Industry

US Judge Reviews Visa, Mastercard $38 Billion Swipe Fee Settlement

Reuters

A U.S. judge on Monday heard arguments for and against Visa's and Mastercard's  revised $38 billion settlement with merchants who accused the card networks of charging too much to process payments on their credit cards. U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan in ​Brooklyn, New York, didn't say whether he would grant preliminary approval, but said, during a nearly three-hour hearing, he ‌wasn't looking to use a "meat cleaver" to dismantle the credit card process for card networks, banks, merchants and consumers.

Industry

Report Finds Uneven AI Adoption in Financial Services

Cambridge Judge Business School

"More than 80% of financial services firms are adopting AI to some level and 52% are already experimenting with agentic AI, but impact to date is on efficiency gains rather than business model transformation, says a new report by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance that also highlights big AI risks as reinforced by Anthropic’s new Mythos model."

Industry

Musk Vies to Turn X Into Super App With Banking Tool Near Launch

Yahoo Finance

"More than three years after acquiring Twitter, Elon Musk says he’s nearing his long-stated goal of turning it into an “everything app” with a new financial services tool that he pledged to launch for the public this month.  X Money, a banking and payments platform built inside the social network now known as X, is expected to make its early public access debut imminently, based on the timeframe offered by Musk last month."

Industry

PACE Act: What It Means for Access to U.S. Payment Infrastructure

Modern Treasury

"The Payment Access and Consumer Efficiency (“PACE”) Act, is a bill that would create a pathway for certain nonbank payment providers to directly access Federal Reserve payment systems, including Fedwire, FedNow, and ACH. At the center of the PACE Act is the creation of a new category: “registered covered providers.” Eligibility is not open-ended. To qualify, a company must already operate at meaningful scale and regulatory maturity. For example, a “covered provider” includes firms that: Hold at least 40 active state money transmitter licenses, or operate under a state bank or credit union charter."

Industry

Pace Act: Bill Seeks to Expand Access to Federal Reserve Payment Systems

The National Law Review

"Rep. Young Kim (R-CA) and Rep. Sam Liccardo (D-CA) introduced a bill in the House of Representatives entitled the Payments Access and Consumer Efficiency (PACE) Act. The bill seeks to modernize the payment system by allowing qualified nonbank financial companies, including certain FinTech and digital asset businesses, to directly access Federal Reserve payment infrastructure, including the Fedwire Funds Service, FedNow Service, and FedACH Services. To be eligible to participate, a company must hold a state banking or credit union charter, or it must hold at least 40 active money transmitter licenses issued under state law."

Industry

ISO 20022 Is Entering Its Next Phase: How Payment Providers Can Prepare for CHAPS 2027

Progress

"The next phase of ISO 20022 is not about supporting a new message format. It is about capturing, governing and acting on structured payment data across customer channels, operations, fraud controls, compliance workflows, and downstream systems. The Bank of England’s policy statement on CHAPS makes that clear. From November 2027, Purpose Codes will become mandatory for CHAPS payments submitted through channels under the direct control of direct participants, building on the requirements already introduced in 2025."

Industry

Stablecoins Push Into Mainstream Payments as DoorDash Joins Tempo Network

Yahoo Finance

"Stablecoins are edging into mainstream consumer payments, and DoorDash's plan to pay Dashers through the Tempo blockchain is the latest sign that stablecoin payments are moving from crypto circles to production payment rails. The Tempo network, incubated by Stripe and crypto investor Paradigm is built specifically for stablecoin transfers rather than general smart contract activity. DoorDash joins an early lineup that includes Shopify, OpenAI, Visa, Mastercard, Klarna, UBS, Fifth Third Bank, and Howard Hughes Holdings."

Industry

Achieva Credit Union Invests in Payfinia to Expand Real-Time Payments Strategy

City Biz

"Achieva Credit Union has invested in Payfinia’s credit union service organization, deepening a partnership aimed at expanding instant payment capabilities and accelerating the Florida lender’s digital payments strategy. The credit union, which has about $3 billion in assets and more than 200,000 members, said the investment will support faster money movement services for both consumer and business customers while giving Achieva a role in shaping Payfinia’s future product roadmap."

Industry

Alogent Receives Federal Reserve Authorization to Directly Exchange X9 Check Image Files for Banks and Credit Unions

PR Newswire

"Alogent announced it has been authorized by the Federal Reserve to send and receive X9 check image exchange files on behalf of its financial institution clients, enabling end-to-end check presentment and returns without the need for intermediary processors. This direct connectivity allows banks and credit unions to consolidate capture, processing, clearing, settlement, and returns within a single, integrated Alogent platform."

Industry

ABA: Illinois Interchange Law Will ‘Wreck Havoc’ on Payment Systems

ABA Banking Journal

"If enforcement of an Illinois law restricting interchange fees is not prevented before July 1, it will upend the debit- and credit-card operations of federally chartered financial institutions and wreak havoc on the national payment-processing system, the American Bankers Association, Illinois Bankers Association and other plaintiffs told a federal appeals court."

Industry

Where Are Bitcoin ATMs Banned?

ATM Marketplace

"Bitcoin ATMs have seen significant growth over the 2020s, from just over 6,000 machines to just under 40,000 ATMs today, according to data from Coin ATM Radar. However, these machines have not been accepted everywhere, and some countries, localities and one state have banned crypto ATMs entirely due to a rise in fraud. Read on to find out which places in the world have banned bitcoin ATMs or have announced bans."

Industry

Illinois Retail Merchants Association Condemns Federal Move to Overturn State Swipe Fee Law

WFIW

"The Illinois Retail Merchants Association is speaking out against a federal plan to overrule a new Illinois law designed to offer relief to businesses and consumers from swipe fees charged on credit and debit card transactions. On Monday, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced its intention to preempt Illinois’ Interchange Fee Prohibition Act. The state law, recently upheld by a judge, prohibits banks and credit card companies from charging swipe fees on the tax and tip portion of transactions when consumers pay by card."

Industry

Harnessing the Power of ISO® 20022: Why the Global Payment Standard Matters for Fraud Mitigation

FRB Services

"The increased adoption of ISO 20022 represents a milestone for the financial services industry. The messaging standard has changed how financial data is exchanged, interpreted and used across the entire ecosystem. ISO 20022 provides more structured, richer data about financial transactions, which can enable better decisioning and analytics and operational efficiency for financial institutions. By shifting to more structured, standardized data, ISO 20022 may create opportunities to detect fraud faster, earlier, more accurately and more efficiently."

Industry

NYC Mayor and DCWP Commissioner Announce First-In-The-Nation Municipal “Click to Cancel” Rule

The National Law Review

"NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani and NY City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) Commissioner Samuel Levine have announced a proposed rule designed to strengthen New Yorkers’ “Click to Cancel” consumer rights, cracking down on subscription traps and ensuring consumers can easily cancel automatic renewals. Following the proposed rule’s publication on April 8, 2026, and opens a 30-day public comment period. NYC would become the first municipality in the nation to enforce this level of consumer protection."

Industry

Trust, Privacy Concerns Holding Back Consumers From AI Shopping Tool Adoption

Chain Store Age

"Consumer interest in artificial intelligence is strong, but trust still remains a barrier to full adoption. Only 39% of Americans trust AI agents to make everyday purchases on their behalf, and only 34% are comfortable with AI-driven purchasing for larger items, according to marketing experience company Quad’s "The New Rules of Retail Trust in the Age of AI" survey."

Industry

OpenAI Has Bought AI Personal Finance Startup Hiro

TechCrunch

"OpenAI has acquired personal finance startup Hiro Finance, founder Ethan Bloch announced and OpenAI confirmed to TechCrunch. The startup was backed by A-list fintech VC firm Ribbit, as well as General Catalyst and Restive. The company was founded in 2023 and launched its AI tool about five months ago. Hiro offered AI-powered financial planning for consumers. Users entered financial information like salary, debts, and monthly costs, and the app modeled different what-if scenarios to help them make financial decisions."

Industry

X402 Protocol Adds Usage-Based Pricing for AI Compute Requests

MSN

"Coinbase has announced an upgrade for the x402 protocol, enabling usage-based pricing for agentic AI compute requests, which replaces the former flat fee model. In a post on X on Thursday, Coinbase Developer Platform announced the "Upto" scheme has gone live, adding it will help open up "variable-cost services" for agentic AI such as large language model inference, compute and data queries."

Industry

Innovation Across Borders: Fednow® Service Plans Future Support for Global Payment Experiences

FedNow

"In response to industry feedback, the FedNow Service — the Federal Reserve’s instant payment network — is laying the groundwork to expand beyond its original domestic-only framework in the future. Leveraging enhanced ISO® 20022 message formats, FedNow participants would be permitted to process instant payments on the network even when the ultimate sender or receiver is located outside of the United States. This type of cross-border transaction could be facilitated through correspondent banking arrangements, similar to models already used on the Fedwire® Funds Service."

Industry

Treasury Proposes GENIUS Act Principles for Acceptable State Stablecoin Regimes

Consumer Financial Services Law Monitor

"The U.S. Department of the Treasury has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to implement the broad-based principles set out in the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act for determining when a state-level regulatory regime for “state qualified payment stablecoin issuers” is “substantially similar” to the federal regulatory framework. That determination is the gateway for state-chartered, nonbank stablecoin issuers with up to $10 billion in outstanding stablecoins to operate primarily under state oversight rather than as federally supervised “permitted payment stablecoin issuers.” Comments will be due 60 days after publication in the Federal Register."

Industry

APIs Are Leaking More Than Data as Security Gaps Surface in AI-Era Testing

IBS Intelligence

"A research from KushoAI analyses API test executions across 2,600+ organisations to surface where Enterprise API security fails and where tests fail to look Around 34% of all API test failures have a direct security implicationOver 91% of teams test that authentication exists; only 29% test that it is correctly enforced AI-generated test suites cover 2.7x more OWASP categories than manually authored ones Supply chain attacks now target AI API credentials; current testing has no coverage of them"

Industry

Bessent, Powell Warned Bank CEOs About Anthropic Model Risks, Sources Say [Video]

Yahoo Finance-Reuters

"U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell convened an urgent meeting with bank ‌CEOs this week to warn of cyber risks posed by Anthropic's ‌latest AI model, two sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday. Anthropic launched the powerful Mythos ​model earlier this week but stopped short of a broad release, citing concerns it could expose previously unknown cybersecurity vulnerabilities."

Industry

Instant Payments in Focus: An Inside Look at the FedNow® Service

FedNow

"Instant payments are no longer an emerging concept. The FedNow Service growth has accelerated steadily since its 2023 launch in the United States. Today, nearly 1,700 financial institutions participate on the service. FedNow Service growth has accelerated steadily since launch, and new tools and innovations are broadening the range of popular instant payment use cases. Nick Stanescu, executive vice president and chief FedNow executive, shares his perspective."

Industry

US Treasury Tightens Grip: New AML Rules for Stablecoin Issuers

The Global Treasurer

"The US Treasury has proposed sweeping new AML rules that reclassify stablecoin issuers as "financial institutions". From mandatory suspicious activity reporting to "freeze and seize" capabilities on the secondary market, corporate treasurers must now navigate a new era of regulatory oversight. We examine the practical implications for treasury departments and the steps needed to audit your digital asset partners."

Industry Regulation

FDIC Reveals Proposed Rules for Stablecoin Issuers Under Genius Act

Decrypt

"The FDIC approved a proposed rule implementing stablecoin regulations under the GENIUS Act, establishing standards for permitted payment stablecoin issuers. Deposits held as reserves backing payment stablecoins would not receive pass-through deposit insurance protection for token holders. Stablecoin issuers must redeem tokens within two business days and cannot represent that tokens pay interest or yield. The FDIC's action implements the GENIUS Act, which allows payment stablecoin issuers with less than $10 billion in outstanding tokens to choose state-level regulation if their state meets federal standards. The FDIC seeks feedback on 144 specific questions in its proposal, with the 60-day comment period beginning upon Federal Register publication.

Tags: FDIC

Industry

Dual-Sided ATM Offers Improved CX in a Smaller Footprint

ATM Marketplace

"The traditional ATM has many limitations, such as the fact it can take up a lot of space, and only one customer can interact with the machine at a time. NCR Atleos is answering this issue with a small form factor dual-sided ATM, where two customers can transact on separate screens across from each other. This proof-of-concept device uses shared safes and a PC core to provide a smaller footprint, alongside 3D printed components for reduced weight and waste."

Industry

Bitcoin Day Is Live: Cash App, Square, and Bitkey Are Giving Away $1 Million in Bitcoin

Block

"For the first time, Cash App, Square, and Bitkey are teaming up to celebrate Bitcoin Day with $1 million in bitcoin giveaways. Running April 6 through April 10, Bitcoin Day is designed to help people actually use bitcoin in everyday life, from buying coffee, to getting paid, to owning it for real."

Industry

Delaware General Assembly Addresses Swipe Fees

NFIB Small Business Association

"The Delaware General Assembly took up the issue of swipe fees with House Bill 315. This bill prohibits payment card networks from charging swipe fees on tips on credit card transactions. Though limited in scope, HB315 signals the legislature is willing to take action on this critical issue. The legislation has been voted out of committee and is now awaiting action by the full House. NFIB has advocated on this issue at the federal level – Congress is considering legislation to inject competition into the credit card market and bring down swipe fees. One proposal would require most credit cards to have two network options, giving small merchants an option to choose whichever one has lower swipe fees."

Industry

Lightyear Capital Signs Agreement to Acquire PayByPhone

PayByPhone

"Lightyear Capital has signed an agreement to acquire PayByPhone, a global leader in mobile parking payments, from Corpay. PayByPhone is a leading provider of digital parking payments and mission critical parking management software to more than 1,300 clients globally. Lightyear’s investment in PayByPhone will drive continued product innovation to better serve the needs of its growing customer base. Under Lightyear’s ownership, PayByPhone will operate as a stand-alone independent business."

Industry

Georgia Passes Bill to Round Cash Purchases to the Nearest Nickel

WABE

"You could soon leave pennies at home when you go shopping in Georgia. The Georgia House gave final approval to a bill Thursday that rounds in-person cash transactions to the nearest nickel. The legislation calls for Georgia businesses to round down transactions that end in a 1, 2, 6, or 7. Prices that end in a 3, 4, 8, or 9 would be rounded up. And items with costs that end exactly in a 0 or 5 would stay the same."

Industry

Education: How Payment Fraud Evolved From Ancient Roman Coins to AI-Deepfakes — and What’s Next

Business Journal

"Payments fraud is defined as an intentional act to deprive someone or something of money or rights. As long as humanity has used currency-based payments systems, payments fraud has been a constant threat. In commercial payments fraud, access to sensitive data is often the critical first step for fraudsters. By obtaining information such as bank account details, vendor records, invoice formats, employee email credentials, or internal approval workflows, criminals can convincingly impersonate legitimate parties and manipulate payments processes."