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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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September 14, 2026
Top Post
CLARITY Act Faces Tuesday Senate Vote: Senate Republicans Release ‘Final’ Draft
Trading View
"Senate Republicans have reportedly put forward a revised 635-page version of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, commonly known as the CLARITY Act, late Sunday, calling it their "last, best, and final" offer to Democrats. This comes ahead of the procedural vote this week that could determine the fate of the crypto market structure bill in Congress. The new draft includes 126 substantial changes. The Senate votes at 2:15 pm ET Tuesday on cloture for the motion to proceed, which requires 60 votes."
Nearly 1,000 Merchants Tell Judge Proposed Settlement of Visa/Mastercard Lawsuit is ‘Riddled With Loopholes’
Merchants Payments Coalition
"The Merchant Payments Coalition said nearly 1,000 businesses and trade associations have called on a federal judge to reject the proposed settlement of merchants’ lawsuit over Visa and Mastercard credit card swipe fees.“We object to this proposed settlement because it would grant Visa, Mastercard and giant card-issuing banks sweeping liability immunity for their anticompetitive system of card fees and rules while providing merchants with temporary and meager relief that is riddled with loopholes that will make the relief largely ineffective."
On the web
AI-Powered B2B Fraud Is Forcing Companies to Rethink Trust
J.P. Morgan
"AI-enabled fraud increasingly targets trust before payment, using compromised or convincingly impersonated identities to insert false instructions into legitimate workflows. An authorized, policy-compliant payment can still be fraudulent when the identity or instruction behind it has been compromised. Stronger prevention depends on verifying trust at critical handoffs and aligning teams around clear ownership and escalation."
Visa Research: The Rise of the “Couch Economy” Is Reshaping Consumer Spending
Visa
"New Visa Business and Economic Insights research finds consumers are increasingly shopping, streaming, dining and managing daily life from home, creating new opportunities for businesses that can deliver convenience and ongoing digital engagement. Digital commerce expanded across all six markets studied between 2019 and 2026. In three illustrative markets, the share of domestic payment volume occurring online and in-app rose from 48% to 58% in the U.S., 10% to 24% in Poland and 35% to 55% in the UAE."
New AI Powered Coffee Alarm Clock Service Launched by Starbucks and Alipay Ah Bao for Chinese Consumers
Retail Technology Innovation Hub
"Starbucks and Ah Bao, Alipay’s AI agent, have launched a new AI powered service - the Coffee Alarm Clock - for Chinese consumers. Users can set this up by first opening the Alipay app, swiping right and telling Ah Bao “Buy me a Starbucks iced Americano at 10 a.m. every day”. They then create a personalised name for the alarm clock and enable Alipay notifications in the app settings. Then wait for Ah Bao to execute the task every day."
Thunes Launches Cross-Border Payouts Across Six New Middle East Markets
Thunes
"Thunes announced a major expansion of its Direct Global Network across the Middle East. The expansion introduces new payout services into six key markets: the Kingdom of Bahrain, Lebanon, the Sultanate of Oman, South Yemen, Syria and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This move significantly enhances Thunes’ cross-border infrastructure in the region, delivering faster, highly transparent payment solutions for Members of Thunes’ Direct Global Network."
India: RBI Executive Director Unveils New RuPay And UPI Payment Innovations At GFF 2026
BW Disrupt
"The Reserve Bank of India announced the launch of several innovations, including a pilot of the Unified Ticketing Platform, a concept showcase of RuPay ON-THE-GO Card-on-Device Tokenisation, RuPay Tap on Phone, RuPay passkey-based biometric authentication, and cross-border merchant payments using RuPay credit card on UPI International. The initiatives are designed to enhance convenience, security and user experience while enabling the next generation of digital commerce across transit, tourism, e-commerce and cross-border payments."
Solana Report: Stablecoins Can Reach Unbanked and Significantly Reduce Remittance Fees
Crowdfund Insider
"Stablecoins are beginning to rewrite the playbook for global remittances, a market that has operated on aging infrastructure for decades. A Solana Foundation report argues that digital dollars on high-throughput blockchains can cut costs, speed settlement, and expand access in ways traditional money-transfer rails have not. The industry’s problems are familiar. Sending $200 still carries an average fee of 6.49 percent."
Klarna Expands Nordics Anti-Fraud Toolkit with New Live Call Verification Tool
Klarna
"Klarna announced in-app Call Status Detection is live in the Nordics, giving consumers a reliable and simple way to check whether someone calling them is genuinely from Klarna. The feature builds on Klarna's existing anti-fraud measures like the Klarna Inbox, which enables verification of written communication like emails, texts and letters, and aims to protect customers by making it harder for scammers to impersonate Klarna."
Worldline Enables Agentic Commerce Payments via Universal Commerce Protocol Capabilities
Worldline
"Worldline becomes one of the first in Europe to launch a payment handler for the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an open standard for agentic commerce co-developed by Google and industry partners. The integration enables merchants to accept AI-initiated purchases across multiple platforms with a unified setup."
September 11, 2026
Top Post
PayPal Keeping Options Open Amid Buyout Rumors, CEO Says [Video]
Yahoo Finance
"New PayPal CEO Enrique Lores doesn't sound like a guy running toward the exit after inking a huge deal to sell the company he just started leading. He sounds like a veteran top executive who's head-down trying to reinvent a fintech icon. "First of all, we have said that we are totally open and objective to evaluating the plan that we have versus external offers," Lores told Yahoo Finance. "We will always choose whatever provides more value. We have three growing businesses, three businesses where we can increase the value and the profit that we generate."
UPI-Zelle Bridge: India’s Digital Payment System May Soon Launch in the US for Easier Money Transfers
India Today
"India's cashless payments system, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), is likely to be available to people in the US by the end of this year, making transactions by NRIs and professionals working there much easier. The Bank of America (BofA) is working on a pilot project to link Zelle of the US to India's UPI."
U.S. Faster Payments Council Report Offers In-Depth Comparison of Established and Emerging Payment Rails
Faster Payments Council
"The U.S. Faster Payments Council announced the publication of a new report from the FPC Digital Assets Work Group: A Comprehensive Look at the U.S. Faster Payments Landscape for Optimal Operation. The report examines the growing range of payment options available in the United States and provides a detailed comparison of the FedNow® Service, RTP® Network, Visa® Direct, Mastercard Send™, Same Day ACH, stablecoins, and tokenized deposits."
On the web
Cash App Is Testing Peer-to-Peer Business Payments For Very Small Merchants
Digital Transactions
"Cash App, a part of Block Inc., says a test of Cash App-funded payments to a sole proprietor with a Cash App account is under way now. It gives sole proprietors a way to earn and track their income with their personal Cash App accounts. It does not require a separate business account and has no fees. Eligible merchants can enroll from their personal accounts. Then they can tag payers as customers and track all of their earnings within a dedicated Earnings tab. Cash App charges no fees for this."
The Robot Dog Does the Errand for You: Alipay’s First AI Pay·Embodied Intelligence
AIBase
"Alipay announced a collaboration with Gaode Momentum, marking the first time AI payment capabilities have been applied to embodied machines. The product is called "AI Pay · Embodied Intelligence," and netizens have humorously referred to it as "Dog Leg Pay." The Gaode Momentum robotic dog "Tutu" can follow instructions to run errands and complete payments, truly fulfilling the task of "buying soy sauce" for its owner, all within the owner's authorization."
Wero for Merchants: A New European Payment Solution for E-commerce
Fnac Darty
"Wero is entering a new phase of its development with Wero for Merchants, a European payment solution designed for e-commerce. To support this launch in France and Europe, BNP Paribas organized a press conference in Paris on September 8, 2026, which Fnac Darty joined alongside Wero and other major corporations. The Group will roll out Wero for Merchants on fnac.com in early 2027, before gradually extending it to physical stores and its other European markets."
Ethswitch Takes Ethiopia’s Digital Payments Push to Global Fintech Stage
Tech Review Africa
"Ethiopia’s national payment switch is using a global fintech gathering in Mumbai to promote the country’s progress in interoperable payments and explore links with international payment networks, putting its emerging digital infrastructure into a wider debate over how developing economies can build nationally controlled but globally connected financial systems. EthSwitch has also been developing infrastructure for instant payments and interoperable QR transactions."
Remitly Partners with Etsy to Give Sellers More Choice in How They Get Paid Globally
Remitly Global, Inc
"Remitly Global, Inc. announced that it has partnered with Etsy to be an additional payment provider on Etsy Payments, Etsy’s payments platform, in 15 countries. The partnership marks the next step in Remitly’s expansion beyond serving millions of individual customers into powering payments for small and medium businesses worldwide. Starting this fall, new international sellers opening an Etsy shop in select countries will have the option to choose Remitly as their payout provider during onboarding."
NPCI Plans Vetting System For AI-Driven UPI Transactions As Agentic Commerce Buzz Grows [India]
NDTV
"As it gets ready to implement autonomous "agentic payments" via the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) intends to create a national AI registry to identify, screen, and verify AI agents, Reuters reported. The register will be a component of the NPCI's proposed Unified Agentic Protocol, which will screen AI agents that handle user payments, the news agency said, citing sources."
OpenAI Launches ChatGPT for Financial Services
FStech
"OpenAI has announced the release of its latest specialised professional solution, ChatGPT for Financial Services, which combines financial data with its most advanced GPT-6 Astra model. The tool is designed to help teams within financial services to develop research, financial models, and customised client materials. It has built-in financial data from a variety of partners, OpenAI said, including PitchBook, LSEG News, and Crunchbase."
What’s an ATM’s Total Cost of Ownership?
ATM Marketplace
"There's a lot more costs to consider than just the ATM itself. One also has to consider the cash itself, peripherals, repairs, maintenance and cash management. This can drive up the total cost of ownership of an ATM significantly. But there are new tools emerging that will bring that cost down. The future of ATM management is moving beyond reactive maintenance towards intelligent supply chain management."
Education: Stablecoins: What Corporates and FIs Need to Know
Standard Chartered
"Learn how stablecoins work, where they may support payments, treasury and liquidity, and what corporates and financial institutions should consider."
On the wires
Glory and Velera Announce Partnership to Offer Co-op Shared Branch Express Using TellerConcierge™
Business Wire
"GLORY, a global leader in cash automation and management solutions, announced a strategic partnership with Velera, a leading payments credit union service organization. The collaboration introduces Co-op Shared Branch Express functionality to credit unions using Glory’s TellerConcierge™ integrated kiosk as the enabling technology. The partnership will integrate Velera’s account-based network with TellerConcierge to independently perform the seven most common shared branch transactions."
Nu Takes Next Step in International Expansion with Launch in the United States and Introduction of Nu Global
Business Wire
"Nu, the largest digital bank in Latin America, announces the start of operations in the U.S. with the launch of a full suite of financial products designed for customers' everyday banking needs. In addition to the U.S. launch, Nu also introduces Nu Global, a multi-currency digital account for people with global lives, that allows fee-free, fast money movement across more than 35 countries."
September 10, 2026
On the web
Visa's Plan for India's Payment Future [Video]
Bloomberg
"Visa is looking beyond plastic cards in India. From agentic commerce to tokenization, Haslinda Amin explains how the payments giant plans to keep up with the changing ways Indians pay."
Avolta Launches First Direct Wallet-to-Wallet Stablecoin Payments Pilot
Avolta
"Avolta launched a pilot enabling customers to pay with stablecoin at its Level 2 Duty Free store at Zurich Airport. Travelers can make purchases directly from their digital wallets through a simple QR-code payment process. The pilot introduces a payment model in which transactions are settled directly between the customer and Avolta, without relying on traditional card networks or intermediary payment providers. Funds are transferred within seconds using blockchain technology."
Feedzai Partners With Peoples Group to Anchor Fraud Defense for Canada’s Real-Time Rail
TipRanks
"Feedzai is deepening its presence in the Canadian payments market through a new strategic partnership with Peoples Group to provide AI-driven fraud monitoring for instant payments ahead of Canada’s Real-Time Rail launch in late 2026. Under the agreement, Peoples Group will embed Feedzai’s RiskOps technology into its core transaction infrastructure, making Feedzai the primary engine for real-time risk scoring across the bank’s fintech, credit union and challenger banking clients."
Lumin Digital Advances Secure Open Banking Connectivity with MX
Lumin Digital
"Lumin Digital announced an open banking integration with MX Technologies, Inc., giving financial institutions on the Lumin platform a standards-based way to connect users with third-party financial applications. The integration enables financial institutions on Lumin’s platform to allow retail and business users to safely connect their bank accounts to supported third-party financial apps without sharing their usernames and passwords."
Coinbase Brings Stablecoin Payments and Custody to Community Banks and Credit Unions, in Partnership with Moov
Moov
"Coinbase and Moov are partnering to bring stablecoin payment acceptance, settlement, and real-time funding to Moov’s growing customer base of more than 1,000 community banks and credit unions, combining Coinbase's regulated digital asset infrastructure with Moov's existing payments platform. Moov provides payments infrastructure to a growing customer base of more than 1,000 community banks and credit unions across the country, connecting them to card acquiring and issuing, and real-time payment rails."
On the wires
Introducing the MoneyGram Card: Giving Customers More Freedom to Use Their Money, Wherever Life Takes Them
PR Newswire
"MoneyGram today launched the MoneyGram Card, a stablecoin-backed card designed to serve eligible customers worldwide. The card gives customers more freedom and flexibility with their money: the ability to hold a stable-dollar balance, access cash when they need it, or spend anywhere Visa is accepted, online, in stores and across borders."
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