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October 6, 2026
Top Post
The Venmo Credit Card Now Pays Up to 4% Cash Back When You Split with Friends
PayPal Newsroom
"Venmo announced an industry-first feature to the new rewards structure of its Venmo Credit Card introducing split-to-earn that rewards how people already spend with friends for shared experiences. Beginning October 15th, customers who open a new Venmo Credit Card can earn up to 4% cash back on dining and entertainment purchases: 3% automatically on every eligible transaction, plus an additional 1% when they split those purchases with friends on Venmo in the app."
On the web
FedEx Dataworks and Stripe to Join Forces to Reduce Friction in Global Commerce for SMBs
Business Wire
"FedEx Dataworks and Stripe announced a strategic collaboration to help reduce friction in global commerce by combining signals from the global FedEx network and Stripe financial infrastructure. The first joint solution is planned for launch in early 2027. The two companies plan to leverage their platforms to expand access to financing for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Additionally, FedEx will begin using Stripe as an option to process payments, adding more than 50 new payment methods to their checkouts through Stripe."
Lumin Digital Launches Lumin Signal, Bringing Behavioral Intelligence to Credit Unions and Banks
Lumin Digital
"Lumin Digital announced the launch of Lumin Signal, a capability that gives financial institutions greater visibility into how retail and business users navigate the digital banking experience and the tools to act on those insights. Lumin Signal provides visibility into the experience surrounding digital banking activities: how users move through the platform, which features they engage with, where they abandon a process, and which capabilities are going undiscovered."
Solana Publishes an Open Settlement Standard That Settles in USDC
Stablecoin Insider
"The Solana Foundation released Solana DvP on October 6, 2026, an open-source escrow program that lets institutions settle a tokenized asset and its payment in one atomic transaction. It is published under the MIT licence, so anyone can use or fork it. J.P. Morgan provided input on institutional settlement practices that shaped the design."
SAP-Backed Tereina Launches Payment Service Inside SAP’s Business Software
KELO-AM
"Tereina, a payments company in which SAP owns a stake, on Tuesday launched technology that lets businesses pay suppliers, employees and affiliates directly from their SAP software in traditional currencies or stablecoins. The launch introduces a payments layer inside business software that companies already use to track their money. Until now, SAP had stopped short of payments and let customers connect their own providers, Tereina CEO Cedric Bru said."
Safaricom and Pesapal Roll Out Next-Generation M-PESA Payment Experience
Telecom Review Africa
"Safaricom and Pesapal have announced the rollout of next-generation payment experiences designed to make everyday transactions faster and more convenient for businesses and customers across Kenya. The collaboration builds on Safaricom’s continued innovation around M-PESA payments, including Scan-to-Pay, AI Pay, and Tap-to-Pay. Pesapal brings its merchant payment infrastructure to this journey, enabling Dynamic Scan-to-Pay and Tap-to-Pay through its POS devices."
American Express Launches Playbook to Help Businesses Prepare for Agentic Commerce, as AI Changes How Customers Search, Shop, and Buy
Business Wire
"American Express released the Amex Business Playbook for Agentic Commerce, a guide with research-backed insights and practical steps to help businesses prepare for a future where AI increasingly influences how customers search, evaluate, and buy. Through its closed-loop network, which provides direct relationships with both Merchants and Card Members, American Express has a distinct perspective on how changes in commerce affect businesses and their customers."
Perplexity and American Express Launch AI Skills for Business Automation
Konsulteer
"Perplexity and American Express have introduced AI-powered Skills for U.S. Business Card Members. The workflows automate tasks including cash-flow forecasting, tax preparation and transaction reconciliation. Perplexity Computer can connect financial information through Plaid and work with business software and data sources."
Mollie Strengthens Pay by Bank to Power the Next Generation of European Payments
Mollie
"Mollie launched a renewed version of Pay by Bank, built on the technology of GoCardless, which Mollie acquired this year. Thanks to GoCardless's open banking technology, Mollie connects directly to the banks Dutch consumers already use. Pay by Bank combines GoCardless's pan-European open banking connectivity – direct connections to 2,500+ banks – with Mollie's own leading checkout experience."
On the wires
Comdata Launches Integrated Fuel and Factoring Platform Built For Trucking
Business Wire
"Comdata announced the launch of Comdata MAX, an integrated fuel card and freight factoring platform. Comdata MAX gives fleets the combined power of deep diesel discounts and fast invoice funding in a single, easy-to-use platform. This solution eliminates the friction of managing two separate providers and helps fleets stay fueled and financially healthy on every run."
Nearly Half of Asia Pacific Consumers Open to Using Stablecoins in the Next Five Years, Visa Study Finds
PR Newswire
"Visa released new survey findings on stablecoin awareness and consumer sentiment in Asia Pacific. The research reveals growing interest in practical uses such as everyday spending, travel and cross-border money movement, while limited understanding and concerns around trust remain barriers to wider use. Across Asia Pacific, 46% of consumers say they are likely to use stablecoins within the next five years, compared with 16% who have used them in the past 12 months."
Plaid Releases New AI Models to Improve Decisions Across Credit, Fraud and Payments
Business Wire
"Plaid launched Instant Link, which lets consumers share financial insights with lenders in seconds, alongside an expanded LendScore suite of credit risk models , including LendScore 2 and LendScore Arc, its first transformer-based credit risk score. Plaid also introduced a new AI foundation model for fraud detection, now powering Plaid Protect, and extended its sequential foundation model to payment risk through Signal and Guaranteed Payments."
October 5, 2026
On the web
The Future Is for Everyone: Muse for Small Business [Video]
Meta
"Earlier this month Meta introduced Muse, a personal AI agent available in the US and Canada that completes tasks on your behalf. We’re expanding it with a collection of new skills and connectors inside Muse to help people run their businesses. Small businesses told us they’re short on hours, not ideas. So we built Muse for Small Business to help get work done with the tools they already use. Muse can connect to dozens of tools that businesses already run on, so it can work with your brand, storefront, books, and customer records."
Modern Treasury Applies to Establish National Trust Bank
Modern Treasury
"Modern Treasury announced that it has submitted an application to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish Modern Treasury National Trust Bank. If approved, Modern Treasury National Trust Bank would operate as a federally regulated, limited-purpose national trust bank under OCC supervision. Together, Modern Treasury and the bank would give customers an integrated way to custody and move stablecoins and fiat. The proposed bank would not make loans or issue stablecoins."
TikTok Leans Into Agentic Commerce ‘To Take the Operational Load Out of Making Purchase Decisions’
The Media Leader
"TikTok has launched agentic commerce features as it leans into AI-led consumerism. The features include a conversational AI shopping assistant and an in-app checkout solution that allows users to buy directly from brands without leaving the TikTok app. The latter will be available in the US only for now, with a planned global rollout in the coming months. Importantly, the shopping assistant cannot currently complete transactions on behalf of consumers."
Stripe to Expand Stablecoin Cards to Over 100 Countries by the End of the Year
CoinDesk
"Global payments firm Stripe is expanding its stablecoin cards business globally, betting that digital dollars can become another way for consumers and businesses to pay alongside traditional currencies. Stripe expects its stablecoin card programs to more than 100 countries by year-end. Current customers include crypto exchange Kraken, fintech Ramp and payments app Morse. The expansion comes as stablecoin cards emerge as a fast-growing corner of the $300 billion-plus digital dollar market."
Trulioo Strengthens Identity Verification for Fiserv Clients Across Global Markets
Trulioo
"Trulioo announced a collaboration with Fiserv. Trulioo will bring its person and business verification capabilities to Fiserv, helping its clients streamline onboarding and underwriting across global markets. Trulioo provides person verification capabilities that combine identity data, document verification and fraud signals within workflows. Its business verification capabilities use trusted global and local data sources to confirm business information, identify ownership and control structures, and deliver results that support risk-based decisions."
Federal Reserve: Will US Firms Adopt Stablecoins? Survey Says They’re Not Enthusiastic
Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
"We surveyed 148 firms active in the Fourth District about whether they had plans to use stablecoins. Responses were overwhelmingly negative, with only eight of our contacts expressing any such plans. Asked why they did not plan to use stablecoins, respondents cited satisfaction with existing payment methods, unfamiliarity with the new technology, and a lack of demand from clients and suppliers to pay using stablecoins."
Apple Restricts Full Disk Access for macOS AI Agents
Daily CyberSecurity
"As highly autonomous AI agents rapidly proliferate across desktop environments, Apple has officially sounded a severe security alarm regarding this escalating trend. In fact, Apple is now confronting the surging popularity of desktop AI agent software—including OpenAI’s Dots, Meta’s Muse, and OpenClaw. As a result, Apple announced that an impending macOS update will aggressively tighten controls over the “Full Disk Access” privilege. This measure guarantees that users understand the privacy risks before granting this level of system access."
October 2, 2026
On the web
Visa Data Shows Stablecoins Gaining Traction in Business Payments
Visa
"Visa shared new data showing the growing adoption of stablecoins across business payments and commercial card programs. The findings come as businesses, financial institutions and payment providers increasingly explore stablecoins for settlement, treasury management, payouts and cross-border commerce. New Visa data shows: Approximately 17% of stablecoin-linked card volume in FY26 year-to-date occurred across business and commercial card programs."
Stripe Agrees to Acquire Parafin to Expand Revenue Opportunities for Platforms and Help Small Businesses Grow
Stripe
"Stripe announced that it has agreed to acquire Parafin, a leading embedded financial products platform. Parafin supports some of the largest and most complex platforms in the world, including DoorDash, Gusto, Jobber, and Mindbody, by providing credit offerings for their small business customers. With Parafin, Stripe will strengthen its support for ambitious platforms while bringing more credit to the small businesses driving economic growth."
Polygon Passes $3 Trillion in Stablecoin Transfer Volume
Polygon Labs
"Polygon Chain has now carried more than $3 trillion in stablecoin transfers. Revolut, Paxos, Polymarket, Cash App, Deel and Tazapay are among the companies that have used the network to move payments. This year, the list of ways people can use money on Polygon has grown alongside the volume. The $3 trillion total counts stablecoin value transferred since September 2020."
Finastra Launches Supply Chain Finance to Help Banks Accelerate Working Capital Growth
Finastra
"Finastra announced Finastra Supply Chain Finance (SCF), a solution designed to help banks scale working capital programs faster and unlock growth. Integrated with Finastra’s Trade Innovation and Loan IQ platforms through the Nexus API suite, SCF enables banks to deliver connected trade, lending and supply chain finance services while accelerating time to market."
ECB’s Digital Euro Development Targets Visa and Mastercard’s 47% Market Share
The Cryptonomist
"Visa and Mastercard already process nearly half of every euro spent on cards across the eurozone, a dominance that has pushed European officials to build an alternative: a new European Central Bank digital currency known as the digital euro. A 12-month pilot of the digital euro is set to start in the second half of 2027, with 36 finance firms including Deutsche Bank, Revolut, Adyen and UniCredit taking part. Businesses across the euro area will be required to accept the digital euro, both in-store and online, by 2029."
October 1, 2026
Top Post
Fiserv Digital Asset Platform Goes Live with Financial Institution Clients, Advancing Stablecoin-Powered Banking and Payments
Fiserv
"Fiserv, Inc. announced that its digital asset platform is live marking a significant milestone in the commercialization of stablecoin-enabled banking and payments. The platform’s first live use case is Roughrider Coin, Bank of North Dakota’s dollar-backed stablecoin designed to enable more efficient money movement across the state’s interbank network. VersaBank serves as issuer for Roughrider Coin, Fireblocks is providing secure digital asset infrastructure and tokenization services, with transactions processed on the Solana blockchain."
On the web
PayNearMe Launches AI Servicing and Collections Agent to Help Support Teams Scale While Lowering the Cost to Serve
PayNearMe
"PayNearMe, launched its AI Servicing and Collections Agent, a new agent built directly into the PayXM™ platform to expand inbound self-service and outbound engagement. The Agent calls and texts customers, answers inbound calls, and helps customers make or schedule payments, resolve payment issues, and address other account needs, connecting them to support staff only when needed. It combines agentic AI with PayXM’s data, rules and workflows to interpret customer intent, determine the appropriate next step and take action."
Nacha’s Payments Innovation Alliance Unveils New and Updated Resources for Cybersecurity Awareness Month
Nacha
"Nacha’s Payments Innovation Alliance is taking an active role in 2026’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month this October, unveiling new and updated resources from its Cybersecurity & Payments AI Project Team. The new resource is a “Hacker Hunt ” game designed to familiarize employees with common scam communications and generate discussion about the best practices for distinguishing scam from safe communications."
DoorDash Launches AI Agent for Text-Based Food Ordering and Agentic Commerce
Konsulteer
"DoorDash is expanding its use of artificial intelligence from an in-app assistant into a transactional agent that can handle food orders through messaging. The company announced that customers in the U.S. can join a waitlist for a new text-based ordering experience. Instead of opening the DoorDash application and navigating menus, users can send a message describing what they want. The system can interpret requests, search DoorDash's marketplace, build a cart and complete checkout within the messaging experience."
Binance Pay Lets Overseas Visitors Spend Crypto at PayPay Merchants in Japan
Blockonomi
"Binance Pay users visiting Japan can now spend more than 100 cryptocurrencies at most PayPay-supported merchants. The payments run through HIVEX, a framework that links overseas QR payment apps to PayPay merchants. Tether’s USDt stablecoin acts as the backend settlement layer, and merchants receive Japanese yen. Binance says it is the first crypto payment service to reach PayPay merchants through HIVEX."
Brazil Central Bank Bars Crypto Settlement in Cross-Border Payments
Tokenpost
"Brazil’s central bank will ban stablecoins and other cryptocurrencies from settling cross-border payments starting Oct. 1, cutting off a crypto-based back end used by electronic foreign-exchange providers and payment companies. The restriction applies to fintech companies and payment firms that process overseas remittances through electronic foreign-exchange services."
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