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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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November 5, 2025
On the web
Staples Canada Customers First to Benefit from KONEK: New e-Commerce Solution from Interac and Canadian Financial Institutions
Interac
"Interac announced that Staples Canada has come on board as the first national merchant for its new Canadian e-commerce payment solution, KONEK™. KONEK enables consumers to select their preferred payment option from their eligible financial institution accounts when making purchases online. It is delivered by Interac in collaboration with Canada’s leading financial institutions. BMO, National Bank of Canada, Royal Bank of Canada, Scotiabank and TD Canada Trust customers will be the first to access this e-commerce solution."
Stripe and NEC to Provide Face Recognition Payment Service via Stripe Terminal
Yahoo Finance-PR Newswire
"Stripe and NEC Corporation have begun exploring integration of the Stripe Reader S700 payment terminal, compatible with the unified commerce solution Stripe Terminal, with NEC's face recognition payment service. By combining Stripe's payment terminals, payment services, and functions with NEC's face recognition technology, the companies aim to provide secure, simple, and convenient hands-free payments."
PPRO Enables Wero for CTS Eventim, Marking the Debut of the European-Born Digital Payment Solution in the Live Entertainment Sector
PPRO
"PPRO, the leading local payments platform, has enabled Wero for CTS EVENTIM, Europe’s largest ticketing provider. In a significant milestone for Europe’s payment landscape, CTS EVENTIM has become the first major e-commerce company in Germany to integrate the new European payment solution, Wero, into its online shop. The phased introduction marks the first time Wero is being made widely accessible to Germany’s live entertainment industry."
November 4, 2025
Top Post
How AI Is Powering the ISO 20022 Postal Data Transition
Swift
"Thousands of institutions are already reaping the benefits of migrating to ISO 20022. But some upcoming ISO 20022 deadlines require careful planning, including the move from unstructured to structured postal data. Here’s how we're helping financial institutions make this transition as smoothly as possible. By November 2026, banks must stop using unstructured postal addresses in certain ISO 20022 payment messages to avoid message rejection, fundamentally changing how address data is captured, stored and transmitted."
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"
Five FedNow® Service Announcements From This Fall
Federal Reserve
"The FedNow Service has made major announcements recently: Instant federal agency disbursements; Transaction limit increase: The FedNow Service network transaction limit will increase from $1 million to $10 million, effective November 2025. Network intelligence pilot and enhanced reporting: A pilot program allowing financial institutions sending transactions over the FedNow Service to do a “pre-check” on receiver accounts before making a payment. Exception Resolution Service: FedNow participants can directly communicate with one another to ensure exceptions can be resolved swiftly for instant payments and 1,500 participant milestone."
Clear Junction Launches Multi-Currency Swift Service for Remittances Across Latin America, Asia-Pacific and EMEA
Clear Junction
"Cross-border payments provider Clear Junction has launched a multi-currency Swift service aimed at streamlining transactions for remittance companies across Latin America, Asia-Pacific and EMEA. The new service targets one of the industry’s long-standing pain points: achieving faster and more cost-effective last-mile payouts in destination markets."
Visa and Transcard Collaborate to Deliver Advanced Embedded Working Capital Solutions in Freight & Logistics
Visa
"Visa and Transcard announced the launch of a next-generation embedded finance platform, designed to power payments and working capital solutions in the freight and logistics industry. Visa and Transcard are also collaborating on agentic initiatives for the B2B segment. This alliance puts embedded credit and working capital solutions in the hands of freight forwarders and airline carriers on WebCargo by Freightos, a leading digital booking and payments platform in the freight industry."
November 3, 2025
On the web
Pay by Bank Now ‘Table Stakes’ for Banks and PSPs as Merchant Demand Surges
Open Banking Expo
"Merchant demand, rising market confidence, and robust growth expectations have made Pay by Bank table stakes for banks and payment service providers (PSPs), with 59% of banks and 90% of PSPs now offering, or planning to offer, Pay by Bank services. These are the findings detailed in a new survey report published by the leading A2A payment infrastructure provider, Token.io, and Open Banking Expo."
Starling Bank Launches UK-First AI Tool [UK]
Banking Exchange
"The tool seeks to provide customers with detailed fraud risk assessments, enabling them to make informed decisions regarding their transactions. The tool, which is available to personal, joint, and business account holders, represents the first time a UK bank has integrated an AI-powered scam detection feature directly into its app."
On the wires
Marqeta Powers Expansion of Klarna Debit Card Across Europe
Business Wire
"Marqeta, Inc. announced it is working with Klarna, to expand the Klarna Card into 15 new European markets. This launch extends Marqeta’s long-term partnership with Klarna and leverages Visa’s Flexible Credential (VFC) technology, enabling customers to choose between paying now or later, all through a single debit card experience."
ACI Worldwide Acquires European Fintech Payment Components to Augment ACI Connetic
Business Wire
"ACI Worldwide announced that it has acquired Payment Components, a provider of AI-powered financial messaging and Open Banking solutions. ACI will integrate Payment Components technology into ACI Connetic, accelerating the roadmap of the industry's only cloud-native unified payments platform that seamlessly integrates account-to-account (A2A) payments, card processing, and AI-powered fraud prevention within a single, modular cloud-native architecture."
Ant Group to Strengthen Support for Hong Kong's Global Finance and Tech Leadership with AI, GoGlobal Services
Business Wire
"Eric Jing, Chairman of Ant Group, reaffirmed Ant’s commitment to deepening cross-sector collaboration on regulated AI and tokenization innovation in the territory, and to expanding its cross-border payment and trade financing services to support Hong Kong’s initiative to help Chinese businesses go global."
October 31, 2025
On the web
JP Morgan Launches Private Fund Tokenization Solution
Ledger Insights
"Kinexys by JP Morgan has launched its latest offering, Kinexys Fund Flow, to streamline fund distribution, particularly for alternative funds. It partnered with fund administrator Citco for the first transaction, which involved tokenizing a private equity fund made available to clients of JP Morgan Private Bank. The solution uses JP Morgan’s Kinexys permissioned blockchain, the same distributed ledger that powers its blockchain-based bank account."
Splitwise and Tink Expand Pay by Bank Across Europe
IBS Intelligence
"Splitwise has partnered with Tink, a Visa Solution, to bring Pay by Bank to users in France, Germany, and Austria. Splitwise’s European growth strategy underscores both companies’ commitment to driving digital transformation and seamless financial experiences through open banking technology.
Tink and Coinbase Introduce Pay by Bank for Crypto in Germany
Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News
"Swedish open banking platform Tink and Coinbase have partnered to enable crypto purchases via Pay by Bank in Germany. Pay by Bank is an open banking-powered payment method that allows consumers to transfer money directly between bank accounts without manual data entry."
October 30, 2025
On the web
Google Finally Opens Up the Play Store’s Gates in the US
Android Authority
"Google is opening up the Play Store in the US, allowing users to download apps and make payments outside it starting October 29, 2025. Developers can now link to external app stores or payment options and offer cheaper deals directly to users. The change follows a court order in Google’s legal battle with Epic Games and currently applies only in the United States."
A Deep Dive Into the QR Code Payment Revolution With Matera
Federal Reserve
"Picture this: Instead of waiting days or weeks to receive medical, utility and other bills in the mail, they are sent directly to your email via QR code. The QR code can be used with your bank’s mobile app, and after confirming payment details, your payment is processed and settled within seconds. Matera, a leading provider of QR code and payment technologies, and its banking partner, Payfinia, recently demonstrated the first QR code payment sent over the FedNow® Service."
Western Union Announces USDPT Stablecoin on Solana and Digital Asset Network
Western Union
"The Western Union Company announced its plan to launch U.S. Dollar Payment Token (USDPT), its new stablecoin, and an innovative Digital Asset Network designed to bridge the digital and fiat worlds, enabling real world utility for digital assets. Built on Solana and issued by Anchorage Digital Bank, Western Union aims to launch USDPT, expanding the ways to move money for customers, agents and partners, and to support the company’s treasury capabilities."
Toast Expands Toast IQ from Smart Features to Smart AI Assistant
Toast
"Toast announced a major expansion of the Toast IQ intelligence ecosystem with a conversational AI assistant for restaurants and food and beverage retailers. With access to real-time and historical data across approximately 148,000 customer locations, Toast IQ is purpose-built for hospitality and designed as an operator’s “right hand.” While many AI tools stop at answers, Toast IQ goes further—proactively surfacing insights and executing tasks directly within Toast."
IBM Announces New Platform for Financial Institutions and Regulated Enterprises Entering the Digital Asset Economy
IBM Newsroom
"IBM announced the launch of IBM Digital Asset Haven, a comprehensive platform for financial institutions, governments, and corporations to securely manage and scale their digital asset operations. Banks and governments now have a single solution to manage their digital asset lifecycle – from custody to transactions to settlement – that helps them meet compliance obligations while being integration-ready."
Real-Time Payments Systems: A Force for Transformation
OMFIF
"A vibrant, safe and innovative RTP ecosystem depends on conditions that are co-created by the public and private sectors. Success is defined by three core imperatives: security, interoperability and digital extensibility. A new report published by OMFIF and Mastercard, Future-proofing the architecture of real-time payments, finds that these three dimensions must be advanced in parallel to realise the promise of safe, inclusive and future-ready payments ecosystems that enable broad participation across stakeholders."
On the wires
CPI Card Group Partners With Karta to Deliver Groundbreaking Digital Security for Prepaid Cards
Business Wire
"CPI Card Group Inc. announced a strategic partnership with, and a minority equity investment in, Karta, an Australia-based prepaid program manager and payments technology firm. The partnership offers CPI clients a solution for prepaid card security by integrating Karta’s patent-pending SafeToBuy technology. SafeToBuy eliminates printed card numbers and details from gift card packaging with data and security embedded in an EMV chip, which helps mitigate the fraudulent draining of a prepaid card."
October 29, 2025
Top Post
Introducing an Agentic Commerce Solution for Merchants From PayPal and Google Cloud
Google Cloud
"Modern consumers demand a seamless, personalized shopping journey, from initial product discovery all the way to final purchase. With the rise of agentic AI, merchants now have an opportunity to deliver a truly assistive and cohesive experience across every touchpoint. PayPal and Google Cloud have announced bringing agentic shopping experiences to life with a new offering that combines Google Cloud’s Conversational Commerce agent with payments powered by PayPal."
On the web
PNC Bank, Visa Announce Collaboration on Immediate Payment Capabilities Through Visa Direct
PNC Financial Services Group
"PNC Bank, N.A., and Visa Inc. announced a renewed strategic collaboration that will further expand immediate1 payments capabilities available to PNC Treasury Management clients. The initiative utilizes Visa Direct’s expansive U.S. network and PNC’s leading Treasury Management Platform to provide clients with access to differentiated payment capabilities, delivering streamlined and efficient money-movement and payment processes."
Bringing Agentic Payments to Life with Marqeta’s MCP Server
Marqeta
"As part of bringing agentic payments to life, Marqeta’s Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server allows our customers to connect to our extensive payment APIs. An MCP server is an open-source standard developed by Anthropic for connecting AI applications to external systems, allowing them to access key information and perform complex tasks."
On the wires
Thunes and Ecobank Group To Power Africa's Instant Payments for the Next Billion Users
PR Newswire
"Thunes and Ecobank Group, the leading pan-African financial institution, announced a collaboration which will enable instant cross-border payments for millions of individuals and businesses across Sub-Saharan Africa. The partnership operationalizes the landmark memorandum of understanding signed between Ecobank and TransferTo, Thunes' holding company, in 2024. That agreement envisioned a fundamental transformation of financial access and cross-border payment solutions across Africa."
October 28, 2025
On the web
Venmo and Bilt Unveil First-of-Its-Kind Partnership Reinventing Rent & Mortgage Payments Nationwide
PayPal Newsroom
"Venmo announced a partnership with Bilt, the nation's largest housing and neighborhood commerce platform, to expand how people use Venmo for everyday payments. The partnership brings rent payments, mortgage repayments, and neighborhood commerce into the Venmo experience, marking a major step in Venmo's evolution from a peer-to-peer payments app to an everyday commerce platform."
OpenAI and PayPal Team Up to Power Instant Checkout and Agentic Commerce in ChatGPT
PayPal Newsroom
"PayPal, Inc. announced it will adopt the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP) to expand payments and commerce in ChatGPT. Millions of ChatGPT users will be able to check out instantly using PayPal, and PayPal will support payments processing for merchants leveraging OpenAI Instant Checkout. PayPal will also connect its global merchant network to OpenAI, creating a platform for tens of millions of small businesses and the largest brands in the world to sell within ChatGPT."
October 27, 2025
On the web
Uber Selects Checkout.com to Deliver Fast, Reliable Global Payments Across Its Enterprise Platform
Checkout
"Checkout.com announced a new strategic partnership with Uber Technologies, Inc, the world’s leading digital mobility platform. The partnership will see Checkout.com provide acquiring and gateway services to Uber’s ridesharing and on-demand delivery platforms across multiple markets worldwide. Uber chose Checkout.com for its unique ability to combine global coverage with local expertise in a number of key markets."
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