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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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September 25, 2026
Top Post
Meta’s Zuckerberg Says Muse AI Agent Will Take a Small Fee from Transactions
Yahoo Finance
"Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg laid out his plan for monetizing the company's popular Muse AI agent during its Meta Connect. "We believe that Muse will make you money," Zuckerberg said. "And we are standing behind this by making Muse free for a huge number of tokens with the expectation that over time we will profit by taking a small fee from transactions." In addition to laying out the company's plans to monetize Muse, Wang also said the company is rolling out computer control for the Mac, allowing the agent to take over your Mac on your behalf."
Natwest Group First to Unveil Next Generation of AI Tools to Help Customers Manage Money and Receive Fraud Support
Natwest Group
"NatWest Group is set to trial an industry-first, fully generative audio-visual AI Spending Insights tool, enabling customers to explore their spending through natural voice and text conversations. Powered by the bank’s proprietary Small Language Models, the trial tool will be able to respond naturally to customers follow-up questions and interruptions."
On the web
Visa Integrates Blockchain Lending into Daily Payment Solutions
Small Business Trends
"Visa's new onchain lending initiative is aimed at transforming how small business owners access working capital. Visa’s approach integrates its renowned VisaNet settlement data with blockchain technology. This initiative aims to streamline the cumbersome process of obtaining credit. A practical application can be seen in Visa’s collaboration with Credit Coop, which utilizes smart contracts to provide settlement financing to stablecoin-linked programs. Credit Coop can assess credit performance, streamlining the way businesses obtain working capital."
B2B Payments: Business Processing and Challenges to Achieving Straight-Through Processing
Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
"Electronic business-to-business (B2B) payments have the potential to reduce the manual handling required for checks, helping businesses advance straight-through processing (STP). Although businesses face several challenges to adopting electronic payments, partial solutions have emerged that facilitate STP."
Redefining ‘Banking Day’ in the Nacha Rules: Your Input is Needed
Nacha
"Regardless of how early or late your bank or credit union is open, and whether or not you’re open weekends, the term “Banking Day” is generally understood to mean Monday-Friday, excluding federal holidays. Now, Nacha is looking to formalize this in the Nacha Rules, which is why we’re issuing a Request for Comment (RFC) on a new proposal. It would change the definition of “Banking Day” in the Rules to “a calendar day other than a Saturday, Sunday, or Federal banking holiday in the United States."
Safeguards Could Boost Stablecoin Use Among Americans, Finds Visa Study
Visa
"Visa Inc. released Money Travels 2026, a global report on how technology is reshaping remittances. The research, which surveyed over 2,000 U.S. consumers, shows Americans want faster, cheaper ways to support family and friends abroad—but not at the cost of security. Stablecoins—digital currencies pegged to stable values like the U.S. dollar—are accounting for a growing share of cross-border money flows. The survey shows that consumer protections could unlock their adoption."
Block Joins the x402 Foundation to Advance Open, Agentic Commerce
Block
"Block has joined the x402 Foundation, an open standard for agentic payments, to help build the rails that will let people, businesses, and agents pay and get paid. We've contributed goose, our open-source AI agent, helped launch the Agentic AI Foundation (AAIF), and joined the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) to enable agentic commerce for small businesses. Joining the x402 Foundation is a natural next step: it puts a neutral, community-governed payment standard underneath that work."
Mastercard: From AI-Powered Planning to the Christmas Eve Rush: What to Expect This Holiday Season
Mastercard
"Holiday shopping may still be weeks away, but the 2026 season is setting up to be one of the strongest in years, according to the Mastercard Economics Institute’s annual holiday forecast for the U.S. MEI expects U.S. retail sales, excluding automobiles and gas, to increase 5.5% year over year between November 1 and December 24, based on SpendingPulse insights, which represent in-store and online spending across all forms of payment. That would mark the strongest holiday growth since 2022."
As Banks Pivot to Agentic AI, Feedzai Unveils Farol to Transform Fraud Analysis and Cut Investigation Times
Feedzai
"Feedzai launched Farol, an embedded AI agent engineered to slash fraud investigation latency and sharpen threat detection across risk operations in banking. Farol is built to alleviate those pressures – an always-on agent that lets fraud teams do more without adding resources, fundamentally changing how they work. Integrated directly into Feedzai’s RiskOps Studio, Farol delivers conversational intelligence, automated rule performance analytics, and contextual case summarizations, all within the software stack analysts already use."
September 24, 2026
Top Post
Federal Reserve Board Requests Public Comment on Two Proposals Related to Establishing a Regulatory Framework for Board-Supervised Payment Stablecoin Issuers Under the Genius Act
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
"The Federal Reserve Board requested public comment on two proposals related to establishing a regulatory framework for Board-supervised payment stablecoin issuers under the GENIUS Act. The first proposal would require that Board-supervised payment stablecoin issuers fully back their stablecoins with certain permissible reserve assets. The second proposal would establish an application process for banks applying to issue stablecoins. These applicants would be required to submit a business plan among other documents."
‘Pay with Smile’ Facial Recognition Store Checkout System Piloted by Revolut
RTE
"An in-store facial recognition checkout system has been unveiled by Revolut in the UK, enabling customers to make everyday purchases with a "simple glance". The Pay with Smile option will be available for in-store payments using a Revolut Register terminal. When paying at a Revolut Register, customers will tap Pay with Smile on a screen to complete a face identity check, in a similar way to unlocking a smartphone or accessing a banking app."
On the web
How New Meta AI Agent Muse Differs from Chatbots [Video]
CBS News
"Meta is announcing its latest artificial intelligence tools and smart glasses at its annual showcase on Wednesday. CNET AI reporter Katelyn Chedraoui joins CBS News to discuss."
ECB to Assess Feasibility of Interlinking with Brazil’s Instant Payment System Pix
European Central Bank
"The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) has approved initiating an assessment of the feasibility of interlinking the Eurosystem’s TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) platform with Brazil’s fast payment system, Pix. In collaboration with the Central Bank of Brazil, the ECB will explore the potential for interlinking TIPS and Pix by assessing technical, operational, legal and business considerations. An interlinking of the two payment systems could facilitate faster and lower-cost instant payments."
Tencent Rolls Out Payment App for Foreign Travellers Ahead of Apec Summit
South China Morning Post
"Tencent Holdings launched TenPayGo, a mobile payment app targeting foreign visitors, as the tech giant seeks to capture China’s growing inbound tourism market ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Shenzhen.Developed by Tencent’s WeChat Pay team, TenPayGo allowed international travellers to make payments at tens of millions of shops, restaurants and attractions across the WeChat Pay network by linking their credit cards or their home-country digital wallets to the app."
Safeguards Could Boost Stablecoin Use Among Americans, Finds Visa Study
Visa
"Visa Inc released Money Travels 2026, a global report on how technology is reshaping remittances. Stablecoins—digital currencies pegged to stable values like the U.S. dollar—are accounting for a growing share of cross-border money flows. The survey shows that consumer protections could unlock their adoption: in a hypothetical scenario with bank-level fraud protection and deposit insurance, U.S. adoption intent climbed from 36% to 56%."
NMI Expands Business Capital to Help More Small Businesses Access Financing When They Need It
Business Wire
"NMI® announced the expansion of NMI Business Capital with new term loans and starter offers, giving ISOs, software companies and SaaS platforms more ways to help their merchants access business financing. The expansion reflects NMI’s focus on helping small businesses get the funding they need to be successful."
Sofi and Mastercard’s New Stablecoin Partnership Is a Big Deal. Here’s Why. [Video]
Yahoo Finance
Mastercard and SoFi have a new stablecoin partnership. Scott Melker outlines the details in the video.
Kenswitch Enters Kenya’s Card Market with Domestic Card Scheme
TechCabal
"Kenswitch, Kenya’s largest independent payments switch, has launched a domestic card scheme that will let banks and other financial institutions issue physical and virtual cards on its network, putting a new player into the country’s mobile money-dominated market. The company unveiled the Kenswitch Card, a digital card issuance system built with TAI FINTECH , a fintech innovation venture affiliated with the university, and Stanchion Payments."
On the wires
The Clearing House Partners with Quant to Advance the On-Chain Money Initiative
PR Newswire
"The Clearing House announced the selection of Quant to power its On-Chain Money Initiative, a new interoperable payments network that will enable financial institutions of all sizes to clear and settle tokenized deposit transactions. Quant's technology will enable the network's interoperability, orchestration, and transaction-management layer that coordinates the clearing and settlement of tokenized deposit transactions."
Cleverbridge Completes First Live AI Agent-Initiated Payment in France with Visa and Revolut
Business Wire
"Cleverbridge announced it completed France's first Passkey-authenticated agentic payment in a live checkout, in a pilot with Visa and Revolut announced earlier this month. Visa's test agent, My Agent, initiated the purchase. Cleverbridge completed the checkout. A Visa Payment Passkey authenticated the transaction, supporting Strong Customer Authentication requirements in Europe, and Revolut authorized the payment on a French consumer retail card."
PhonePe Plans 20,000 New Hires to Expand Merchant Network in Rural India
Reuters
"Digital payments platform PhonePe said it plans to hire 20,000 additional on-roll sales employees over the next year as part of a push to expand its merchant network into India's smaller towns and villages. The Walmart-backed company plans to deploy more than 5 million devices, including smart speakers and point-of-sale terminals, over the next 12 months to expand digital payments acceptance across rural areas."
September 23, 2026
On the web
Mastercard: Changing Lanes: Cross-Border Payment Providers in New Race to Win Small Business Loyalty
Mastercard
"Nine in 10 (91%) small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) trading internationally are set to switch their current cross-border payment provider in the next two years, according to Mastercard’s new Money in Motion report. The findings point to a fast-changing market, as SMEs look for more efficient ways to move money across borders."
AsiaPay Pilot Launches Voice Pay for Merchants in Asia
PR Asia
"AsiaPay announced the pilot launch of Voice Pay, an AI-powered voice payment experience that lets consumers speak into their mobile device and instruct a payment using their preferred payment method — from digital wallets to cards. With Voice Pay, customers can confirm purchases through natural speech on their mobile phone or other supported device."
On the wires
Reap and Visa Collaborate to Launch Stablecoin Card Programs Across 100+ Markets
PR Newswire
"Reap, a global financial technology company building stablecoin-enabled infrastructure, and Visa announced a strategic collaboration to bring stablecoin-linked Visa credit card programs to over 100+ markets globally, powered by Reap's card issuance infrastructure, in compliance with local regulations. The collaboration will bring Reap's market-leading Visa credit card issuing infrastructure beyond Asia and Latin America, into EMEA and Africa."
September 22, 2026
On the web
PayPal Joins Meta’s Muse Checkout Ecosystem — Partnership Extends AI Shopping Across Its Merchant Network
Yahoo Finance
"PayPal Holdings Inc. said it is partnering with Meta Platforms Inc. to bring PayPal checkout to the tech giant's fast-growing Muse AI agent. The partnership gives Muse another major payments option as Meta builds shopping directly into its personal AI agent, while giving PayPal a route into a form of commerce where an AI assistant can search for products and complete transactions on a customer's behalf."
BVNK Expands Multi-Chain Stablecoin Infrastructure with Stellar Integration
BVNK by Mastercard
"BVNK announced the integration of the Stellar blockchain into its stablecoin payments platform, giving businesses access to another high-speed, low-cost payment rail through BVNK’s single platform and API. The integration gives BVNK’s customers an additional route for moving stablecoins globally, while enabling businesses to access multiple blockchain networks through a single API. This abstracts much of the technical complexity of connecting to individual blockchain networks."
Thunes Powers J.P. Morgan Payments’ Xpedite Remit Solution to Accelerate Global Payouts
Thunes
"Thunes has been selected by J.P. Morgan Payments to expand the business’ cross-border capabilities through its Xpedite Remit solutions suite. The new solutions leverage both J.P. Morgan Payments’ connectivity to local real-time payments rails and Thunes’ extensive Direct Global Network in order to meet growing demand for fast, simple and reliable cross-border payments. The solution will enable clients to access 12 billion mobile wallets and bank accounts across more than 100+ corridors provided by Thunes’ Network."
Google Upgrades Universal Commerce Protocol; Adds Retail AI Tools
Chain Store Age
"Google is expanding the functionality of its open-source agentic commerce standard and giving retailers new artificial intelligence capabilities. Google is updating 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, has already been enabling direct checkout for brands and retailers using it. Now, retailers can also enable capabilities like cart transfer to a retailer site with more coming soon."
Moov Launches Moov Money, a New P2P Solution Built Using the Debit Cards Americans Already Carry
Business Wire
"Built in collaboration with Mastercard and Visa, the new solution enables participating banks and credit unions to deliver secure P2P payments while keeping deposits and customer relationships at their primary institution. Turnkey integration with Jack Henry’s Banno Digital Platform™ gives over 1,000 banks and credit unions more choice in P2P payments"
On the wires
InComm Payments Expands Reach of Secure Digital Promotions Platform to Sam's Club
PR Newswire
"InComm Payments announced that its InComm Generated Offers solution is now accepted at Sam's Club, expanding access to secure, SKU-based digital promotions for participating brands and shoppers. Powered by InComm Payments' technology, IGO enables brands to create personalized digital offers that are authenticated and redeemed in real time at checkout. Recipients scan the barcode at the point of sale, and IGO validates it against qualifying purchases."
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