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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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June 26, 2026
Top Post
PayPal CEO Unveils AI Reset, $1.5B Savings Plan at Bernstein Conference
MarketBeat
"PayPal CEO Enrique Lores laid out a broad reset focused on simplifying the company, modernizing its pre-cloud technology stack, and making PayPal more AI-native while shifting more attention back to consumers. The company has reorganized into three core businesses — Checkout, consumer financial services and payment processing — and is now prioritizing sustainable profitability, stronger Venmo monetization, and added value services for Braintree and Checkout rather than pure volume growth."
On the web
Google Opens the Play Store to External Billing in the US, UK, and Europe
9 to 5 Google
"Google announced that it will open up the Play Store to external payments starting on June 30 in the US, UK, and Europe. The new policy sees developers paying 10% fees on their first $1,000,000 in annual earnings regardless of billing method, whether that be Google Play Billing, an alternate built-in system, or external links for billing outside of the app. That’s well down from the 30% cut that was standard when this whole dispute first began."
Jack Henry and Google Cloud Expand Collaboration to Deliver AI-Driven Security for Banks and Credit Unions
Jack Henry
Jack Henry® and Google Cloud announced an expanded collaboration to deliver AI-driven security capabilities for banks and credit unions. Building on their strategic relationship established in 2022, Jack Henry will use Google Cloud's suite of agentic defense products to develop a proprietary AI security platform purpose-built for the financial services ecosystem. This initiative will strengthen cyber resilience for financial institutions and help them defend against emerging threats while improving operational efficiency.
U.S. Bank, Gigsafe Team to Advance Payment Infrastructure for Logistics Industry
U.S. Bank
"U.S. Bank announced a collaboration with GigSafe, a compliance and payments platform built for regulated delivery and logistics operators, to enhance the way workers using GigSafe get paid. GigSafe will leverage to provide customers reliable, transparent and scalable payment workflows designed to support complex contractor networks. The embedded approach allows payments to occur seamlessly within GigSafe’s existing platform, eliminating delays associated with traditional pay cycles and manual payout processes."
Modulr: A New Way to Get Paid: Modulr Adds cVRP to Its Collections Hub
Modulr
"Modulr announced the launch of commercial Variable Recurring Payments (cVRP), designed to offer a flexible, faster alternative to traditional payments for businesses collecting large volumes. This announcement follows the rollout of the scheme by the UK Payments Initiative (UKPI). Modulr has helped shape the scheme from the outset as a UKPI founding shareholder and is delivering cVRP to customers as part of its Collections Hub, which offers unified access to multiple payment methods on one automated platform."
Backbase Acquires Kasisto, Leading the Industry Shift to Agentic Banking
Backbase
"Backbase announced the acquisition of Kasisto, a pioneer in agentic AI for banking and financial services. Kasisto's agentic platform, financial services intelligence, and New York-based team are now part of Backbase and the AI-native Banking OS. Together, Backbase and Kasisto deliver the only AI-native solution built for the full complexity of agentic banking in regulated financial services."
Education: Tokenization: What It Is and How to Think About It
Bank of Canada
"Tokenization has received a lot of attention in recent years as a technology that could revolutionize financial markets and payments. It promises fast settlement, low risk for counterparties and minimal barriers to competition. Yet tokenization is often misunderstood."
June 25, 2026
On the web
The Art of Assessing Customer Intent: Authorized Party Fraud Trends
Federal Reserve
"Fraud deliberately committed by customers, sometimes referred to as first-party fraud, is a growing concern. Fraudulent behavior, such as false claims, misuse of payment channels or money mule activity, may resemble normal behavior. This often makes it difficult for financial institutions to distinguish fraudulent intent from routine activity. As customer intent becomes harder to interpret, a multi-layered approach across the customer lifecycle is essential, starting with onboarding."
Deutsche Bank, Swift and Financial Institutions Worldwide Team up to Deliver a New Era of International Money Transfers to Germany
Business Wire
"Deutsche Bank is among the first financial institutions in the world to go live on a new global initiative transforming the experience for people receiving international transfers. The bank has successfully processed payments from Australia almost instantly, and from Brazil in less than a minute, to give an enhanced experience to senders in those corridors and for clients receiving funds in Germany."
Implementation of Global Regulatory Framework for Cryptoassets and Stablecoins
BIS
"The rapid growth of cryptoasset markets and the increasing integration of stablecoins into financial systems have prompted the Financial Stability Board to take action. In July 2023, the FSB published its global regulatory framework for cryptoasset activities, consisting of high-level recommendations for cryptoasset activities and markets and revised recommendations for global stablecoin arrangements, based on the principle of "same activity, same risk, same regulation"."
Visa Redefines Its Role in Travel With the Global Launch of Visa Destinations
Visa
"Visa announced the launch of Visa Destinations, a passion-led travel platform live in 10 major locations around the world, as the company redefines its role in the rapidly growing experience-driven travel economy. The move marks a strategic expansion of Visa’s role beyond payments, positioning the company at the center of how travelers discover, plan and experience trips."
How South Africa Became Revolut’s First African Market
TechTrendsKE
"In March, British fintech giant Revolut applied for a U.S. national banking charter as part of an ambitious plan to expand its presence across major financial markets. A few months later, the company revealed that South Africa would become its first destination in Africa, with a launch targeted for 2028 pending regulatory approval. The sequence helps answer an increasingly important question: why did Revolut choose South Africa for its first African market?"
June 24, 2026
On the web
CSU Digital Launches U.S. Market Expansion
Business Wire
"CSU Digital is Latin America’s largest independent card processor, managing more than 50 million cards and processing nearly $100 billion in annual transactions. This week, the company announced its U.S. expansion plans. While building its U.S. presence, CSU Digital is also positioning itself as a processing partner for U.S. companies entering Brazil, offering network-ready infrastructure, regulatory navigation and rapid card program launch without requiring proprietary technology investment."
Modern Treasury Partners With Sardine to Help Businesses Detect Fraud Earlier and Reduce Risk at Scale
Modern Treasury
"Modern Treasury announced a partnership with Sardine to enhance transaction monitoring and fraud prevention capabilities for businesses moving money across the U.S. and globally. By integrating Sardine’s real-time monitoring and risk infrastructure, Modern Treasury enhances its ability to help customers identify and stop fraudulent activity more effectively."
Boost Payment Solutions Reports Measurable Progress on CEDP Qualification, Delivering Tens of Millions in Customer Savings
Boost
"With Visa's Commercial Enhanced Data Program (CEDP) now in effect, Boost Payment Solutions, a leader in B2B payments, shared results its customers are seeing as real-time data validation becomes the new standard in B2B payments. Across more than $1.2 billion in qualifying transaction volume, Boost has helped customers save approximately $14.7 million in acceptance costs since program launched in October 2025, reducing estimated interchange-related fees by nearly 44% compared to standard card-not-present rates."
Worldline Is First in Europe to Bring Click to Pay to Recurring Payments
Worldline
Worldline becomes the first payment provider in Europe to enable Click to Pay for recurring payments. Click to Pay is a fast, secure digital checkout that removes friction and improves payment success across recurring payments. Available on Global Collect, Worldline’s global cross-border payments platform, this new capability enables digital-first businesses to scale subscription payments seamlessly across markets, while increasing conversion, reducing involuntary churn, and protecting recurring revenue.
June 23, 2026
On the web
PayPal Cooperates with PPRO to Add 30+ Local Payment Methods, Helping Merchants Convert More International Shoppers
PPRO
"PayPal is expanding its global payments platform with the addition of more than 30 local payment methods, introduced in cooperation with PPRO, its long-standing technology provider. The expansion helps merchants better serve international shoppers by offering the payment options people already know and trust in their local markets. New additions include Swish in Sweden, MB WAY in Portugal, and BLIK Pay Later in Poland, as well as popular options beyond Europe such as Pix in Brazil."
Agentic AI Commerce Comes to Samsung’s Smart TVs
Fast Company
"Samsung’s smart TVs are getting smarter. An agentic commerce experience is launching across Samsung smart TVs in the United States, the electronics giant announced. The launch is thanks to new integration with Glance, an AI software company owned by InMobi. In effect, Glance’s AI platform will run on Samsung’s Tizen operating system, and allow Samsung smart TVs to facilitate AI-powered and interactive shopping."
How Target is Shaping Shopping Experiences in Conversational AI
Target
"Consumers are turning to conversational AI for more of their shopping needs. AI-driven traffic to Target leapt 2,000% in the first quarter compared to last year. Shoppers can now browse product listings and buy items directly from Target in Google Search, including AI Mode, and the Gemini app. The capability comes thanks to the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP). UCP creates a common language for AI agents and systems to work together, creating a seamless shopping journey every step of the way."
June 22, 2026
Top Post
Boston Fed Announces Formation of New Payments Advisory Council
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
"The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston announced the formation of the First District’s Payments Advisory Council. The council, made up of bankers and payments system leaders from across New England, will share industry insights and data to strengthen the Boston Fed’s understanding of payment issues. It will also inform related policy considerations and decision-making and provide members with opportunities to learn about the Federal Reserve’s financial and payment services."
On the web
MoonPay Acquires Entendre
MoonPay
"MoonPay announced the acquisition of Entendre, an AI-enabled finance operations platform built for companies moving, settling, or holding value onchain. The deal extends MoonPay's infrastructure into the financial operations layer, bringing AI agents to the reconciliation, treasury, and close workflows that sit behind every digital asset transaction. Entendre automates the full finance operations workflow for high-volume, multi-entity, multi-currency businesses."
Microsoft Discovers New Lightweight Backdoor That Steals Cryptocurrency
ARS Technica
"Microsoft says it has detected new self-propagating malware that spreads through USB drives in search of cryptocurrency credentials, which it then sends to attacker-controlled servers. The company named the worm Crypto Clipper because it monitors the contents of device clipboards for patterns consistent with wallet addresses or seed phrases."
Why Meta Wants CRED: The $4B Fintech Deal That Could Reshape India’s Payments Industry
Tech Funding News
"Meta is reportedly in talks to invest in Bengaluru-based fintech CRED at a valuation of around $4 billion, according to Moneycontrol. Discussions remain exploratory and no final decision has been made. The move could help Meta build an end-to-end commerce and payments ecosystem across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and CRED. Despite processing billions in transactions, India’s UPI market remains dominated by PhonePe and Google Pay, which together control nearly 80% of transactions."
Pollen Street Capital to Acquire Universal Banking from Finastra
Finastra
"Pollen Street Capital announced that it will acquire Universal Banking, Finastra’s global core banking software business. UB provides mission-critical core banking technology that supports account and deposit management, payments, lending, and treasury operations for retail, commercial, and corporate banks. It supports over 150 customers worldwide including global and regional financial institutions, digital banks, Islamic banks, and building societies across more than 100 countries."
June 19, 2026
On the web
Money 20/20 Amsterdam | Keith Grose, Coinbase, on The Future Of Crypto and Stablecoins [Video]
YouTube
"Keith Grose is the UK CEO and Senior Country Director at Coinbase. Coinbase distinguishes itself as the only crypto exchange listed on the S&P 500, positioning Grose as a leading voice on bridging the gap between decentralized digital assets and highly regulated traditional financial institutions. Keith explores the shifting landscape of cryptocurrency, highlighting Coinbase’s expansion beyond a consumer exchange into a broader institutional powerhouse."
Alipay: App Control Via AI Assistant in Future
Table Briefings
"Chinese payment service Alipay is beginning a major overhaul of its well-known app. In a new version, the AI assistant Abao is meant to help users control the app directly through text input or voice commands, making processes simpler. For now, the feature is available only to invited users, the company said.The move fits into a broader trend: Chinese tech groups are trying to build AI directly into their super apps. These apps combine mobility, government services and everyday tasks in a single platform. Tencent is also working to integrate AI more deeply into WeChat."
On the wires
Bank of America to Host Thousands of "Scaminars" to Help Protect Clients and Fight Fraud
PR Newswire
"By year-end 2026, Bank of America will conduct 2,500 in-person scam and fraud prevention seminars reaching tens of thousands of consumers across the U.S. This grassroots initiative is designed to bring essential scam and fraud prevention education to local communities across the nation amidst the growing threat of digital financial scams. Other tools and resources for protecting clients from fraud include more than 1 billion educational messages sent to clients each year, the Bank of America Security Center and 50 AI-enabled fraud detection models."
June 18, 2026
On the web
Apple Allows Alternative App Stores, Payments in Brazil After Deal with Regulator
Yahoo Finance
"Apple said it will allow developers in Brazil to distribute iOS apps through alternative marketplaces and process payments outside its system, following an agreement with the country's antitrust watchdog CADE. Apple agreed to make the changes to its services in December when it settled a dispute that had been opened in 2022. For apps distributed via the App Store in Brazil, developers will be able to offer alternative payment methods within their apps and direct users to external websites to complete transactions, the company said."
Checkout.com Selected by Microsoft for Digital Payment Performance
Checkout
Checkout.com announced that it has been selected by Microsoft to power digital payments across key products in the EMEA region. This sees Checkout.com deliver card acceptance for a wide range of Microsoft business lines, including Xbox, Microsoft 365, and Microsoft Azure.
Federal Reserve Board Requests Comment on Proposal to Require Certain Payment Stablecoin Issuers to Maintain an Effective Customer Identification Program
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
"The Federal Reserve Board requested comment on a proposal to require certain payment stablecoin issuers to maintain an effective customer identification program. The proposal would introduce requirements for these stablecoin issuers that are comparable to customer identification program requirements for banks and credit unions. The proposal is being issued jointly with four other agencies. Comments on the proposal are due 60 days after publication in the Federal Register."