Industry

The Real Fight in Agentic Commerce Isn’t Autonomy. It’s Authorization

TechRadar

"The conversation about AI and shopping is happening in the wrong place. The more consequential shift is happening somewhere far less visible: inside payment networks, authorization protocols and the systems that decide whether software is allowed to spend money on our behalf. The technical capability for an AI agent to complete a purchase has existed for some time. What has been missing is the infrastructure that allows businesses and consumers to trust those transactions..."

Industry

European Commission Publishes Final Guidelines on AI Transparency Obligations

Lexology

"On July 20, 2026, the European Commission published the final, non-legally binding guidelines on transparency obligations for providers and deployers of AI systems. Providers of AI systems designed to interact directly with natural persons, such as chatbots, must ensure individuals are informed they are interacting with an AI system, unless this is obvious from the circumstances and context of use. Providers of AI systems that generate synthetic audio, image, video, or text content must ensure that the outputs are marked in a machine-readable format and are detectable as artificially generated or manipulated...and more."

Industry

AI Shopping Agents Processed 120 Million Transactions In A Single Week As Agentic Commerce Moves From Theory To Checkout [Alipay’s AI Pay Platform]

SMB Tech

"AI-powered shopping agents completed more than 120 million transactions through Alipay’s AI Pay platform in a single week in February 2026, according to data cited in a new NielsenIQ report that charts the emergence of agentic commerce as a phenomenon rather than a theoretical projection. But NielsenIQ’s own data reveals a clear gap between AI capability and shopper willingness. Around 34 per cent of consumers use AI to research products and 23 per cent use it to summarise reviews, yet only about 8 per cent have let AI complete a purchase on their behalf."

Industry

Click-to-Cancel, Coast to Coast: The 2026 Subscription Crackdown Comes From Every Direction

InfoLawGroup LLP

"The Federal Trade Commission, state attorneys general, city regulators, and the plaintiffs' bar have set their sights set on the same target: recurring charges and hidden fees including autorenewal and negative-option programs. The good news is that the risk is manageable. Across nearly every action so far this year, the problem was not the subscription itself, but rather how the recurring charge was disclosed, how consent was obtained, and how hard it was to cancel."

Industry

Ever Noticed There’s No CVV Printed on Some of the Newest Cards? [Video]

Keyno

"That's not a mistake! it's the point.With Dynamic CVV, your security code lives in your banking app, not on the plastic. A fresh code for checkout, expiring after one hour. So even if your card details leak, they're useless to fraudsters. Here's how it works in 30 seconds."

Industry

ABA, Associations Ask Agencies to Commit to Reproposing Conflicting Genius Act Rules

ABA Banking Journal

"As the various federal banking agencies race to establish separate regulations for stablecoin issuers, they should be open to reproposing any rule that conflicts with a regulation put forward by another agency, the American Bankers Association and three banking associations. In a joint letter to the banking agencies, the associations said there has been little coordination among the agencies, with separate proposals having different public comment deadlines. Coordination is important given the potential risks posed by stablecoins."

Industry

PIX and Stablecoins Are Not Rivals, Says Visa’s Digital Currencies Chief for Latin America

Yahoo Finance

"Stablecoins did not arrive to fight PIX. That was the message from Antônia Souza, Visa's Director of Digital Currencies for Latin America and the Caribbean. "We are not here to fight against PIX", she said, pushing back on a framing that has become common across the region. In her view, the two serve different jobs. PIX is built for real-time everyday payments, while stablecoins are meant for cross-border flows, such as sending money abroad or storing dollars more easily."

Industry

Emirates Airline Starts Accepting Crypto Payments for Flights

The National

"Emirate's airline has begun accepting cryptocurrency payments, the first major airline in the Gulf to offer the option of using digital assets for flight bookings. The option uses the Crypto.com Pay service and is live for bookings settled in dirhams on the airline's website and app, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.  It is unclear which cryptocurrencies are accepted by the feature."

Industry

Major Philanthropies Launch $50+ Million ‘Anti-Scams Philanthropy Collaborative’ to Combat Global Scam Epidemic

Dalberg

"Aspen Digital, a program of the Aspen Institute, Google.org, Dalberg, Asian Development Bank (ADB), craig newmark philanthropies, JPMorganChase, Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, Vodafone Foundation, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation are announcing the Anti-Scams Philanthropy Collaborative. This initiative introduces a joint approach to share knowledge, identify, fund, and scale solutions designed to prevent scams and support the world’s most vulnerable populations."

Industry

Webinar: Know Your Agent (A New Problem for Old Defenses)

Fintech Takes

"For as long as the internet has had commerce, we've operated under the assumption that bots are bad. That era is over. TBD on whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing for financial services. AI agents are already shopping, paying, and moving money on behalf of consumers. Visa, Stripe, and Google have all shipped competing protocols in the last few months to let agents transact directly on bank rails. On July 29, hear from the people closest to this including Glenbrook: they’re deciding who's trusted, who's liable, and what "identity" even means for a non-human customer."

Industry

Why South African Banks Still Charge for Instant Payments

TechCabal

Three years after the launch of PayShap, South Africa’s real-time payment system, the technology behind instant bank transfers is no longer the issue. The question is why consumers are still paying to move their own money. Brazil’s Pix, launched in 2020, became the country’s dominant payment method by allowing consumers to send money instantly at little or no cost. India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI), processing billions of transactions every month while making free instant payments the norm.

Industry

State Fee Regulation Trends: Surcharging, Junk Fees, UDAP, and Interchange Fees

Global Advertising Lawyers Alliance

"States continue to devote attention to consumer protection and pricing transparency issues. During the 2025-2026 legislative cycle, legislatures across the country introduced, debated, enacted, and, in some cases, rejected legislation relating to surcharging, “junk fees,” interchange fees, and related pricing practices. Although the status of individual bills varies, these measures provide an illustration of the approaches states are considering and signal proposals are likely to continue in future legislative sessions."

Industry

Webinar: The Shortlist Economy - How AI Is Rewiring Buying Habits (and How Merchants Can Respond) | July 28, 2026

The Paypers

"Join PSE Consulting, Mastercard, Adyen, Layla.ai and Glenbrook, in partnership with The Paypers on July 28th, as we explore exclusive new consumer research based on a survey of 4,250 shoppers who use AI for online shopping across the UK, US, France and Germany. Our panel will unpack the findings and discuss what they mean for the payments and commerce ecosystem, including how businesses should prepare for AI-driven customer journeys and the growing role of agent assisted shopping outcomes."

Industry

Matera Introduces First-to-Market X9.150 Payment QR Code Software to Help Banks Accelerate Account-to-Account Payments

Business Wire

"Matera, a leading provider of modern banking technology, today announced the launch of its Payment QR Code software, the first solution compliant with the newly approved ANSI X9.150 Merchant-Presented Payment QR Code Standard. The platform enables financial institutions, payment providers and billers to deliver secure, interoperable account-to-account payment experiences across multiple payment networks, including FedNow®, RTP®, ACH credit transfers, the Zelle Network® and emerging digital payment methods such as stablecoins."

Industry

A-Comm Technologies, Inc. Opens Public Comment on Evidence Standard for Agentic Commerce

PR Newswire

"A-Comm Technologies, Inc. announced July 13, 2026 that the draft A-Comm Evidence Protocol (AEP) is open for public comment through August 14, 2026. Trustworthy agentic commerce needs three things human checkout never had to provide: observability into what an agent did and why, traceability from a consumer's intent to settlement, and auditability that any party can rely on in a dispute."

Industry

The Target Is Pix: Why the US Is Imposing Unprecedented Tariffs Over Brazil’s Free Payment System

Bitcoin News

"The U.S. imposed a 25% tariff on over $11 billion in Brazilian exports to counter unfair trade practices. The USTR claimed Brazil’s fee-free Pix system unfairly disadvantages American credit card operators. This unprecedented tariff marks the first penalty against a sovereign payment network to defend the dollar."

Industry

Visa Stablecoin Platform Adds OUSD for Institutional Clients

Crypto Daily

"Visa just put more weight behind stablecoins — and it’s not a minor tweak. The company rolled out a Stablecoin Platform built for institutions and said it’s starting with Open USD, or OUSD. It’s early. The platform is in beta with selected clients, and OUSD itself is slated to launch later in 2026. But the direction of travel is obvious: bring stablecoin plumbing up to the standard of card networks and treasury systems, then invite traditional players to try real payment flows without stepping into DeFi unassisted."

Industry

US Regulators Miss Genius Act’s One-Year Deadline for Final Stablecoin Rules

The Block

"The Treasury Department and the four primary federal stablecoin regulators reached the GENIUS Act’s July 18 rulemaking deadline without a final set of implementing regulations. Several proposals remain unfinished: comments on a joint customer identification rule are open until Aug. 21, an FDIC anti-money laundering proposal remains open until Aug. 4. The delay does not postpone the law’s Jan. 18, 2027 effective date, leaving regulators and prospective stablecoin issuers with a compressed implementation window."

Industry

Click to Cancel Law and What It Means in Connecticut [Video]

NBC Connecticut

Find it annoying trying to cancel subscriptions? A new law that went into effect in Connecticut is trying to help.

Industry

Fifth Conference on the International Roles of the U.S. Dollar: Stablecoins, Digital Payments, and the International Role of the U.S. Dollar

The Federal Reserve

"On June 22 and 23, 2026, the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York jointly hosted the fifth installment of the International Roles of the U.S. Dollar Conference. Building on previous conferences that examined the dollar's resilience amid geopolitical change, safe-asset demand, and evolving payment systems, this year's event centered on the implications of financial innovation, especially digital assets and stablecoins."

Industry

Delaware Enacts Banking, Money Transmission, and Stablecoin Modernization Package

Sheppard

"On July 6, 2026, Delaware Governor Matt Meyer signed three bills modernizing the state’s regulation of banks, money transmitters, virtual currency businesses, and payment stablecoin issuers. upon signing, although several provisions require implementing regulations. The legislation creates three complementary regulatory frameworks. Specifically, the package: Modernizes Delaware’s banking laws. Expands money transmission oversight. Regulates payment stablecoin issuers. Protects customer assets."

Industry

Volvo Group Tests Its Own Cryptocurrency for Supplier Payments

Crypto News

"Volvo Group tested a proprietary cryptocurrency to simplify supplier transactions inside a closed blockchain network. The project remains exploratory, with no timeline announced for full deployment across Volvo’s global operations. Blockchain could support supplier payments, product traceability and compliance records without relying on separate databases."

Industry

WOCCU Releases New White Paper on Stablecoins and the Future of Cooperative Finance

World Council of Credit Unions

"World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) has released a new white paper examining how stablecoins are reshaping the financial infrastructure that credit unions and other cooperative financial institutions rely on to serve their members. The white paper, How Digital Money Is Impacting Credit Unions, Part 1: Focus on Stablecoins, is the first in a planned three-part series exploring how emerging forms of digital money are affecting the global credit union movement."

Industry

Vought Calls for More CFPB Oversight, Says Open Banking Proposal Coming Soon

ABA Banking Journal

"The CFPB has been in legal fights over its implementation of Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act, the “open banking” rule that requires financial institutions to make a consumer’s financial information available to them or a third party at the consumer’s direction. Vought said the CFPB is “very close” to a proposed rule to replace its previous 1033 rule. The agency is timing the release of the proposal with possible Senate confirmation of [Brian] Johnson, he said."

Industry

US, UK Outline Recommendations to Align Stablecoin and Tokenization Rules

Decrypt

"The U.S. and UK have laid out a joint roadmap for aligning how they regulate stablecoins, tokenized assets, and digital money, a coordinated push by two of the world's largest financial centres to let blockchain-based finance move more easily across the Atlantic. The 10 recommendations, published by HM Treasury and the U.S. Treasury, come from the Transatlantic Taskforce for Markets of the Future."

Industry

Visa, Mastercard and Ripple Back X402 as Agent Payments Average 32 Cents

Crypto News

"Every major card network has signed on to a payment standard built so that software can pay software without a human involved. The Linux Foundation said that the x402 Foundation is now operating under formal governance with 40 members, and that Coinbase's contribution of the protocol is complete. When the web's architects wrote the rules for how browsers and servers talk to each other, they set aside a response code numbered ‘402’ and labeled it "Payment Required," expecting someone would eventually build payments into the web itself."

Industry

Federal Reserve Follows (To a Degree) FinCEN and Other Banking Agencies in Proposing Sweeping AML/CFT Program Reforms

Wilmer Hale

"On July 7, 2026, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System issued its own Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would substantially revise the anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) requirements applicable to Board-supervised banks under the Bank Secrecy Act. Although the Board’s announcement stated that the NPRM is intended to align with proposed changes made in the April rulemaking, in now issuing its own NPRM, the Board is taking a path by not including a provision of the April rulemaking that would see FinCEN as the gatekeeper of AML/CFT enforcement actions."

Industry

Linux Foundation Announces Operational Launch of x402 Foundation to Standardize Internet-Native Payments for AI Agents and Applications

PR Newswire

"The Linux Foundation announced the operational launch of the x402 Foundation, a new open-governance body formed to steward the x402 protocol – the open standard for internet-native payments over HTTP. The x402 protocol, contributed by Coinbase, embeds secure payment capabilities directly into web interactions so that AI agents, APIs, and applications can send and receive payments as seamlessly as they exchange data, with support for payment types ranging from traditional cards to stablecoins."

Industry

ABA Shows Support for the Common Cents Act

ABA Banking Journal

"The American Bankers Association expressed support for the Common Cents Act [H.R. 3074], which renews calls for officially halting the production of the U.S. penny for general circulation. ABA’s letter supporting the Common Cents Act said the legislation “would provide a clear and practical framework for cash rounding when exact change cannot be provided, while clarifying that checks, electronic fund transfers, credit cards, gift cards, money orders, and similar noncash payment methods are not subject to rounding.”"

Industry

U.S. Faster Payments Council Publishes White Paper on ERP-Embedded Instant Payments

EIN Presswire

"The U.S. Faster Payments Council announced the publication of a new white paper, From Bottleneck to Command Center: Embedding Instant Payments in Enterprise Resource Planning, developed by the FPC Business Benefits for B2B Instant Payments Work Group. The white paper explores how enterprise resource planning systems are evolving from traditional financial management platforms into payment command centers where instant payments, treasury functions, and financial automation can be embedded directly into day-to-day business operations."