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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.
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September 25, 2026
On the web
Mastercard: From AI-Powered Planning to the Christmas Eve Rush: What to Expect This Holiday Season
Mastercard
"Holiday shopping may still be weeks away, but the 2026 season is setting up to be one of the strongest in years, according to the Mastercard Economics Institute’s annual holiday forecast for the U.S. MEI expects U.S. retail sales, excluding automobiles and gas, to increase 5.5% year over year between November 1 and December 24, based on SpendingPulse insights, which represent in-store and online spending across all forms of payment. That would mark the strongest holiday growth since 2022."
September 24, 2026
On the web
Sofi and Mastercard’s New Stablecoin Partnership Is a Big Deal. Here’s Why. [Video]
Yahoo Finance
Mastercard and SoFi have a new stablecoin partnership. Scott Melker outlines the details in the video.
September 23, 2026
On the web
Mastercard: Changing Lanes: Cross-Border Payment Providers in New Race to Win Small Business Loyalty
Mastercard
"Nine in 10 (91%) small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) trading internationally are set to switch their current cross-border payment provider in the next two years, according to Mastercard’s new Money in Motion report. The findings point to a fast-changing market, as SMEs look for more efficient ways to move money across borders."
September 22, 2026
On the web
BVNK Expands Multi-Chain Stablecoin Infrastructure with Stellar Integration
BVNK by Mastercard
"BVNK announced the integration of the Stellar blockchain into its stablecoin payments platform, giving businesses access to another high-speed, low-cost payment rail through BVNK’s single platform and API. The integration gives BVNK’s customers an additional route for moving stablecoins globally, while enabling businesses to access multiple blockchain networks through a single API. This abstracts much of the technical complexity of connecting to individual blockchain networks."
Moov Launches Moov Money, a New P2P Solution Built Using the Debit Cards Americans Already Carry
Business Wire
"Built in collaboration with Mastercard and Visa, the new solution enables participating banks and credit unions to deliver secure P2P payments while keeping deposits and customer relationships at their primary institution. Turnkey integration with Jack Henry’s Banno Digital Platform™ gives over 1,000 banks and credit unions more choice in P2P payments"
SoFi Becomes First National Bank to Go Live with Stablecoin Settlement across Mastercard’s Global Payments Network
Business Wire
"SoFi Technologies, Inc. and Mastercard announced that stablecoin settlement is now live across SoFi Bank, N.A.’s debit and credit card program, bringing stablecoin settlement through SoFiUSD, issued by a federally regulated bank, to Mastercard’s global payments network following the companies’ partnership announced in March. As part of the launch, SoFi Bank is migrating its entire $25 billion card program to stablecoin settlement of transactions using SoFiUSD. Transactions are live on the blockchain today."
Mastercard, Flybits and Rogers Bank Establish Secure Agentic Commerce Benchmark
The Fast Mode
"Mastercard, Flybits and Rogers Bank announced Canada’s first successful deployment of a landmark agentic commerce transaction involving an AI-powered commerce platform, card issuer and payments network, demonstrating how AI-powered shopping experiences can prioritize consumer control, transparency and security."
September 17, 2026
On the web
Mastercard Links up with Alchemy to Offer Agentic Shopping Option
Seeking Alpha
"Mastercard and Alchemy have teamed up to advance the use of agentic AI shopping for purchases, the companies said. Alchemy provides the tech that allows users to issue virtual payment cards to AI bots embedded with a slate of restrictions, such as spending limits and types of products that may be purchased. The company's AgentCard will support Mastercard payment credentials through an integration with Mastercard Agent Pay, giving developers a way to build AI agents that can safely complete purchases for users online, Alchemy said."
September 16, 2026
On the web
Mastercard and Trip.com Pave the Way for Agentic Commerce in the Travel Sector [Video]
Mastercard
"Mastercard and Trip.com have joined forces to showcase AI powered booking experiences for the travel sector. Powered by Mastercard’s Agent Suite for Merchants and in partnership with Network International, the organizations are showcasing how consumers will be able to search, book, and complete purchases through Trip.com’s AI agent TripGenie. By combining Trip.com’s travel ecosystem."
September 15, 2026
On the web
Google Pay to Add Device Biometrics for Mastercard Payments in India
Biometric Update
"Mastercard and Google Pay plan to allow users in India to authenticate eligible card payments with a fingerprint or face scan on their smartphones. The optional biometric authentication feature will be available through participating issuing banks to customers with an eligible Mastercard saved in Google Pay. Mastercard says it is intended for utility bills, mobile recharges, and eligible online merchant checkouts. The companies expect to begin rolling it out by the end of 2026."
September 10, 2026
Top Post
Mastercard Launches Wallet Pay to Scale Digital Wallets Worldwide
Mastercard
"Digital wallets have rapidly evolved into robust, multi-service platforms, now serving over 4.3 billion users worldwide. With global usage set to top 6 billion by 2030, Mastercard is introducing Mastercard Wallet Pay, a global portfolio of solutions designed to foster interoperability and innovation for digital wallets across contactless (NFC), QR codes and online digital payments."
September 9, 2026
On the web
Mastercard Gives Merchants a Simpler Way to Build, Connect and Scale Ai-Powered Shopping Experiences
Mastercard
"New Mastercard Agent Connect solution and expanded Agent Suite for Merchants capabilities will help businesses create agent-powered shopping experiences, make products discoverable across AI ecosystems and support trusted agentic transactions while maintaining control. Mastercard can also help merchants prepare to support secure agentic transactions with Mastercard Agent Pay."
September 4, 2026
On the web
Education: Mastercard - What’s in the Cards?
Mastercard
"The credit card is one of the most recognizable totems of modern commerce. Billions and billions of cards have been produced over the decades, and while the dimensions have largely remained the same, new technology, design trends and concerns about accessibility and sustainability have evolved how they look, feel and work. Here’s a brief look at the changing face of cards."
August 20, 2026
On the web
Stablecoins Won’t Replace the Dollar: Mastercard CEO [Video]
Yahoo Finance
"Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach explains to Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi how stablecoins could help suppliers in high-inflation countries and make difficult cross-border payments faster and more predictable, while also explaining why crypto still won't replace the dollar."
August 17, 2026
On the web
A Routine Mastercard Update Knocked Out Card Payments Across Australia
Startup Fortune
"On Saturday afternoon, you couldn't trust your Mastercard at the checkout in parts of Australia. Not to tap. Not through Apple Pay. Not through Android Pay. News.com.au reported that Downdetector showed more than 1,700 Mastercard outage reports by 3pm on August 15, 2026, as failed transactions hit shoppers and businesses during weekend trading."
August 7, 2026
On the web
Mastercard’s Trust Layer: The Compliance Bottleneck That Could Decide Who Wins Stablecoin Payments
Yahoo Finance
"The primary obstacle to global stablecoin adoption is not the speed of settlement, but the friction of compliance. Every transaction between disparate providers currently requires redundant verification, a process that fails to scale alongside the underlying network infrastructure. Mastercard and Borderless.xyz announced a pilot program designed to address this inefficiency. By deploying Mastercard's Crypto Credential framework across the Borderless.xyz network, the initiative introduces a standardized trust layer."
August 6, 2026
On the web
Mastercard’s Trust Layer: The Compliance Bottleneck That Could Decide Who Wins Stablecoin Payments
Forkast
"By deploying Crypto Credential across the Borderless.xyz network, Mastercard is betting it's over who controls verification at scale. Every transaction between disparate providers currently requires redundant verification, a process that fails to scale alongside the underlying network infrastructure. Mastercard and Borderless.xyz announced a pilot program designed to address this inefficiency. By deploying Mastercard’s Crypto Credential framework across the Borderless.xyz network, the initiative introduces a standardized trust layer."
August 5, 2026
On the web
Mastercard and Pexa Partner to Explore Synchronised Settlement to Create Greater Certainty for UK Homebuyers
IFA Magazine
"A new partnership between PEXA and Mastercard will explore how greater certainty could be provided for UK homebuyers on completion day, by testing account-to-account (A2A) payment innovation to support the property buying journey."
August 3, 2026
On the web
Mastercard Closes Acquisition of BVNK
FX News Group
"Mastercard Inc. completed its acquisition of BVNK, expanding the company’s strategy to support greater choice in how people and businesses exchange value by enabling interoperability across fiat and digital currencies. BVNK provides the infrastructure that supports fiat and on-chain payments behind the scenes — enabling people, businesses and machines to hold, move, manage and convert value across fiat and digital currencies within a framework of security, compliance and interoperability."
July 30, 2026
On the web
Mastercard Launches Scam Program And Expands Stablecoin Payment Infrastructure
Yahoo Finance
"Mastercard launched a new Scam Merchant Monitoring Program that pushes acquiring banks to investigate suspected fraud within strict timelines. In addition, the company is expanding stablecoin settlement support, including through its acquisition of BVNK and a focus on deeper banking as a service offerings. These moves aim to tighten consumer protection and build out Mastercard's infrastructure for stablecoin linked payments."
July 24, 2026
Top Post
Mastercard Expands Virtual Card Platform with New Security Controls, Embedded Payments Network and Single API Access
Mastercard
"Mastercard announced enhancements to Mastercard In Control® – a virtual card number (VCN) platform for scalable B2B payments. New innovations include advanced virtual card controls that help reduce risk across the full payment lifecycle, and one scalable connection to Mastercard’s growing embedded partner network — enabling enterprises, financial institutions and platforms to manage payments with greater confidence, flexibility and efficiency."
July 16, 2026
Top Post
Ushering in a New Era of Digital Wallet Innovation [Mastercard Wallet Services]
Mastercard
"Apple's decision to open device access is now creating more room for mobile payment choice and innovation. Mastercard is introducing Mastercard Wallet Services, a set of software tools and services that simplifies the creation of wallet capabilities on both iOS and Android. Mastercard Wallet Services is a solution including a Secure Element applet and software developer kits that enable contactless payments for Android and iOS environments. Partners can build contactless capabilities across platforms without managing separate integrations."
July 14, 2026
On the web
Mastercard: Helping the UK Get AI-Ready
Mastercard
"Agentic AI is becoming one of the UK’s biggest commercial opportunities. They chose the UK to announce expansion of Agent Suite with Proto, a sandbox environment to explore, test and validate agentic AI use cases before introducing them into production. Mastercard will be live in the UK in August. Retailers and their partners will be able to test whether their products are discoverable by agents, how to scale the payment experience, whether their plan for handling disputes in this environment works at scale, and much more."
July 13, 2026
Top Post
Mastercard Explores Sale of UK Payments Unit Vocalink Stake
Investing
"Mastercard Inc. is considering selling a majority stake in Vocalink, its UK payments subsidiary, back to British banks, the Financial Times reported Monday. The move comes as the company addresses concerns about U.S. ownership of a key British financial infrastructure asset. Vocalink operates a substantial portion of the UK retail payments system. The potential transaction for a 51% stake could be valued at approximately £400 million, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the discussions."
On the web
Europe’s Payment Power Struggle: Can Visa and Mastercard Be Displaced?
International Banker
"Europe’s payment system is entering a new phase in which pertinent questions about market structure, competition and efficiency are increasingly being reframed as questions of financial sovereignty. What was once a discussion about interchange fees and merchant costs has expanded into a broader assessment of how much control Europe retains over the infrastructure that underpins everyday commerce. And at the centre of this system sit Visa and Mastercard."
July 8, 2026
On the web
AI Agents Are Ready to Act. Most Systems Aren’t Ready to Trust Them
Mastercard
"Most organizations don’t have an AI innovation problem. They have a scaling problem. Across industries, companies have spent the past few years experimenting with AI pilots, yet many are still struggling to move from promising proofs of concept to real-world deployment. The obstacle is rarely a lack of ambition — private global investment in AI grew more than thirteenfold between 2014 and 2024. More often, leaders haven’t built the conditions needed to trust AI, in particular agentic AI, at scale: culture, security, accountability, governance and data readiness."
June 30, 2026
On the web
Mastercard Launches Africa Cybersecurity Center of Excellence to Help Secure the Continent’s Digital Future
Mastercard
"Mastercard announced the launch of its Africa Cybersecurity Center of Excellence, a pan-African initiative designed to strengthen cyber resilience, enhance collaboration and help safeguard the trust that underpins Africa's expanding digital economy."
June 15, 2026
On the web
Mastercard on Central Bank Rails: What the TIPS Pilot Means for the Payments Industry
LeapRate
"Two weeks ago, Mastercard quietly did something that would have been impossible eighteen months ago. Its Mastercard Move platform processed live payments settled atomically in central bank money — simultaneously completing both legs of a euro-to-Danish-krone exchange on the ECB’s TARGET Instant Payment Settlement platform. No correspondent bank in the middle. No overnight settlement risk. Final, simultaneous settlement in central bank money. It may not have generated the headlines it deserves."
June 10, 2026
Top Post
Mastercard Launches Agent Pay for Machines to Unlock Super-Fast, Always-on Payments
Mastercard
"Mastercard envisions a future where businesses create services for AI agents to buy and use. To enable this new form of commerce, Mastercard developed a new way to pay for these services: payments, some only fractions of a cent, to be completed quickly, programmatically and securely. Today, the company is introducing Agent Pay for Machines (AP4M), a new service that will allow these transactions to be permissioned, orchestrated and settled at machine speed across its global payments network."
June 9, 2026
On the web
HSBC, Mastercard Pilot Agentic B2B Payments in Singapore
Tech In Asia
"HSBC and Mastercard said they were piloting agentic commerce for business-to-business (B2B) procurement and payments in Singapore. The proof of concept links a multinational corporate buyer, Singapore-based procurement platform SourceSage, and ecommerce supplier FortyTwo through Mastercard Agent Pay, tokenised payments, and merchant discovery and referral tools. HSBC said the pilot would let trusted digital agents automate parts of purchasing and payment while keeping controls and oversight in place."
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