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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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November 5, 2026
On the web
Visa Releases First-of-Its-Kind Industry Benchmark for AI Shopping; Almost Half of Test Runs Fail
Visa
"Visa launched Visa Agentic Commerce Benchmark, a new benchmark for industry that puts leading AI models through realistic buying challenges—and is letting people take the test, too. The first round of tests involved 22 different AI models from 12 labs taking on 15 shopping challenges like buying a TV, laptop, or personal care appliance. The Results..."
Toast Responds to FTC Lawsuit
Toast
"Toast responded to the lawsuit filed today by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC): We strongly disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit filed by the FTC and will vigorously defend the Company against the FTC’s claims. In this matter, the FTC is seeking to apply the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act (ROSCA) — a law Congress passed to address certain online subscription practices — to Toast's commercial agreements with its restaurant customers."
Forter Introduces New Capabilities with Agentic Commerce Engine
Retail TouchPoints
"Forter has introduced new capabilities designed to give commerce leaders the visibility, trust and control to securely embrace this rapidly emerging revenue channel. Forter’s Agentic Commerce Engine enables merchants to verify agentic shoppers and provides the infrastructure to manage their end-to-end experience. Agentic orders across Forter’s network have increased more than fourfold since August, while automated fraud has doubled in the last two months."
On the wires
Huntington Bank Announces Treasury Solution that Turns Multi-Bank Complexity into Improved Liquidity Management
PR Newswire
"The Huntington National Bank announced the launch of Intelligent Treasury, a new, modern treasury management platform designed to help commercial clients simplify treasury operations, improve cash visibility and manage liquidity more effectively across multiple banking relationships. Intelligent Treasury helps businesses create a more unified treasury operation, enabling client teams to spend less time gathering information and more time acting on it."
November 4, 2026
On the web
AI Agent Order Data: Agentic Commerce on Forter’s Network
Forter
"Forter’s AI agent order data has shown steady growth throughout the summer. From August to September, there was 24% month-over-month growth — or 48% if we include Instinct and Grok Bot, whose first orders we detected on September 1. Then Meta launched Muse. We began detecting Muse orders on September 21. That week, agentic orders were up by 229% month-over-month."
Truist Speeds up Merchant Onboarding Time and Adopts Clover and Paze
Digital Transactions
"Truist is adding more merchant-services capabilities to its inventory with the addition of broader access to Clover point-of-sale devices and Paze, an online checkout service. Both are in addition to a new digital merchant-onboarding process. Once onboarded, merchants get access to Clover POS technology for in-store payments and can add Paze, the digital wallet from Early Warning Services LLC, as an online payment option."
Stripe Lets Us Businesses Send Stablecoin Payouts to Crypto Wallets in 160-Plus Markets
CryptoBriefing
"Stripe now lets US businesses send stablecoin payments directly to crypto wallets in more than 160 markets. The feature is part of Stripe’s Global Payouts product, which launched the wallet capability in public preview in early November 2026. Not every US business gets access on day one. Companies based in New York are excluded from the wallet payout feature for now."
FTC, States Sue Toast over Fees, Deceptive Subscription Practices
Yahoo Finance
"The US Federal Trade Commission, attorneys general from several states and two California jurisdictions sued restaurant software firm Toast Inc. on Wednesday, alleging it charges hidden fees, pushes unwanted add-ons, and makes its services difficult to cancel, the FTC said in a statement."
2026 Debit Issuer Study: The Next Era of Debit
Pulse Network
"The 2026 PULSE Debit Issuer Study highlights debit’s expanding role in consumers’ financial lives, and what this means for financial institutions. Beyond basic payments, debit serves as a core money-movement tool, with cardholders averaging over 35 monthly transactions and account-to-account transfers offering key growth opportunities. However, expanding digital volume brings heightened fraud risks."
November 3, 2026
Top Post
Wells Fargo Just Made You Legally Responsible for Every Transaction Your AI Agent Makes
Tech Times
"Wells Fargo updated its Online Access Agreement on November 2, 2026. Wells Fargo's new agreement defines an "AI Agent" broadly: "any software that takes autonomous, semi-autonomous, or non-autonomous action on behalf of any person or entity" using your online banking credentials. That definition covers everything from an Autopilot bill-payer integrated into your financial app to a ChatGPT plugin you authorized last week without reading its fine print."
On the web
IDEMIA Secure Transactions Enables Banks to Prepare Cards for the Quantum Era with Industry-First Certification
IDEMIA
"As quantum computing advances, industries are preparing for a future in which today’s cryptographic methods may no longer provide the same level of protection. For banks and issuers, the challenge is clear: ensuring that the payment cards issued today can continue to meet tomorrow’s security requirements while remaining fully compatible with the existing payment ecosystem. With this certification, IDEMIA Secure Transactions (IST) is providing a practical foundation for that transition."
IXOPAY Announces IXO One, a Modular Payments Platform Built for an Era of Fluid Commerce
IXOPAY
"IXOPAY announced the launch of IXO One, an AI-native, modular payment platform that unifies orchestration, payments intelligence, and tokenization. It gives merchants the flexibility to buy what they need, build what they want, and adapt as commerce evolves. IXO One provides the dynamic infrastructure needed to adapt quickly without ripping out or replacing their current payment stack."
Shopify Puts Checkout Tool Shop Pay Inside AI Agents
Retail Brew
"Shopify announced that AI agents including Claude Duet, Grok Bot, Instinct, and Muse can use Shop Pay to buy items people are searching for on these AI platforms. Merchants don’t have to have Shopify powered stores. Shopify takes credit card information and turns it into an agentic token that looks like a credit card, but with a different 16-digit number, expiry date, and CVV. Shop Pay stays secure with these tokens created in partnership with Mastercard, Visa, and Discover for agent purchases taking place on merchants off Shopify."
OnePay: Introducing Stablecoin Deposits Powered by Stripe
OnePay
"Select U.S. customers can use stablecoins to fund their OnePay Checking and receive the value as U.S. dollars. Send stablecoins from an external wallet to a deposit address, and they are converted to U.S. dollars and credited to your Checking balance within moments. OnePay is starting with support for USDC across 12 blockchains, including Tempo, Base, Solana, and Ethereum. This experience is powered by Stripe’s broader stablecoin infrastructure. OnePay uses Bridge, Stripe’s stablecoin orchestration platform, to create and secure deposit addresses.
FedNow® Service Volume and Value Statistics
Federal Reserve
"Annual FedNow Service Statistics; last updated October 20, 2026."
B2B Payments: How Instant Payments May Facilitate Straight-Through Processing for Businesses
Federal Reserve
"Compared with other payment methods, instant payments have unique or enhanced features, including “request for payment,” business directories, confirmation of payee, use of the international messaging standard, around-the-clock service availability, and instantaneous, irrevocable funds availability. When these features are more fully developed, instant payments may better facilitate straight-through processing for businesses than other electronic payment methods."
November 2, 2026
On the web
European Central Bank Picks First Groups in Effort to Issue Digital Euro
Crowdfund Insider
"The European Central Bank (ECB) has selected two groups, or network service providers (NSPs), to support its efforts to issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC) or digital euro. The ECB has signed service agreements with: Nexi Payments S.p.A and Deutsche Telekom Business Solutions GmbH (temporary grouping); Telefónica de España, S.A.U., Telefónica Global Solutions, S.L.U. and Indra Soluciones Tecnologías de la Información, S.L.U. (temporary grouping). These NSPs will provide the connectivity services needed to connect participating payment service providers and national central banks to the digital euro service platform."
ACI Worldwide and Circle Collaborate to Bring USDC Settlement to Existing Payments Infrastructure in Latin America
ACI Worldwide
"ACI Worldwide and Circle Internet Group, the issuer of USDC through its regulated entities, announced a collaboration to show how stablecoin settlement can be integrated into existing banking and payment infrastructure. The initiative leverages ACI Connetic, ACI’s cloud-native intelligent payments orchestration platform, and Circle's USDC infrastructure to demonstrate how financial institutions can incorporate stablecoin settlement into existing payment operations."
U.S. Faster Payments Council Releases New Guide to Help Financial Institutions Navigate Non-Value Messaging for Instant Payments
Faster Payments Council
"The U.S. Faster Payments Council (FPC) announced the publication of Operational Considerations for Non-Value Messages, a guide developed by the FPC Operational Considerations Work Group. The guide provides financial institutions with best practices and considerations for implementing and managing non-value messages that support instant payment transactions. These messages enable functions such as requesting payments, returning funds, exchanging transaction information, and communicating payment status."
The Shopping Bots Are Coming for Amazon
"The biggest U.S. company by revenue has dominated e-commerce, but a potential rival is emerging. [Subscription Required]"
Tencent and Visa Announce Strategic Partnership to Enhance Global Payment and Commerce Experiences Across Tencent’s Ecosystem
Tencent
"Tencent and Visa have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore broader collaboration aimed at enhancing global payment and commerce experiences across Tencent’s ecosystem. The MoU sets out a comprehensive framework for collaboration across cross-border payments, agentic commerce, enterprise AI and support for global business expansion, bringing together Tencent’s payment solutions, digital platforms and technology capabilities with Visa’s global network and cross-border money movement solutions."
Adyen Rolls Out Visa Payment Passkey to Advance the Future of Online Authentication
Adyen
"Adyen announced the roll out of Visa Payment Passkey* (VPP) through Authenticate, a module within its AI-powered payment optimization suite, Adyen Uplift. This integration provides eligible consumers with a simpler way to authenticate online payments using their device unlock method."
Mastercard Signs Partnership with OpenAI. CEO Says Agentic Commerce Is Still in “Early Days.”
Deployed
"Mastercard has signed a broad strategic partnership with OpenAI. CEO Michael Miebach said on the company's Q3 2026 earnings call on October 29, 2026 that the agreement includes the use of Agent Pay, Mastercard's payment product for AI agents, and goes well beyond it, covering payments, joint growth in services, and AI transformation. He said it takes two forms, machine-to-machine transactions and traditional e-commerce, and pointed to B2B card payments and micro-transactions as future opportunities."
On the wires
Tencent and Mastercard Sign MOU on Cross-Border Payment Interoperability and Agentic Payments
PR Newswire
"TenPay Global, Tencent's cross-border payment platform, and Mastercard have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore cross-border payment interoperability and opportunities in agentic payments, the companies announced. The proposed collaboration aims to make cross-border commerce more connected. For international visitors, that means more ways to pay using familiar digital wallets and issuer apps at QR-enabled merchants. For merchants, it creates opportunities to serve international customers."
Thunes and UnionPay International Transform Payments to China's Mainland, Launching High-Capacity Instant Payouts
PR Newswire
"Thunes announced a deepening of its strategic alliance with UnionPay International (UPI), transforming cross-border money movement into China's mainland with bank-grade security and expansive operational scale. Thunes enables Financial Institutions, Payment Service Providers, and Money Transfer Operators to route instant cross-border consumer payouts to UnionPay cards in China's mainland. Key expansion corridors include Africa, Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand, Thailand, and the USA."
October 30, 2026
On the web
Alexa for Shopping Adds 100+ New Capabilities to Make Shopping Even Faster and Easier
Amazon News
"Customers can now manage their lists, registries, Subscribe & Save, payments, memberships, and a broad range of Amazon account actions simply by asking Alexa for Shopping. Over 400 million customers have used Alexa for Shopping in the last 12 months, and the number of customers using Alexa for Shopping’s agentic features has grown more than eight times since the start of the year."
October 29, 2026
On the wires
American Express Connects Cash Back to High Yield Savings Accounts and Business Checking Accounts
Business Wire
"Today, American Express introduced a new way for eligible U.S. Consumer and Business Cash Back Card Members to redeem rewards for a deposit into eligible American Express bank accounts, creating a more integrated experience across their Card and banking products and giving customers more options in how to redeem the rewards they earn."
October 28, 2026
On the web
Bank of America Kindly Asks That You Don’t Share Your Banking Password with Your AI Assistant
TechCrunch
"Financial giant Bank of America is reminding customers to bank safely by kindly not sharing your banking credentials with your AI agent. In an email blast to customers titled 'Protecting your finances in the Al World,' Bank of America urged customers to never share their username and password with another person or an outside service, 'including an Al-enabled tool or agent that offers to act on your behalf.'"
Stripe Launches Free Instant Transfers for Businesses
FinanceFeeds
"Stripe launched Stripe Pay on October 27, a service that lets businesses send free instant transfers to other Stripe users through profile handles rather than traditional bank account details. The product marks the payments company’s most direct move into business-to-business settlement infrastructure and arrives as the largest United States banks develop their own competing instant transfer networks."
Google Wallet Is Working on a New Payment Option for International Travel
Android Authority
"When you’re out exploring the world, the last thing you want to worry about is not being able to pay for things. And while we’re not there quite yet, services like Google Wallet already go a long way towards giving us a universal payment solution. Now we’re getting an early look at how that’s getting even better, as Wallet prepares to offer an all-new way to pay."
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