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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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January 29, 2026
Top Post
Same Day ACH and Business-to-Business Payments Propel ACH Network Volume Growth in 2025
Nacha
"The ACH Network reached new highs in 2025 as both standard and Same Day ACH usage continued to grow, both in the number of payments and their value. Full year ACH Network volume totaled 35.2 billion payments, up nearly 5% over 2024. The value of those payments reached $93 trillion, an increase of almost 8%. Noteworthy milestones: December 2025 saw the ACH Network’s highest ever monthly volume of 3.22 billion payments, and the highest monthly volume of Same Day ACH payments of 172.1 million."
On the web
Stablecoins Aren’t a Crypto Strategy. They’re a Payments Strategy
Modern Treasury
"Stablecoins are no longer primarily associated with crypto trading or speculation. They are increasingly being used as core infrastructure in modern payment systems, powering real-world money movement at scale. Today, there is over $1 trillion in monthly stablecoin payment activity, according to Visa Onchain Analytics , driven by familiar payments flows like payroll runs, vendor payouts, cross-border settlements, and treasury movement. The speculation phase is over. Stablecoins are being adopted at scale because they function like traditional payment rails, thanks in large part to regulatory clarity."
Account Takeover Fraud: A Persistent Threat
Federal Reserve
"The wide availability of PII, new tools to automate account takeover, and the use of generative AI to make phishing and impersonation more convincing undoubtedly have contributed to the persistent threat of account takeover fraud. Given evolving uses for automation and AI in the fraud ecosystem, account takeover is likely to be a continued challenge for financial institutions and their customers for the foreseeable future. To help combat it, financial institutions can implement a layered approach to enhance account takeover detection and prevention."
Fiserv and Affirm Join Forces to Bring Flexible Payments to Debit
Affirm
"Fiserv, Inc. announced an exclusive collaboration with Affirm to bring pay-over-time capabilities to debit card programs for financial institutions. This collaboration empowers thousands of Fiserv U.S. bank and credit union clients to meet growing consumer demand for flexible payment options without needing to build new lending products."
BIS International Banking Statistics and Global Liquidity Indicators at End-September 2025
BIS
"Global cross-border bank claims expanded by $832 billion in the third quarter of 2025, reaching $45 trillion. The $730 billion Q3 2025 increase in cross-border bank credit was led by lending to borrowers in the United States ($284 billion); non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) were a prominent counterparty globally, especially those in the United States ($157 billion)."
January 28, 2026
On the web
Amazon Says It’s Closing Down Its Palm-Scanning System After Not Enough People Used It
Business Insider
"Amazon will be discontinuing Amazon One, its palm-authentication service, across all retail businesses. Users will be able to continue to use Amazon One at supported retail locations until June 3, Some locations may phase the services out before this date. The services will remain available to patients for check-in at healthcare locations until further notice. "In response to limited customer adoption, we're discontinuing Amazon One, our authentication service for facility access and payment," said an Amazon spokesperson."
PayPal: Crypto Goes Mainstream: 4 in 10 U.S. Merchants Accept Digital Assets
PayPal Newsroom
"Cryptocurrency payments are quickly moving into the mainstream of U.S. commerce. According to new research from the National Cryptocurrency Association (NCA), a non-profit organization dedicated to helping Americans understand and use crypto with confidence, and PayPal, nearly 4 out of 10 (39%) of merchants already accept cryptocurrency at checkout, and more than four in five merchants (84%) believe crypto payments will become common within the next five years, signaling a shift in how businesses respond to evolving customer preferences."
Fidelity Investments Starts Its Own Stablecoin in a Massive Bet That Future of Banking Is on Blockchain
Coindesk
"Fidelity Investments is launching its first stablecoin, the Fidelity Digital Dollar (FIDD), based on the Ethereum network. FIDD will be backed by reserves of cash, cash equivalents, and short-term U.S. Treasuries managed by Fidelity, in line with the new federal GENIUS Act's standards for payment stablecoins. The stablecoin targets use cases such as 24/7 institutional settlement and onchain retail payments, putting Fidelity in direct competition with dominant issuers like Circle’s USDC and Tether’s USDT while laying groundwork for future onchain financial products."
Visa Spending Study Shows How Americans Will Use AI to Plan, Book and Spend on Winter Sports
VIsa
"Visa released new U.S. insights from its multi-market Winter Sports Study, revealing a strong resurgence in winter travel interest ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics - and marking the first Winter Games where Gen AI is widely used by consumers for research and planning. The research shows that as interest in winter sports surges and domestic travel remains strong, AI is rapidly moving into the mainstream of how people discover destinations, plan trips and shop for winter experiences."
Next-Generation Treasury: Adyen and BCG Report Reveals How CFOs Can Turn Money Movement into a Strategic Growth Engine
Adyen
"The report shows that complexity and fragmentation have become a burden on corporate finance, turning the treasury function from a strategic asset into a bottleneck of system inefficiency and operational inertia. The report's core finding is clear: the growing number of banking and payment relationships an enterprise is forced to manage is directly hindering cash visibility, creating unnecessary burden on financial teams and ultimately muting returns on working capital."
Circle Expands USDC Payments Network to Europe, India
Altcoin Buzz
"The company announced that EU and India payouts are now live through a partnership with Saber money. The new corridors allow businesses and users to settle locally without navigating multiple integrations or complex banking arrangements. Europe payouts use euros via SEPA, the standard payment network across the region, while India payouts use INR through IMPS, RTGS, and NEFT, enabling near-instant settlement for local recipients."
On the wires
Papaya Global Launches Global Workforce Wallet Powered by Fireblocks
PR Newswire
"Papaya Global and Fireblocks announced a partnership to power real-time payouts for the world's banked and unbanked workforce. Banco Wallet, the new global workforce wallet, is powered by Fireblocks' secure digital asset infrastructure and unlocks payment capabilities for global employers, overcoming the limitations of legacy financial systems."
January 27, 2026
Top Post
Mastercard Unveils Major AI Shopping Change Coming for CBA, Westpac Customers: ‘Australia’s First' Transaction
Yahoo Finance
"Global payments giant Mastercard announced it will expand its agentic payments technology further in Australia with the completion of Australia’s first authenticated agentic transactions, which are transactions completed by an 'AI agent', using Commonwealth Bank and Westpac cards. Mastercard’s ‘Agent Pay’ technology, which was launched in the US last year, allows shoppers to ask an AI agent to search, find and buy items for them."
On the web
Elavon Collaborates with Microsoft to Introduce Elavon Live Payments
MarketScreener
"Elavon is collaborating with Microsoft to introduce Elavon Live Payments, a payments app for Microsoft 365 offered through the Microsoft Marketplace. Driven by the omni-channel capabilities of the Elavon Payments Gateway (EPG), Elavon Live Payments enables businesses and professional service providers to securely send invoices and collect customer payments with just a few clicks on a computer or mobile device."
Checkout.com Acquires Blue EMI, a Licensed Issuer of Euro Stablecoins, and Establishes Lithuania Technology Centre
Checkout
"Checkout.com announced the acquisition of Blue EMI, a regulated electronic money institution authorised to issue euro stablecoins. The company is also establishing a technology centre in Lithuania. Blue EMI is authorised by the Bank of Lithuania to provide payment services and issue euro-backed stablecoins designed for institutional use cases."
Mastercard Launches Agent Suite to Ready Enterprises for a New Era
Mastercard
"Mastercard announced a suite of services to help customers integrate agentic AI into their operations and accelerate toward this next frontier. Mastercard Agent Suite will combine technical support with customizable AI agents. Customers will be able to build, test, and deploy fit-for-purpose agents from Mastercard Agent Suite."
Adyen and Raptor Team Up to Simplify Operations for Singapore’s Service Sector
Adyen
"Adyen announced its partnership with Raptor, an established point-of-sale (POS) provider serving over 7,000 service and hospitality businesses in Asia Pacific since its inception in 2001. With payments integrated into its POS offerings, Raptor users are able to generate their own consolidated payment reports – gaining a full view of the cross-channel journeys of their customers, including their payment preferences."
Meta to Test Premium Subscriptions on Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp
TechCrunch
"Meta plans to test new subscriptions that give people access to exclusive features on it apps. The new subscriptions will unlock more productivity and creativity, along with expanded AI capabilities. Meta said it will offer a premium experience on Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp that gives users access to features and control over how they share and connect, while keeping the core experiences free."
On the wires
Zelle® Widens the On-Ramp for Community Banks and Credit Unions: 337 New Bank and Credit Unions Went Live or Signed in 2025
PR Newswire
"Zelle® reported that in 2025 it continued to scale its network, expanding access to more community banks and credit unions seeking real-time payment capabilities: 337 financial institutions went live or signed up to bring Zelle to their customers during 2025. 97% were community banks and credit unions with assets of less than $10 billion and that serve a broad range of Americans."
January 26, 2026
Top Post
Mastercard Launches Best-In-Class ‘Bin Sponsor Plus’ Programme to Support Next Generation of U.K. Fintechs
Mastercard
"Mastercard is introducing a new accreditation programme for BIN sponsors – established financial institutions which support Fintechs and any business interested in getting into payments by helping them to launch card programmes quickly and efficiently. The BIN Sponsor Plus programme is the first of its kind, intended to accelerate the growth of UK Fintechs and businesses entering the payments space by providing them with access to a vetted list of trusted partners and guidance on scaling efficiently. BIN Sponsorship provides a route to market without the time and investment associated with becoming an issuer."
On the web
The Financial Stability Implications of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Finance
BIS
"Remarks by Mr Tao Zhang, BIS Chief Representative for Asia and the Pacific, at International Financial Week, in conjunction with the Asian Financial Forum (AFF), Hong Kong, 26 January 2026."
January 23, 2026
On the web
Apple Cash Is Making Instant Transfers More Expensive Soon
9 to 5 Mac
"Starting February 18, Apple Cash instant transfers will cost more If you ever need to send an iPhone user some money, There are two aspects to the increase. The base rate of 1.5% is increasing to 1.7%, but the max fee is also going up. So if you’re transferring a large sum of money in an instant transfer, the new max fee will be $25, up from $15. And it will be easier to hit that maximum due to the higher 1.7% fee."
Revolut Scraps US Bank Acquisition in Push for Standalone Licence, Reports Say
Sifted
"Revolut has scrapped plans to buy a US lender and instead apply for its own American banking licence, reports say. Europe’s most valuable fintech had previously sought to acquire a US bank as a means of attaining a US licence, but is now betting on the Trump administration’s light-touch regulatory approach to win approval on its own, the Financial Times reports."
Checkout.com Powers Digital Payments Behind Freenow by Lyft’s Journeys Across Europe
Checkout
"Checkout.com has announced a new partnership with Freenow by Lyft, the European taxi app, to deliver reliable and high-performing digital payments across all nine of its European markets. Operating in more than 180 cities across Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Greece, Austria and Ireland, Freenow offers a broad range of mobility options within a single app, from taxis and private hire vehicles to e-scooters, e-bikes, e-mopeds, carsharing, and public transport."
Education: Making Sense of the AI Shopping Protocol Moment
PayPal
"Over the past year, agentic commerce has moved rapidly from idea to reality. Instead of browsing websites themselves, customers are increasingly asking AI assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot and others to discover products, compare options, and even make purchases on their behalf. To support these experiences, the industry is developing new technical specifications—known as protocols—that define how AI agents, merchants, and payments systems interact. Here’s a clear look at what agentic commerce protocols are, how the landscape is shaping up, and what it means for merchants navigating what comes next."
On the wires
Affirm Submits Applications to Establish Industrial Loan Company
Business Wire
"Affirm announced that it has submitted applications to the Nevada Financial Institutions Division and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to establish Affirm Bank, a proposed Nevada-chartered industrial loan company. The proposed bank subsidiary would enable Affirm to continue scaling responsibly while having an FDIC-insured institution. This would help Affirm expand access to honest financial products to more consumers."
Equifax Introduces Enhanced Synthetic Identity Fraud Detection
PR Newswire
"Equifax® announced the launch of Synthetic Identity Risk, a next-generation fraud detection product that leverages AI capabilities to help businesses identify and prevent synthetic identity fraud. This new product leverages sophisticated machine learning algorithms to uncover fraud patterns that traditional methods may miss, detecting and flagging potential fraudulent activity before it impacts a company's bottom line."
January 22, 2026
Top Post
Capital One to Acquire Brex
Capital One
"Capital One Financial Corporation announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Brex, in a combination of stock and cash transaction valued at $5.15 billion. Brex is a modern, AI-native software platform offering intelligent finance solutions that make it easy for businesses to issue corporate cards, automate expense management and make secure, real-time payments. The company also leverages AI agents to help customers automate complex workflows to reduce manual review and control spend."
On the web
IXOPAY Launches New TokenEx Packages, Setting the Standard for Token-First Payments in the Era of Agentic Commerce
IXOPAY
"IXOPAY announced the launch of three new TokenEx tokenization packages: TokenEx Core: A token-first foundation that combines Universal Tokens and Network Tokens. TokenEx Connect: Adds pre-built payment service provider integrations that enable faster multi-processor strategies, smarter routing, and operational flexibility at scale. Alternative Payments: A turnkey package beyond cards by enabling popular local and alternative payment methods to improve conversion without added integration complexity."
Volante Technologies Introduces Multi-Cloud Resiliency Service to Ensure Non-Stop Payments Processing During Major Cloud Outages
Volante Technologies
"Volante Technologies announced the launch of its premium Multi-cloud Resiliency Service, engineered to keep financial institutions’ payment operations running seamlessly during major cloud provider outages. Built on Volante’s proven cloud-native payments platform, the service provides true cross-cloud continuity, eliminating single-cloud/provider dependency for the payments layer."
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