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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 14, 2026
On the web
Deutsche Bank Expands Support for PayPal to Strengthen Global Payment Capabilities
PayPal
"PayPal and Deutsche Bank announced the expansion of their long-standing relationship that will deliver enhanced payment solutions across the United States, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Under this expanded agreement, Deutsche Bank will scale up the merchant settlement, payouts, and begin withdrawals and collection solutions for PayPal in the US. In Europe and Asia-Pacific, Deutsche Bank will support PayPal in various ways as well."
Visa Partners With BVNK to Enable Stablecoin Payouts on Visa Direct
Decrypt
"Payments giant Visa has partnered with London-based stablecoin infrastructure provider BVNK to enable stablecoin-funded payouts across Visa Direct, expanding the network’s payment options beyond traditional fiat rails. Under the partnership, BVNK will power stablecoin payments for Visa Direct, Visa’s $1.7 trillion money-movement platform."
Visa 2026 Global Economic Outlook: AI Adoption and Shifting Trade Patterns Drive Economic Transformation Beneath Steady Growth
Visa
"Visa forecasts structural economic transformation driven by AI adoption, supply chain rewiring and accelerating business investment that supports stable 2.7% global growth. Global GDP projected to grow 2.7% in 2026, with surface stability masking fundamental shifts in trade, technology and demographics; Rise in business investment gains should offset softening consumption; Small businesses outpace consumers in AI adoption, with AI-integrating firms showing significantly higher transaction growth"
FIS Launches Industry-First Offering Enabling Banks to Lead and Scale in Agentic Commerce
FIS Global
"FIS® announced the launch of its first offering to enable agentic commerce on the heels of announcing the close of the acquisition of its FIS® Total Issuing™ Solutions portfolio. FIS’ new agentic commerce offering is the first to enable banks to safely and securely conduct commerce with AI agents and card networks."
Klarna Expands Digital Bank Offer With Peer-To-Peer Payments
Klarna
"Klarna has launched instant peer-to-peer payments in 13 European countries, marking the next step in its evolution as a digital bank. The new feature enables Klarna customers to send money to friends and family, whether splitting bills or gifting cash, directly from the Klarna app: as simple as handing someone cash, with the protection of a regulated bank."
January 13, 2026
On the web
Ingenico Launches Digital Currency Solution, Enabling Stablecoin Payments at Physical Checkouts, in Partnership With Walletconnect Pay
Ingenico
"Ingenico announced a partnership with WalletConnect Pay to enable stablecoin payments directly at checkout. The integration allows merchants to accept supported stablecoins, giving customers additional payment options and convenience when making purchases."
Rising Payment Costs Push Uber to Drop Visa in Kenya
TechCabal
"Ride-hailing giant Uber has stopped accepting VISA cards in Kenya, cutting off a payment option once central to its pitch to business travellers and expatriates in East Africa’s biggest e-hailing market. Uber confirmed the decision, which took effect in January, in a statement to TechCabal, pointing to a review of payment methods following a jump in global costs."
On the wires
Blackhawk Network Launches Category-Specific Prepaid Rewards Card for Fuel, EV Charging and Grocery Applications
Business Wire
"Blackhawk Network is expanding its partnership with Mastercard® to launch two new filtered prepaid card rewards products: the Drive Prepaid Card and the Grocery Prepaid Card. Designed to support more purposeful and relevant payment programs, these cards provide flexible reward options in high-demand redemption categories that align with targeted business goals."
January 12, 2026
Top Post
Google Announces a New Protocol to Facilitate Commerce Using AI Agents
TechCrunch
"Google announced a new open standard, called the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) for AI agent-based shopping, at the National Retail Federation (NRF) conference. The standard, developed with companies like Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, Target, and Walmart, lets agents work across different parts of customer buying processes, including discovery and post-purchase support. The core idea is that the standard could facilitate these various parts of the process instead of requiring connections with different agents."
On the web
FIS Completes Strategic Acquisition of Global Payments’ Issuer Solutions Business and Sale of Worldpay Stake
FIS Global
"FIS® announced the completion of its acquisition of Global Payments' Issuer Solutions business, formerly known as TSYS, for an enterprise value of $13.5 billion, or a net purchase price of $12 billion including $1.5 billion of net present value of tax assets. Offerings from this asset, the world’s largest issuing business, will now go to market under the FIS® Total Issuing™ Solutions portfolio brand."
Why Do Businesses Still Use Paper Checks?
Atlanta Fed
"The 2024 Federal Reserve Payments Insight Business Study by Federal Reserve Financial Services (FRFS) found that paper checks remain a leading payment method among the nation's small businesses. Despite the growing availability of digital alternatives, businesses with less than $10 million in annual revenue continue to rely on checks for their outgoing payments. The study found that nearly 80 percent of "Very Small" firms with revenue under $1 million use checks while "Small" firms lead all segments with 83 percent using paper checks for business payments."
ACI Worldwide Enables Paze℠ for Online Checkout, Advancing Speed and Convenience for Digital Commerce
ACI Worldwide
"ACI Worldwide and Early Warning Services have announced a new partnership to enable Paze as a checkout option available to its merchants. Paze is an online checkout solution developed by Early Warning Services that is offered by leading banks and credit unions in the U.S. The convenient Paze checkout experience enables consumers to pay online with their preferred credit and debit cards via added security through tokenization, and streamlined digital authentication."
Ant International and Google to Soon Enable AI Checkout in Chat
Asian Banking & Finance
"Ant International has collaborated with Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol to expand its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. UCP establishes a common language for agents and systems to operate together across consumer surfaces, businesses, and payment providers to enable commerce, Ant International said in a press release."
BNY Goes Live With Tokenized Deposits
Ledger Insights
"Bank of New York Mellon (BNY) has launched its tokenized deposit offering, targeting tokenized collateral and margin payments. The initiative has been a work in progress for the bank for several years. Since 2023, BNY has participated in Singapore’s Project Guardian where it has been testing the interoperability of tokenized deposits and FX with OCBC Bank."
Global Payments Completes Acquisition of Worldpay and Divestiture of Issuer Solutions Business
Global Payments Inc.
"Global Payments Inc. announced the successful completion of its acquisition of Worldpay from FIS and GTCR, and the divestiture of its Issuer Solutions business to FIS. The transactions transform Global Payments into a pure-play, commerce solutions provider, serving the full spectrum of clients, from small businesses to global enterprises worldwide."
Federal Reserve Financial Services to Take New Actions to Support Penny Circulation
FRB Services
"Federal Reserve Financial Services (FRFS) today announced new actions to better support the circulation of pennies for commercial activity. Beginning on Jan. 14, the Federal Reserve will resume accepting pennies from banks and credit unions at commercial coin distribution locations providing services under arrangements with the Federal Reserve that were previously suspended."
On the wires
Checkout.com Secures Georgia Banking Charter Milestone, Accelerating U.S. Investment to Win the Enterprise Digital Payments Market
PR Newswire
"Checkout.com's application for a Merchant Acquirer Limited Purpose Bank (MALPB) charter was accepted by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance. The charter will enable greater control, deliver improved digital payments performance for enterprise merchants, and allow Checkout.com to double down on US expansion plans."
January 9, 2026
Top Post
Inside Agentic Commerce: A New Way to Transact Raises New Questions
Mastercard
"As AI agents shop and pay on behalf of consumers, the payments ecosystem is tackling challenges around intent, fraud prevention and accountability."
On the web
Fiserv Launches Unknown Shopper at NRF, Helping Merchants Better Understand In-Store Customers
Fiserv, Inc.
"Fiserv, Inc. announced the launch of Unknown Shopper from Fiserv, a new analytics capability designed to help merchants and their marketing partners better understand in-store customer behavior and build actionable customer segments from card-present transactions."
Fireblocks Acquires TRES: Delivering the First Complete Operating System for Digital Assets
Fireblocks
"Fireblocks announced the acquisition of TRES Finance, a leader in crypto accounting, reconciliation, and financial controls for digital assets. Together, they are forming the foundational infrastructure for an onchain financial world, integrating financial controls into critical business operations."
Toast Delivers Precision Insights, Action, and Efficiency for Retailers
Toast
"Toast announced its latest platform updates for retailers, including retail-specific capabilities to its Toast IQ AI assistant and a host of core platform updates designed to help retailers operate faster and more efficiently, driving their businesses forward. The Toast IQ AI assistant enables retailers to move at the speed of conversation by instantly showing users what’s selling, what’s running low, and where margin opportunities lie in their business."
Visa’s New Stablecoin Payout Pilot
The European Business Review
"Visa’s recent announcement of a new pilot program marks a significant step in the crypto world, where businesses will be able to make USD-backed stablecoin payouts directly to vendors’ wallets. This pilot, in simple terms, enables companies to make payments in traditional fiat currencies, while recipients can choose to receive their payments in a US dollar-pegged stablecoin, such as USDC."
Deluxe to Implement Visa Direct to Enable Fast, Seamless Payments with dlxFastFunds
Deluxe Corporation
"Deluxe announced its collaboration with Visa to implement Visa Direct. This collaboration introduces dlxFastFundsSM, a funding solution that leverages Visa’s trusted payment network to help businesses take control of their cash flow by skipping the typical one- to two-day settlement delay. This integrated solution is designed to reinforce operations with quicker access to capital, ideal for covering inventory, payroll, or reinvestment opportunities."
January 8, 2026
Top Post
JPMorgan to Replace Goldman as Apple Card Issuer
Yahoo Finance
"JPMorgan Chase and Apple on Wednesday announced a deal under which the bank will become the new issuer of the Apple Card, replacing Goldman Sachs, further expanding the biggest U.S. bank's credit card franchise. The move is estimated to bring over $20 billion in card balances to Chase's platform once completed, the companies said. JPMorgan expects to record a $2.2 billion provision for credit losses in the fourth quarter of 2025 tied to the forward purchase commitment of the portfolio."
On the web
Stripe Helps Power a New Shopping Experience in Microsoft Copilot
Stripe
"Stripe announced that it is helping power a new experience called Copilot Checkout. Copilot users in the US will be able to buy products from Etsy businesses and retailers like Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie, all without leaving the chat. When a Copilot conversation naturally leads to a shopping experience, a Stripe-powered checkout may appear natively within the chat. To populate the checkout, Microsoft communicates with Stripe through an integration. Stripe then connects with the seller via the Agentic Commerce Protocol, an open standard for agentic commerce codeveloped by Stripe."
Volante Technologies Unveils Low-Code Studio: A Game-Changer for Payment Implementation and Compliance
Volante Technologies
"Volante Technologies announced the launch of Volante Low-code Studio, an automated, low-code/no-code environment that redefines how banks design, deploy, and maintain payment workflows. Fully integrated with Volante’s cloud-native Payments Platform, the breakthrough solution equips financial institutions with pre-built capabilities and extensible patterns to take full control of their modernization journey and achieve unprecedented innovation and cost efficiency gains."
PayPal Powers Microsoft’s Launch of Copilot Checkout
PayPal
"PayPal announced that they are teaming up with Microsoft to support the launch of Copilot Checkout in Copilot, enabling shoppers to discover, decide, and pay—without ever leaving the Copilot experience. PayPal will power surfacing merchant inventory, branded checkout, guest checkout and credit card payments, starting with Copilot.com. Merchants’ product catalogs will seamlessly become purchasable leveraging PayPal’s store sync, a capability of PayPal’s recently launched agentic commerce services, which are designed to allow merchants to attract customers and future-proof their business in the new era of AI-powered commerce.
Bottomline Strengthens Business Payments Fraud Defense with Integrated, Multi-Layered Protection
Bottomline
Bottomline announced Payments Fraud Defense, an advanced and scalable payment fraud solution designed to facilitate industry collaboration and leverage AI-driven capabilities. It brings together behavioral analytics, interdiction precision, analytics tuning, and session replay into a single, integrated Payments Fraud Defense platform designed to complement existing fraud systems and accelerate detection.
Visa Launches Card-Based Trade Payment Platform
VIR
"Visa announced a partnership with VPBank, Shinhan Bank Vietnam, and MB to launch the Global Trade Payment Platform (GTPP), described as the market’s first global card-based solution for trade payments, enabling Vietnamese importers to pay South Korean suppliers using Visa Commercial Cards."
Fiserv Collaborates with Microsoft to Accelerate AI-Driven Innovation
Fiserv, Inc.
"Fiserv, Inc. announced a strategic collaboration with Microsoft to accelerate innovation by further embedding AI into Fiserv development platforms and empowering its global workforce with AI. The collaboration will boost internal productivity at Fiserv and deliver AI-driven solutions that create greater value for Fiserv clients, including financial institutions, businesses, and consumers."
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