Finish 2025 strong with new or renewed expertise with an On-Demand Learning module or course!
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.
Search Payments News
December 19, 2025
On the web
Amazon Business Prime Offers Small and Midsize Businesses Even More Value with New Benefits from Intuit QuickBooks, CrowdStrike, and Gusto
Amazon
"Business Prime customers have access to exclusive benefits with Intuit QuickBooks, CrowdStrike, and Gusto to support their financial management, cybersecurity, and Human Resources needs. Expanded benefits can help SMBs save nearly $1,000 per year, streamline operations, and simplify business buying. Savings build on Business Prime’s value, joining member benefits like fast, free shipping, Spend Visibility, Guided Buying, and flexible payment options."
December 17, 2025
On the web
Amazon Pay Adds Support for Biometric Authentication for UPI Payments in India
Gadgets360
"Amazon Pay will now allow users to make UPI payments and send money to other users with biometric authentication in India, the company announced. This means that the app will no longer require users to enter their UPI PIN to complete transactions. The US-based tech giant claims that the new feature will enhance security, thanks to fingerprint and facial verification."
December 10, 2025
Top Post
Agentic Payments: The Next Evolution in the Payments Value Chain
Amazon Web Services
"The payments industry stands at a transformative inflection point. Traditional payment systems built on rigid rules, manual processes, and legacy infrastructure find it difficult to navigate the evolving landscape of modern commerce. Agentic payments leverage AI to create autonomous, intelligent payment systems capable of learning, adapting, and deciding in real-time across the entire cards and payments value chain. This blog post explores: Key use-cases for agentic payments, focusing on common challenges where intelligent agents outperform traditional rule-based systems and manual decision processes and more."
December 9, 2025
On the web
Amazon Is Rolling Out New Shopping Features for Alexa+, Because of Course It Is
Engadget
"Amazon is rolling out a new price tracking feature. Tell it the product you want and how much you’re willing to pay for it. As soon as the item goes on sale for below that price, Alexa+ will automatically order it for you using your default payment method and delivery address. Another feature that Alexa+ users can start trying is a Shopping Essentials tool on Echo Show 15 and 21. You'll be able to see real-time tracking for your orders, your recent orders, household essentials that it may be time to reorder, saved items and your shopping list."
December 1, 2025
Top Post
Visa and AWS Enable Next-Generation Agentic Commerce Capabilities
Amazon
"Visa and Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com, Inc. announced a collaboration designed to empower developers and enterprises building towards agentic commerce. Visa will list the Visa Intelligence Commerce platform in AWS Marketplace, helping businesses and developers to connect seamlessly to a growing ecosystem of agentic commerce providers for next-generation reliable and secure payment experiences. AWS and Visa will also publish blueprints on the public Amazon Bedrock AgentCore repository designed for multi-network agentic retail shopping, travel booking, and payment reconciliation, enabling developers to create and connect complex workflows."
On the web
UnionPay International and Amazon Payment Services Forge Strategic Partnership Across MENA
TechAfrica News
"UnionPay International and Amazon Payment Services have announced a strategic collaboration in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, across countries including UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon. The agreement empowers merchants in the Amazon Payment Services network to accept UnionPay cards. Once the integration is complete, UnionPay cardholders will be able to access Amazon Payment Services’ merchants. In turn, Amazon Payment Services merchants will be able to tap into UnionPay’s vast global customer base across more than 80 countries and regions."
November 17, 2025
On the web
Introducing Amazon Lens Live: Instant Scanning, Real-Time Product Matches, and Insights From Amazon’s AI Shopping Assistant
About Amazon
"Lens Live instantly scans products and shows real-time matches in a swipeable carousel to make finding the right item easier. Lens Live integrates Amazon’s AI shopping assistant, Rufus, to offer product insights, summaries, and answer questions as you browse. It is now available for customers in the Amazon Shopping app on iOS and Android."
November 12, 2025
On the web
Amazon Business Unveils Next Generation AI Solutions to Help Organizations and Small Businesses Save Time and Money
US Press Center
"At Amazon Business’ Reshape conference, Amazon announced a number of new AI-powered solutions including the Amazon Business Assistant to help organizations discover savings, automate routine tasks, and make spending easier and more efficient. These innovations, all powered by Amazon Bedrock, AWS’s fully managed service for building and scaling generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications, represent the next step in Amazon Business’ smart business buying journey."
November 4, 2025
On the web
Perplexity AI Accuses Amazon of Bullying With Legal Threat Over Comet Browser
CNBC
"Perplexity AI accused Amazon of “bullying” on Tuesday after it received a letter from the e-commerce giant demanding it prevent people from using its artificial intelligence browser Comet to make purchases on their behalf. Perplexity said it received “an aggressive legal threat” from Amazon “demanding” that it put a stop to that practice. Amazon has already taken steps in recent months to prevent external AI agents from crawling its website, including those developed by OpenAI, Google and Meta"
October 24, 2025
On the web
Amazon’s New AI-Powered Shopping Feature ‘Help Me Decide’ Makes It Easy to Quickly Pick the Right Product
Amazon
"Amazon announced a new shopping feature called Help Me Decide, which picks the best product for you with just one tap. Help Me Decide uses AI to analyze your browsing history and preferences to recommend the right product for you with just one tap. Shopping Guides simplify research by bringing together expert guidance and product recommendations for hundreds of product types..."
October 1, 2025
On the web
Amazon Pay Unveils Payments A to Z: All Payment Modes in 1 Place
Deccan Chronicle
"Amazon Pay unveiled a transformed payment interface that unifies all payment modes in one place - UPI, credit/debit cards, Amazon Pay Balance, and Amazon Pay Later. New features include personalized rewards that maximize value on every transaction, and a unified dashboard to manage all bills and subscriptions together with reminders and auto-pay options."
September 4, 2025
On the web
Amazon Completes Acquisition of Indian Lender Axio
News.az
"Amazon announced Thursday that it has finalized its acquisition of Bengaluru-based non-bank lender Axio for an undisclosed sum. The deal provides Amazon with a direct lending license in India, expanding its financial services footprint in the country, News.Az reports, citing Reuters. The deal will help Amazon expand its fintech operations in India, where it has secured approvals to issue payment wallets and sell insurance policies on its online marketplace."
August 6, 2025
On the web
Amazon Pay Gift Cards Get New Features [India]
The Times of India
"Amazon Pay has introduced a personalisation feature for its digital Gift Cards in India. This new feature will allow customers to use their photos and artwork. With this update, Amazon aims to make digital gifting more meaningful and personal for various occasions. The company has also improved its physical gifting options with new packaging formats such as envelopes, premium boxes, and designer greeting cards."
July 25, 2025
On the web
Amazon Fund Backs Startup Tackling Return Fraud With Imaging
Tech in Asia
"Amazon has invested in Cambridge Terahertz, a California-based startup, through its US$1 billion Industrial Innovation Fund. The startup specializes in 3D imaging technology that scans unopened packages to detect fraud and verify contents. Retailers lost US$103 billion in fraudulent returns in 2022, and the startup’s tech helps verify package contents without opening them."
June 13, 2025
Top Post
Amazon, Walmart, and Expedia Consider Issuing Stablecoins to Sidestep Costly Card Fees
Crypto Briefing
"Top American retailers and travel companies, including Amazon, Walmart, and Expedia, are weighing the launch of their own stablecoins to reduce payment processing costs, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing people with knowledge of the effort. The potential shift could help merchants save billions of dollars in fees tied to card payments, including interchange fees."
April 25, 2025
On the web
Amazon Puts Rs 350 Crore in Amazon Pay India Amid Rising Competition in Fintech
The Times of India
"Amazon has invested Rs 350 crore into Amazon Pay India to strengthen its position in the digital payments market, despite its UPI ranking slipping to eighth place. This investment follows previous capital infusions and comes as Flipkart's Super.money explores new funding."
April 21, 2025
On the web
Amazon Is Trialling a Major New Feature That Could ‘Revolutionise Shopping’
MSN
"Although you can get your hands on almost everything at Amazon, a new feature could see the retailer broadening its horizons even further. Currently being trialled in the US, the ‘buy for me’ button allows customers to browse and purchase items from across the internet – even those Amazon doesn’t sell. When searching for certain products, shoppers will be shown listings from other sites, with the option to buy the latter directly through Amazon."
April 11, 2025
On the web
Amazon Onboards BRISKPE as PSP; Platform To Help to Indian Sellers Scale Globally
The Economic Times
"Amazon has recognised BRISKPE as a Payment Service Provider (PSP) and authorised it to provide cross-border payments on its marketplace. BRISKPE, backed by global investment firm Prosus, has rolled out the 'Launchpad', a new initiative aimed at transforming how Indian sellers expand globally, the payment service provider said in a statement on Friday."
Amazon Releases Agentic AI Information On 'Buy for Me' Feature
MediaPost
"Amazon has entered an era of automation that lets its systems find and then make a purchase for consumers through agentic AI platforms. The Buy for Me experience integrates into Amazon's shopping experience so customers can find products not available across the marketplace. The feature uses agentic AI capabilities. Amazon makes the purchase by securely providing the customer’s encrypted name, address, and payment details to complete the checkout process on the brand’s website."
March 24, 2025
On the web
Amazon Is Now Charging Processing Fee on Bank Discount Offers: How Much It Is and How It Works [India]
MSN
"Amazon has introduced a Rs 49 processing fee for customers who use Instant Bank Discounts (IBD) of Rs 500 or more, effectively reducing the savings consumers receive through banking partnerships. The fee, which took effect yesterday, applies to all customers including Prime members and is non-refundable even if orders are canceled or returned."
March 12, 2025
On the web
A Price to Pay for a Separate Amazon Pay [India]
Tech In Asia
"Rolling out a new offering is something Amazon is mulling in India. The ecommerce giant may launch a standalone payments app in the country. This move could better position it to challenge Google Pay and PhonePe, which have a combined market share of 85%."
March 5, 2025
On the web
Amazon Expands Its Palm Biometric Payment to Healthcare
Biometric Update
"Amazon is one of the major companies to introduce palm biometric payment and the e-commerce giant is now expanding the system to healthcare. The technology is anticipated to reduce the time patients spend at front desks, currently two to three minutes, down to less than a minute, which adds up to significant time savings for the more-than 10 million patients who visit annually."
January 17, 2025
On the web
Amazon to Acquire Indian BNPL Firm Axio
Tech In Asia
"Amazon has reached an agreement to acquire the Indian buy-now, pay-later company Axio as part of its expansion into financial services in India. Finalized in December 2024, the deal awaits approval from the Reserve Bank of India."
December 12, 2024
On the web
Superapp Grab Selects AWS as its Preferred Cloud Provider to Drive Technology Innovation and Growth
Amazon
"Amazon Web Services, Inc. and Grab, Southeast Asia’s leading superapp announced that Grab has selected AWS as its preferred cloud provider. With AWS, Grab is pursuing a technology-led strategy to accelerate growth across its mobility, deliveries, and financial services verticals, including its new digibanks, while continuing to improve its operational efficiencies and reduce IT infrastructure costs."
December 10, 2024
On the web
Intuit and Amazon Expand Strategic Partnership
Intuit Inc.
"Intuit Inc. and Amazon announced a multi-year strategic partnership to empower millions of Amazon sellers to manage their finances, stay compliant, access capital, and grow their business."
November 20, 2024
On the web
Amazon Launches Cash EBT Payment Option in 17 States, Washington, D.C.
Chain Store Age
"Customers in select U.S. states and Washington, D.C. can now purchase a wide range of products and services beyond food with federal benefits payment. An Amazon spokesperson said the e-tail giant is now accepting federal Cash EBT benefits as a payment option on its website in 17 states and Washington, D.C."
October 23, 2024
On the web
Amazon Announces New Fuel Savings Offer for Prime Members
Amazon Press Center
"Amazon announced that Prime members can now save $0.10 per gallon at approximately 7,000 bp, Amoco, and ampm gas stations across the U.S. Additionally, Prime members can expect more savings —in 2025, Amazon plans to add an electric vehicle charging offers with bp pulse, bp’s electric vehicle charging business, with details to be revealed next year."
September 24, 2024
On the web
Amazon Business Integrates B2B Payments Platform Melio
Modern Distribution Management
"B2B payments platform Melio integrated with the Amazon Business Reconciliation API to synchronize Amazon Business invoices in a single payment system. New York-based Melio, a payment platform for businesses, offers customers payment choices for flexibility to pay and receive payments how they want."
September 18, 2024
On the web
Amazon Adds PayPal as a Payment Option to Buy With Prime
TechCrunch
"Amazon’s Buy with Prime program, which lets shoppers with a Prime membership purchase items from third-party stores and check out using their Amazon account, is getting a new payment option: PayPal."
August 26, 2024
On the web
Amazon Pay UPI Surpasses 100 Million Customers, Marking a Major Milestone
Business Standard
"Amazon Pay UPI today announced that its app has crossed a major milestone, having been adopted by over 100 million customers. Leading use cases include mobile recharges, utility bill payments, and e-commerce transactions."
Take us with you
Payments on Fire is available on iTunes, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, and other podcast apps and services. Or just say “Alexa, play Payments on Fire podcast.”
