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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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May 22, 2026
Top Post
Should Visa & Mastercard Investors Worry About UK & Europe's Moves?
Yahoo Finance
"Britain’s Payment Systems Regulator, or PSR, has stepped up scrutiny of card networks after years of complaints from merchants over rising card costs. The regulator is now consulting on a proposed regulatory financial reporting framework that would require Visa Inc. and Mastercard Incorporated to disclose detailed information tied to their UK operations. The consultation focuses on margins, profitability and the economics behind scheme and processing fees charged across the card ecosystems."
On the web
Visa Tests Stablecoin Settlement And AI Commerce To Shape Future Fees
Yahoo Finance
"Visa has launched a stablecoin settlement program in Canada, including a trial with Wealthsimple. The program aims to integrate blockchain based payments into existing card settlement flows. Visa is also expanding its Agentic Ready program for AI powered commerce and payments."
Mastercard Is Asking Brazilian Payment Processors To Share A Costly Bill
Finimize-Bloomberg
"Mastercard is pressing some of Brazil’s largest payment processors to absorb part of nearly 5 billion Brazilian reais (about $997 million) in card payments linked to Will Financeira after the fintech collapsed. Bloomberg, via MT Newswires, reports that Mastercard – the card network behind Will Financeira’s cards – became responsible for reimbursing merchant acquirers (the firms that process card payments for stores) for those transactions. It has already repaid roughly half, but it’s proposing a recovery “waterfall” to limit what’s left."
Jack Dorsey on Intelligence, Velocity, and the Next Chapter for Block at J.P. Morgan
Block
"At the J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Communications Conference this week, Block Co-Founder and CEO Jack Dorsey joined J.P. Morgan’s Tien-Tsin Huang for a conversation about how Block is evolving into an intelligence company and how that shift is already driving faster execution across Square and Cash App."
Plaid: Everything We Announced at Plaid Effects 2026
Plaid
"Plaid Effects, their annual customer conference noted one theme came up in nearly every conversation: AI is rapidly reshaping financial services. First, announcement was a foundation model that provides a deeper understanding of transactions data across Plaid - not just what happened, but why. With this model, they are seeing a 13% improvement in categorization accuracy while income classification is up by 48%."
Google Brings UCP Checkout to YouTube Shopping Ads
The Keyword
"Google has extended its Universal Commerce Protocol checkout into ad campaigns for the first time, putting in-ad purchase inside Shopping ads on YouTube and Direct Offers Demand Gen campaigns. Google will roll the UCP-powered checkout to Canada and Australia in the coming months, with the U.K. to follow. Affirm and Klarna buy-now-pay-later options are now embedded directly into Google Pay for UCP transactions, closing a gap with the BNPL flows already available inside Amazon, Apple Pay, and PayPal checkout."
May 21, 2026
Top Post
Federal Reserve Board Requests Public Comment on a Proposal to Establish a “Payment Account,” for the Specific Purpose of Clearing and Settling Payments
The Federal Reserve
"The Federal Reserve Board requests comment on a proposal to establish a "payment account," which financial institutions could use for the purpose of clearing and settling payments. Financial institutions with a range of business models have sought access to the Federal Reserve's payment services to reduce costs and increase payment speed. The proposed account would support innovation by serving the clearing and settlement needs of certain institutions whilemitigating material risks to the Reserve Banks and payment system."
On the web
ChatGPT Can Now Look at Your Bank Account, Here’s What It Can Do
MSN
"OpenAI has rolled out a new personal finance feature inside ChatGPT. You can now connect bank accounts, credit cards and investment accounts directly to ChatGPT, and it'll help you make sense of your money. For now, it's only for Pro users in the US. Plus users get it later, eventually it will be open up to everyone. ChatGPT shows you a dashboard of where your money is going—spending, investments, active subscriptions and upcoming payments, all in one place. It connects to more than 12,000 institutions through Plaid."
Kansas City Fed Quietly Publishes Details Re Kraken Fed Account
"The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City has confirmed that the limited purpose Federal Reserve master account it granted to Kraken Financial in March provides access only to the Fedwire Funds Service. The disclosure resolves one of the sharpest questions raised by both Democrat legislators and banking associations since the digital asset bank became the first of its kind to receive a Fed account. In a note published earlier this month, the Kansas City Fed disclosed the specific services and restrictions attached to the account for the first time."
Apple Blocks USD $2.2 Billion in Fraudulent App Store Fraud
Security Brief Australia
"Apple blocked more than USD $2.2 billion in potentially fraudulent App Store transactions in 2025, while rejecting more than 2 million app submissions and stopping over 1.1 billion fraudulent account creations as it expanded enforcement across the App Store ecosystem. The figures form part of a broader effort to combat fraud, malicious software and deceptive behaviour across the App Store, which now serves more than 850 million weekly visitors across 175 storefronts."
Visa Threats Report: As Network Security Strengthens, Criminals Accelerate Shift to AI-Enabled Social Engineering
Visa
Visa released its Spring 2026 Biannual Threats Report, revealing that scams have become the fastest-growing source of consumer harm as criminals increasingly use artificial intelligence and social engineering to manipulate people into authorizing payments themselves. From July to December 2025, Visa identified nearly $1 billion in scam-related activity. These attacks typically do not require breaching technology. Scammers impersonate trusted brands, manufacture urgency, and deceive victims into completing legitimate-looking transactions.
On the wires
MoonPay Launches MoonPay Trade: One Platform for Institutions and Enterprises to Access 200+ Chains and Protocols
PR Newswire
"MoonPay has launched MoonPay Trade, a technology platform that lets any application, financial institution, or enterprise access digital assets and move value across 200+ blockchains and protocols through a single API. Onchain liquidity is fragmented across hundreds of chains, venues, and protocols. Building direct connectivity to all of it is a massive engineering undertaking for any firm. MoonPay Trade collapses that complexity into a single integration that handles all onchain transaction execution, settlement, conversion and payments in over 120 fiat currencies."
May 20, 2026
On the web
Tether Brings USDT Payments to Over 200,000 Merchants in New Partnership
Crypto News
"Stablecoin issuer Tether has announced a significant expansion of its $USDT payment capabilities, enabling transactions at more than 200,000 merchant locations worldwide. The initiative is the result of a collaboration with decentralized treasury management protocol Lydian and U.S.-based payments company Shift4, marking one of the largest integrations of a stablecoin into traditional retail and online commerce."
PayPal’s Dollar-Backed Stablecoin Is Now Live Across Africa
Tech Labari
"The San José-based payments giant has announced that PayPal USD (PYUSD), its dollar-backed stablecoin, is now available to users across 70 markets, including a broad expansion across Africa. The move represents a dramatic scaling of the token’s reach: previously, PYUSD was only available for holding in the United States and the United Kingdom. The rollout now adds 68 new jurisdictions, with African countries including Uganda and Malawi among the newly supported markets."
Worldline and Klarna Partner to Enable Flexible, Online and In-Store Payments Everywhere
Klarna
"Worldline and Klarna have announced the signing of a framework agreement to improve access to Klarna’s full suite of flexible payments across online and in-store points of sale serviced by Worldline. Worldline will integrate Klarna more deeply into its technology stack, and acquire transactions, making it much simpler for businesses to offer Klarna to their customers."
Klarna Launches AI-Powered Shopping Search App in ChatGPT
Klarna
"Klarna launched the Klarna Shopping Search app in ChatGPT, bringing real-time product discovery directly into the conversation. With the Klarna Shopping Search app in ChatGPT, they simply describe what they're looking for and instantly see visual results with up-to-date prices, availability, and offers from multiple merchants, all within the same conversation. The Klarna Shopping Search app then seamlessly redirects users to the merchant’s site to complete their purchase."
FedNow’s Role in Modernizing Payments
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
"One key part of that the U.S. payments system is the FedNow® Service, the Federal Reserve’s instant payment rail. Launched in 2023, it enables financial institutions to move funds instantly – 24/7, 365 days a year. While FedNow is focused on domestic payments, the Fed is also exploring how it could eventually help make cross-border payments faster and simpler. Executive Vice President and Chief FedNow Executive Nick Stanescu discusses why FedNow was created, how it works, and what it could mean for businesses, consumers, and the future of financial access."
Fireblocks Joins x402 Foundation, Launches Agentic Payments Suite
PR Newswire
"Fireblocks announced the launch of its Agentic Payments Suite, delivering the infrastructure for agent-initiated payments using any stablecoin, on any blockchain. The Suite covers the full lifecycle of agentic payments; from the wallet infrastructure agents use to send funds, to the acceptance layer merchants use to receive them. Fireblocks has also joined the x402 Foundation, the Linux Foundation-hosted governing body for the x402 protocol, delivering the security extension that adds request integrity and spend governance to the protocol."
European Banks Rally Behind a Euro Stablecoin
ING
"Qivalis, the ING-backed consortium building Europe’s first regulated euro stablecoin, has announced that 25 banks are joining, bringing total membership to 37. More banks means broader reach, and a stablecoin that’s increasingly relevant for clients doing business in euros. The consortium plans to launch a regulated euro-denominated stablecoin in the second half of 2026, subject to regulatory approval."
PPRO Partners with Nubank to Enable Nupay, Unlocking Access to Brazil’s Digital Banking Ecosystem
PPRO
"PPRO announced its partnership with Nubank to provide merchants and PSPs with direct access to its native payment method, NuPay. With over 115 million customers in Brazil, NuPay enables seamless authorisation through a single click or biometric scan directly within the institution’s secure app environment. By eliminating the need to share card details with merchants, it enhances security, improves approval rates, and provides stronger protection against friendly fraud and chargebacks."
FIS Launches Enterprise Risk Suite on AWS to Provide Continuous Cloud-Native Delivery
FIS Global
"Global financial technology leader FIS® announced the launch of FIS Enterprise Risk Suite on Amazon Web Services (AWS). Upgrading risk software has always meant disruption and for firms managing risk in real-time, that’s a trade-off they can’t afford. This deployment on AWS reduces this by delivering a cloud-native risk management platform that keeps financial institutions on the latest version of the software, continuously and without operational disruption."
Google Launches Smart Digital Cart; Upgrades Agentic Commerce Standard
Chain Store Age
"Google continues developing new ways for consumers to leverage Agentic artificial intelligence while shopping. The tech giant is introducing a new intelligent digital shopping cart called Universal Cart and also adding new features to the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an open standard for agentic AI-based commerce intended to cover the entire shopping journey from discovery and buying to post-purchase support, as well as a new agentic payments protocol. Highlights of Google’s new agentic shopping tools follow."
dLocal CEO Says Payment Fragmentation Is Its Moat as Growth Momentum Builds
Yahoo Finance
"dLocal’s key moat is its ability to give global merchants one integration into more than 60 emerging markets, where fragmented payment systems and regulations often create major friction for expansion. CEO Pedro Arnt said the company is shifting from a more defensive rebuild phase to growth initiatives, with emphasis on new products like BNPL, alternative payment methods, merchant of record services, and omnichannel payments, while expanding in Southeast Asia and other regions."
On the wires
MoneyGram Becomes Tempo's Anchor Remittance Validator in Strategic Blockchain Partnership
PR Newswire
"MoneyGram announced a partnership with Tempo, a purpose-built Layer 1 blockchain for high-volume, real-world payments, to deepen its blockchain infrastructure and advance stablecoin-based settlement across its global network. The partnership marks a strategic step in MoneyGram's journey to build an open, interoperable global payments network on stablecoin rails, one that operates across chains, across borders, and across the full spectrum of how people move money."
Visa Threats Report: As Network Security Strengthens, Criminals Accelerate Shift to AI-Enabled Social Engineering
Business Wire
"Visa released its Spring 2026 Biannual Threats Report, revealing that scams have become the fastest-growing source of consumer harm as criminals increasingly use artificial intelligence and social engineering to manipulate people into authorizing payments themselves. The report underscores a critical shift in the fraud landscape: while core payment security continues to strengthen at the network level, criminals are redirecting their efforts away from technical system compromises toward exploiting human trust."
May 19, 2026
On the web
Would You Let Robots Spend Your Money? Google Is Betting on It
The Verge
"Google is going all in on AI-driven shopping even as some competitors back off. At Google I/O, the company unveiled the latest iteration of its AI commerce tools: a “Universal Cart” that works across different retailers and Google products like Gemini — and eventually YouTube and Gmail, too. Users can add products to Google’s universal cart as they browse Search and chat with Gemini and then check out through Google. The cart will also track prices, provide in-stock notifications, suggest potential discounts, and alert shoppers to potential issues with their selections."
Zip US and InComm Payments Bring Flexible Payments to Gift Cards, Giving Shoppers a New Way to Pay
InComm Payments
"Zip and InComm Payments,announced a partnership that brings installment buying to the gift card category. Through the integration, eligible shoppers can purchase popular gift card brands directly in the Zip app. With 4.6 million active customers in the US and 29,000 merchant partners, Zip is bringing that same flexibility to gift cards, giving consumers more flexibility over how they manage their spending.¹"
Centerbase Selects AvidXchange as the Exclusive Partner to Power Embedded Payments
AvidXchange
"AvidXchange announced that it has been selected by Centerbase, a leading provider of legal practice management software, as the exclusive partner to power embedded payments through its Accounts Payable as a Service solution. This solution delivers a modernized payment workflow designed specifically for the operational, compliance, and security needs of today’s law firms."
Mastercard: How to Stop the Scammers Behind the Storefronts
Mastercard
"The growth of digital payments helped millions of legitimate businesses move online fast and gave people a convenient, safe way to shop from home. But the same tools that help a real merchant launch quickly also made it simpler for criminals to set up fake storefronts. Technology like generative AI has made it even harder for consumers to detect them, thanks to deepfake videos from non-existent satisfied customers, rafts of testimonials generated from a single prompt and professional-grade websites and ads."
PayPal Partners with Anthropic to Close the AI Gap for Small Businesses
PayPal Newsroom
"Eighty-two percent of small businesses surveyed say adopting AI is essential to staying competitive, but seventy-three percent say they don’t have the tools or training to do it. PayPal is partnering with Anthropic to close that gap. AI Fluency for Small Business is a free online course offering practical, expert-backed training built around real advice from small business owners. It’s a meaningful step toward our 2030 goal of supporting 25 million people and small businesses with the skills they need to thrive in the digital economy."