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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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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."
On the web
Stripe-Backed Blockchain Tempo Starts Testnet; Kalshi, Mastercard, UBS Added as Partners
CoinDesk
"Tempo, a payments-focused blockchain backed by Stripe and crypto investment firm Paradigm, has launched its public testnet, a key step in its effort in making stablecoin payments for mainstream use. Tempo has also unveiled a roster of new additions to the network’s partner group, including buy-now-pay-later firm Klarna, predictions market Kalshi, payments giant Mastercard and Swiss global bank UBS. They join a group of earlier design partners such as Deutsche Bank, Visa, Shopify, OpenAI and Nubank."
December 9, 2025
Top Post
Holiday Gifting Going Digital: Wells Fargo Study Reveals Growing Trend
Wells Fargo
"A new Wells Fargo survey released finds younger generations are driving a major shift toward digital cash gifts and holiday tips — favoring convenience and choice over traditional wrapped presents. Insights from the consumer survey look into the ways people give holiday gifts to family and friends, and holiday tips to service workers. The findings highlight gift giving and receiving preference. The study also reveals the median gift/tip to service workers is $50. Key insights from the survey..."
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."
BofA Launches Enhanced Workplace Benefits Solutions for Business Owners and Their Employees
Bank of America
"Bank of America is launching an enhanced digital platform for business owners and their employees, offering greater access to a suite of retirement plans – including 401(k), IRA and more – as well as health benefit solutions and financial wellness resources. Through Bank of America Workplace Benefits, business owners can now explore affordable, easy-to-manage plans and access tools that help enable them to identify the best plan for their businesses and their employees."
Fifth Third and Brex Partner to Bring AI-Powered Finance to Businesses, Unlocking $5.6B in Commercial Card Volume
Business Wire
"Fifth Third Bank and Brex, the intelligent finance platform, nnounced a multi-year partnership that unlocks $5.6 billion in annual commercial card payment volume. Built on Brex Embedded, Brex’s proprietary API-driven payments infrastructure, the Fifth Third Commercial Card powered by Brex will become the default commercial card solution for Fifth Third Bank’s Commercial Banking clients."
On the wires
Aspire Launches Fast, Low-Cost International Payments in Hong Kong, Expanding Partnership With Wise Platform
PR Newswire
"Aspire, the all-in-one finance platform for modern businesses, is taking its mission to build a truly connected financial ecosystem further with the launch of fast, low-cost international payments in Hong Kong. Powered by Wise Platform, Wise's global payment infrastructure for banks and enterprises, the new integration enables customers to send money in more than 40 currencies, including to countries like Singapore, the United States, Australia, Japan and Korea — directly from the Aspire platform."
December 8, 2025
On the web
TenPay Global and Mastercard Collaborate to Enable Fast and Secure Remittances to Weixin Pay
Mastercard
"TenPay Global, Tencent’s cross-border payment platform, and Mastercard Move, Mastercard’s money movement business, have announced a collaboration to facilitate fast, secure and transparent digital remittances directly to Weixin Pay, a leading mobile payment service within the Weixin ecosystem in China. Through Mastercard Move, eligible senders around the world will be able to send salaries and family support directly to Weixin Pay Wallet Balance or linked bank cards in Weixin Pay."
Big Firms Bet on Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Payments
Atlanta Fed
"Agentic AI has the potential to reshape the payments landscape. It refers to autonomous systems that can work together toward a goal. They learn to make decisions that spark actions and adapt to situations based on their programming and data gathering. So, is this technology a significant improvement for the US payment system, or is it accelerating an already complex system of payments innovation?"
Socure Acquires Qlarifi, Establishing the First Real-Time BNPL Credit System
Business Wire
"Socure announced it has acquired Qlarifi, the first real-time Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) consumer credit database. The combination establishes the industry’s first unified identity, anti-fraud, and BNPL credit infrastructure. This enables consumers to build credit responsibly through BNPL repayment, reduces first party fraud losses for lenders and merchants by up to 70 percent, while providing the transparency regulators have been seeking as BNPL becomes one of the fastest growing forms of credit globally."
Worldline Announces the Contemplated Divestment of Its Payments Orchestration Platform PaymentIQ to Incore Invest
Worldline
"The disposal of PaymentIQ marks a further step in Worldline’s strategic refocus on core European payment activities. This transaction will simplify operations, optimise resource allocation, and enable increased management focus on core payment activities for merchants and financial institutions. Proceeds will strengthen the Group’s financial profile, enhance strategic flexibility in the medium term, and support redeployment of capital towards core activities."
December 5, 2025
Top Post
Federal Reserve Board Requests Public Input on the Impact of Potential Strategic Changes to Check Services Provided by the Fed
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
"The Federal Reserve Board requested public input on the impact of potential strategic changes to check services provided by the Fed, as well as check usage and preferences. Over time, check use has steadily declined, digital payment methods have grown in availability and use, and check fraud has risen. Also, the Reserve Banks will need to make substantial investments in their check infrastructure to continue providing the same level of check services going forward."
On the web
IMF: Understanding Stablecoins
International Monetary Fund
"Stablecoins, a type of crypto asset, have seen significant growth and attention recently. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of stablecoins. It discusses market developments, use cases, potential benefits, associated risks, and the evolving international regulatory landscape. Stablecoin issuance has doubled over the past two years, driven by their use in crypto trades."
On the wires
Klarna Launches Premium and Max Memberships in the U.S., Offering Lounge Access and Premium Perks Without Spending Requirements
Business Wire
"Klarna has expanded its membership program with the introduction of Premium and Max plans for U.S. consumers, building on its existing Core and Plus plans and following successful launches in the UK and EU. The U.S. debut offers an alternative to the traditional credit card model. Klarna's memberships deliver premium perks, including airport lounge access, travel insurance, and lifestyle subscriptions, without taking on debt or hitting a spending requirement."
December 4, 2025
Top Post
Circle Collaborates with Pismo and Visa to Launch Vietnam’s First AI-Powered PayLater Card
Visa
"Visa and Pismo today jointly announced a strategic collaboration with Circle Asia Technologies, a pioneering credit-led neobank in Southeast Asia, to unlock credit for millions in Vietnam. This will enable Circle to launch the nation’s first truly AI-powered PayLater card aiming to set new standards for transparency, personalization, and user experience in the financial industry. Scheduled for a phased rollout in early 2026, the card is being engineered to dismantle the barriers that have led to Vietnam’s low credit card penetration."
On the web
A November to Remember: The Clearing House Networks Shatter Records as Digital Payments Surge Nationwide
The Clearing House
"The CHIPS®, EPN®, and RTP® networks all posted record-breaking results in November, underscoring the advantages banks gain from utilizing the payment systems operated by The Clearing House – from CHIPS’ unmatched intraday liquidity savings, to instant settlement and 24/7 availability through the RTP network, to EPN’s capacity for high-volume, recurring payments. Together, these new records highlight the rapid growth of digital payments in the U.S. and the accelerating shift toward efficient, resilient, and modern electronic payment rails across the U.S. banking sector."
Worldline Partners With Fipto to Enable Next Generation of Payments Rails With Stablecoin
Worldline
"Worldline and Fipto, a European fintech providing stablecoin payment infrastructure, announced a strategic partnership to explore how stablecoins can enhance settlement and payment services across Europe. Through collaboration and innovation, Worldline and Fipto are helping build the payment infrastructure Europe needs for the digital economy ahead."
BBVA Demonstrates its First Conversational App Concept Connected to ChatGPT for Italy and Germany
BBVA
"BBVA’s digital banks in Europe are exploring what could become the first banking app in the world natively integrated within ChatGPT. This demonstration shows how people will be able to discover BBVA’s products and services in Italy and Germany through a dedicated BBVA app built directly into OpenAI’s conversational assistant. Over time, it is envisaged that the experience will evolve into a digital companion,"
On the wires
MoneyGram and Fireblocks Partner to Supercharge Global Treasury Management Using Stablecoins and Real-Time Payments
PR Newswire
"MoneyGram has partnered with Fireblocks, the infrastructure platform securing more than $5 trillion in digital asset transfers annually. The collaboration will further advance stablecoin-based settlement and multi-asset treasury operations across MoneyGram's retail and digital footprint, enabling faster, lower-cost payments and real-time treasury operations throughout its network."
Trulioo Joins Google’s Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) to Help Build Trust in Agent-Led Payments
Business Wire
"Trulioo announced it has joined Google's Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) initiative to help securely initiate and transact agent-led payments across platforms. This move deepens Trulioo’s collaboration with Google, which leverages the Trulioo Global Identity Platform for Know Your Customer (KYC) verification across its payments organization, including fraud prevention and abuse mitigation."
December 3, 2025
On the web
Six Payment Trends for 2026
Mastercard
"If there’s a topline trend to 2026, it’s how payments are evolving, becoming more personalized, predictive and seamlessly interoperable between traditional and new payment platforms: Top trends: securing agentic commerce; connecting crypto to fiat commerce; doubling down on digital identity; redefining consumption for the circular age; personalizing payments, benefits and risk; enabling the instant economy for everyone, everywhere."
Stripe to Acquire U.S. Billing Platform Metronome
Silicon Republic
"Stripe announced plans to acquire Metronome, a US-based software developer in the billing and invoice space, for an undisclosed amount. The company enables organisations to create and manage usage-based pricing models, create invoices and integrate other technologies to optimise the billing process."
Adyen Processes Record $43 billion as Black Friday/Cyber Monday Weekend Sets New Benchmark for Global Payments
Adyen
"This year’s Black Friday/Cyber Monday (BFCM) proved to be another record-breaking holiday shopping weekend, where consumer traffic and demand spiked, and the Adyen platform delivered, processing a total volume of $43 billion across the BFCM weekend (up 27% vs. last year), while maintaining an exceptional 99.9999% uptime. Transactions per minute on the Adyen platform reached a peak of 199,000 on Black Friday."
Revolut: Get Extra Protection on the Move With Street Mode
Revolut
"Street Mode is a powerful new addition to Revolut's Wealth Protection feature. Once activated, it delays outgoing transfers over your chosen limit while you’re away from trusted locations to keep your Revolut account safe from potential fraudsters. Then it asks for extra confirmation to make sure you — and only you — are in control."
On the wires
Nuvei Expands Partnership with Microsoft to Scale Global Payments Infrastructure to Support More Than 10,000 transactions per second
PR Newswire
"Nuvei and Microsoft announced an expansion of their strategic partnership, enabling Nuvei's core payment processing APIs to run on Microsoft Azure and use Azure AI to optimize transactions in real time. The move expands Nuvei's global processing capabilities beyond enabling 10,000 transactions per second, with a target 99.999 percent availability for merchants. It strengthens Nuvei's position among the highest-volume processors worldwide."
December 2, 2025
On the web
Circle Brings USDC Stablecoin To x402 Protocol For AI Agent Micropayments
Yellow
"Circle is advancing machine-to-machine payment infrastructure by integrating its USDC stablecoin into the x402 protocol, enabling autonomous AI agents to execute micropayments without human intervention. The stablecoin issuer announced plans to connect its Gateway product with x402, creating a foundation for high-throughput agentic transactions across multiple blockchain networks. The x402 protocol, which revives the long-dormant HTTP 402 "Payment Required" status code, has gained momentum as a standard for internet-native payments."
Visa Survey Finds AI and Crypto Poised to Transform U.S. Holiday Spending
Business Wire
"Visa Inc. released new survey data, revealing AI’s influence in shopping and spending, a generational shift in consumer spending behavior, and emerging payments trends this holiday season. "The data tells a fascinating story about the spending shift we're witnessing: shoppers are embracing AI and digital tools at remarkable speed, with nearly half of Americans now using AI to enhance their shopping experience," said Bruce Cundiff, vice president, Consumer Insights at Visa."
Aeropay and Cross River Launch Request for Payment (RfP) to Power Instant Consumer Pay-Ins on the RTP® Network
Business Wire
"Aeropay announced the launch of Request for Payment (RfP) in partnership with Cross River Bank. This new offering expands on the two companies’ current instant payment offerings and enables U.S. businesses to accept instant consumer pay-ins via the RTP® network, delivering faster, safer, and more reliable payment experiences. Splash Sports, an online real money gaming platform, will be the first customer of Aeropay to implement the capability to power real-time pay-ins."
On the wires
Payments Modernisation: Gap Between Confidence and Readiness Among Industry Leaders Widens, ACI Worldwide Study Finds
Business Wire
"Payments leaders remain confident about the pace of industry innovation, but many risk falling behind as expectations accelerate. New global research from ACI Worldwide and Globant reveals a widening gap between confidence and readiness that could define industry leadership in 2026 and beyond. The report Payments in Transition: Leadership in an era of transformation, based on a survey of 500 industry leaders across North America, Europe, Latin America, Middle East & Africa, and Asia Pacific, shows that while 69% of executives consider their organisations to be payments leaders, fewer than half (44%) say payments innovation is a C-suite priority."
Klarna Launches Tap to Pay for In-Store Purchases Across 14 Markets
Business Wire
"Klarna launched the brand new feature Tap to Pay across 14 European markets, bringing flexible payments into physical retail at scale and transforming the Klarna app into an everyday contactless wallet. With more than 80% of European shopping still happening in physical stores, Tap to Pay brings consumers the ease of online shopping into the bricks and mortar stores."
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