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June 2, 2025
On the web
Tencent Eyes Thai Market for Palm Biometric Payments in Race With Alipay
GlobalData
"Tencent is positioning Thailand as a testing ground for its palm biometric payment system, aiming to capitalise on the nation’s digital transformation push and “Cloud First” policy. The move signals a strategic play to outpace rival Alipay in Southeast Asia’s rapidly expanding fintech sector."
May 30, 2025
On the web
BIS: Digital Fraud
BIS
"The ongoing digitalisation of finance brings numerous benefits, such as increased efficiency, convenience, financial inclusion, transparency and quicker responses to crises. However, it also introduces significant risks to bank soundness and financial stability. One such risk is digital fraud."
On the wires
Payment Firm Stripe in Early Talks With Banks About Stablecoins
Bloomberg
"Stripe Inc. has held early discussions with banks about their potential use of stablecoins, the latest sign that the digital assets are playing an increasingly central role in global money movement. The talks come as Stripe has debuted a number of products related to stablecoins in recent months, including a platform allowing fintechs to quickly start their own stablecoin-linked card programs for customers, according to John Collison, the co-founder and president of the payments giant."
NMI Now Offers Tap to Pay on iPhone for Merchants to Accept Contactless Payments
Business Wire
"NMI® now enables its U.S. customers to seamlessly and securely accept in-person, contactless payments with Tap to Pay on iPhone. Tap to Pay on iPhone allows merchants to accept all forms of contactless payments, including contactless credit and debit cards, Apple Pay and other digital wallets, using only an iPhone and a supporting iOS app — no additional hardware or payment terminal needed."
May 29, 2025
Top Post
Federal Reserve Board Issues Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2024 Report
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
"The Federal Reserve Board issued its Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2024 report, which examines the financial circumstances of U.S. adults and their families. Overall, the report shows that financial well-being was similar to the previous two years as concerns about prices persisted and labor market conditions remained solid."
On the web
Mastercard Unveils Small Business Navigator to Empower U.S. Entrepreneurs With Smarter, Safer Growth
Mastercard
"Mastercard launched Mastercard Small Business Navigator, a program designed to equip U.S. entrepreneurs with the tools, data and education they need to fuel and protect their passion and growth. Mastercard Small Business Navigator is a new curated offering of education, insights, protection, and planning tools to help entrepreneurs grow and thrive with confidence."
Mastercard Introduces Touch Card by Mastercard™ in Canada, a Tactile Notch Feature Designed to Help Empower the Sight Loss Community
Barchart
"Eight in ten Canadians agree it's important to embed accessibility in financial products for the sight loss community. As payment cards continue to evolve to drive accessibility while adopting modern, flat designs for increased security, Mastercard is introducing Touch Card by Mastercard in Canada. This accessible system of payment cards has unique notches that allow the sight loss community to identify their credit, debit and prepaid cards with just a touch."
Stripe Fuels UK Business Growth With Global Money Management Capabilities
Stripe
"UK businesses are now able to: Hold, manage, and spend from balances in multiple currencies in their existing Stripe account, and pay out to customers, contractors, and other third parties in 50 countries with just an email address.Sell cross-border more easily using 25 new payment methods (including UPI in India and Pix in Brazil), collect and file taxes in 102 countries, and present prices in local currencies in more than 150 markets and more."
Card-Not-Present Fraud Rates in the United States After the Migration to Chip Cards
Kansas City Fed
"Unlike many other countries, the United States did not see a surge in the “card-not-present” fraud rate immediately after migrating to chip-card technology. Instead, the U.S. card-not-present fraud rate of non-prepaid debit cards has increased gradually over the past decade. Merchants’ and cardholders’ card-not-present fraud loss rates have increased for both dual- and single-message networks, while issuers’ card-not-present fraud loss rate has increased for single-message networks."
Will Consumers Accept Open Banking? A Global Perspective
Nacha
"Open banking has a lot of moving parts, but at the end of the day, it might well come down to two words: consumer acceptance. “In the U.S., it does seem that consumers are willing to engage in open banking to initiate payments, to link a bank account, to do things like a digital wallet load,” said Mike Herd, Nacha Executive Vice President, ACH Network Administration.
Regulating and Supervising Cross-Border Payment Service Providers
BIS
"Advances in digital technology are playing a key role in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of transferring funds across borders. New service providers supplying more delivery channels based on new technologies offer consumers access to more convenient, cheaper and faster options for conducting transactions, such as paying bills, purchasing goods and services, and transferring cash to others."
May 28, 2025
On the web
PayPal Gets RBI Nod for Cross-Border Transfers—Who Benefits and How
NewsBytes
"PayPal Payments (PayPal), the Indian arm of PayPal Holdings, has received in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as a cross-border payment aggregator. Another fintech firm, Worldline ePayments India, also announced that it has received RBI's approval to operate under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007."
Explore the First Brief in Our EMV 3DS Mini-Series
U.S. Payments Forum
"EMV® 3-D Secure (EMV 3DS) is a powerful tool for reducing eCommerce fraud, improving transaction approval rates, and protecting merchants from chargebacks. In this first installment of the U.S. Payments Forum’s EMV 3DS Mini-Series, we break down: How EMV 3DS works across issuer, acquirer, and interoperability domains; Real-world use cases like high-risk, high-value, and cross-border transactions; Key benefits for merchants—including fraud reduction, customer trust, and liability protection; Common adoption challenges and how to overcome them"
Worldpay to Enable Stablecoin Payouts for Global Businesses in Collaboration with BVNK
Worldpay
"Worldpay® and BVNK announced they are working together to enable nearly instant global payouts in stablecoins for Worldpay clients in the U.S. and Europe. This collaboration will enable Worldpay’s clients to pay out to customers, contractors, creators, sellers, and other 3rd party beneficiaries in stablecoins across more than 180 markets nearly instantly, all without having to hold or handle stablecoins themselves."
Visa Brings Click to Pay to Hong Kong with ZA Bank
IBS Intelligence
"Visa has announced the official rollout of Click to Pay in partnership with ZA Bank, Hong Kong’s first and largest virtual bank. This launch makes ZA Bank the first card issuer across Asia Pacific to enable the Visa Click to Pay solution, with further expansion planned in 11 additional regional markets."
Elon Musk Confirms Surprising New Feature on X
Yahoo Finance
"X owner Elon Musk confirmed on May 25 that the social media platform will soon unveil a payments feature. As the Tesla Owners Silicon Valley informed on X that Musk has confirmed X is launching X Money soon, the billionaire responded, "This will be a very limited access beta at first. When people’s savings are involved, extreme care must be taken."
Fighting Fraud Across the Globe: What Other Countries are Doing
Nacha
"If ever there was a case where misery loves company, it’s fraud. “Fraud is a global issue,” said Jane Larimer, Nacha President and CEO. To discover what’s being done in other parts of the world, Larimer brought together leaders from Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the UK for the April 28 panel “Industry Focus: Fighting Fraud Across the Globe: What Can the U.S. Learn from Other Geos?” at Smarter Faster Payments 2025."
Tink, Adyen Partner to Bring Pay by Bank to Vodafone Customers in Germany
Open Banking Expo
"Tink, A Visa Solution, and Adyen, the global financial technology platform of choice for leading businesses, have announced a partnership with Vodafone, a leading telecoms company, to offer their customers in Germany the option to pay their prepaid tariff and outstanding post-paid balances using Pay by Bank."
On the wires
Circle Launches Initial Public Offering
Business Wire
"Circle Internet Group, Inc., a global financial technology company and stablecoin market leader, announced the launch of the initial public offering."
May 27, 2025
On the web
ACI Worldwide Redefines Payments with ACI Connetic
ACI Worldwide
"ACI Worldwide has announced the integration of the major UK, EU and global networks’ payment capabilities into ACI Connetic, ACI’s transformative, cloud-native payments hub. These include Swift cross-border payments, RTGS payments including Target2, SEPA Instant RT1 and TIPS payments, with the addition of more capabilities planned."
Customers Want Security, Ease of Use From Their P2P Transfer Brands
J.D. Power
"When it comes to P2P (person-to-person) transfers, bank customers are fiercely loyal to the brand they prefer. However, according to new J.D. Power data, network effects, security and ease of use play a large role in determining which “additional” brands consumers are using."
May 23, 2025
On the web
Curve Pay Launches iPhone NFC Payments as Apple Pay Alternative
MacRumors
"British fintech company Curve has launched contactless payments for iPhone users in the European Union, becoming the second third-party payment service after PayPal to take advantage of Apple's newly opened NFC interface. The Curve Pay app allows users to make tap-to-pay purchases without using Apple Pay or the Wallet app, following PayPal's debut of similar functionality in Germany earlier this month."
Citi Rolls Out PayTo Solution for Institutional Clients in Australia
IBS Intelligence
"Citi has launched its PayTo initiator service, providing institutional clients with a fast, secure and cost-effective alternative to traditional credit card, debit card, or direct debit payments. With PayTo, Citi’s institutional clients can now initiate real-time account-to-account pull payments, allowing their end-customers to authorise payments directly from their bank accounts. This capability facilitates instant transactions and improves transparency."
May 22, 2025
On the web
More Than 50% of Fraud Driven by AI and Hyper-Realistic Impersonations, But Banks Also Use Generative AI to Fight Back
Feedzai
"Feedzai released its 2025 AI Trends in Fraud and Financial Crime Prevention report, uncovering how generative AI is used in financial fraud. More than 50% of fraud involves the use of artificial intelligence. Generative AI has emerged as a powerful tool for criminals, enabling the creation of hyper-realistic deepfakes, synthetic identities, and AI-powered phishing scams."
American Express Expands Footprint in the Caribbean
American Express
"From Barbados to Bermuda, your Amex Card is now accepted across 22 Caribbean islands like never before. Over the past few years, American Express has worked to expand acceptance in the region, fostering partnerships with local banks and elevating the experiences offered Card Members. Turks & Caicos, The Bahamas, Antigua & Barbuda, and Jamaica have the highest Amex acceptance rates, while St. Lucia and St. Kitts & Nevis follow closely behind."
Mastercard and MoonPay Team Up to Mainstream Stablecoin Payments
Mastercard
"Mastercard and MoonPay will join forces to enable people and businesses to pay and be paid using stablecoins across global markets. Enterprises and fintechs will be able to leverage Mastercard branded cards linked to users’ stablecoin balances, empowering cardholders to spend their stablecoins, which will simultaneously be converted to fiat currency, at more than 150 million locations where Mastercard is accepted worldwide."
Circle Launches Circle Payments Network for Real-Time Stablecoin Payments
Crypto News
"Circle has officially launched the mainnet for its Circle Payments Network. The CPN will be a new blockchain-based system designed to facilitate real-time cross-border payments and settlements using its stablecoin, USDC. The CPN is built to support business-to-business payments, cross-border remittances, enterprise treasury operations, and payroll disbursements."
Global Payments Introduces New Brand Identity
Global Payments Inc.
"Global Payments Inc. introduced an updated visual identity and logo that features a bolder and brighter look.This brand evolution marks a new era at Global Payments in which its businesses and solutions will go to market under a common brand, reflecting the company’s more focused and streamlined strategy that promotes clarity in the market about who the company is and what it does: Provide innovative commerce enablement solutions to businesses worldwide.Global Payments is also introducing a new rally cry – Already on it."
Visa and Mastercard Are Developing Artificial Intelligence ‘Agents’ to Spend Your Money for You
ABC
"Visa and Mastercard want to give artificial intelligence bots more control of Australians' bank cards, in a technological advancement they say could "revolutionise" shopping. The world's leading digital payment companies separately announced plans late last month to develop AI technology to streamline modern retail and allow autonomous agents to spend shoppers' money for them."
On the wires
Shopify Doubles Down on AI With Tools to Create Online Stores, Shopping Assistants
BNN Bloomberg
"Shopify Inc.’s latest round of product developments are leaning on artificial intelligence to help merchants and developers create everything from online stores to shopping assistants. The technology figures into many of the 150 product launches or enhancements the e-commerce software company announced Wednesday through its semi-annual Editions showcase."
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