Industry

New “Zombie Card” Flaw Lets Expired Visa Cards Make Contactless Payments

Cyber Security News

"Security researchers have demonstrated that an expired credit card is not as dead as most cardholders believe. A study from the University of Massachusetts Amherst reveals a practical NFC relay attack dubbed “Zombie Card” that revives expired Visa contactless cards, allowing them to complete real purchases at point-of-sale terminals across multiple US banks. The discovery is simple: card expiration in EMV contactless payments is enforced as a transaction policy check performed by the terminal, not as a cryptographic fact in the card itself."

Industry

Elon Musk’s X Explores Stablecoins for Creator Payouts

Crypton News

"Elon Musk-owned social platform X is discussing the use of stablecoins like $USDC to pay influencers and other content providers, CoinDesk reported Thursday, citing a person familiar with the discussion. Talks are ongoing, and X isn’t alone. Its peers are also testing stablecoins as a way to pay influencers and content creators, according to the source. Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has begun paying select creators in $USDC on Solana and Polygon, reviving its stablecoin push after the collapse of its Libra/Diem project."

Industry

Stablecoin Remittances Face Reality Check in Banca d’Italia Study

Global Finance Magazine

"A new study from Italy’s central bank challenges one of the crypto industry’s biggest selling points: that stablecoins can make cross-border remittances cheaper and faster than traditional payment networks. Banca d’Italia’s research examined remittance corridors involving Italy, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, and Japan, comparing USDC transfers against established money transfer services. Its conclusion was sobering. Stablecoin transfers showed no systematic cost advantage."

Industry

Scott Bessent Says Treasury Is 'Moving Quickly' on Stablecoin Rules: What's in the Proposal?

TradingView

"Treasury released the GENIUS Act stablecoin licensing rules Monday, setting out who needs a federal license to issue or sell stablecoins in the United States. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking sets out two core frameworks. First, it defines what it means to issue a payment stablecoin in the United States, clarifying when an issuer needs a GENIUS Act license. Second, it defines what it means to offer or sell a stablecoin to someone in the United States, clarifying when and how stablecoins can reach US markets."

Industry

The Missing Link in Agentic Commerce

365 Retail

"The agentic AI vision where autonomous agents discover products, compare prices, place orders, manage logistics, and even returns on behalf of consumers, is certainly seductive. Ecommerce platforms, warehouse systems, customer service platforms, payment providers, ERP systems and carrier networks have all become very sophisticated but they have all been developed on their own. Even where they are connected, many are reliant on fragmented integrations, manual workflows or isolated data."

Industry

Rain Launches the Agentic Payments Alliance to Guide the Future of Agent-Driven Commerce

PR Newswire

"Rain, the enterprise-grade infrastructure for stablecoin-powered payments, announced the launch of the Agentic Payments Alliance (APA), a coalition of organizations working together to help guide the development of agentic commerce. Founding members include Visa, Mastercard, Fiserv, Circle, Solana, and Remitly. Founding members will get early access to Rain's Agentic Startup Program, an accelerator supporting early-stage companies building for agentic commerce."

Industry

Treasury Seeks Public Comment on GENIUS Act Proposed Rulemaking

U.S. Department of the Treasury

"The U.S. Department of the Treasury issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), seeking public comment related to Treasury’s implementation of section 3 of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act. This NPRM sets forth Treasury’s proposed framework for implementing these requirements. By defining what it means to “issue a payment stablecoin in the United States,” the proposed rule would provide clarity to industry regarding when an issuer needs to obtain a GENIUS license."

Industry

OCC Grants World Liberty Trust a Preliminary Trust Charter, with Notable Smallprint

Ledger Insights - blockchain for enterprise

"The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has granted preliminary conditional approval for World Liberty Financial to establish a national trust bank. World Liberty Trust Company would take over issuance and reserve management of the USD1 stablecoin from BitGo and offer digital asset custody services as a fiduciary. Consistent with the BitGo version, the bank plans to offer fee free issuance and redemption of USD1, which could draw volume away from rivals like Circle during periods of market stress."

Industry

Hawaii Bans Cash Deposits on Crypto ATMs

ATM Marketplace

"Hawaii is the first state to ban cash deposits on crypto ATMs, rather than banning them outright. The state passed this law to address ongoing concerns around fraud at crypto ATMs, according to a report by Hawaii News Now. Although the law bans cash deposits at crypto ATMs, customers can convert crypto into cash or make withdrawals at the machines. The law takes effect Oct. 1."

Industry

SEC Regulation: CLARITY Act Stalls in Senate Without Final Vote

Icobench

"In SEC regulation news today, the Senate adjourned on Aug. 8 without holding a final vote on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025, also known as the CLARITY Act. The Senate is in recess until Sept. 14, according to the ABA Banking Journal."

Industry

Digital Assets 101: A Credit Union's Guide to Cryptocurrency, Stablecoins, Tokenized Deposits and Central Bank Digital Currency

Velera

"Digital assets are no longer just a conversation about cryptocurrency. Stablecoins, tokenized deposits and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are beginning to reshape how money moves, how payments settle and how financial institutions think about the future of banking. For credit unions, the question is no longer whether digital assets matter — it's how to prepare for what comes next."

Industry

From MiCA to GENIUS: Why Crypto's Next Regulatory Test Is Cross-Border Coordination

Finance Magnates

"The central debate in digital asset policy used to be whether to regulate. That question is settled. MiCA's transitional period ended July 1st, 2026; the UK finalized its cryptoasset rulebook on June 30th; the US celebrated the one-year anniversary of the GENIUS Act becoming law; and the SEC and CFTC issued joint guidance in mid-March that classified digital assets as digital commodities. What now keeps industry participants up at night is whether rules written in Washington, London, and Brussels can interoperate with one another."

Industry

Education: Account 2 Account Payments

Opinium

"For more than a decade, Account-to-Account (A2A) payments have been portrayed as the next major evolution in payments. A2A payments are, at their simplest, the movement of money directly from one bank account to another. They encompass a range of payment mechanisms including traditional bank transfers, Faster Payments in the UK, SEPA Credit Transfers and SEPA Instant across Europe, ACH transfers in the United States, and increasingly, Pay by Bank experiences enabled through Open Banking in the UK."

Industry

Banks Rush to Tokenize Deposits as Stablecoin Networks Beat Them to Shared Payment Rails

Tech Times

"America's biggest banks are building tokenized deposit infrastructure faster than at any point in the technology's history — and they are still a year behind the stablecoin consortia racing to control the same rails. New data published Wednesday by American Banker shows 24 of the 50 largest U.S. banks now have tokenized deposits on their radar as of Q2 2026, up from 19 the previous quarter with four institutions running live products and seven more in active pilot. The Clearing House shared network targets a first-half 2027 launch"

Industry

AI Agents Are About to Become Customers: Is the Payments Industry Ready?

The AI Journal

"Most people still think about AI as an assistant. You ask a question. It provides an answer. But the emerging generation of AI agents is designed to take action. The agent doesn’t simply provide information. It completes the task. Once that happens, AI moves from being part of the research process to becoming part of the transaction itself. And payments become critical infrastructure. See list of questions to consider with AI Agents."

Industry

Samsung, Hyundai Motor, Coupang Race to Pilot Stablecoins for Payments, Remittances, and Trade Finance

BigGo Finance

"Major South Korean conglomerates are shifting their view of stablecoins from a topic of interest to core business infrastructure, each finding applications in payments, settlement, and trade finance. Coupang, POSCO International, Hyundai Motor, and Samsung Electronics are each pursuing proof-of-concept (PoC) projects with distinct strategies, and industry observers say digital assets are beginning to be integrated into real business operations as institutional frameworks take shape."

Industry

Digital Euro and European Payment Independence: A Strategic Shift

Indexbox

The European Payments Alliance (EuroPA) and the European Payments Initiative (EPI) have signed an agreement to link their instant payment systems, creating potential reach of 380 million users in 15 European countries. EuroPA includes MB WAY (Portugal), Bizum (Spain and Andorra)... EPI's Wero covers Germany, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. PagBrasil, is working on a system called RoamingPay that allows consumers to pay abroad in real time using their banking apps or digital wallets. PagBrasil aims to cover 10 countries by the end of 2026 and expand into Europe.

Industry

Support Builds for FedNow Cross Border Payments Extension

East & Partners

"Wise, Visa, Stripe and major industry trade groups have thrown their support behind the Federal Reserve’s plan to expand the FedNow instant payments system for cross border payments interoperability. Currently FedNow transactions can only be executed domestically between two US banks or credit unions. The FedNow service amendment would enable US banks to utilize FedNow to transfer funds through an intermediary or non-US correspondent bank with an aim toward speeding cross border payments."

Industry

JPMorgan, Citi, UBS and Central Banks Wrap Up Real-Value Trials of Tokenized Cross-Border Payments in Project Agorá

Crowdfund Insider

"A coalition of global financial institutions and central banks has successfully finished real-value testing under Project Agorá, examining how tokenization can streamline wholesale cross-border payments. The trials, coordinated by the Bank for International Settlements, involved processing monetary transfers using digital representations of commercial bank deposits and central bank reserves. They executed roughly 30 transactions spanning 17 different scenarios, moving a total of approximately around $1 million across six currencies."

Industry

Algorithmic Shopping Is Here. Is Your Company Ready?

Harvard Business Review

"Executives have spent years preparing their organizations to use AI internally. The next challenge is preparing for AI as the customer. As intelligent shopping agents evaluate, compare, and purchase products on behalf of consumers, companies must rethink how they compete. Success will depend on structured data, technical infrastructure, organizational capabilities, and executive alignment. Leaders should assess their organizations across five critical areas: strategy, data readiness, commercial capabilities, talent, and governance."

Industry

ABA Viewpoint: The Genius Act Rules Are (Almost) Here. Here’s What Banks Should Do

ABA Banking Journal

"Congress gave federal regulators until July 18, 2026, to finalize the Genius Act’s implementing rules. That deadline came and went without a coordinated final package, but don’t mistake the delay in establishing final rules of the road for stablecoin for a reprieve. Here’s the short version of what’s expected in the final rules, and what banks should consider."

Industry

The Global Payments System Is Breaking, and Stablecoins Are Stepping In

Newsweek

"Global commerce runs on payment rails that most businesses rarely question. Yet behind every tap, transfer and settlement lies a complex system that introduces friction at scale. According to the World Bank, cross-border payments continue to face challenges around speed, cost and complexity, with transactions often involving multiple intermediaries that can increase friction and delay settlement. This lag is not simply an inconvenience. It constrains liquidity, ties up working capital and limits the efficiency of international trade."

Industry

Merchants Welcome New Senate Cosponsors of Credit Card Competition Act

Merchants Payments Coalition

"The Merchants Payments Coalition welcomed the addition of three new Senate cosponsors of the Credit Card Competition Act. As the Senate prepared to leave Washington Friday night for its summer recess, Sens. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio; Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., and Angus King, I-Maine, signed on as cosponsors of the CCCA."

Industry

How Dr. Martens Laces Up for Agentic Commerce

Tech Informed

"At Tech Show London in March, Theo Botha, global CISO at Dr. Martens, acknowledged that Dr. Martens is battling impersonators, bots and increasingly sophisticated fraudsters. Meanwhile, his team is preparing for a future in which some of its most valuable “customers” are software. What is yet to be delivered is a universal, interoperable standard for authenticated delegation and fraud handling across merchants, platforms and agents."

Industry

New Jersey Law Limits Credit Card Surcharges, Requires Clear Disclosure

Parsippany Focus

"New Jersey merchants who charge customers extra for paying with a credit card must now disclose that surcharge clearly before the transaction and cannot charge more than what it actually costs them to process the payment, under a state law highlighted in new guidance from the Division of Consumer Affairs. Governor Phil Murphy signed the law, which prohibits sellers from imposing a credit card surcharge greater than the actual cost of processing the payment."

Industry

Tokenized deposits: Old Wine in New Bottles?

The European Money and Financial Forum

This paper examines the use of ‘tokenized’ bank deposits for achieving automated, real-time processing of financial transactions. Two possibilities for tokenization are compared: representation on decentralized ‘programmable’ ledgers; and on conventional account-based centralized ledgers.

Industry

Education: Your Bank’s AI Just Blocked Your Payment – What Can You Do?

Insight News

"Imagine you’re at the supermarket checkout. Your cart is full. The line behind you is long. You tap your card. Declined. You try again. Declined. What just happened? And why does it keep happening to people who haven’t done anything wrong? This isn’t a rare glitch, but something that happens to millions of people every day. And most of us have no idea why it happens or what we can do about it. The answer lies inside a fraud detection system powered by AI."

Industry

KuCoin Pay Expands Stablecoin Utility With an Enterprise Gift Card Solution

PR Newswire

"KuCoin Pay, the cryptocurrency payment solution enabled by KuCoin, announced the launch of KuCoin Gift Card, a digital asset distribution solution that enables businesses to distribute USDT and USDC globally through digital gift cards, with support for bulk issuance and API integration. Designed for customer rewards, promotional campaigns, employee incentives and community engagement, the solution makes stablecoin distribution more accessible and operationally efficient."

Industry

From Routing to Revenue: Why Payment Orchestration Has Become a Boardroom Issue

IT Brief Australia

"Three forces are converging to raise payment orchestration to boardroom-level conversations: merchants are deliberately diversifying away from single-processor setups, payment failure is now recognized as a direct and measurable drag on revenue, and finance teams are demanding the same visibility into payments that they already have over the rest of the balance sheet. Each of these forces alone would justify investment in orchestration."

Industry

BPI and The Clearing House Association Comment on FDIC’s Proposal for BSA and Sanctions Compliance Standards for FDIC-Supervised Permitted Payment Stablecoin Issuers

Bank Policy Institute

"...As we have noted in prior comment letters responding to different regulatory proposals under the GENIUS Act, the Associations remain concerned that commenters have not been given a meaningful opportunity to evaluate the numerous interdependent proposals implementing the GENIUS Act either individually or comprehensively. We have previously requested extensions of the comment periods for various proposals to implement the GENIUS Act, which generally have had insufficient 60-day comment periods and overlapping comment deadlines."