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March 28, 2025
On the web
Axis Bank launches 24/7 global USD clearing through Kinexys by J.P. Morgan
J.P. Morgan
"Axis Bank, one of the largest private sector banks in India, has become the first Indian-headquartered financial institution to launch near-real-time, 24/7 programmable USD clearing capabilities for its commercial clients, leveraging Kinexys Digital Payments (KDP), a unit of Kinexys by J.P. Morgan. By utilizing KDP, Axis Bank can offer its commercial clients optionality to leverage 24/7 cross-border payments while also using foundational state-of-the-art blockchain-based infrastructure."
FDIC Clarifies Process for Banks to Engage in Crypto-Related Activities
FDIC Subscriptions
"The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued a Financial Institution Letter (FIL-7-2025) that provides new guidance for FDIC-supervised institutions engaging or seeking to engage in crypto-related activities. The guidance affirms that FDIC-supervised institutions may engage in permissible activities, including activities involving new and emerging technologies such as crypto-assets and digital assets, provided that they adequately manage the associated risks."
India Pushes To Ease International Payments Through Homegrown Network to Rival Visa, Mastercard
Yahoo Finance
"India is asking the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to reduce compliance requirements for cross-border payments made through its homegrown system. Launched in 2016, the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) accounted for 83% of India's digital payments volume in 2024. The government wants to increase the use of its own payments network by Indians travelling abroad, which could make the global cross-border payments market more competitive."
J.P. Morgan Payments Expands European Footprint With iDEAL
J.P. Morgan
"J.P. Morgan Payments is expanding its European e-commerce capabilities, providing an integrated, streamlined experience to meet merchant clients’ evolving needs. iDEAL, the leading payments network in the Netherlands, has been added as a payment method at checkout to their global Commerce platform."
Securing the Future of Fast Payments: The Cybersecurity Conundrum
World Bank
"While fast payments come with many advantages, their instant nature and increased relevance for the digital economy has also made them a prime target for cyberattacks. Addressing risks to cybersecurity is crucial to ensuring fast payments remain safe, efficient and scalable."
B2B Might Be the Biggest Ecosystem for the EUDI Wallet
Biometric Update
"Europe has set an ambitious goal to launch the EU Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet by December 2026. The EUDI Wallet will function as an app on a phone, certified by a specific member state that will add personal identification data (PID) into that wallet, making it a national identity. On top of that users should be able to add driving licenses, diplomas, payment cards, passports and boarding passes."
Bitcoin ATM Market Sees 971 Machines Go Offline
ATM Marketplace
"This March, 971 bitcoin ATMs went offline. This puts the total number of bitcoin ATMs at 37,920, down from its high of nearly 40,000 in December 2022, according to a report by News.bitcoin.com. Bitcoin ATMs have been facing scrutiny, as lawmakers at the local, state and federal level have proposed bills aiming to combat fraudulent transactions at the ATMs."
Central Bank of Brazil Plans To Use AI in New Pix Fraud Risk Score
Finsiders Brasil
"In yet another effort to prevent Pix fraud, the Central Bank (BC) is developing a type of fraud risk score that will use Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) techniques. According to Renato Gomes, director of Financial System Organization and Resolution at the BC, the model will be centralized and will use information from the Instant Payments System (SPI) and the Directory of Transactional Account Identifiers."
Debit Card Interchange Fees Charged to Small Merchants After Regulation II
kansas City Fed
"In this article, Fumiko Hayashi examines whether the prohibitions on exclusivity arrangements and routing limitations helped reduce exempt interchange fees charged to small merchants for in-person debit card transactions. She finds that while some networks reduced these fees for certain merchant categories, other networks either increased or did not change their fees."
March 27, 2025
On the web
How Barclays Is Collaborating To Simplify ISO 20022 Adoption
Swift
"With the November 2025 deadline for payments instructions fast approaching, Barclays shares insights from their ISO 20022 migration journey, adopting the ISO 20022 Rulebook for Payment Initiation Relay, and highlight the importance of collaboration."
Google Pay Statistics 2025: User Base, Market Share, and Innovations
CoinLaw
"In 2025, Google Pay continues to redefine convenience, with millions of users and billions of dollars in transactions worldwide. This article dives into the fascinating statistics behind its widespread adoption and impact."
Cutting Chargebacks to (Almost) Zero on Online Payments
Atoa
"In the bustling world of online payments, chargebacks have been a persistent pain for businesses. These payment reversals—when a customer disputes a charge—can lead to lost revenue, endless admin, and major headaches. But thanks to open banking and Payment Initiation Services (PIS), the idea of “zero chargebacks” is quickly becoming more than just wishful thinking."
Ripple and Chipper Cash Join Forces to Unlock Faster and More Cost-Effective Crypto-Enabled Payments Across Africa
Ripple
"Ripple and Chipper Cash announced a partnership to support cross-border payments into Africa using Ripple Payments. By leveraging Ripple’s payments solution Chipper Cash, which has five million customers across Africa, will enable consumers to receive funds 24/7/365 - reducing the time and friction to make moving value into Africa more efficient."
India’s Digital Payments Face Sustainability Test as Zero MDR Bites
IBS Intelligence
"Zero MDR (Merchant Discount Rate) Policy refers to the government’s directive that payment service providers cannot charge merchants any fee (MDR) on transactions made through certain digital payment methods, such as UPI and RuPay debit cards. While this policy encourages digital payment adoption among small businesses by making transactions free for them, it has raised concerns about the sustainability of payment service providers."
On the wires
Perplexity Integrates firmly.ai Commerce Tech to Scale Seamless Ecommerce Experience
GlobeNewswire News Room
"Perplexity, the leading AI answer engine, announced it will be integrating firmly.ai agentic ecommerce technology to scale access to Perplexity’s native shopping experience. This collaboration enables seamless purchases for all consumers and merchants of any size. By embedding firmly.ai’s innovative Agentic commerce platform, Perplexity empowers more users to complete their entire shopping journey—from product discovery to secure transaction—without leaving the platform."
Socure Earns "Moderate" FedRAMP® Authorization
PR Newswire
"Socure, the leading provider of artificial intelligence (AI) for digital identity verification, compliance, and fraud prevention, announced that its Socure For Government (SocureGov) platform has achieved the "Moderate" authorization from the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP®)."
India’s Axis Bank, J.P. Morgan Roll Out Anytime Dollar Payments for Clients
Reuters
"India's Axis Bank has partnered with J.P. Morgan to offer real-time U.S. dollar payment capabilities to commercial clients in the country, facilitated by Kinexys, the U.S-based lender's blockchain and digital assets unit. This is the first instance where an Indian company will have the flexibility to make or receive dollar payments at any time, J.P. Morgan said."
March 26, 2025
Top Post
President Donald J. Trump Modernizes Payments to and from America’s Bank Account
The White House
"President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to modernize how the government handles money, switching from old-fashioned paper-based payments to fast, secure electronic payments. The Order mandates that, effective September 30, 2025, the Federal government will cease issuing paper checks for all disbursements, including intragovernmental payments, benefits, vendor payments, and tax refunds. All executive departments and agencies must transition to modern, electronic funds transfer (EFT) methods like direct deposit, debit/credit card payments, digital wallets, and real-time transfers..."
On the web
New FTC Data Show a Big Jump in Reported Losses to Fraud to $12.5 Billion in 2024
Federal Trade Commission
"Newly released Federal Trade Commission data show that consumers reported losing more than $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024, which represents a 25% increase over the prior year. According to the FTC’s data book, this number is not driven by an increase in fraud reports, which remained stable. Instead, the percentage of people who reported losing money to a fraud or scam increased by double digits."
Westpac SafeBlock: Stopping Scammers in Their Tracks
Westpac
"In a move to stop scammers in their tracks, Westpac introduced SafeBlock, a new feature that allows customers to immediately block their account when they suspect they are being scammed. This innovative technology adds an extra layer of defence, providing peace of mind in the fight against scams and fraud."
TreviPay Launches Advanced Purchase Controls to Streamline B2B Purchasing and Enhance Compliance
TreviPay
"TreviPay announced the release of advanced purchase controls to allow businesses to configure and enforce customized B2B purchase policy structures that align with their procurement requirements. The new functionality addresses pain points in the B2B purchasing process by automating controls that reduce payment delays, minimize manual reconciliation work and enhance overall compliance."
Worldline and Castles Technology Partner To Deliver Innovative Softpos Payment Solution in North America
PR Newswire
"Worldline announced a strategic partnership with Castles Technology to provide cutting-edge in-person payment solutions in North America. Castles Technology offers advanced Android payment technology, They have established a reputation for prioritizing security, innovation, and user-centric solutions, which align directly with Worldline's strategic goals and position them as a highly trusted partner."
Grazzy, U.S. Bank Debit Card Program Simplifies the Way Tipped Employees Earn and Receive Digital Tips
PR Newswire
"Grazzy, a leading digital tipping platform, has joined with U.S. Bank to offer a prepaid debit card program for hourly employees to easily access tips. Employers enrolled with Grazzy's digital tip service and the prepaid debit card program can issue employees a physical debit card and route tips and wages to the card, enabling access to tipped wages at the end of each shift."
UK Banks Suffer 803 Hours of It Outages—Blame Ageing Legacy Systems
IBS Intelligence
"The frequent IT outages across UK banks, including the recent high-profile disruptions at Barclays, stem from a mix of ageing legacy systems, rising cyber threats, and the increasing complexity of digital banking infrastructure. Many financial institutions still rely on outdated core banking technology, making them vulnerable to crashes and prolonged service disruptions."
Swift’s Line in the Sand for a New Payment Message
American Banker
"One way or another, all international Swift payments will follow the ISO 20022 standard by the Nov. 22 deadline, according to the financial messaging provider. "We will no longer deliver payment instructions in anything but ISO 20022 after the deadline," Stephen Lindsay, head of market infrastructures and standards for Swift, told American Banker. Swift supervises the ISO 20022 standard for international payments." [Subscription Required]
On the wires
Finix Introduces New Payment Features for Q1
GlobeNewswire News Room
"Finix unveiled its latest suite of product updates and enhancements for Q1. Designed to further simplify payment processing and empower merchants with greater efficiency, these releases include Account Updater, Network Tokens, Instant Payouts, and new hardware terminal options."
March 25, 2025
Top Post
Digital Yuan: The New Era of Cross-Border Payments in Global Trade
Proshare
"In a move to redefine international finance, the People’s Bank of China (PboC) has announced that its digital RMB cross-border settlement system will be fully connected to the ten ASEAN nations and six Middle Eastern countries, implying that about 38% of global trade could bypass the US dollar dominated SWIFT network."
On the web
Trek Chooses Gr4vy to Power Online-To-Offline Shopping Experience
Gr4vy
"As Buy-Online-Pickup-In-Store (BOPIS) grows, retailers and manufacturers face payment processing and inventory management challenges. Customers expect to order online, pick up in-store, and avoid checkout issues or stock shortages. Trek has chosen Gr4vy , the cloud-based payment orchestration platform, to address these issues to enhance its BOPIS transaction process."
Splitit Unveils First Fully Embedded White-Label Installment Solution for Shopify Merchants
Splitit
"Splitit announced the launch of its new fully Embedded Shopify App - Splitit Card Installments. This new app provides merchants with an all-in-one service, including credit card processing, while delivering a seamless one-click installment payment experience for consumers, without any redirects or applications."
On the wires
Santander UK Wins Bid To Throw Out Lawsuit Over Push Payment Fraud
Reuters
"The UK arm of Spain's Banco Santander won its bid to throw out a lawsuit that had alleged lenders have a duty to try and retrieve funds stolen by customers that turn out to be fraudsters. Santander UK was sued at London's High Court in 2022 by teacher training provider CCP Graduate School, which paid around 415,000 pounds (around $537,000) from its Natwest account into a Santander account operated by fraudsters."
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