Why McDonald’s Is Rounding Up on Cash Payments

Inc.

"McDonald’s told CBS News they’ll be taking on a rounding method when it comes to customers paying in cash. Reason being? The U.S. Mint in Philadelphia pressed its last penny on Wednesday, leaving McDonald’s and other stores to figure out how to deal with the fallout.  Order totals will be rounded to the nearest five cents. So if a customer’s order totals $10.17, they’ll pay $10.15. But if instead it comes out to $10.18, they’ll be asked to pay $10.20.  Other chains are curving more to the customer’s advantage. GoTo Foods, the parent company of Auntie Anne’s, Cinnabon, Jamba, and Carvel said that it’s “recommending that franchisees round cash transactions in the guest’s favor.”  Wendy’s and Midwestern convenience chain Kwik Trip are hopping on a similar train."

Telcoin Makes U.S. Banking History with Approval to Launch the First Regulated Digital Asset Bank

Business Wire

"Telcoin announced its final charter approval from the Nebraska Department of Banking and Finance to launch Telcoin Digital Asset Bank, the first Digital Asset Depository Institution in the United States. The charter positions Telcoin to become the first true blockchain bank, directly connecting U.S. bank accounts to regulated “Digital Cash” stablecoins."

Atlanta-Based App Aims to Speed Payments for Immigrant Small Business Owners

CBS News

"An Atlanta fintech startup launched by an immigrant entrepreneur is transforming how small immigrant-owned businesses manage payments and cash flow. Pagarva, a mobile point-of-sale app built for multilingual immigrant micro-businesses, recently raised capital through Atlanta's new Pinnacle Innovation Accelerator and is now scaling across the metro area. The app allows merchants to accept cards, Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, PIX, and more in a multilingual interface with no extra hardware. It also offers instant bank payouts and tax reporting tools.."

JPM Coin: A New Era for Stablecoins in Asia's Fintech Scene

Onesafe

"JPM Coin's arrival signals a significant shift in the stablecoin world, introducing fresh standards for compliance and institutional trust. This change presents both challenges and opportunities for Asia's fintech startups, who must adapt to a rapidly evolving landscape. In this post, let's unpack how JPM Coin's entry is reshaping the stablecoin market, what hurdles smaller players might face, and the new doors it opens for institutional adoption."

Paystand Acquires Bitwage to Make Stablecoins Enterprise-Grade for Global B2B Finance

Business Wire

"Paystand, the leading blockchain‑powered B2B payments network, announced it has acquired Bitwage, the leading platform for stablecoin‑enabled cross‑border payouts. The deal positions Paystand to deliver enterprise‑grade stablecoin settlement and FX across its network, which has processed more than $20 billion in payment volume for 1,000+ enterprises and more than one million businesses worldwide."

Episode Six and Fireblocks Join Forces to Deliver Unified Payments Solution Bridging Traditional and Digital Finance

Business Wire

"Episode Six and Fireblocks announced the co-development of a unified payments solution at Singapore Fintech Festival. The payments solution seamlessly integrates traditional and digital finance, bringing fiat, stablecoins, loyalty points, and other digital assets onto a single, programmable platform, empowering financial institutions to operate across asset classes with speed, security, and flexibility."

Basys Launches iQ Pro+: A Proprietary Payments Platform Built for Business Owners, by Payment Experts

PR Newswire

"Basys announced the launch of iQ Pro+, a proprietary, all-in-one payments platform engineered entirely in-house. Purpose-built to meet the real-world demands of modern business owners, iQ Pro+ marks Basys' bold shift from reselling third-party tools to delivering full-stack innovation at scale."

Stablecoins Surpass Bitcoin as Go‑To Cryptocurrency for Illicit Transactions

Bitget

"While stablecoins aim to keep their value steady by being tied to fiat currencies, their expanding presence in digital finance has made them central to the movement of funds within blockchain networks. They play a vital role in decentralized finance (DeFi), aid cross-border payments, and help sustain liquidity. Yet, as their circulation widens, these same advantages have also drawn the attention of criminal networks, with stablecoins now beginning to replace Bitcoin as the favored option for money laundering and related illegal transfers."

Mastercard on Agentic Payments: How AI Agents, Tokenization, and Authentication Will Redefine Digital Commerce

Bank Info Security

"As commerce enters the era of AI-driven transactions, Mastercard is helping define what secure, trusted digital payments look like when machines act on behalf of people. In this discussion, Pablo Fourez, Chief Digital Officer at Mastercard, joins Rory O’Neill, Chief Marketing Officer at Checkout.com, to explore how agentic payments, powered by tokenization, biometric authentication, and intent-based consent, will reshape the architecture of digital commerce."

Bitcoin.com and Concordium to Launch Age-Verified Stablecoin Payments

Daily Coin

"As governments around the world tighten online age checks and digital identity requirements, Bitcoin.com is partnering with Layer-1 blockchain Concordium to test a new privacy-focused verification system for stablecoin payments. The integration, expected to launch soon, will enable age-verified transactions for more than 75 million wallets worldwide, potentially opening the door for crypto to enter mainstream e-commerce."

Education: FedACH® Service: The Rise of the Automated Payment System

FRB Services

"In the 1970s, the Federal Reserve and banking industry began to look for solutions to improve the paper check system. Compared to the speed of wire transfers, paper checks took a long time to process. Plus, their volume was increasing, which was straining the system."

Germany Says 18 Arrested After Probe of Online Fraud Involving Payment Providers

Reuters

"Eighteen people have been arrested following a German-led internationally coordinated investigation of online fraud and money laundering networks that used payment service providers, German authorities said. A total of 44 suspects, including six former employees of large German payment service providers, are believed to have taken part in the scheme, which involved stealing the credit card details of some 4.3 million people across 193 countries, German police and prosecutors said."

Global Survey Explores AI's Future in Financial Services

University of Cambridge

"The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) has launched the AI in Financial Services 2030 Global Surveys. These insights will provide a comprehensive view of AI adoption, impact, oversight and expectations for the decade ahead.  CCAF will harness the surveys to assess the impact and opportunities of AI in financial services, partnering with the World Bank, Bank for International Settlements (BIS), IMF and the World Economic Forum among others.on the project."

Driving Public Blockchain Integration in Banking

OMFIF

"While the financial world is eager to embrace the promise of public blockchain technology, some in the regulatory community believe that it represents unique risks. They are responding by putting in place rules that limit the adoption of public blockchain, particularly at commercial banks. This stance is far from universal: US regulators are keen to see public blockchain adopted and are rapidly dismantling regulatory obstacles, leaving the world’s banks on an uneven playing field."

Afriex and Visa Bring Real-Time Cross-Border Payments to 160+ Markets

TechAfrica News

"Afriex, a global fintech platform, announced a collaboration with Visa, a world leader in digital payments, to bring real-time cross-border payments to more than 160 markets. By integrating Visa Direct through Afriex’s financial institution partner, Afriex is making it faster and easier for individuals and businesses to send and receive funds across borders."

Payments Passkeys Cases: Mastercard & Pix (Authenticate '25)

Corbado

"At Authenticate 2025, one theme stood out: Payments are becoming the next frontier for passkeys. What began as a technology for logging into apps and accounts is now transforming how people pay - whether in e-commerce checkouts, mobile wallets, or real-time transfer systems. The payment industry, long shaped by complex compliance requirements and entrenched legacy infrastructure, is now embracing passkeys to make authentication both phishing-resistant and frictionless."

Education: What Is Tokenization?

IMF

"Thousands of years ago, long before coins, paper money, credit cards, and banking apps, our ancestors bought and sold goods using cowries, a type of seashell. These shiny physical tokens were humankind’s first financial innovation. What made them especially useful was that they were easy to verify: When someone handed you a cowrie shell, you could see it, feel it, and trust that it had value."

US Judge Blocks Consumer Agency’s 'Open Banking' Rules for Now

U.S. News & World Report

"A coalition of banking groups has convinced a federal judge to temporarily block enforcement of a U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule aimed at making it easier for consumers to switch financial-service providers. In a ruling Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves in Lexington, Kentucky, paused compliance deadlines for the so-called “open banking” rule in a lawsuit brought by Forcht Bank, the Kentucky Bankers Association and the Bank Policy Institute."

DeCard Unlocks Stablecoin Payments for 150M+ Merchants Globally, Powered by Polygon

Polygon

"DeCard, a next-gen card platform by DCS (formerly Diners Club Singapore), has integrated on Polygon Users can make USDT0 and USDC deposits directly into DeCard and DeCard Luminaries accounts and spend  instantly at over 150 million merchants worldwide This is one of the largest real-world rollouts of stablecoin utility to date, bringing speed, affordability, and mainstream usability to stablecoins"

Balance Introduces MCP Server, Enabling AI Agents to Analyze and Manage B2B Payments in Real Time

Business Wire

"Balance, an AI-powered financial infrastructure platform for B2B commerce, announced its beta release of the Balance Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server, enabling customers’ AI agents to directly communicate with Balance’s payments, credit, and receivables APIs. By connecting Balance to Large Language Models through MCP, merchants can unlock real-time buyer intelligence and act on it without leaving their preferred AI chat interface."

USBC Launches World’s First Retail Tokenized Dollar Deposits

Banking Exchange

"USBC has partnered with Uphold and Vast Bank to launch the world’s first retail tokenized deposit offering, expanding global access to real US dollar deposits, particularly for users beyond the reach of the traditional US banking system. The product offers global access to US dollar deposit accounts and tokenized US dollar deposits for individuals, businesses, and financial institutions."

Chargebacks911 Launches First ‘Disputes-as-a-Service’ Platform, Unifying Data for Issuers, Acquirers and Merchants

Business Wire

"Chargebacks911 and its sister company, Fi911, announced the official launch of their Unified Dispute Management System (UDMS)—the first Disputes-as-a-Service (DaaS) platform of its kind that unifies dispute-related data and workflows, providing a configurable interface for merchants, acquirers, payfacs, fintechs, issuers, and their customers, through a single-source platform."

VAMP Ire: What’s Lurking in the Dark with Visa’s New Dispute Program

Financial IT

"While October’s full of tricks and treats, Visa’s new VAMP rules have merchants and acquirers wondering which one they’re about to get. Here’s what every stakeholder should prioritize: strengthen evidence readiness; leverage pre-dispute resolution tools early; monitor and mitigate enumeration attacks; Track portfolio ratios and high-risk merchants; Balance fraud controls with customer experience."

Future-Proofing the Architecture of Real-Time Payments

OMFIF

"Real-time payment systems are reshaping how value moves across economies, accelerating domestic commerce and transforming cross-border trade. Yet their rapid growth introduces new risks and infrastructure challenges, according to a new report from OMFIF, produced in partnership with Mastercard."

AI Meets Crypto: Coinbase Unleashes Payments MCP for Onchain Transactions

CryptoDnes

"The U.S.-based crypto exchange has unveiled Payments MCP, a system designed to let AI agents interact directly with blockchain networks – opening the door for models like Claude from Anthropic and Gemini from Google to manage wallets and send crypto transactions autonomously. The innovation was built by the Coinbase Developer Platform and coincides with the creation of the x402 Foundation, a joint effort between Coinbase and Cloudflare aimed at establishing common standards for AI-driven payments."

Shippo Launches AI-Powered Tool That Shows Merchants Exactly When Packages Are Expected to Arrive, Helping Them Ship Smarter This Peak Season

PR Newswire

"Shippo, the leading shipping platform for e-commerce businesses, announced the launch of Shippo Estimate—a new AI-powered feature that shows merchants exactly when a package is expected to arrive before they buy a label. The launch comes just in time for peak season. Powered by AI that analyzes millions of actual deliveries, Shippo Estimate shows clear, expected delivery dates for every package, allowing merchants to choose the optimal shipping option that balances speed and cost for every order."

Boost Payment Solutions Empowers Businesses to Navigate Visa's Commercial Enhanced Data Program (CEDP) With Confidence

PR Newswire

"Boost Payment Solutions, a global leader in B2B payments, announced full readiness to support clients through Visa's newly launched Commercial Enhanced Data Program (CEDP). CEDP represents one of the most significant changes to interchange qualifications in decades, designed to increase data accuracy and transparency in B2B card transactions. CEDP replaces Visa's legacy Level 2 and Level 3 interchange structures with a new framework centered on real-time data validation."

Stablecoins Unlock New Pathways of Economic Growth and Trade, says David Malpass at ACI’s Payments Unleashed Summit

Business Wire

"Stablecoins will likely play a pivotal role in advancing global financial infrastructure and economic growth, said David Malpass, former president of the World Bank, in a keynote address at the Payments Unleashed summit in New York City. Malpass described stablecoins as a “foundational element in bridging conventional banking and payment systems with emerging digital financial technologies." He emphasized the necessity of robust regulatory frameworks to ensure the integrity, interoperability, and public trust in stablecoin adoption."

Bealls Inc. Partners With Flexa to Offer Digital Currency Payment Options at Its Stores Nationwide

Flexa

"Bealls Inc. , a privately held retail corporation operating more than 660 stores across the United States, today announced a new in-store payments integration withFlexa, the global leader in digital payments. With this launch, Bealls Inc. became the first national retailer to accept digital currencies from any crypto wallet app across more than a dozen blockchains simultaneously, supporting a range of assets from stable coins to meme coins."

Why EU and US Banks Are Racing to Issue Stablecoins

FinTech

"After years of hesitation, banks on both sides of the Atlantic are accelerating plans to issue stablecoins—digital tokens pegged to traditional currencies—transforming a space once dominated by fintech start-ups and unregulated issuers. The turning point came from two directions: the United States, where the GENIUS Act established a federal framework for dollar-backed stablecoins, and Europe, where the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR) now defines how digital tokens can be issued, backed, and supervised."