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A leading payments industry news source for more than 17 years. Glenbrook curates the news and keeps you abreast of the important daily headlines in payments.
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June 29, 2026
Top Post
Six in Ten UK Consumers Would Stop Using an AI Shopping Agent After One Mistake, ACI Survey Finds
ACI Worldwide
"New research from ACI Worldwide reveals a significant trust gap between artificial intelligence and human decision-makers, highlighting a key barrier to the widespread adoption of AI shopping agents. A YouGov survey of more than 2,000 UK adults, conducted on behalf of ACI Worldwide, found that just 19% of consumers trust AI assistants to follow rules to set up make every day purchasing decisions, compared with 55% who trust a human expert or adviser. Seven in ten (69%) do not trust AI, even when it follows rules they set."
On the web
Visa Adjusts Europe Interchange Fees, Shares Steady Into Key Inflation Data
Ad-hoc News
"Visa Inc. has updated its interchange fee structure for certain cross-border consumer card transactions within the European Economic Area, according to recent regulatory filings and network notices. The NYSE-listed payments group remains under close European regulatory scrutiny as investors also eye upcoming US inflation data and its impact on broader equity valuation."
X Money Rolls Out to More Verified Users and Its 6% Savings Rate Is Just the Opening Move
Startup Fortune
"X Money expanded to a broader pool of verified US users on June 25, 2026, offering 6% APY on FDIC-insured deposits, 3% cashback, and a personalized metal Visa debit card. Built on Cross River Bank's infrastructure, the launch positions X as the most credible American super-app attempt yet, while the verified-user gating addresses a peer-to-peer payments market badly damaged by fraud."
BIS Warns Stablecoins Risk Fragmenting Global Financial System
Trading View
"The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) warned that the rapid expansion of stablecoins risks fragmenting the global monetary system and weakening sovereign monetary control, urging central banks and the financial industry to accelerate the development of tokenized forms of central bank and commercial bank money as a safer alternative."
Why Meta’s Cred Investment Matters for WhatsApp Pay in India
The Economic Times
Meta's substantial investment in Cred and appointing its founder Kunal Shah as global head of WhatsApp signals a major push into India's fintech landscape. For Meta, with Shah at the helm, there is a chance that WhatsApp's position in India, its largest market, will go beyond messaging into payments, commerce, and business services.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA): Preparing Your Business for Card Surcharge Changes from 1 October 2026
CommBank
"From 1 October 2026, card surcharge rules are changing. Businesses will no longer be able to apply surcharges to designated debit, prepaid and credit card payments across eftpos, Mastercard, Visa and American Express networks."
UAE Central Bank Licenses Adyen for Expanded Operational Capabilities
Zawya
"Adyen announced that it has obtained its Retail Payment Services Category II license from the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE). The reaching of this regulatory milestone represents the strategic evolution of Adyen’s established presence in the UAE, beginning in 2020, where it has powered payments for leading brands including Careem, Ellington Properties, Gargash Group, Noon and Ziina."
Huawei and 7-Eleven Thailand Partner to Enhance Smart Wearable Payments and Chinese Tourist Experiences
Yahoo Finance
"Announced during the Huawei Developer Conference, CP All, the operator of 7-Eleven in Thailand, and Huawei signed a Memorandum of Understanding establishing a strategic partnership to accelerate digital retail innovation. A key highlight of the summit was the successful integration of 7-Eleven's membership code and TrueMoney's payment code into Huawei's wearable devices. Since its launch, this "two-in-one" feature has garnered significant local traction, with a user base already adopting it for daily transactions."
June 26, 2026
Top Post
Illinois Passes Law to Protect Buy Now, Pay Later Borrowers
NCLC
"Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed legislation to protect people who take out Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) loans from hidden charges, unaffordable loans, and other risks. The Illinois law covers loans with four or fewer installments or a term of 120 days or less. The law limits BNPL loans to the 36% rate cap that covers other lenders in Illinois, and gives the state regulator the authority to limit late fees and other fees. It requires lenders to conduct reasonable risk-based underwriting and more..."
PayPal CEO Unveils AI Reset, $1.5B Savings Plan at Bernstein Conference
MarketBeat
"PayPal CEO Enrique Lores laid out a broad reset focused on simplifying the company, modernizing its pre-cloud technology stack, and making PayPal more AI-native while shifting more attention back to consumers. The company has reorganized into three core businesses — Checkout, consumer financial services and payment processing — and is now prioritizing sustainable profitability, stronger Venmo monetization, and added value services for Braintree and Checkout rather than pure volume growth."
On the web
The European Banking Authority Consults on a Draft Methodology for Setting Fines Under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA)
European Banking Authority
"The European Banking Authority (EBA) published a Consultation Paper with a draft methodology for setting fines in its role as supervisor under MiCA. The objective is to ensure that fines imposed on issuers of significant crypto-assets are consistent, proportionate and transparent, and effectively support compliance with the regulatory framework."
Africa’s Largest Lender Wins China Approval to Clear Yuan Payments Across 19 African Countries in Major Trade Shift
Business Insider Africa
"China has authorised Africa’s largest lender, Standard Bank, to jointly clear yuan transactions across 19 African countries. The move gives businesses across the continent direct access to China’s onshore financial system for the first time. It comes as China deepens trade and investment ties with Africa while promoting wider international use of the yuan. Businesses are expected to benefit from faster settlements, lower transaction costs and reduced dependence on the US dollar."
Police Arrest Suspects in Pix Fraud That Caused Losses of R$ 5.5 Million
Finsiders Brasil
"According to investigations, the group carried out more than 400 automated transfers via Pix (Brazil's instant payment system). To do this, they used a scheme to split the value of transactions known as smurfing. They then converted the funds into cryptocurrencies. Part of the resources were concentrated in national and international exchanges. According to the Federal District Civil Police, this maneuver aimed to conceal and dissipate assets."
After 6 Months, Recurring Pix Payments Enabled by EBANX Already Account for 28% of Nord Security’s Payment Volume in Brazil
EBANX
"Nord Security, a global cybersecurity solution provider, partnered with EBANX, to offer Pix Automático to its Brazilian consumers. Launched last year by Brazil’s Central Bank, Pix Automático is the recurring feature of Pix, the country’s instant payment system. Six months after being integrated by Nord Security via EBANX, Pix Automático already accounts for 28% of the company’s total payment volume (TPV) in Brazil and has been adopted by 35% of its user base in the market."
Google Opens the Play Store to External Billing in the US, UK, and Europe
9 to 5 Google
"Google announced that it will open up the Play Store to external payments starting on June 30 in the US, UK, and Europe. The new policy sees developers paying 10% fees on their first $1,000,000 in annual earnings regardless of billing method, whether that be Google Play Billing, an alternate built-in system, or external links for billing outside of the app. That’s well down from the 30% cut that was standard when this whole dispute first began."
Jack Henry and Google Cloud Expand Collaboration to Deliver AI-Driven Security for Banks and Credit Unions
Jack Henry
Jack Henry® and Google Cloud announced an expanded collaboration to deliver AI-driven security capabilities for banks and credit unions. Building on their strategic relationship established in 2022, Jack Henry will use Google Cloud's suite of agentic defense products to develop a proprietary AI security platform purpose-built for the financial services ecosystem. This initiative will strengthen cyber resilience for financial institutions and help them defend against emerging threats while improving operational efficiency.
U.S. Bank, Gigsafe Team to Advance Payment Infrastructure for Logistics Industry
U.S. Bank
"U.S. Bank announced a collaboration with GigSafe, a compliance and payments platform built for regulated delivery and logistics operators, to enhance the way workers using GigSafe get paid. GigSafe will leverage to provide customers reliable, transparent and scalable payment workflows designed to support complex contractor networks. The embedded approach allows payments to occur seamlessly within GigSafe’s existing platform, eliminating delays associated with traditional pay cycles and manual payout processes."
Modulr: A New Way to Get Paid: Modulr Adds cVRP to Its Collections Hub
Modulr
"Modulr announced the launch of commercial Variable Recurring Payments (cVRP), designed to offer a flexible, faster alternative to traditional payments for businesses collecting large volumes. This announcement follows the rollout of the scheme by the UK Payments Initiative (UKPI). Modulr has helped shape the scheme from the outset as a UKPI founding shareholder and is delivering cVRP to customers as part of its Collections Hub, which offers unified access to multiple payment methods on one automated platform."
Backbase Acquires Kasisto, Leading the Industry Shift to Agentic Banking
Backbase
"Backbase announced the acquisition of Kasisto, a pioneer in agentic AI for banking and financial services. Kasisto's agentic platform, financial services intelligence, and New York-based team are now part of Backbase and the AI-native Banking OS. Together, Backbase and Kasisto deliver the only AI-native solution built for the full complexity of agentic banking in regulated financial services."
Education: Tokenization: What It Is and How to Think About It
Bank of Canada
"Tokenization has received a lot of attention in recent years as a technology that could revolutionize financial markets and payments. It promises fast settlement, low risk for counterparties and minimal barriers to competition. Yet tokenization is often misunderstood."
June 25, 2026
Top Post
The Retail Payments Infrastructure Board Launches Consultation on the Next Generation UK Payments Infrastructure
Bank of England
"Today marks a milestone in the modernisation of the UK's payments landscape, with the Retail Payments Infrastructure Board launching a consultation on the future design of the UK's next-generation retail payments infrastructure. The infrastructure will provide a secure foundation for innovation, greater choice and more seamless payments, while supporting emerging forms of digital money. This consultation will help inform the ‘blueprint’ for the future infrastructure, which will then be delivered by the new industry led ‘Delivery Company’."
On the web
Safaricom Quietly Integrates Fuliza into M-PESA GlobalPay Visa for International Shopping
Streamline
"In a profound enhancement to Kenya’s digital payments infrastructure, Safaricom has silently activated functionality allowing its M-PESA GlobalPay Virtual Visa Card to draw funds directly from the Fuliza overdraft facility. The integration decisively resolves the most glaring friction point for digital consumers transacting across international borders, ensuring that minor wallet deficits no longer trigger humiliating transaction failures on global e-commerce platforms."
The Art of Assessing Customer Intent: Authorized Party Fraud Trends
Federal Reserve
"Fraud deliberately committed by customers, sometimes referred to as first-party fraud, is a growing concern. Fraudulent behavior, such as false claims, misuse of payment channels or money mule activity, may resemble normal behavior. This often makes it difficult for financial institutions to distinguish fraudulent intent from routine activity. As customer intent becomes harder to interpret, a multi-layered approach across the customer lifecycle is essential, starting with onboarding."
Deutsche Bank, Swift and Financial Institutions Worldwide Team up to Deliver a New Era of International Money Transfers to Germany
Business Wire
"Deutsche Bank is among the first financial institutions in the world to go live on a new global initiative transforming the experience for people receiving international transfers. The bank has successfully processed payments from Australia almost instantly, and from Brazil in less than a minute, to give an enhanced experience to senders in those corridors and for clients receiving funds in Germany."
Implementation of Global Regulatory Framework for Cryptoassets and Stablecoins
BIS
"The rapid growth of cryptoasset markets and the increasing integration of stablecoins into financial systems have prompted the Financial Stability Board to take action. In July 2023, the FSB published its global regulatory framework for cryptoasset activities, consisting of high-level recommendations for cryptoasset activities and markets and revised recommendations for global stablecoin arrangements, based on the principle of "same activity, same risk, same regulation"."
Visa Redefines Its Role in Travel With the Global Launch of Visa Destinations
Visa
"Visa announced the launch of Visa Destinations, a passion-led travel platform live in 10 major locations around the world, as the company redefines its role in the rapidly growing experience-driven travel economy. The move marks a strategic expansion of Visa’s role beyond payments, positioning the company at the center of how travelers discover, plan and experience trips."
How South Africa Became Revolut’s First African Market
TechTrendsKE
"In March, British fintech giant Revolut applied for a U.S. national banking charter as part of an ambitious plan to expand its presence across major financial markets. A few months later, the company revealed that South Africa would become its first destination in Africa, with a launch targeted for 2028 pending regulatory approval. The sequence helps answer an increasingly important question: why did Revolut choose South Africa for its first African market?"
June 24, 2026
Top Post
Mastercard Tests Machine-to-Machine Payments on Ripple Rails
DailyCoin
"Mastercard is quietly piloting a future where software agents pay each other in real time — and Ripple’s tech may sit at the center of it. In a recent YouTube episode, Dr. Kamilah Stevenson breaks down Mastercard’s new “Agent Pay for Machines” program and links it directly to the XRP Ledger and Ripple’s planned RLUSD stablecoin designed for AI and software agents to authorize and settle payments with no human in the loop. More than 30 partners are said to be involved, including Stripe, Coinbase, OKX and Ripple."
On the web
CSU Digital Launches U.S. Market Expansion
Business Wire
"CSU Digital is Latin America’s largest independent card processor, managing more than 50 million cards and processing nearly $100 billion in annual transactions. This week, the company announced its U.S. expansion plans. While building its U.S. presence, CSU Digital is also positioning itself as a processing partner for U.S. companies entering Brazil, offering network-ready infrastructure, regulatory navigation and rapid card program launch without requiring proprietary technology investment."
Defining an EMV® Digital Payment Credential
EMVCo
"Digital Payment Credentials (DPCs) are a form of verifiable digital credential (VDC). VDCs are digital representations of the physical credentials used in everyday life, such as an identity card, driver’s license, diploma, or proof of age. Commonly held and secured in a digital wallet on a smartphone, these credentials can be presented in-person or online and verified cryptographically, promoting stronger security, privacy and convenience for consumers."