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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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July 17, 2026
On the web
BBVA, the First Spanish Bank to Launch Swift’s New Global Retail Payments Scheme
BBVA
"The new scheme marks a step forward in the modernisation of cross-border payments. For customers, this new model delivers an experience that is increasingly similar to that of an instant domestic payment. Funds can be credited to beneficiaries’ accounts in Spain for the full amount within approximately 25 seconds, at any time of the day, every day of the year. In addition, the payer knows in advance the cost of the transaction, the exchange rate and the estimated time for the funds to be credited."
FIS and Anthropic Extend Partnership on Trusted AI for Financial Services
FIS Global
"FIS® is using Mythos 5 through Project Glasswing, Anthropic’s controlled-access initiative that applies frontier AI to help strengthen the security of software supporting critical infrastructure, to secure its own systems. Through Project Glasswing, FIS is putting Mythos 5, Anthropic’s most advanced frontier model, to work as an additional layer within its security program."
Ant International’s Alipay+ Connects Argentina's National QR Payment Scheme via PVS, Enabling Cross-Border Payments at Millions of Merchants
Yahoo Finance
Alipay+ announced that it will enable global travellers to make QR code payments at millions of merchants across Argentina through integration with the country's national QR payment scheme Transferencias 3.0, in partnership with PVS, a fintech company specialized in developing customized payment solutions in Latin America.
Education: Automated Clearing House Payments
The Federal Reserve History
"Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments were first established in the 1970s by the Federal Reserve System and the banking industry. Up to that point, cash and checks had been the principal methods for retail payments in the United States. ACH payments, which are initiated electronically, were envisioned as a more-efficient payment method. At first, ACH payment volumes were relatively low, and the Fed processed far more ACH payments than private-sector ACH operators."
July 16, 2026
Top Post
Ushering in a New Era of Digital Wallet Innovation [Mastercard Wallet Services]
Mastercard
"Apple's decision to open device access is now creating more room for mobile payment choice and innovation. Mastercard is introducing Mastercard Wallet Services, a set of software tools and services that simplifies the creation of wallet capabilities on both iOS and Android. Mastercard Wallet Services is a solution including a Secure Element applet and software developer kits that enable contactless payments for Android and iOS environments. Partners can build contactless capabilities across platforms without managing separate integrations."
Visa Introduces Platform for Stablecoin Minting, Movement and Management
VIsa
"Visa announced the Visa Stablecoin Platform (VSP), an enterprise platform designed to help financial institutions, fintechs, and crypto natives access stablecoin capabilities through a single Visa-managed environment. VSP gives FIs, fintechs and other payment providers a simple way to access, store, and redeem stablecoins, beginning with Open USD (OUSD), a stablecoin introduced by Open Standard. This includes onchain wallet infrastructure through a newly introduced Wallet-as-a-Service offering and connectivity for minting and burning Open USD."
On the web
Are U.S. Consumers Ready to Use Pay-by-Bank at the Point of Sale?
The Federal Reserve
"Pay-by-Bank, a direct transfer from individuals’ bank accounts to merchants’, is gaining popularity as a point-of-sale payment method in countries around the world. Although Pay-by-Bank has yet to become available at points of sale in the United States, data suggest that U.S. consumers are increasingly ready to use this method."
Inside Cash App Borrow: Expanding Access Through Responsible Lending
Block
"Borrow provides eligible customers with access to small-dollar loans directly within Cash App, offering a simple, transparent and fast way to access funds when they need them. Rather than relying on traditional credit scores, we consider signals from a customer's activity on Cash App when determining eligibility and make those factors transparent through Cash App Score, an in-app view that helps customers understand the behaviors that influence their Borrow eligibility."
Visa: Agentic Payments from the Ground Up
Visa
"Two open protocols went live over the past year to handle machine-native payments, and the report studies both. The first, x402, was incubated by Coinbase and Cloudflare, now stewarded by the Linux Foundation. Since launching in May 2025, it processed roughly $15.0 million in adjusted volume across 109.6 million transactions. The second, the Machine Payments Protocol (MPP), was built by Stripe and Tempo with contributions from Visa. In its first few weeks after launching in mid-March 2026, it settled about $25,000. The two tell very different stories."
Nexi Among the Payment Service Providers That Will Participate in the Digital Euro Pilot Phase
Nexi Group
"Nexi is among the Payment Service Providers that will participate in the Digital Euro pilot phase, scheduled to begin in the second half of 2027 and run for 12 months. The European PayTech will contribute to testing the technical functionalities and operational processes of the payment system, while helping to improve the user experience thanks to its specialized know-how and extensive experience in the payments sector."
On the wires
Visa Reimagines Visa Infinite for Asia Pacific's Modern Affluent
PR Newswire
"Visa unveiled a refreshed Visa Infinite in Asia Pacific, designed for the modern affluent and how they live, spend and travel today. The refresh introduces a more flexible and personalised offering, anchored in a three-tier card suite. Alongside Visa Infinite, the portfolio includes the two newly launched tiers of Visa Infinite Privilege and Visa Infinite Private, each tailored to distinct affluent segments within a unified premium offering."
July 15, 2026
Top Post
PayPal Draws $53 Billion Takeover Bid From Stripe and Advent
Yahoo Finance
"Stripe has teamed up with private equity firm Advent International to make a play for PayPal. Stripe and Advent submitted the offer earlier this month, following an initial approach in April, Reuters reported. Under the proposal, the two buyers would hold equal stakes and keep PayPal intact. PayPal has not responded yet. Stripe and Advent still hope to move talks forward within weeks. A deal would bring together two large payment networks under a single owner. Stripe owns Bridge, a stablecoin infrastructure platform it bought for $1.1 billion in 2025."
On the web
Capital One Flips Millions of Discover Cards to Its Own Platform on July 27
The Motley Fool
"Capital One is best known for issuing credit cards. However, it demonstrated that it had wider aspirations when it bought Discover. Although the merger is complete, the integration process is still a work in progress. July 27 will be a big date to watch, since that's when some Discover products will start being integrated into Capital One's back end. While Discover cards will still exist in name, that is when they will start being supported by the Capital One back end."
Driven by AI, Customers Now Rival Criminals for Ecommerce Fraud, Say Merchants
Ravelin
"Ecommerce fraud is accelerating, driven by a surge in customer abuse and the rapid adoption of AI. This is a key finding of new research from ecommerce fraud prevention platform Ravelin. Ravelin’s Global Fraud Trends 2026 report estimates that fraud has cost the average ecommerce enterprise $11.4m (£8.4m) over the past year – an increase of 7.5% compared with 2025."
JPMorgan Moves to Curb AI Token Costs, Ramps Up Tech Hiring in Singapore
BigGo Finance
"JPMorgan is imposing stricter cost controls on generative AI, moving from unchecked experimentation to disciplined budgeting as token consumption by advanced AI models drives up computing expenses. Routine tasks will be handled by cheaper models, while premium tokens are reserved for high-value functions such as real-time treasury agents. While the per-token price has dropped, the sheer volume consumed by advanced reasoning models and autonomous AI agents is eroding any savings and making expenses harder to forecast."
Worldline Selected for the Eurosystem’s Digital Euro Pilot
Worldline
"Worldline will participate as both an acquiring payment service provider and technical service provider, supporting banks and financial institutions throughout the digital euro value chain, from infrastructure connectivity and transaction processing to banking channel integration and merchant acceptance. The pilot, which is due to be launched in the second half of 2027 and will run for 12 months, will evaluate digital euro payment journeys across a range of use cases helping to validate the readiness of the future ecosystem."
On the wires
Spreedly Launches Standalone Payment Vault as Merchants Move to Control Their Own Payment Credentials
PR Newswire
"Spreedly announced the availability of its standalone payment vault, giving merchants a way to securely store and control their own payment credentials without first adopting a full payments orchestration platform. While Spreedly has long offered payment vault capabilities as part of its orchestration platform, merchants can now begin with secure, portable credentials today and expand into additional capabilities over time on the same platform with no re-vaulting required. Spreedly's standalone vault includes..."
July 14, 2026
Top Post
How J.P. Morgan Payments Eliminated 13 Billion Keystrokes a Year by Automating the Paper Behind Payments
Tearsheet
"In 2025 alone, the bank processed roughly 480 million checks and payment documents through its lockbox network. Behind every payment was a mix of invoices, remittance slips, handwritten notes, folded documents, and variations that required human intervention. Before automation, processing that volume meant employees performed roughly 13 billion manual keystrokes every year. Rather than eliminating checks that account for about 25% to 26% of outgoing and incoming B2B payments in the U.S., they focused on eliminating the work they create."
On the web
Mastercard: Helping the UK Get AI-Ready
Mastercard
"Agentic AI is becoming one of the UK’s biggest commercial opportunities. They chose the UK to announce expansion of Agent Suite with Proto, a sandbox environment to explore, test and validate agentic AI use cases before introducing them into production. Mastercard will be live in the UK in August. Retailers and their partners will be able to test whether their products are discoverable by agents, how to scale the payment experience, whether their plan for handling disputes in this environment works at scale, and much more."
Confirmo Subscribe: Stablecoin Subscriptions for Your Business
Confirmo
"Confirmo launched the first stablecoin subscription product that supports both exchange accounts and self-custody wallets in a single integration. Subscribe enables enterprises – from SaaS providers to trading platforms and AI companies – to run recurring stablecoin payments without building custom infrastructure. Pull payments automatically from a customer's wallet on each billing date, with no manual input and fewer failed payments"
Visa Introduces AI Financial Assistant, Helping Banks Guide Customers from Insight to Action
Visa
"Visa announced AI Financial Assistant, a new value‑added service designed to help financial institutions evolve their apps for an AI‑driven era. The feature helps banks bring AI-powered financial insights to cardholders under their own brand, look and feel with no custom development required. AI Financial Assistant brings conversational financial guidance into the banking apps consumers already trust for spending and saving. The Visa Value‑Added Service applies benchmarking insights to deliver personalized recommendations."
Kraken Rolls Out Mastercard Crypto Debit Card in UK and Europe
Yahoo Finance/Globe Data
"Kraken has launched a Mastercard debit card in the UK and Europe, allowing users to spend from a wide range of cryptocurrency and cash balances. The crypto exchange said the card can be used for everyday purchases online and in stores wherever Mastercard is accepted. Users can pay from more than 600 supported crypto and cash currency balances. The funds are converted in near real time at the point of purchase. Kraken said the card offers up to 2% cashback, paid weekly in Bitcoin, euros or pounds."
Visa Study: European Banks Say AI Will Define the “Bank of the Future” – And Early Adopters Will Set the Pace by 2030
Visa
"New research from Visa shows that European bank executives believe artificial intelligence will not just improve efficiency, but fundamentally redefine what the bank of the future looks like – with those moving first expected to pull decisively ahead over the next decade. AI will define the next generation of banking: 86% of European bank leaders say AI will fundamentally reshape retail banking by 2030 and 61% believe early adopters will significantly outperform or dominate the market."
July 13, 2026
Top Post
Mastercard Explores Sale of UK Payments Unit Vocalink Stake
Investing
"Mastercard Inc. is considering selling a majority stake in Vocalink, its UK payments subsidiary, back to British banks, the Financial Times reported Monday. The move comes as the company addresses concerns about U.S. ownership of a key British financial infrastructure asset. Vocalink operates a substantial portion of the UK retail payments system. The potential transaction for a 51% stake could be valued at approximately £400 million, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the discussions."
On the web
Competition in Retail Digital Payments
BIS
"Retail payments have digitalised rapidly in both advanced economies and emerging market and developing economies. Digitalisation has altered the competitive landscape, with new entrants (eg fintechs and big techs) and new technologies, yet incumbent banks and card networks retain their dominant position in key markets. In their role as operators, overseers and catalysts in payment systems, central banks support competition in diverse ways, depending on their mandates and institutional arrangements."
Bottomline CFO Suite Unlocks Stablecoins for Corporate Finance
Bottomline
Bottomline, a global leader in business payments, announced an expansion of its Bottomline CFO Suite, enabling finance teams to access and view stablecoin payments within existing payment and cash management workflows. The new capability helps enterprise and mid-market organizations explore stablecoin payments within the same controls, visibility, and governance frameworks they use to run corporate finance operations.
Rajat Taneja on Building Visa’s Defense for the Agentic Era
Fast Company Middle East
"Rajat Taneja, President of Technology at Visa, spoke to Fast Company Middle East in an exclusive conversation on the eve of the Visa Payments Forum in Paris, the company’s flagship European gathering held at the Paris Convention Center on July 1 and 2. He outlined how Visa is reshaping its technology stack to address a rapidly evolving threat environment, from fraud detection and the newly public Visa Vulnerability Agentic Harness, or VVAH, to preparing for the impact quantum computing could eventually have on encryption"
Europe’s Payment Power Struggle: Can Visa and Mastercard Be Displaced?
International Banker
"Europe’s payment system is entering a new phase in which pertinent questions about market structure, competition and efficiency are increasingly being reframed as questions of financial sovereignty. What was once a discussion about interchange fees and merchant costs has expanded into a broader assessment of how much control Europe retains over the infrastructure that underpins everyday commerce. And at the centre of this system sit Visa and Mastercard."
Dutch Foundation Launches Class Action Lawsuit Against Buy-Now-Pay-Later Service Klarna
NL Times
"The Mass Damage & Consumer Foundation (SMC) has launched a class action lawsuit against the payment service Klarna. According to the foundation, the company violates consumer credit regulations with its pay-later services. Klarna’s buy-now-pay-later services are “essentially just a loan,” which should be subject to strict regulation, said SMC chairwoman Lucia Melcherts."
July 10, 2026
On the web
Sony Bank Wins U.S. OCC Approval for Trust Unit
International Business Times Japan
"Sony Bank said on July 7 it had received conditional approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish a national trust bank subsidiary in the U.S, a step tied to the Japanese online bank's consideration of issuing and managing U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoins. The bank said it plans a 2027 opening of the U.S. trust subsidiary, on the premise of obtaining the necessary approvals from Japanese and U.S. authorities. The planned business relates to stablecoin issuance and operations in the U.S. market."
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