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February 27, 2026
On the web
Visa Completes Acquisition of Prisma and Newpay
Visa
"Visa announced it has completed its acquisition of Prisma Medios de Pago S.A.U. and Newpay S.A.U. in Argentina. This transaction strengthens Visa's commitment to advancing payment innovation and modernizing financial infrastructure across the country. Prisma provides credit, debit and prepaid card issuer processing. Newpay is a multi-network infrastructure provider that operates real-time payments services, the Banelco ATM network and the bill payment platform PagoMisCuentas."
Harmonised ISO 20022 Data Requirements for Enhancing Cross-Border Payments
BIS
"The CPMI's harmonised ISO 20022 data requirements for cross-border payments (harmonisation requirements) are a key milestone under the G20 roadmap for enhancing cross-border payments. ISO 20022, an international financial messaging standard, enables more consistent and structured data, supporting the objectives of faster, cheaper, more accessible, and transparent cross-border payments. Variability in ISO 20022 implementation, however, could limit its benefits, making alignment crucial to achieving the roadmap's objectives."
On the wires
74% of Asia Pacific Consumers Already Use AI to Shop, But Trust and Transparency Hold the Key to Checkout: Visa Survey
PR Newswire
"Visa released new survey findings on the state of digital commerce in Asia Pacific, revealing that while consumers are increasingly using AI to shop, concerns over security and transparency are creating hesitation at the crucial moment of checkout. With Asia Pacific's rapid shift towards digital commerce and mobile-first shopping, the research shows that consumers are drawing a clear line between using AI to help them browse and trusting the same technology to handle their money and personal data."
February 26, 2026
On the web
Cash Flow Needs from Consumers and Businesses Drive New RTP® Network Volume and Value Records
The Clearing House
"The nation’s largest instant payments system, operated by The Clearing House, recently set new single-day records. On Friday, February 13 the RTP network, which carries 98% of all bank-to-bank instant payments volume in the U.S, processed 2.05 million payments – the first time the network exceeded 2 million transactions in a single day. In addition, on Wednesday, February 18, the RTP network reached a new single-day value record of $8.36 billion."
2025 PCI SSC Annual Report
PCI Security Standards Council
"The 2025 Annual Report tells the story of a year defined by progress, collaboration, and impact across the global payments community. As PCI SSC’s Executive Director reflects in the opening letter, the pace of change in payments continues to accelerate—and so do the threats. In response, PCI SSC and its community came together in 2025 to deliver bold, meaningful work designed to make a real difference for the industry."
February 25, 2026
Top Post
New Data on Card-Present and Card-Not-Present Fraud Rates in the United States
Kansas City Federal Reserve
"Recently updated data show that the card-present fraud rate of non-prepaid debit cards increased for transactions on single-message networks from 2021 to 2023 but decreased for dual-message networks—reversing a previous trend. The card-not-present fraud rate for both types of networks continued its upward trend. Cardholders’ fraud loss rates also continued to increase for both card-present and card-not-present transactions on both types of networks."
On the web
FORM3 Expands Strategic Partnership With SumUp to Bring Real-Time SEPA Payments to European Small Businesses
Form3
"Form3 announced a significant expansion of its partnership with SumUp, as the global fintech extends its use of Form3’s payments platform to support European payment schemes. SumUp, which supports more than 4 million merchants across 37 countries, has adopted Form3’s platform for European payments including SEPA Instant, SEPA Credit Transfer and SEPA Direct Debit."
February 24, 2026
Top Post
Stripe Is Considering Acquisition of All or Parts of PayPal, Bloomberg News Reports
Yahoo Finance-Reuters
"Payments firm Stripe is considering an acquisition of PayPal or parts of the digital payments pioneer, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Stripe, which is privately held and is among the industry's most valuable companies, has expressed a preliminary interest in a potential acquisition of PayPal or its assets, the report said."
On the web
Mastercard Move Set to Accelerate Banks’ Digital Payment Services
Banking Exchange
"Ericsson and Mastercard have announced a collaboration aimed at transforming how money moves globally, with implications for banks and fintechs. By integrating Ericsson’s Fintech Platform with Mastercard Move, which is Mastercard’s portfolio of money movement solutions, the partnership seeks to simplify digital wallet expansion, speed up new payment service launches, and reach underbanked populations."
Worldline Unveils “One Commerce”, Powering the Next Generation of Omnichannel Retail
Worldline
"Worldline announced the launch of Worldline One Commerce, a new integrated vision that redefines how merchants connect payments, data, technology and customer experiences. Merchants will gain full control to design ecosystems tailored to their customers’ expectations. Worldline will also introduce the European launch of its “à-la-carte” acquiring model, that allows merchants to flexibly choose their preferred multi-acquiring setup."
We Tested M-PESA’s Latest Feature Shiriki Pay. Here’s How It Works.
TechCabal
"Safaricom, is testing a subtle change in how money moves within the country’s most dominant financial product, M-PESA. In January 2026, the telco added Shiriki Pay, a new mini-app within the M-PESA super app. Shiriki Pay allows a user to add up to two beneficiaries who can pay merchants using the sponsor’s wallet balance, subject to a preset monthly cap. It is an experiment designed to test delegated spending without transferring ownership of the funds."
Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Is Planning Stablecoin Comeback in the Second Half of This Year
CoinDesk
"The Facebook owner’s stablecoin integration involves a third party vendor to help administer stablecoin-based payments and a new wallet to be implemented, sources said. Meta sent out a request for product (RFP) to third-party firms to help administer stablecoin-based payments, according to sources. Stripe, which acquired stablecoin firm Bridge last year, was mentioned by one source as a likely candidate for piloting Meta’s stablecoin."
Intuit and Anthropic Partner to Bring Trusted Financial Intelligence and Custom AI Agents to Consumers and Businesses
Intuit Inc.
"Intuit Inc. and Anthropic announced a multi-year, game-changing partnership to bring custom AI agents to mid-market businesses on the Intuit platform and highly personalized experiences for consumers and businesses, whether on Intuit’s platform or in Anthropic’s environments. Businesses will be able to build and customize secure, accurate AI agents to support compliant workflows using Anthropic’s Claude Agent SDK on the Intuit platform, regardless of technical expertise."
PayPal Data Breach Led to Fraudulent Transactions
Security Week
"PayPal recently disclosed a data breach that affected customers’ personal information and led to fraudulent transactions. The personal information was exposed for nearly six months, between July 1 and Dec. 13, 2025. Exposed information included names, email addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers, and business addresses combined with SSNs. The code that had introduced the error was rolled back; affected customers’ passwords were reset. In a statement, PayPal said it notified the roughly 100 customers affected by the incident.”
February 23, 2026
Top Post
Walmart Says AI Users Build 35% Bigger Baskets Than Others
Modern Retail
"Walmart customers who use the company’s Sparky AI-powered shopping assistant have an order value that’s about 35% higher than those who don’t, newly appointed Walmart CEO John Furner said in the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call. In addition to its AI shopping features on its website and mobile app, Walmart is also partnering with OpenAI and Google to simultaneously invest in AI shopping through a partnerships approach. This is in contrast to Amazon, which has focused on investing in its own AI capabilities rather than working with other tech companies."
On the web
Paysafe Unveils Strategic Partnership with Spreedly
Spreedly
"Paysafe announced a strategic partnership with Spreedly. Under the partnership, Spreedly’s global payments orchestration platform has integrated Paysafe as an acquirer to process credit card and debit card payments for online merchants targeting Europe, North America and other global markets. Spreedly’s Open Payment Platform, which boasts connectivity to 140+ different payment gateways plus 40+ unique payment methods, now includes the Paysafe Gateway."
Shopify Says AI Shopping Will ‘Not Bypass’ Its Checkout
Retail Brew
"Shopify says it is ready for shopping that happens inside AI chats, but not without its popular payment tool. Products from Shopify merchants will now get discovered and bought entirely within conversations taking place on ChatGPT or Claude. But the company said AI shopping will still have to go through Shopify’s checkout. AI-powered shopping orders jumped 15x since January 2025, according to Shopify."
Fintech GoCardless Introduces MCP : An AI-Native Solution for Bank Payment Integration
Crowdfund Insider
"GoCardless has launched its Model Context Protocol (MCP), a tool that lets developers and merchants interact with its bank payment platform using everyday natural language. MCP enables users to connect their preferred large language models—such as those powering tools like Claude or GitHub Copilot—directly to GoCardless. Through simple conversational queries, merchants can receive instant responses, retrieve real-time payment data, and accelerate the process of embedding GoCardless into their websites, apps, or platforms."
Stablecore Joins the Jack Henry™ Fintech Integration Network to Bring Stablecoins and Digital Assets to Banks and Credit Unions
Business Wire
"Stablecore, the digital asset core for banks and credit unions, announced that it has joined the Jack Henry™ Fintech Integration Network (FIN). This strategic milestone enables Jack Henry's approximately 1,670 bank and credit union core clients, as well as the more than 1,000 financial institutions on the Banno Digital Platform™, to deploy institutional-grade, fully-compliant digital asset products directly within their existing core ecosystems."
FIS Launches 24/7 AI Assistant to Ease Risk Models Management
FIS
"Actuaries spends a substantial amount of their time searching for information buried in technical documentation on risk modeling. Global financial technology leader FIS ® is changing that with the launch of its Insurance Risk Suite AI Assistant, a generative AI tool that instantly answers complex questions about building and maintaining risk models—in any language."
February 20, 2026
On the web
New BofA Rewards™ Program to Reach Millions More Clients with Expanded Benefits
Bank of America
"Bank of America announced plans to launch BofA Rewards, a no fee loyalty program designed to reward and recognize clients for their full relationship across their Bank of America banking and Merrill investing accounts. Starting May 27, millions of clients can enroll in the new program to unlock benefits on eligible credit cards, cash back deals, banking services, curated experiences and more."
PhonePe Rolls Out AI-Powered Feature to Pay Via Voice or Text
The Economic Times
"PhonePe has introduced a new AI feature. Users can now use voice or text commands to complete tasks within the app. This simplifies payments and navigation. The feature uses Microsoft Foundry technology. It understands user intent for payments, purchases, and support. This launch coincides with India hosting the AI Impact Summit 2026. Big AI investments are also being announced."
On the wires
TNS Launches TNSPay SmartRoute to Put Merchants and Acquirers in Control of Payment Routing
Business Wire
"Transaction Network Services (TNS) announced the launch of TNSPay SmartRoute, an intelligent transaction routing solution that lets merchants, acquirers, processors and FinTechs balance performance, cost and uptime on their terms – across data centers, hosts and even multiple processors. With a secure, multi-tenant portal, teams can set and update routing rules in real time, automate failover and gain deep operational visibility through visual network mapping and full audit trails."
February 19, 2026
Top Post
Square Expands Partner Ecosystem in 2026, Empowering Sellers With Connected Tools, Insights, and Expertise to Accelerate Growth
Square
"Square announced that it is expanding its partner ecosystem in 2026, further solidifying its standing as the provider of choice for sellers and partners alike. With key partners including Amazon, Apple, Intuit QuickBooks, and Uber Eats choosing Square, the company is reinforcing its commitment to providing sellers with the best-in-class tools needed to succeed."
On the web
Visa to Acquire Prisma Medios de Pago and Newpay in Argentina
Visa
"Visa announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Prisma Medios de Pago S.A.U. and Newpay S.A.U. in Argentina from Advent International. Prisma provides credit, debit and prepaid card issuer processing. Newpay is a multi-network infrastructure provider that operates real-time payments services, the Banelco ATM network and the bill payment platform PagoMisCuentas."
Visa’s Olympics Monopoly Highlights Europe’s Payment Headache
CNBC
"Anyone trying to buy a souvenir at the official Olympic stores at the Milano Cortina Games will have been exposed to an issue troubling Europe's policymakers: the dominance of foreign payment providers and the fading role of cash. Under a sponsorship deal with the International Olympic Committee dating back to 1986 and extended to 2032, Visa is the sole card provider at the Games, with signs reading "Card payment? We accept only Visa" and staff offering prepaid cards on the spot."
eBay Launches Pay by Bank in the UK
Retail Systems
"eBay has launched Pay by Bank, allowing customers in the UK to pay for items directly from their bank accounts. The online auction site said that shoppers will be able to authorise transactions through their own banking apps, which will ensure payments are instant and secure. Additionally, the move will ensure that customers do not need to manually enter card details. To implement the service, eBay has partnered with Open Banking network TrueLayer."
February 18, 2026
On the web
Adobe Commerce Commits to Agentic Commerce Standards
Adobe
"Adobe Commerce is committed to supporting agentic commerce standards, including Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) and Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP). Adobe Commerce is moving towards supporting UCP and ACP by making merchant product catalogs, pricing, and inventory machine-readable by AI agents and available to the latest LLM surfaces like Gemini and ChatGPT. These capabilities are intended to enable seamless and secure transactions through both protocols."
NPCI & Anthropic Test AI-Driven Shopping: Order Groceries & Food via Claude Using UPI Payments [Video]
YouTube
"The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is venturing into the future of "agentic commerce" through a new pilot program with the AI firm Anthropic. This collaboration allows users to delegate shopping tasks such as ordering groceries from BigBasket or food from Swiggy directly to the Claude AI assistant, which then completes the transaction seamlessly via UPI. Currently running in a closed user group, the service marks a significant shift from simple conversational AI to an end-to-end fulfillment ecosystem where the AI handles discovery, ordering, and real-time payments in a single workflow."
Modern Treasury Launches Payments: An Integrated Payment Service Provider (PSP) for Fiat and Stablecoins
Modern Treasury
"Modern Treasury introduced Payments, an integrated payment service provider (PSP) that helps companies build modern money movement experiences. The PSP accelerates teams that embed fiat and stablecoin payments into their products, leveraging Modern Treasury’s banking, blockchain, and compliance infrastructure to get to market faster. Modern Treasury Payments enables companies to programmatically open payment accounts and make payments via ACH, wire, RTP/FedNow, push-to-card, and stablecoins, including USDG, USDP, and USDC (USDT coming soon)."
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