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Fuel Volatility Forces Businesses to Rethink Mobility – SG Fleet

(22 May 2026 – Australia) High petrol costs are forcing companies to overhaul their mobility strategies as fuel price volatility driven by the ongoing Middle East conflict forces businesses to reassess their approach to fleet management and employee mobility.

With petrol prices at an all-time high, companies are employing new strategies to manage rising fleet costs, guarantee fuel access, and ease cost-of-living pressures on staff.

SG Fleet reports a significant uptick in novated leasing activity in the last few months. Novated leasing allows employees to buy a car and pay for its operating costs through a salary sacrifice program. The number of requests for electric vehicles (EVs) through the company’s novated leasing program has also risen sharply.

East & Partners newly released Asset Finance analysis, based on direct interviews with 1,293 enterprises with asset financing arrangements in place, reveals Novated Leasing represents one of the fastest growing methods of asset finance relative total asset financing in line with an overall lift in asset financing among small businesses in particular as a proportion of overall borrowing.

“Businesses have been quite concerned about the financial impacts on their employees cost of living, so we have seen more companies requesting the opportunity to offer novated leasing” commented SG Fleet Australia Chief Commercial Officer, Andy Mulcaster.

“Despite any fringe benefits tax that may apply to the lease, purchasing a car through novated leasing is still more cost-effective than taking out a loan and buying a vehicle the normal way, and paying for all your running expenses through your post-tax dollars. The FBT savings for an eligible electric vehicle are even greater under a novated lease.”

“The change in momentum for electric vehicles into novated programs has been pretty strong for the last two to three years. Now, you add to that the issue in the Middle East and the demand has just gone crazy. Traditionally, there haven’t been too many active buyers in the used electric vehicle market, but that’s changed quite dramatically,” he said.

“Having a good used market means it’s going to address some of the issues we’ve had with electric vehicles, being the whole-of-life costs.”

Trump Executive Order Pushes Federal Reserve to Expand Payment Rail Access

(20 May 2026 – United States) Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing the Federal Reserve to explore options for broadening access to US payment infrastructure.

The goal is to “streamline regulations and promote financial innovation and collaboration” between fintech firms, federally regulated financial institutions and regulators.

As part of the directive, the Federal Reserve has been asked to review the legal, regulatory and policy frameworks governing access to Reserve Bank payment accounts and payment services for uninsured depository institutions and non-bank financial companies.

The central bank is also being tasked with assessing its legal authority in this area and outlining potential pathways to expand access.

The Federal Reserve has already been examining ways to widen participation in its payment systems. Last year, it began considering the introduction of a so-called “skinny” master account, which would provide fintech firms and other non-bank providers with access to core Federal Reserve payment services without relying on intermediary banks.

The executive order also calls on the Federal Reserve and other regulators to review existing rules, supervisory practices and application processes to identify opportunities to modernise regulation and encourage greater competition and innovation across the financial services sector.

Kraken recently became the first digital asset bank to secure a master account, while fintech firms including Wise and Ripple are reportedly seeking similar access.

Standard Chartered to Reduce 7,800 Roles Amid AI and Automation Push

(19 May 2026 – Global) Standard Chartered plans to reduce around 7,800 back-office roles over the next four years as the bank accelerates its investment in automation and artificial intelligence.

The reductions will primarily affect operational hubs in Chennai, Bengaluru, Kuala Lumpur and Warsaw, targeting approximately 15 percent of the bank’s back-office workforce, which currently totals more than 52,000 employees.

According to the bank, the changes will be implemented progressively as technology adoption increases and some employees transition into new roles through reskilling initiatives.

CEO Bill Winters said the move is being driven by operational transformation rather than traditional cost-cutting measures.

“It’s not cost-cutting. It’s replacing in some cases lower-value human capital with the financial capital and the investment capital we’re putting in,” Winters said.

“Of course we’re using AI along the way and AI will be a huge facilitator and enabler of that.”

Lloyds and BankiFi Launch Embedded Tax Tool for UK SMEs

(19 May 2026 – United Kingdom) Lloyds Banking Group has partnered with BankiFi to launch an integrated Making Tax Digital (MTD) solution for small businesses, embedding tax management capabilities directly into its business banking app.

The free tool, powered by BankiFi, has been introduced in response to new HM Revenue and Customs requirements that came into effect on 6 April 2026, mandating digital record-keeping and quarterly tax submissions for sole traders and landlords.

By integrating the functionality within its existing banking platform, Lloyds aims to simplify compliance for SMEs while reducing the need for separate accounting software subscriptions.

Ruchir Rodrigues, BCB client strategy and commercial director at Lloyds, said: “Small businesses are looking for simple, cost-effective solutions that save time. By working with BankiFi to embed our Making Tax Digital tool within the Lloyds Business Account for free, customers can manage their tax administration directly within their banking app, without needing a separate accounting subscription.”

According to BankiFi CEO Mark Hartley, growing competition from digital challengers including Starling Bank, Monzo, Tide and Revolut is pushing traditional banks to strengthen their SME digital offerings.

Hartley noted that many small businesses still rely on fragmented financial tools and face challenges managing tax obligations and cashflow visibility.

The partnership also reflects a broader trend of banks embedding accounting and operational tools directly into their platforms as competition for SME customers intensifies.

BankiFi said the collaboration is expected to expand beyond tax compliance into additional services such as invoicing and cashflow management in the coming months.

Agentic AI Pilots Shaping Practical Payments Framework

(19 May 2026 – Australia) Visa and Mastercard are testing how agentic AI technology can automate routine financial decisions and time consuming administrative tasks plaguing small businesses.

Visa is making strides in preparing the local ecosystem for the next phase of agentic commerce with several Australian partners signing on to Visa’s Agentic Ready program including ANZ, Bank of Melbourne, BankSA, Cuscal Limited, ING, Latitude, NAB, St.George and Zip Co.

“Agentic commerce represents a fundamental shift in how people shop and pay that will become truly meaningful when it works across the real world of commerce. The Agentic Ready Program is about preparing the ecosystem for what comes next, when AI agents are making decisions across merchants, categories and platforms, not just within a single store” commented Visa Oceania Group Country Manager, Alan Machet.

Mastercard has also executed a series of agent-led business transactions across Australia and New Zealand, testing how artificial intelligence (AI) could move beyond recommending actions to carrying them out. The strategy is to link steps that are currently disparate where business data feeds into an AI system, generates a recommendation and then completes the payment.

The distinction is that these transactions combine insight and execution, rather than leaving business owners to act on recommendations themselves. The aim is to reduce the number of steps involved between identifying a task and completing it, building on earlier AI development for the group’s “virtual C-suite” designed to provide small businesses with strategic insights typically available only to larger enterprises.

“There’s still that disconnect – you have to come out of the AI platform to then go to that merchant to pay. That last mile is where agentic will play a role” stated Mastercard APAC Executive VP of Commercial & New Payment Flows, Anouska Ladds.

“SMEs don’t have a passion to be a CFO. So where you can take that away and help them enable that you’re giving the SME time back” Ladds added.

“HSBC Australia recently participated in an agentic payments pilot with Mastercard, supported by RedOwl’s AI capabilities. For us, the focus is two-sided as it should be with payments. The opportunity is for smarter automation, faster processing and reduced operational friction for Commercial Cards but also enhanced risk and responsibility through clear accountability, strong controls and resilience against fraud, scams and liability risks” commented HSBC Australia Head of Product Management, Global Payment Solutions, Navaid Khatib.

“This pilot is helping us shape a practical framework for agentic payments in Commercial Cards for our Corporate and Institutional clients with a more mature end-to-end approach to adopting AI in payments that balances innovation with trust” Khatib added.

Standard Chartered appoints Manus Costello as Group CFO

(19 May 2026 – Hong Kong) Standard Chartered has appointed Manus Costello as its permanent Group Chief Financial Officer, subject to regulatory approval, succeeding Diego De Giorgi, who resigned in February after nearly three years with the bank.

The appointment marks another key leadership transition at the Asia- and Africa-focused lender as it prepares to enter its next phase of growth and strategic transformation.

Earlier this year, Standard Chartered had named Peter Burrill as interim CFO following the abrupt departure of De Giorgi, who left the bank to join Apollo Global Management as Head of the EMEA region. The bank had initially announced that Costello would serve as interim Group CFO with immediate effect and would join the board as an executive director, subject to regulatory approvals.

Announcing the latest appointment, the bank said, “Today we have announced that Manus Costello is appointed to the role of Group Chief Financial Officer, subject to regulatory approval.

Manus takes up his new role after joining the Group in April 2024 as Global Head of Investor Relations. Prior to that, Manus had 25 years of experience in equity research, including as a founding partner and Global Head of Research at Autonomous.

This appointment comes at an exciting time for Standard Chartered, as we continue to build the leading super-connector institution for sophisticated clients operating across borders.”

Chief Executive Bill Winters also praised Costello’s contribution to the bank, saying, “He has made a significant contribution to the group’s strategic positioning and engagement of stakeholders, while also bringing strong rigour and an entrepreneurial mindset to the role.”

“This will further benefit Standard Chartered as we move forward into our next phase of growth and deliver on our medium-term financial objectives,” Winters added.

Costello added that he was honoured to take on the role and emphasised the importance of financial discipline in supporting long-term growth across the bank’s global markets.

“We operate across some of the world’s most dynamic markets, and strong financial discipline is essential to creating long-term value for our clients, shareholders and communities,” he said.

Costello also confirmed that he and Winters would present the bank’s growth strategy and medium-term financial framework during the investor event.

“I’m grateful to Bill, Maria and the wider Board for their confidence. I look forward to engaging with investors, clients and colleagues as we move forward together,” he added.

Alongside the CFO transition, Standard Chartered also announced that Tanuj Kapilashrami will become the bank’s new Group Chief Operating Officer. She currently serves as Chief Strategy and Talent Officer.

Industry observers viewed De Giorgi’s exit as a significant development for the bank, with some analysts considering him a potential successor to Winters. However, Winters, who has led Standard Chartered since 2015 and is currently the longest-serving chief executive among major British banks, has indicated that he intends to remain in the role through the bank’s next strategic phase, expected to span around three years.

Before joining Standard Chartered, Costello spent more than 14 years at Autonomous, where he led global research operations. Earlier in his career, he worked at Merrill Lynch as Senior Director, Equity Research, with experience across London and New York.

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