Briefs: NAB signs SAI Global, OzForex and Xero in strategic partnership, Samsung Pay for Australia i

National Australia Bank has signed up SAI Global to provide mortgage settlement services for NAB Broker. The deal is worth about A$9 million a year.
Cross-border payments company OzForex has formed a partnership with accounting software company Xero. OzForex will handle international payments for Xero customers. Xero's Australian customers will be able to make international payments automatically on the OzForex platform. The companies plan to extend the partnership to other markets.
Samsung will introduce Samsung Pay in Australia some time in 2016. Samsung told CNet Australia the company was "working with local financial institutions to customise Samsung Pay with an anticipated launch in 2016." Samsung Pay will begin operations in Korea on August 20 and in the US on September 28.
Westpac has taken further action to tighten its mortgage lending standards by reducing the maximum interest-only period on owner-occupier home loans from15 to 10 years, Fairfax Media reports. Interest-only loans are of concern to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority because if the borrower defaults the bank has to recover all the principal. APRA has said it expects banks to assess interest-only loan applicants as though they were making principal repayments.