlined to ensure a seamless user experience, so you won’t encounter any hurdles while navigating through the process.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Payday Loans No Credit Check
Pros
Fast and easy – Payday loans no credit checks provide a quick and simple way to obtain funds, making them one of the fastest and simplest lending options available.
Accessibility for poor credit – Payday loans with no credit check are accessible even if you have a less-than-ideal credit history, as lenders prioritize your current financial situation and repayment capacity over credit scores.
No employment requirement – You can access a payday loan with no credit check even if you are currently unemployed, as lenders consider alternative sources of income to assess your ability to repay.
No income restrictions – Having a low income does not disqualify you from obtaining a payday loan with no credit check.
Flexible repayment terms – These loans offer flexible repayment periods, which can be extended to accommodate your financial circumstances.
Improved future loan options – Demonstrating responsible borrowing and timely repayments on a payday loan with no credit check can enhance your prospects of accessing more diverse loan options in the future.
Cons
Higher fees and interest rates – Payday loans with no credit check come with relatively higher fees and interest rates compared to standard loans. This is due to the increased risk that lenders assume when extending loans to individuals with unfavorable credit histories.
Limited availability – Payday loans with no credit checks are not universally accessible in all states as some have implemented regulations that restrict the availability of these types of loans.
How Do Credit Scores Affect Payday Loans No Credit Check?
When it comes to applying for payday loans no credit check, the significance of credit scores is notably diminished. This means that even if you have a less-than-ideal credit history, you still have the opportunity to submit an application and secure a payday loan no credit check. Traditional financial institutions often reject loan applications from individuals with poor credit, categorizing them as high-risk borrowers.
While some lenders may perform credit checks, they typically use soft checks that are designed to enhance the chances of approval for those with less-than-perfect credit. Your credit history may not directly impact your eligibility for a payday loan no credit check, but it does play a role in your overall credit score. Timely repayment of the loan usually has a positive influence on your credit score.
For individuals burdened by negative credit histories or those without any credit history to speak of, payday loans no credit checks offer a valuable avenue to initiate or enhance their creditworthiness. By managing and repaying payday loans no credit checks responsibly, you can embark on the journey to establish a positive credit history.
Conclusion
In summary, payday loans with no credit checks present a unique financial option that can be a lifeline for those in immediate need of funds, especially when traditional lending avenues are inaccessible. Their appeal lies in their accessibility, speed, and flexibility. However, it’s vital to recognize that they come with elevated costs, and the potential for a debt cycle is a real concern. For this reason, you should approach these loans with a clear understanding of the terms, a well-thought-out repayment plan, and an awareness of the potential risks involved. While payday loans no credit checks serve as a valuable tool in times of crisis, responsible borrowing and careful consideration of alternatives should always be the guiding principles when considering payday loans with no credit checks. It is also worth looking at tribal loan lender loan options; you can read more about them in this article.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are there any alternatives to payday loans with no credit checks for people with bad credit?
Yes, there are alternatives to consider, such as credit union loans, personal installment loans, or exploring financial assistance programs. It’s advisable to explore these options and compare their terms before committing to a payday loan with no credit check.
What happens if I change my mind after accepting a payday loan offer?
If you change your mind after accepting a payday loan offer, you generally have a short window of time to cancel the loan without incurring any fees or interest charges. However, the specific cancellation policy may vary by lender, so it’s essential to check the terms and conditions.
Can I apply for multiple payday loans with no credit checks at the same time?
While it’s possible to have multiple payday loans simultaneously, it’s generally not advisable due to the increased risk of falling into a debt cycle. Lenders may have policies in place to prevent borrowers from taking out multiple loans concurrently.
What if I’m unable to repay my payday loan on the due date?
If you can’t repay your payday loan on the due date, contact your lender immediately. Many lenders offer options like loan extensions or rollovers, but these often come with additional fees. It’s essential to discuss your situation with your lender to explore the best solution.
Email Support: support@lowcreditfinance.com
Phone Number: 1-844-870-5672
Disclaimer and Affiliate Disclosure
This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice, lending guidance, or an offer to provide financial services. The information presented has been prepared in good faith; however, no guarantees are made regarding the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, or relevance of the content. Loan terms, availability, eligibility criteria, and legal compliance may vary by state and lender, and are subject to change without notice.
Neither the publisher, its syndication partners, nor any third-party distributors are responsible for typographical errors, outdated information, or inaccurate representations. Readers should independently verify all loan details and consult with qualified professionals before making any financial decisions.
The publisher may receive compensation through affiliate partnerships featured in this content. This means commissions may be earned if readers click on links or take action based on the information provided. This compensation does not influence the content’s integrity, which is intended to present impartial and factual insights to the best of the publisher’s knowledge.
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If you’re looking for a loan without a credit check, look no further. We have found the best no credit check loans, with Low Credit Finance being our number one pick for meeting all the criteria.
If you’re currently looking to secure a no credit check loan but are having a hard time identifying the best lender, you’re not alone. At times, it can be difficult to settle on the best deal that will adequately sort out your current financial situation, given the number of no credit check loan lenders available in the U.S.
To help you make an informed decision, our team has carefully researched the U.S. lending market and identified the best lenders who offer no credit check loans for those with a poor credit score or no credit history at all.
Recommended No Credit Check Loans
All the above-listed brokers have a wide range of lending networks that are willing to extend instant no credit check loans.
To learn more about each of these companies, read on for the full overview.
If you’re looking for a transparent lender for a no credit check loan, consider Low Credit Finance. By prioritizing transparency in the total cost of their loans, Low Credit Finance ensures that there are neither hidden nor extra charges, keeping your total loan costs minimal.
To maintain affordability, Low Credit Finance offers no credit check loans with competitive interest rates and flexible repayment terms tailored to your needs. This commitment to borrower-friendly terms stems from its experienced team of professionals adept at providing no credit check loans to subprime borrowers.
In essence, Low Credit Finance serves as a dependable platform, granting access to no credit check loans up to $5,000 under favorable conditions. With their streamlined online application process, you can expect your approved funds to be deposited into your bank account within 60 minutes of approval.
Why Low Credit Finance?
It has transparent transactions.
No extra charges.
It charges affordable interest rates on no credit check loans.
It offers easy and convenient online application processes.
It has flexible repayment periods on no credit check loans.
Eligibility Requirements of No Credit Check Loans in the U.S.
Just like conventional loans offered by traditional financial institutions, no credit check loans come with their own set of eligibility criteria that must be satisfied before approval is made. In this segment, we have outlined the requirements that you need to meet to secure approval:
Age requirement – 18 years and above.
Citizenship or residency – You need to be a US citizen or a permanent resident.
Income – You must provide evidence of a verifiable source of income.
Debt-to-income ratio – You must maintain a favorable debt-to-income ratio.
Bank account – You should possess an active bank account.
Contact information – You must provide valid contact information, an email address, and/or phone number.
Meeting these eligibility criteria is crucial when applying for no credit check loans, much like it is for traditional loans. However, fulfilling these requirements for no credit check loans is easier. For this reason, many applicants have their approvals passed, as meeting the above greatly enhances the chances of approval.
If you meet the above criteria for getting a no credit check loan, the process for applying for one is below.
Application Process for a No Credit Check Loan
Here are the steps you should follow to apply for a no credit check loan:
Select a lender – Start by choosing a no credit check loan lender from our list.
Visit the lender’s website – Once you’ve identified a suitable lender, visit their website to access their loan application platform.
Complete the application form – Fill out the application form provided by the lender. You’ll need to provide personal and financial information.
Await application results – After submitting your application, await the lender’s response.
Accept the loan terms – If your application is approved, carefully verify the loan terms and conditions presented by the lender. Ensure that you fully understand the terms before proceeding.
Funds deposit – Upon accepting the loan terms, the lender will deposit the approved loan amount directly into your designated bank account.
As can be seen above, applying for a no credit check loan is straightforward and conveniently completed online. Should you require any assistance or have questions, the recommended lenders we provide can offer guidance and support throughout the application process.
Factors to Consider When Shopping for No Credit Check Loans
No credit check loans are a plausible choice not only for individuals with bad credit but also for those with prime credit scores, as they provide quick access to cash. This, therefore, makes them a go-to financial option for many, and as a result, it is vital to consider the following aspects as you shop for a no credit check loan lender. They include:
Interest rate – No credit check loans often have relatively higher interest rates than other types of loans. However, you should compare the annual percentage rate (APR) of the different no credit check loan lenders and choose the one that offers the lowest rate for your loan amount and term.
Fees and charges – Some no credit check loan lenders may have hidden fees that can increase the cost of borrowing. These extra costs could come in the form of origination fees, late payment fees, prepayment penalties, or other fees that may not be disclosed upfront. You should therefore read the loan agreement carefully and seek clarification on any that may not be clear.
Repayment terms – You should look for a no credit check loan with a repayment term that suits your financial abilities. This is because no credit check loans usually have shorter repayment terms, meaning you have to pay back the loan faster. Thus, taking on a loan with repayment terms that are not suitable may end up putting a strain on your budget and making it harder to meet your other financial obligations.
Approval rate – When looking for a no credit loan lender, you should consider one with a high approval rate as it suggests that the lender is more lenient with its eligibility criteria. This may suggest its specialization in working with individuals with less-than-perfect credit as well as a high likelihood of having your financial crisis handled.
Customer support – When looking for a no credit check loan, good customer support is essential for addressing inquiries, clarifying doubts, and resolving issues related to your loan. A lender’s customer support evaluation can be done by going through the reviews and customer feedback.
As for our recommended no credit check loan lenders, you can rest assured that all the above aspects were considered.
Tips for Responsible Borrowing of No Credit Check Loans
Only Borrow What You Need
When you borrow a no credit check loan, it is wise to limit the amount to cover your specific financial needs. Borrowing only what you need not only minimizes the overall debt burden but also reduces the risk of overextending your finances.
Borrow from Reputable Sources
Borrowing from reputable sources entails selecting no credit check loan lenders with a proven track record of fair and transparent lending practices. You should check that the no credit check lender of your choice adheres to industry regulations, provides clear loan terms, and protects borrowers’ rights to ensure that you receive fair treatment.
Set a Clear Repayment Plan
Having a clear repayment plan for your no credit check loan involves outlining how you will repay the borrowed funds. The plan could include the monthly installment amount, due dates, and total repayment period. This helps you budget effectively and ensures that you make timely payments, reducing the risk of late fees or default.
Monitor Finances
Monitoring your finances entails regularly reviewing your income, expenses, savings, and debt obligations to help you stay aware of your financial health. As such, you can make necessary adjustments to your budget and track your progress in repaying your no credit check loan.
Avoid Multiple Loans
By avoiding multiple no credit check loans, you are in a much better position to manage the payments and keep track of the timelines. As managing multiple loans is complex and increases the risk of missing payments, it is advisable to focus on paying off one loan before considering another.
Conclusion
In the complex world of personal finance, where your credit history often determines your financial path, no credit check loans stand out as a way out for those facing tough times. These loans don’t care about your credit score as they transcend the traditional barriers erected by credit histories, offering a chance at financial stability and security.
However, just like any other financial tool, you need to use them carefully lest they be your undoing financially. By taking into consideration the factors that we have highlighted, you can use no credit check loans smartly and to your advantage. So, as you go on your financial journey, remember that these loans can help you overcome money problems and look forward to a better future.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if I can’t repay a no credit check loan?
If you’re unable to repay the loan, contact your lender immediately to discuss your options. Depending on the lender’s policies, you may be able to arrange an alternative repayment plan or extension. Defaulting can lead to additional fees and collection efforts.
Can I apply for a no credit check loan if I have a low income?
Your income is a crucial factor in loan approval. While some lenders may consider low-income applicants, you must demonstrate your ability to repay the loan within the specified terms.
Are there limits to how I can use the money from a no credit check loan?
Generally, no. You can use the loan funds for various purposes, such as medical bills, car repairs, debt consolidation, or even a vacation. However, it’s advisable to use the funds for necessary expenses and financial goals.
Email Support: support@lowcreditfinance.com
Phone Number: 1-844-870-5672
Disclaimer and Disclosure
The information presented in this release is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute professional financial advice, legal counsel, or loan approval guarantees. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, completeness, and timeliness, no representations or warranties, express or implied, are made regarding the content. In the event of any errors, omissions, or outdated details, neither the publisher, the issuing party, nor any affiliated syndication partners shall be held liable for damages or losses of any kind.
Readers are strongly encouraged to conduct their own due diligence, consult with licensed financial professionals, and verify any details directly with the third-party services referenced before making financial decisions. Loan terms, eligibility criteria, and approval timelines may vary by provider and jurisdiction, and are subject to change without notice.
This release may include affiliate links, which means the publisher or associated parties may receive compensation if a reader clicks through and completes a qualifying action with a linked third-party lender. Such compensation does not influence the objectivity or integrity of the information presented. All opinions remain those of the original issuing party and do not reflect endorsements by the publisher or any downstream media outlets.
This content is distributed as-is and without warranties of any kind. All responsibility for product claims, representations, or factual accuracy lies solely with the issuing organization. Syndication partners and distribution services assume no responsibility for the accuracy or legality of the information contained herein.
Do you often find yourself in a troubling financial situation and have no one to turn to for a loan or a financial institution that can lend you money? You are not alone. Many Americans go through the same issue day in and day out.
However, worry not! We have created a list of lenders who can help you, regardless of your credit score. These recommended lenders willingly provide loans for people with bad credit and extend the loans to the borrowers in the shortest time possible to help meet their needs.
Read our list of the top companies offering loans for people with bad credit in the US in 2025 and find the best rates for amounts ranging from $100 to $5000+.
Top Company Offering Loans for People with Bad Credit
The above lenders are the best providers of loans for people with bad credit in the US in 2025. They are quick to provide financial aid regardless of one’s credit history or rating.
We have discussed each lender’s features further to help you make an informed decision and choose the one that best meets your needs. Read on to find the lender that best suits your financial needs.
Low Credit Finance is a lender that gives loans to people with bad credit without considering their credit background or credit scores. Low Credit Finance is known for its quick loan processing times, as a borrower can have their money in their account in as short as 60 minutes once approved. All FICO scores are welcome, making it easier for you to secure a loan even with a bad credit history.
Benefits of choosing Low Credit Finance:
All credit types are welcomed
Repayment terms that suit your needs
Same day decisions
Loan deposited instantly to account once approved
Secure application process
Low Credit Finance fiancé provides a top alternative to you as a borrower with a bad credit score. It uses other criteria to approve loans other than the creditworthiness or history of the borrower
A failure to meet the minimum requirement makes it harder for people with bad credit to secure loans from most lenders.
How to get a loan with bad credit
Even with a poor credit score, getting a personal loan has been made easier in the US in 2025. As you take your time to work on your credit, it is necessary to consider the following tips for finding the best loan options when you have a bad credit score or history:
Checking your credit score
It is important to be up to date with your credit score, which helps gauge the type of lenders that would be willing to extend their loans to you. Online sites can help in checking your credit score, or you can do the same through your financial institution. The credit score report is used to generate the credit score, and it is possible to request such reports through bureaus such as AnnualCreditReport.com.
Check whether you prequalify for a loan
Loan prequalification tests help you understand the possibility of getting a loan with a bad credit history or score. The process of inquiring for qualification does not in any way affect your credit score. It is also a way of knowing how much it would cost you if you obtained a loan for people with bad credit from the recommended online lenders.
Comparing loan offers
Different companies offer different rates on their loans. It is necessary to compare such offers to ensure that you get the best offer that best meets your financial needs within the market
Submitting an application
After requesting a pre-qualification, narrow down your options and submit a formal application for the loan. This will trigger a hard inquiry, which could affect your credit score.
Who offers loans for people with bad credit?
Various institutions offer loans to people with poor or bad credit. Below are some of the lending institutions that are likely to offer such loans:
Banks– in most cases banks rely on the credit history to extend loans to consumers. However, some banks such as Wells Fargo offer personal loans. They might however require the lender to go to the bank in person at their nearest branch for further application.
Online lenders– they are the easiest way of getting a loan with poor credit. The process is solely done online and can be done from the comfort of your home. Once you have applied, you will be requested to verify some information such as your identity and income status.
Credit unions– they also provide personal loans but have a drawback as an individual has to be a member of the institution. Individuals with bad credit can get personal loans from credit unions if they have guarantors who must also be members of the credit union.
Knowing your credit score category
If you desire to take out a loan and have poor credit, it is important to understand the different categories of credit score as it influence the loan repayment loan terms. Individuals with poor credit scores fall between the 300 and 579 marks. Below is a schedule of different categories of credit scores and the estimated interest rate on loans for each category:
The data on the table shows that individuals with the lowest credit score are more likely to get expensive loan terms, ten times more than individuals with a high credit score.
How to compare lenders for loans for people with bad credit
The repayment terms
The repayment terms determine the amount of money that the borrower pays back to the lender. It is important to have the most favorable loan terms that are within your financial capabilities. That would ensure repayment of the loan without the stress of getting deeper into debt. Longer repayment terms are most advisable as they reduce the principal and interest amounts that are paid each month. It is, however, necessary to note that a higher repayment period leads to a higher rate of interest (APR) on the loan.
Additional fees
Most borrowers fail to understand the additional fees associated with a loan, which makes the loan unnecessarily expensive. The lender selected might charge a fee in addition to the annual interest earned on the loans. Some of the hidden costs of loans lenders fail to communicate about include administrative fees that are deducted upfront from the amount borrowed, loan origination fees, late payment fees, and prepayment penalties. A lender with unnecessary loan fees should always be the last resort.
The APRs
The annual percentage rate (APR) is considered the cost of the loan and signifies the amount the lender will charge you on top of the principal amount. A lower APR leads to a lower cost of the loan, and vice versa applies. As a borrower, understand all the possible lenders and their APRs and choose the one offering the lowest APR on their loans for people with bad credit.
Can I be conned by lenders online?
The simple answer is yes! It is possible to get scammed online by individuals posing as legit lenders. Such people understand your urgent need for cash and take advantage of the same. Loans for people with bad credit seem too good to be true. It is therefore necessary to look for the following signs to avoid being scammed:
Demand for upfront fees to get a loan– legitimate lenders do not need the borrower to pay an upfront fee to process a loan. Legitimate lenders do not ask for payments before you are approved and have received your loan. In the case that a legit lender requires application fees, they are taken directly from the amount that you borrow.
Unregistered lender– all lenders have to be registered as per the federal law of the US. The Federal Trade Commission requires all lenders to be registered within their state of operations. To find out whether your lender of choice is registered, contact the state attorney general’s office.
Lender communicates first– in such a scenario, it is like a doctor looking for the patient rather than the patient seeking the doctor’s services. If you did not initiate the contact, there is a high probability of being scammed. Credible lenders do not call borrowers to ask for their personal information with the promise of offering loans to the borrower.
Types of loans for people with bad credit
Secured loans
A borrower who takes a secured loan will have to provide the lender with collateral, such as a car or a home mortgage. The collateral is valuable, and it makes it easier for the borrower to get a loan at a better rate despite their poor credit score status.
It is the best form of loan for people with poor credit but valuable collateral they can afford to lose if they default on their loan. In default, the lender may legally confiscate the collateral and use it to recover owed amounts and any additional damages.
Unsecured loans
Such loans do not rely on the availability of collateral; therefore, other factors such as the borrower’s credit history or ability to pay back the loan should be considered. On default of the unsecured loan, the lender cannot seize the lender’s assets, and thus, such loans attract high interest rates, making them more expensive.
Payday loans
They are alternative loans for people with bad credit. They are considered dubious loans due to their high fees and interest rates. The lender relies on the borrower’s income to pay back borrowed amounts, which are often taken directly from the paycheck. The high interest rates lead to borrowers taking additional loans to service existing ones, thus tying them in a circle of debt.
Cash advances
They are small short-term loans that an individual with a poor credit score can get from their credit company. They are primarily appropriate for individuals with emergencies or quick need for cash. Most lenders do not carry out credit checks on borrowers, making it easier for them to get approved and receive funds as individuals with poor credit.
How can I improve my credit score?
Loans for people with bad credit attract high interest rates and poor repayment terms compared to loans extended to people with better credit scores. It is, therefore, important to improve credit ratings to ensure access to better loans and loan terms in the future. The following are some of the ways that you can improve your credit score:
Register as a voter- it increases the credit score in that it confirms your address to the lender
Check the credit reports regularly- it helps identify the mistakes on the report that hurt credit ratings. For errors, contact the credit reference agency to make amendments
Pay bills on time
Avoid making too many loan applications
Keep the utilization ratio of your credit low by trying not to use more than 50% of the credit limit
Close any unused credit card accounts
FAQS
How easy is it to get a loan with a bad credit score?
It is fairly easy to get a loan with a poor credit score. However, one should excel in other factors that determine the ability to repay the loan. The easiest way to get loans for people with bad credit is through payday loans and pawn shop loans.
What is the best personal loan company in the US?
Our list above provides information on the best companies that offer loans for people with bad credit in the US in 2025. It is necessary to go through the pros and cons of each of the lenders and carry out due diligence and further research to understand the lender that best meets your financial needs.
How much money can I borrow with a poor credit score?
Depending on other factors other than your credit score, the amount of loans offered to borrowers changes from lender to lender. Loans can range from $200 to as much as $50000
Are there risks associated with bad credit loans?
Unfortunately, there are huge risks associated with loans for people with bad credit. For instance, it becomes hard to get out of debt, especially when you are already struggling financially.
What happens if I miss loan repayment?
Missing a loan repayment is likely to attract additional loan fees and interest. It would also negatively impact your credit score, making it harder to get loans at better offers when you are in dire need of emergency cash.
Email Support: support@lowcreditfinance.com
Phone Number: 1-844-870-5672
Disclaimer and Affiliate Disclosure
The information provided in this article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or professional advice. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the content at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor any syndication partners assume any responsibility for errors, omissions, or inaccuracies, including typographical mistakes or outdated data. Readers are strongly encouraged to verify all terms, rates, and offerings directly with the lending institutions or financial service providers mentioned herein.
This article may contain affiliate links. If a reader clicks on such a link and proceeds to make a purchase or take action, the publisher may earn a commission at no additional cost to the reader. These commissions help support the creation of educational content and do not influence the integrity or objectivity of the editorial process.
The publisher and all affiliated entities, including but not limited to content distributors, media platforms, and downstream partners, disclaim all liability for any direct, indirect, incidental, or consequential loss or damage resulting from the use or interpretation of the information presented. No guarantees are made regarding the availability, approval, or terms of any loan or financial product. Lending decisions, terms, and timelines remain at the sole discretion of the respective financial institutions.
This article does not endorse or recommend any specific lender, loan product, or financial solution. Individuals are urged to conduct their own independent research and consult with qualified professionals before making any financial decisions.
Do you often find yourself in a troubling financial situation and have no one to turn to for a loan or a financial institution that can lend you money? You are not alone. Many Americans go through the same issue day in and day out.
However, worry not! We have created a list of lenders who can help you, regardless of your credit score. These recommended lenders willingly provide loans for people with bad credit and extend the loans to the borrowers in the shortest time possible to help meet their needs.
Read our list of the top companies offering loans for people with bad credit in the US in 2025 and find the best rates for amounts ranging from $100 to $5000+.
Top Company Offering Loans for People with Bad Credit
The above lenders are the best providers of loans for people with bad credit in the US in 2025. They are quick to provide financial aid regardless of one’s credit history or rating.
We have discussed each lender’s features further to help you make an informed decision and choose the one that best meets your needs. Read on to find the lender that best suits your financial needs.
Low Credit Finance is a lender that gives loans to people with bad credit without considering their credit background or credit scores. Low Credit Finance is known for its quick loan processing times, as a borrower can have their money in their account in as short as 60 minutes once approved. All FICO scores are welcome, making it easier for you to secure a loan even with a bad credit history.
Benefits of choosing Low Credit Finance:
All credit types are welcomed
Repayment terms that suit your needs
Same day decisions
Loan deposited instantly to account once approved
Secure application process
Low Credit Finance fiancé provides a top alternative to you as a borrower with a bad credit score. It uses other criteria to approve loans other than the creditworthiness or history of the borrower
A failure to meet the minimum requirement makes it harder for people with bad credit to secure loans from most lenders.
How to get a loan with bad credit
Even with a poor credit score, getting a personal loan has been made easier in the US in 2025. As you take your time to work on your credit, it is necessary to consider the following tips for finding the best loan options when you have a bad credit score or history:
Checking your credit score
It is important to be up to date with your credit score, which helps gauge the type of lenders that would be willing to extend their loans to you. Online sites can help in checking your credit score, or you can do the same through your financial institution. The credit score report is used to generate the credit score, and it is possible to request such reports through bureaus such as AnnualCreditReport.com.
Check whether you prequalify for a loan
Loan prequalification tests help you understand the possibility of getting a loan with a bad credit history or score. The process of inquiring for qualification does not in any way affect your credit score. It is also a way of knowing how much it would cost you if you obtained a loan for people with bad credit from the recommended online lenders.
Comparing loan offers
Different companies offer different rates on their loans. It is necessary to compare such offers to ensure that you get the best offer that best meets your financial needs within the market
Submitting an application
After requesting a pre-qualification, narrow down your options and submit a formal application for the loan. This will trigger a hard inquiry, which could affect your credit score.
Who offers loans for people with bad credit?
Various institutions offer loans to people with poor or bad credit. Below are some of the lending institutions that are likely to offer such loans:
Banks– in most cases banks rely on the credit history to extend loans to consumers. However, some banks such as Wells Fargo offer personal loans. They might however require the lender to go to the bank in person at their nearest branch for further application.
Online lenders– they are the easiest way of getting a loan with poor credit. The process is solely done online and can be done from the comfort of your home. Once you have applied, you will be requested to verify some information such as your identity and income status.
Credit unions– they also provide personal loans but have a drawback as an individual has to be a member of the institution. Individuals with bad credit can get personal loans from credit unions if they have guarantors who must also be members of the credit union.
Knowing your credit score category
If you desire to take out a loan and have poor credit, it is important to understand the different categories of credit score as it influence the loan repayment loan terms. Individuals with poor credit scores fall between the 300 and 579 marks. Below is a schedule of different categories of credit scores and the estimated interest rate on loans for each category:
The data on the table shows that individuals with the lowest credit score are more likely to get expensive loan terms, ten times more than individuals with a high credit score.
How to compare lenders for loans for people with bad credit
The repayment terms
The repayment terms determine the amount of money that the borrower pays back to the lender. It is important to have the most favorable loan terms that are within your financial capabilities. That would ensure repayment of the loan without the stress of getting deeper into debt. Longer repayment terms are most advisable as they reduce the principal and interest amounts that are paid each month. It is, however, necessary to note that a higher repayment period leads to a higher rate of interest (APR) on the loan.
Additional fees
Most borrowers fail to understand the additional fees associated with a loan, which makes the loan unnecessarily expensive. The lender selected might charge a fee in addition to the annual interest earned on the loans. Some of the hidden costs of loans lenders fail to communicate about include administrative fees that are deducted upfront from the amount borrowed, loan origination fees, late payment fees, and prepayment penalties. A lender with unnecessary loan fees should always be the last resort.
The APRs
The annual percentage rate (APR) is considered the cost of the loan and signifies the amount the lender will charge you on top of the principal amount. A lower APR leads to a lower cost of the loan, and vice versa applies. As a borrower, understand all the possible lenders and their APRs and choose the one offering the lowest APR on their loans for people with bad credit.
Can I be conned by lenders online?
The simple answer is yes! It is possible to get scammed online by individuals posing as legit lenders. Such people understand your urgent need for cash and take advantage of the same. Loans for people with bad credit seem too good to be true. It is therefore necessary to look for the following signs to avoid being scammed:
Demand for upfront fees to get a loan– legitimate lenders do not need the borrower to pay an upfront fee to process a loan. Legitimate lenders do not ask for payments before you are approved and have received your loan. In the case that a legit lender requires application fees, they are taken directly from the amount that you borrow.
Unregistered lender– all lenders have to be registered as per the federal law of the US. The Federal Trade Commission requires all lenders to be registered within their state of operations. To find out whether your lender of choice is registered, contact the state attorney general’s office.
Lender communicates first– in such a scenario, it is like a doctor looking for the patient rather than the patient seeking the doctor’s services. If you did not initiate the contact, there is a high probability of being scammed. Credible lenders do not call borrowers to ask for their personal information with the promise of offering loans to the borrower.
Types of loans for people with bad credit
Secured loans
A borrower who takes a secured loan will have to provide the lender with collateral, such as a car or a home mortgage. The collateral is valuable, and it makes it easier for the borrower to get a loan at a better rate despite their poor credit score status.
It is the best form of loan for people with poor credit but valuable collateral they can afford to lose if they default on their loan. In default, the lender may legally confiscate the collateral and use it to recover owed amounts and any additional damages.
Unsecured loans
Such loans do not rely on the availability of collateral; therefore, other factors such as the borrower’s credit history or ability to pay back the loan should be considered. On default of the unsecured loan, the lender cannot seize the lender’s assets, and thus, such loans attract high interest rates, making them more expensive.
Payday loans
They are alternative loans for people with bad credit. They are considered dubious loans due to their high fees and interest rates. The lender relies on the borrower’s income to pay back borrowed amounts, which are often taken directly from the paycheck. The high interest rates lead to borrowers taking additional loans to service existing ones, thus tying them in a circle of debt.
Cash advances
They are small short-term loans that an individual with a poor credit score can get from their credit company. They are primarily appropriate for individuals with emergencies or quick need for cash. Most lenders do not carry out credit checks on borrowers, making it easier for them to get approved and receive funds as individuals with poor credit.
How can I improve my credit score?
Loans for people with bad credit attract high interest rates and poor repayment terms compared to loans extended to people with better credit scores. It is, therefore, important to improve credit ratings to ensure access to better loans and loan terms in the future. The following are some of the ways that you can improve your credit score:
Register as a voter- it increases the credit score in that it confirms your address to the lender
Check the credit reports regularly- it helps identify the mistakes on the report that hurt credit ratings. For errors, contact the credit reference agency to make amendments
Pay bills on time
Avoid making too many loan applications
Keep the utilization ratio of your credit low by trying not to use more than 50% of the credit limit
Close any unused credit card accounts
FAQS
How easy is it to get a loan with a bad credit score?
It is fairly easy to get a loan with a poor credit score. However, one should excel in other factors that determine the ability to repay the loan. The easiest way to get loans for people with bad credit is through payday loans and pawn shop loans.
What is the best personal loan company in the US?
Our list above provides information on the best companies that offer loans for people with bad credit in the US in 2025. It is necessary to go through the pros and cons of each of the lenders and carry out due diligence and further research to understand the lender that best meets your financial needs.
How much money can I borrow with a poor credit score?
Depending on other factors other than your credit score, the amount of loans offered to borrowers changes from lender to lender. Loans can range from $200 to as much as $50000
Are there risks associated with bad credit loans?
Unfortunately, there are huge risks associated with loans for people with bad credit. For instance, it becomes hard to get out of debt, especially when you are already struggling financially.
What happens if I miss loan repayment?
Missing a loan repayment is likely to attract additional loan fees and interest. It would also negatively impact your credit score, making it harder to get loans at better offers when you are in dire need of emergency cash.
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The shareholders of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) (www.Afreximbank.com) have appointed Dr. George Elombi as the next President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the continental financial institution. He becomes the fourth President to lead the Bank since its establishment in 1993.
His appointment was one of the key decisions of the 32nd Afreximbank group annual meetings and associated events held in Abuja, Nigeria, from 25 to 28 June, with the formal annual general meeting of shareholders taking place on Saturday, 28 June 2025.
He succeeds Professor Benedict Oramah, who has served as President and Chairman of the Board of Directors since 2015, and who will be stepping down in September 2025.
A Cameroonian national, George Elombi has been with Afreximbank since 1996, joining as a Legal Officer. He rose through the ranks to become Executive Vice President, Governance, Legal and Corporate Services. Over his nearly three decades at the Bank, he has served as Director and Executive Secretary (2010–2015); Deputy Director, Legal Services / Executive Secretary (2008–2010); Chief Legal Officer (2003–2008); and Senior Legal Officer (2001–2003).
Prior to joining Afreximbank, he taught law at the University of Hull, United Kingdom.
Dr. Elombi played a pivotal role in establishing Afreximbank group’s structure, including the formation of key subsidiaries that have expanded the Bank’s capacity to deliver on its mandate. As Chair of the Emergency Response Committee, he led the Bank’s response to the COVID-19 crisis, mobilising over $2 billion for vaccine acquisition and deployment across African and Caribbean nations. Under his supervision of the Equity Mobilisation and Investor Relations department, the Bank’s total ordinary equity mobilised amounted to USD 3.6 billion as at April 2025.
In his acceptance speech, Dr. Elombi expressed a deep commitment to the Bank’s mission and future, stating:
“I have worked alongside remarkable colleagues and extraordinary leaders to help shape this institution’s vision, its mandate as well as its growth. As we look to the future, I see Afreximbank as a force for industrialising Africa and for re-gaining the dignity of Africans wherever they are. I will work to preserve this important asset.”
He accepted the shareholders’ desire as expressed by his predecessor to make the institution a US$250 billion bank in ten years.
Dr. George Elombi holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the London School of Economics, University of London, and a Ph.D. in commercial arbitration from the same university. He obtained a ‘Maitrise-en-Droit’ from the University of Yaoundé in 1989.
His appointment followed a rigorous selection process initiated in January 2025, which included a global call for applications published in international media and on the Afreximbank website. Shortlisted candidates were interviewed by an international human resource executive search firm. The top candidates were presented to the Board of Directors, which recommended Dr. Elombi to the General Meeting of Shareholders for final approval.
Under the Afreximbank Charter, a president is appointed by the general meeting of shareholders upon the recommendation of the Board of Directors for a term of five years, renewable once.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Afreximbank.
Media Contact: Vincent Musumba Communications and Events Manager (Media Relations) Email: press@afreximbank.com
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About Afreximbank: African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance and promote intra- and extra-African trade. For over 30 years, the Bank has been deploying innovative structures to deliver financing solutions that support the transformation of the structure of Africa’s trade, accelerating industrialisation and intra-regional trade, thereby boosting economic expansion in Africa. A stalwart supporter of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Afreximbank has launched a Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) that was adopted by the African Union (AU) as the payment and settlement platform to underpin the implementation of the AfCFTA. Working with the AfCFTA Secretariat and the AU, the Bank has set up a US$10 billion Adjustment Fund to support countries effectively participating in the AfCFTA. At the end of December 2024, Afreximbank’s total assets and contingencies stood at over US$40.1 billion, and its shareholder funds amounted to US$7.2 billion. Afreximbank has investment grade ratings assigned by GCR (international scale) (A), Moody’s (Baa1), China Chengxin International Credit Rating Co., Ltd (CCXI) (AAA), Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) (A-) and Fitch (BBB-). Afreximbank has evolved into a group entity comprising the Bank, its equity impact fund subsidiary called the Fund for Export Development Africa (FEDA), and its insurance management subsidiary, AfrexInsure (together, “the Group”). The Bank is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt.
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group has approved a second partial credit guarantee to help Côte d’Ivoire raise funds for strategic green and social projects. This risk-sharing instrument will enable the country to access competitive financing from international commercial banks, including funding in local currency. The transaction builds on a successful €533 million Bank-guaranteed facility completed in 2023.
Côte d’Ivoire continues to show economic resilience and improved credit ratings. The West African country is committed to increasing revenue mobilization while ensuring prudent debt management.
The guarantee allows Côte d’Ivoire to diversify its funding sources and secure longer-term loans that align with its Medium-Term Debt Management Strategy for 2024-2028. It also provides access long-term local currency financing, helping address structural liquidity challenges in the regional financial market.
Proceeds will fund sectors aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals and Côte d’Ivoire’s National Development Plan 2021-2025. Priority areas include sustainable agriculture, water and sanitation, renewable energy, health, affordable housing, education, and financial inclusion.
“This operation reflects the Bank’s strategic use of risk mitigation instruments to help regional member countries access affordable, long-term capital for transformational investments,” said Solomon Quaynor, Vice-President for Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialization at the African Development Bank Group. “The guarantee supports Côte d’Ivoire’s efforts to embed sustainability into its financing strategy while strengthening investor confidence in the country’s macroeconomic and policy frameworks.”
The local currency component addresses chronic CFA franc liquidity shortages in the West African Monetary Union regional financial market, supporting both debt sustainability and regional capital market development.
“Over the past three years, we have approved seven guarantees to unlock close to $3 billion of competitively priced sustainable financing for our Regional Member Countries,” said Ahmed Attout, Bank Group Director for Financial Sector Development. The first guarantee’s €533 million proceeds were allocated to projects covering basic infrastructure projects, basic services, and employment and competitiveness projects, benefiting millions of Ivorians.
The new guaranteed facility will support Côte d’Ivoire’s vision of achieving upper-middle-income status by 2030 through sustainable economic transformation.
The State of Qatar emphasized the importance of promoting and protecting children’s right to education, especially in countries affected by conflict, highlighting its leading efforts in this field, which have received international recognition.
This came in the State of Qatar’s statement delivered by HE Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani, during the UN Security Council’s open debate on effective strategies to end and prevent grave violations against children in armed conflict, held at UN headquarters in New York.
Her Excellency referred to the State of Qatar’s key partnerships with the United Nations, which reflect the country’s commitment to supporting international efforts to protect children affected by armed conflicts. She pointed to the State of Qatar’s hosting and support of the Analysis and Outreach Hub of the Office of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, noting that the center continues to play a vital role in advancing child protection efforts in conflict areas.
Her Excellency also noted that this year marks the 20th anniversary of Security Council Resolution 1612 (2005), which was a landmark step and solid framework for improving the protection of children affected by armed conflict. It led to the creation of a monitoring and reporting mechanism focused on children and armed conflict. She stressed that all commitments must now be translated into concrete actions.
Her Excellency expressed the State of Qatar’s deep concern over the increasing number of grave violations against children, citing the UN Secretary-General’s report that said violence against children in armed conflict reached its highest level in 2024, and added that children have borne the brunt of relentless hostilities and indiscriminate attacks.
Her Excellency also strongly condemned the grave violations of international humanitarian law committed by the Israeli occupation against children in the Gaza Strip, calling on the international community to urgently act to compel Israel to comply with international laws, end its brutal war on Gaza immediately, and address the resulting catastrophic humanitarian conditions.
Her Excellency said that it was extremely alarming what the report documented regarding the scale of grave violations against children in the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly the widespread use of explosive weapons in densely populated areas, the sharp increase in violations in Gaza, and the escalation of violence in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Her Excellency emphasized that it is absolutely unacceptable for children to remain victims of grave violations in ongoing conflicts, and underscored the importance of ensuring their protection in such areas.
In conclusion, Her Excellency expressed her appreciation for HE Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for Children and Armed Conflict Virginia Gamba, praising her tireless efforts and extensive expertise.
Source: United States Senator for South Carolina Lindsey Graham
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, today released the Senate’s full legislative text of President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.
“If you like higher taxes, open borders, a weak military and unchecked government spending, this bill is your nightmare.
“I am proud to present to the public the Big Beautiful Bill. By making the Trump tax cuts permanent, working families will avoid a four trillion-dollar tax increase. Our bill provides full funding to secure the border in perpetuity and injects a much-needed $150 billion into our military to keep our nation safe. In addition, the bill raises the debt ceiling so that we do not default and crash the economy.
“Equally important, our bill reforms Medicaid – which has grown by nearly 50 percent in five years. It eliminates waste, fraud and abuse – and requires able-bodied Medicaid recipients to work. This bill is the largest reduction in government spending in recent memory, and is a down payment on fiscal reform.
“The Big Beautiful Bill contains all of President Trump’s domestic economic priorities. By passing this bill now, we will make our nation more prosperous and secure.”
View the full text HERE.
View the one-pager HERE.
For more information on the:
Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee Title, click HERE for a section-by-section and HERE for a one-pager.
Senate Armed Services Committee Title, click HERE.
Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee Title, click HERE.
Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Title, click HERE.
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Title, click HERE for a section-by-section and HERE for a one-pager.
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Title, click HERE for a section-by-section and HERE for a one-pager.
Senate Finance Committee Title, click HERE.
Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Title, click HERE for a section-by-section and HERE for a one-pager.
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Title, click HERE for Homeland Security and HERE for Governmental Affairs.
Senate Judiciary Committee Title, click HERE for a section-by-section and HERE for a one-pager.
After eight years of renovations, the Waldorf Astoria in New York has reopened and is welcoming new guests. The Waldorf – as most people know it – introduced room service, velvet ropes, red-velvet cake and Thousand Island dressing. It gave its name to a salad, a chain of lunchrooms, as well as a now obscure form of democracy.
In 1907, the novelist Henry James said the Waldorf embodied what he called the “hotel spirit”: it was a place where everyone was equal – as long as they could afford the price of admission. To James, hotels defined America’s emerging culture and ideals. He said this new “spirit” was one of opportunity; of a new elite that was accessible not only by lineage, but by money.
As the historian and journalist David Freeland wrote, the Waldorf generally made room for all who were “able and ready to pay” and who displayed a willingness to “conduct themselves properly”. The Waldorf ethos was developed by its first maître d’, Oscar Tschirky – known simply as “Oscar of the Waldorf” because people struggled to pronounce his name. “Our innovations were startling and sensational”, Tschirky said in his ghost-written autobiography in 1943, “but they were always genteel”.
Those early innovations included the invention of the “presidential suite”, which saw the hotel become an unlikely early force for American feminism when it became a hub of high-level talks between suffragists and President Woodrow Wilson.
The Waldorf, then, is an American institution – or, at least, it used to be.
It is now in the hands of Chinese owners and has been shunned by presidents since Barack Obama, worried over potential security risks. The brand itself has been watered down as there are currently 32 “Waldorf Astorias” dotted around the globe.
The story of the Waldorf encapsulates modern America’s crisis of the establishment. Few places better personify the creation of the US version of the establishment (much more about money than breeding or class). And in the past decade, the hotel’s position, like the US establishment more generally, has come under assault by a rival hotel owner, Donald Trump.
The Insights section is committed to high-quality longform journalism. Our editors work with academics from many different backgrounds who are tackling a wide range of societal and scientific challenges.
Trump has his own ideas about how to use these modern palaces to project power – and his innovations are anything but genteel. So what can the beginnings of this former American institution tell us about America today? As a researcher of political and democratic institutions, I have been examining the role of hotels in the story of American democracy. And this particular story begins with a Swiss-born waiter.
Oscar of the Waldorf
Tschirky was born in the Swiss Alpine village of Le Locle in 1866. He and his mother boarded the steamer La France in 1883, bound for New York. In his book, he recalled his mother’s announcement:
Yes, Oscar, we’re going to go to America and live with your brother in that great land of plenty where we can have everything we’ve always wanted.
That night, according to his book, was “the beginning of Oscar’s career as beloved servitor and counsellor to the great and near great of this world”.
Although it would be ten years after arriving in New York, that Tschirky would join the Waldorf (which was just about to open) as maître d’. His contract and salary commenced on January 1 1893, ahead of the grand opening of the Fifth Avenue hotel in March. He would occupy his post for the next half-century as “host to the world”.
Tschirky would remain in place as the hotel expanded in 1897 when John Jacob Astor IV built and connected the larger, taller Astoria Hotel next door. Then in 1931 the hotel was forced to relocate when its Fifth Avenue location was razed for the Empire State Building. The “new” Waldorf Astoria New York reopened on Park Avenue with the addition of its famous towers, making it the tallest hotel in the world at the time.
Tschirky was born just one year after the end of the American Civil War. It was an America of Jim Crow laws and segregation. He would live to see women’s suffrage, but not the civil rights reforms of the mid-1960s.
In this turbulent context, it appears that Tschirky did his best to keep the Waldorf out of politics. He stuck to the advice given by the Waldorf’s manager, George Boldt (himself a German immigrant) who told him that it was “not up to the hotel to settle international affairs”.
Tschirky came to understand, realise, and represent the “hotel spirit” of a new America as he presided over the establishment of hotels as American palaces: not only for visitors, but for the new American aristocracy.
A presidential palace
The Waldorf famously hosted every US president from Grover Cleveland to Franklin Roosevelt. In spring 1897, Cleveland was at the Waldorf with members of his former cabinet, who wanted him as Democratic candidate in the 1900 election. This was the first reported instance of “Waldorf democracy” – in this case, the term was used to identify this new group within (and in some respects differentiate it from) “the democracy”, that was the Democrats.
President Grover Cleveland (sitting on the far left) and his cabinet, between 1895 and 1896. Shutterstock/Everett Collection
This politics was not embraced by all. As reported in The Ohio Democrat, Congressman Edward W. Carmack of Tennessee dismissed it as “the walled-off Democracy, because they are by themselves, representing nobody, and unable to influence a vote”.
Nevertheless, political elites liked the luxury that the Waldorf offered. Presidential suites were established during Woodrow Wilson’s presidency (1913-21). In the Waldorf, this famous suite emulates the furniture of the White House and still contains several presidential souvenirs, (including John F. Kennedy’s rocking chair).
The hotel was also popular among the famous “Four Hundred of the Gilded Age” – the highest echelons of New York society. The group was originally led by Caroline Schermerhorn Astor. The Astors’ ancestral family home, the town of Walldorf, in western Germany, had even given the hotel its name. According to Tschirky’s book, the Waldorf’s grand ballroom was:
… where Teddy Roosevelt had dined, where presidents McKinley, Taft, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge and Hoover had spoken historic words to the nation, where princes of royal blood had been welcomed, where the great people in every walk of life had been honored.
The Waldorf proved a suitable palace for US presidents and their entourages and Tschirky, a suitable “servant”. When interviewed by Washington DC’s Evening Star, Tschirky “wouldn’t talk about presidents except to say that Franklin D. Roosevelt calls him, ‘my neighbor across the Hudson’”.
But Tschirky, “for all his celebrity acquaintances, never forgot that he was, in the end, a servant”, as Freeland wrote. The Waldorf likewise applied the term to its staff.
Exclusivity, exclusion and ‘democracy’
The world famous hotelier Conrad Hilton, who acquired the Waldorf in 1949, recalled in his autobiography, Be My Guest:
Originally the Waldorf was said to purvey exclusiveness to the exclusive. Later [the writer and artist] Oliver Herford announced that it ‘brought exclusiveness to the masses’. But that exclusiveness remained whether the hotel catered to a convention of three thousand or a tête-à-tête between crowned heads.
The Waldorf ethos projected “taste” and imbued it in others. Tschirky “subtly schooled Americans in fine European dining”. In 1956 – six years after Tschirky’s death – the New York Times recalled that, alongside Boldt, he undertook to teach people how to spend their money. The Waldorf embodied good taste by enforcing it, for example in its expectation of “proper conduct”.
But with exclusivity comes exclusion. Hence, the hotel’s introduction of the velvet rope. According to the Waldorf’s luxury suite specialists, this was done “to create order … the fact that it created a sense of stature and separation was secondary”.
Tschirky’s statement that “all who pay their bills are on an equal footing” reflects one of his “rules for success”:
… be as courteous to the man in a five dollar room as to the occupant of the royal suite. It is an old rule, but it never changes.
We can see from this mindset how the hotel was seen to possess, as American Studies scholar Annabella Fick put it, “a democratic quality … even though it is also elitist. In that, it invokes the democratic understanding of early America, which also differentiated between land-owning gentry and the mob”.
This was not the only differentiation. Just two years after the Waldorf opened, the 1895 New York State Equal Rights Law (commonly known as the Malby Law) – which aimed to abolish racial discrimination in public places – had aroused Boldt’s indignation. According to Freeland, Boldt described the law to reporters as “an outrage, as it prevents us from making any selection of our patrons. A man who runs a first-class hotel must respect the wishes of his guests as to the sort of people that he entertains, and the law should not dictate to him.”
In his paradoxical desire for the freedom to discriminate and persecute as he wished – and on behalf of his customers, real or imagined – Boldt illustrated the exclusion inherent in exclusivity. Boldt’s statement also presaged a system of informal segregation, in which Black Americans were allowed in the Waldorf (and elsewhere), but were certainly not welcome.
Despite this the Waldorf was at the heart of a fundamental shift in American culture which “invited” ordinary Americans access beyond the velvet rope – as long as they could afford it. As James McCarthy and John Rutherford said in their 1931 book, Peacock Alley: “The average man and woman … frowned upon grand display – chiefly because the average person knew it was beyond his or her own horizon of enjoyment. The arrival of the Waldorf, however, was an invitation to the public to taste of this grandeur.”
And it wasn’t just the paying customers. During its 30th anniversary in 1923, the Waldorf elevated its staff – its servants – to the level of guests. Reporters for the Birmingham Age-Herald noted: “Practically the entire staff of the hotel were guests … the affair reached the topnotch of Waldorf democracy, for the waiters and financiers, telephone girls and captains of industry, coat-room clerks and merchant princes sat side by side and swapped reminiscences with each other.” The article continues:
Oscar sat [at] the head of his own table as guest of honor. For a brief time Oscar was no longer the solicitous host … For an hour or two Oscar was himself the guest, and the entire kitchen menage of the Waldorf-Astoria was kept hopping filling his wants and those of his fellow guests.
Oscar and his wife Louise, in the Birmingham Age-Herald above ‘Father Knickerbocker’ – a personification of New York City (hence The Knicks) – celebrating the Waldorf at 30. Library of Congress
But being a guest was a temporary experience.
The “Waldorf democracy” described during this event – of people from every walk of life and status mixing and socialising – was very different to that of the Cleveland entourage. It was not party-political, but institutional.
Democracy meant different things, at different times, within the Waldorf; just like in the broader US. The Waldorf, in turn, began to change, and perhaps even lose its meaning within the US by the time of Obama’s presidency.
Chinese ownership
The Waldorf lost its status as presidential palace in 2014. It was bought for $1.95bn by a Chinese company that was later seized by the Chinese government. Security concerns a year later prompted President Obama to stay at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel instead.
Obama’s choice of where to stay – and where not to stay – was widely discussed in the media. The decision was seen to “break with decades of tradition”. ABC News recognised and portrayed it as the end of an era, bidding “Goodbye to the Waldorf Astoria, welcome to the Lotte New York Palace Hotel”. This new era was also framed in geopolitical terms, for example by the New York Times:
With Chinese spies rummaging through White House emails, President Obama has decided not to risk making their spying any easier: He will break with tradition and abandon the Waldorf Astoria … Mr. Obama and other officials will instead take up residence a few blocks away at the Lotte New York Palace.
The same article also pointed out that “hotels have long represented a weak link in security for travelling officials and others”. In fact, Nikita Khrushchev had once got stuck in an elevator at the Waldorf, and “probably thought it was an attempt to assassinate him”.
Covering up an assassination as an “elevator accident” is probably not what Hilton had in mind when he envisaged his hotels as “a means of combating communism”. On the contrary – as Professor Mairi Maclean, a researcher of business elites, put it – Hilton envisaged hotels as a means of “facilitating world peace through international trade and travel”.
Women’s suffrage
It may not have brought about world peace, but the Waldorf did play a part in certain moments of US history because it was always seen as a key arena to lobby rulers, most notably in 1916. Women’s suffrage in America was still four years away. On one side of the debate (and the Waldorf itself) were two hundred suffragists, occupying the East Room. On the other was Woodrow Wilson, occupying the Presidential Suite.
Tschirky recalled being “appointed diplomatic courier … and delegated to carry the first communiqué of the morning … In the midst of it all I stood my ground, swearing myself an ice cold neutral”.
Though neutral on the question of suffrage, Tschirky was willing to reduce boundaries within the hotel, especially if it was good for business. Even as the hotel was being built, Tschirky remembered that “there was not, in all America, such a thing as a motor car, a radio … Nor were cocktails ever seen in private homes; or divorces tolerated in society; nor did women smoke, or wear dresses above their ankles”.
Then in 1907 a notice was put up in the Waldorf: “Women would be served in the hotel restaurants at any time, with or without male escorts.” Freeland noted Tschirky’s simple confirmation that: “We will serve women. What else can you do in a hotel?”
Crowd of women’s suffrage supporters demonstrating with signs reading, ‘Wilson Against Women’, in Chicago on October 20, 1916. Wilson withheld his support for Votes of Women until 1918. Shutterstock/Everett Collection
A few years later, discussing women’s right to smoke in the dining rooms, Tschirky said: “We do not regulate the public taste. Public taste does and should regulate us.”
During the Waldorf’s 30th anniversary in 1923, newspapers such as El Imparcial celebrated it as “a civic asset of unique importance. And to its other accolades must be added that of contributing effectively to the progress of feminism. It was a memorable day in the women’s rights movement when The Waldorf Astoria granted female access to the Peacock Alley.”
Nevertheless, even the naming of Peacock Alley – a corridor in the hotel that became an important place of congregation, especially for women – was a recognition of exclusivity. It was where people gathered to parade themselves. As the recollection goes in Tschirky’s memoirs: “The Waldorf Hotel was a triumphant picture of the Best People at their best”.
Trump
With their ostentatious decor and gilded interiors, Trump’s hotels could be seen as the modern incarnation of Peacock Alley.
But the tenets of politeness, respect and decorum that Tschirky set down seem like echoes from another age when compared to a recent AI video showing Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sitting shirtless at a pool with drinks at an imaginary “Trump Gaza hotel”. The video appears to have been a spoof, but that didn’t stop the president from sharing it on Truth Social, his own social media platform, and Instagram.
Like Hilton (who was immortalised in Mad Men, demanding a Hilton on the moon) hotels have always been a part of Trump’s brand. Trump recalled, in How to Get Rich, that his “first big deal, in 1974, involved the old Commodore Hotel site near Grand Central Station” on 42nd Street.
The former Trump International Hotel in Washington DC, opened in 2016, was described as “the epicenter of the president’s business interests in [the capital]”. It was also “a popular choice for lobbyists and Republican Congress members during Trump’s presidency”.
“The Trump Organization sold the hotel’s lease to CGI in 2022, when the hotel was reflagged as a Waldorf Astoria”, though Trump’s firm is rumoured to be in talks to reacquire it.
Another similarity between Hilton and Trump is their use of hotels as symbols for the nation. Each hotel of Hilton’s was envisaged as a “Little America”, “to show the countries most exposed to communism the other side of the coin”.
It had all of the ingredients of greatness, but it had been neglected and left to deteriorate for many many decades … It had the foundation of success. All of the elements were here. Our job is to restore our former glory, honor its heritage, but also imagine a brand new and exciting vision for the future.
Forbes commented that this event “could’ve easily been mistaken for a Trump rally”, for example in his statement that “my theme today is five words: ‘under budget and ahead of schedule’ … We don’t hear those words too often in government – but you will!”
Similarly, in an interview with the New York Post, Trump’s son Eric Trump used familiar Maga rhetoric: “Our family has saved the hotel once. If asked, we would save it again”.
What would Tschirky have made of all this? As a political neutral he would have decried Trump’s frequent hotel plugs during political campaigns. No doubt his behaviour would have seemed crass.
Perhaps this reflects two different eras of hotels and their intended functions. Grand hotels such as the Waldorf were shaped by European colonialism, by immigrants like Tschirky and Boldt. But as historian Annabel Wharton describes, the Hiltons “were constructed not, as in the nineteenth century, to meet an established need, but to create one. They suggest that this pressure was not produced simply by the desire for profit, but from a remarkable political commitment to the system that promoted profit-making”. I think we can read Trump’s hotels, and now his politics, in the same way.
The hotel spirit has entered a new phase with Trump’s proposals to “own, level, and develop” the Gaza Strip and create a “Riviera of the Middle East” – riding roughshod over the democratic will of Palestinians in Gaza who dismissed Trump’s vision.
Less than two decades after opening, Tschirky remarked that “many of the great events, financial, diplomatic, political, had had their inception within [the Waldorf’s] stone walls”. For him, it was “an international crossroad where men from all lands came to exchange goods and ideas” and to plan the changes in the world which he would later see come to pass.
Tschirky saw hotels as the most democratic places on Earth. But the “hotel spirit” he espoused – that uniquely American narrative within which he “became a citizen almost overnight” (a feat that seems vanishingly unlikely today) – seems to have been consigned to the past.
“I know that better times will come again”, he says in the preface to his book, “but in terms of the past, I think I have seen the best. New York has changed. America has changed.”
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Alex Prior does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
The Chairman / Managing Director / Chief Executive All Scheduled Commercial Banks including RRBs / Urban Cooperative Banks / State Cooperative Banks / District Central Cooperative Banks / National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)
Madam / Dear Sir,
Aadhaar Enabled Payment System – Due Diligence of AePS Touchpoint Operators
Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS) is a payment system operated by National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) that facilitates interoperable transactions using Aadhaar enabled authentication. AePS plays a prominent role in enabling financial inclusion.
2. In recent times, there have been reports of frauds perpetuated through AePS due to identity theft or compromise of customer credentials. To protect bank customers from such frauds, and to maintain trust and confidence in the safety and security of the system, a need is felt to enhance the robustness of AePS. Accordingly, as announced in Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies dated February 08, 2024, it has been decided to issue directions for streamlining the process for onboarding of AePS touchpoint operators and strengthening fraud risk management. Detailed instructions are placed in the Annex.
3. These directions are issued under Section 18 read with Section 10(2) of the Payment and Settlement Systems (PSS) Act, 2007 (Act 51 of 2007) and shall come into effect from January 01, 2026.
Yours faithfully,
(Gunveer Singh) Chief General Manager-in-Charge
Encl.: Annex
Annex
CO.DPSS.POLC.No.S339/02-01-001/2025-2026
June 27, 2025
Aadhaar Enabled Payment System – Due Diligence of AePS Touchpoint Operators
1. Definitions
I. In these directions, the terms herein shall bear the meanings assigned to them below:
Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS): It is a Payment System in which transactions are enabled through Aadhaar number and biometrics or OTP authentication providing financial services such as cash withdrawal, cash deposit, fund transfer, and non-financial services such as mini statement and balance enquiry. etc.
Acquiring bank: The bank which onboards the AePS touchpoint operators.
AePS Touchpoint: The terminal deployed by acquirer banks to facilitate AePS transactions, which shall include both mobile and fixed points.
AePS Touchpoint Operator (ATO): The individual onboarded by the acquiring bank who operates the AePS touchpoint.
II. Terms pertaining to Aadhaar, Aadhaar biometric authentication, etc., shall have the same meaning as assigned to them in the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 (18 of 2016), and the rules made thereunder.
III. Words and expressions used but not defined in I and II above and defined in the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 shall have the meanings assigned to them in that Act.
2.2 In cases where an ATO has remained inactive, i.e. has not performed any financial / non-financial transaction for a customer for a continuous period of three months, acquiring bank shall carry out KYC of ATO before enabling him / her to transact further.
3. Risk Management
3.1 The acquiring bank shall monitor the activities of ATOs through their transaction monitoring systems on an ongoing basis and set operational parameters, based on business risk profile of the ATOs. Aspects such as location and type of the ATO, volume and velocity of transactions, etc. shall form part of bank’s fraud risk management framework.
3.2 The operational parameters regarding ATOs shall be reviewed on a periodic basis, reflecting emerging fraud trends.
3.3 The acquiring bank shall put in place adequate system level controls to ensure that any technological integrations like APIs are used only for enabling AePS operations.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
KUALA LUMPUR, June 28 (Xinhua) — Despite the gloomy economic outlook, Hong Leong Investment Bank predicts that Malaysia’s tourism growth will remain unchanged, driven by a significant influx of Chinese tourists.
The research house said in a report released on Thursday that Malaysia’s tourism performance in the first quarter was strong. Tourist arrivals and revenues rose 10 percent and 24 percent year-on-year to RM6.4 million and RM27.5 billion (US$6.5 billion), respectively, while average expenditure per tourist rose to RM4,300.
“This may be due to the sharp increase in the number of Chinese tourists in the first three months of this year (up 27 percent year-on-year),” the report said.
Malaysia has set an ambitious tourism target for 2025: to welcome 31.3 million tourists and generate RM125.5 billion in revenue, which would translate into year-on-year growth of 25 percent and 23 percent, respectively.
In its report, Hong Leong Investment Bank highlighted that Chinese tourists tend to stay longer in Malaysia and spend more. –0–
