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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 15, 2025
On the web
OCC Conditionally Approves 5 Crypto Firms for National Trust Bank Charters
Axios
"The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency gave conditional approval for Circle, issuer of the USDC stablecoin, and Ripple, creator of the Ripple USD stablecoin and the XRP payments token, to set up new national trust banks. The OCC also granted conditional approval for BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets and Paxos to convert from state-regulated trust companies to nationally regulated trust banks."
December 12, 2025
On the web
Understanding the Use of Passkeys in Payments
EMVCo
"A passkey is a consumer-facing term for a Fast Identity Online (FIDO) authentication credential. Passkeys allow a user to authenticate themselves on a device with the same process that they use to unlock it, such as a biometric, a PIN or a pattern. Passkeys are FIDO cryptographic credentials that are tied to a user’s account. They can be bound to a particular device (known as device-bound passkeys), or may be synced across a user’s different devices."
Mobile & Digital Wallets: Updated U.S. Landscape and Strategic Guidance (2025 Edition)
U.S. Payments Forum
"The U.S. Payments Forum developed a white paper to provide clear, timely guidance for stakeholders navigating today’s rapidly evolving mobile and digital wallet landscape. The paper outlines the dominant wallet models in use today—including device wallets, EMV® Secure Remote Commerce (Click to Pay), platform and PSP server wallets, QR code wallets, and emerging crypto/Web3 wallets—and explains the technologies that enable them. Topics include interaction methods, credential storage, tokenization, cloud-based architectures, passkeys and biometrics, and the growing role of mobile identity credentials such as mDLs."
Alipay and Rokid Open Up ‘Look-And-Pay’ Smart Glasses Function to Developers
South China Morning Post
"Alipay and artificial intelligence glasses maker Rokid have jointly unveiled a smart glasses payment solution on the Rokid Lingzhu AI development platform, giving developers an easy path to build payment functions into their applications.Based on the Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open-source standard that connects AI applications to external systems, the service allowed developers to easily integrate pre-built capabilities, such as receiving payments, by adding plug-ins."
OCC Approves Paxos Application to Convert to OCC Trust; Paxos to Complete Conversion Imminently to Become a Federally Regulated Blockchain Infrastructure Provider
Paxos
"Paxos, the leading blockchain infrastructure platform for innovative institutions and enterprises, announced it has received approval to convert its New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) limited purpose trust charter to a national trust charter overseen by the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). Upon conversion, all of Paxos Trust Company’s US-based activity will be subject to OCC supervision."
Bidding Farewell to the Penny – Square Enables Cash Rounding in the U.S.
Square
"To help sellers get ahead of the transition away from the penny, and ensure a smooth holiday shopping season, Square is now piloting cash rounding functionality with sellers in the U.S. This functionality is already offered in Australia and Canada, which haven’t had pennies in circulation since 1992 and 2013, respectively. Cash transactions will be automatically rounded to the nearest 5¢. Square enables back-end transaction reporting to assist sellers with reporting the total dollar amount of tax collected."
PAX Technology and Wink Transform the Point-of-Sale with Biometric-Powered Payments Identity-Driven Commerce Redefines How Consumers Authenticate and Pay
Wink
"PAX Technology, Inc., a leading global provider of secure and innovative payment terminals, announced a strategic partnership with Wink Inc, the multimodal biometric identity and payments platform.The partnership will combine PAX’s next-generation payment hardware with Wink’s innovative AI-driven platform, creating persona-powered commerce where a customer can pay simply by being recognized—no wallet, card, or phone required."
Why Stablecoins Have Great Potential, But Proliferation Needs Tapering (Video)
Vimeo
"In this interview, Alistair Brown, Global Head of Open Banking and Payments at EPAM, shares his reflections on the challenges, opportunities and future of stablecoins following a dynamic roundtable discussion at Sibos 2025."
Mastercard Unveils Open Finance Business Solutions in Australia to Power Small Business Growth Through Secure Real-Time Data Sharing
Mastercard
"Mastercard announced the launch of Open Finance Business Solutions, a suite of tools that helps small and medium-sized enterprises harness real-time financial data to work smarter, save time and drive sustainable growth. The launch comes as Australia sharpens its focus on productivity and smarter data sharing, with the Productivity Commission estimating that a mature data-sharing regime could unlock up to $10 billion in annual gains."
Bybit Releases World Crypto Rankings 2025: Global Leaders and Institutional Hubs Redefine Crypto Adoption
PR Newswire
"Bybit, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, today announced The World Crypto Rankings (WCR) 2025, developed in partnership with DL Research. This comprehensive, data-rich report reveals how 79 countries and territories are integrating crypto into the fabric of their societies. Unlike rankings that focus on a single dimension, Bybit's WCR draws comprehensively on 28 metrics and 92 data points."
World Launches Its ‘Super App,’ Including Crypto Pay and Encrypted Chat Features
TechCrunch
"World, the biometric ID verification project co-founded by Sam Altman, released the newest version of its app today, debuting several new features, including an encrypted chat integration and an expanded, Venmo-like capability for sending and requesting crypto."
YouTube Introduces Stablecoin Payments for U.S. Creators via PayPal
Binance
"According to ChainCatcher, YouTube has launched a new feature allowing U.S. creators to receive payments in stablecoins through PayPal. May Zabaneh, PayPal's head of cryptocurrency, confirmed that creators can now opt to receive their earnings in the form of PayPal's stablecoin, PYUSD. This feature is currently available only to users in the United States."
Education: What is x402?
Ledger
"For decades, the internet has lacked a native payment layer, leaving the HTTP 402 “Payment Required” status code dormant and forcing digital commerce into ad-based models or complex subscription silos. x402 activates this long-forgotten code to enable instant, permissionless online payments, allowing both human users and AI agents to pay for data, content, and services using stablecoins."
December 11, 2025
Top Post
Visa’s New Data Mandate Could Reshape How Merchants Handle Payments
Payments NEXT
"Visa’s latest initiative, the Commercial Enhanced Data Program (CEDP) is redefining what “good data” means in the payments ecosystem, and every business that accepts corporate or purchasing cards should take notice. The program rewards merchants who send complete, accurate, and detailed information with every commercial transaction. That means cleaner data fields like invoice numbers, tax amounts, and line-item details. It’s a technical shift that could have a ripple effect across industries that rely on B2B payments."
On the web
Apple Wins Ability to Charge Fees on External Payment Links as Appeals Court Modifies Epic Injunction
MacRumors
"Apple should be able to collect a reasonable commission on purchases made using external links included in iOS apps, the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled (via Reuters). The U.S. Court of Appeals partially reversed sanctions imposed on Apple after Apple was found to have willfully violated an injunction in the ongoing Epic Games vs. Apple legal battle."
EBANX Drives the Next Phase of Credit Cards in Latam With Network Tokenization for Cross-Border Transactions
EBANX
"EBANX has extended its operations with Network Tokens to five Latin American countries. The technology replaces the card’s sensitive Primary Account Number (PAN) with a secure, dynamic token (DPAN), thereby protecting cardholder data while ensuring a smoother payment experience. In tests conducted across Latin America, EBANX identified a reduction in credit card declines due to fraud and security issues by up to 86%."
Kinexys by J.P. Morgan Enables FX Programmable Payments
Market Media
"BMW Group has set a new benchmark in treasury management automation, becoming the first corporate to execute a fully pre-programmed FX transaction using Programmable Payments on Kinexys Digital Payments. BMW Group’s German and U.S. treasury teams pre-defined conditions through Programmable Payments that when met, enabled an automated, end-to-end FX transaction from EUR to USD*, which seamlessly transferred funds between Frankfurt and New York. The process was completed outside traditional settlement windows and without manual intervention."
Ant International and HSBC Test New Cross-Border Payments Solution Using Tokenised Deposits on Swift’s Network and Powered by ISO 20022
Yahoo Finance-Business Wire
"Ant International, HSBC and Swift have completed a successful Proof of Concept (POC) for the cross-border transfer of tokenised deposits using ISO 20022 standards. The initiative leverages Swift’s global messaging network and HSBC’s recently launched Tokenised Deposit Service, combined with Ant International’s blockchain technology."
Mollie to Acquire Gocardless, Creating Europe’s Most Complete Payment Platform
GoCardless
"Mollie, one of Europe's fastest-growing financial service providers, has signed an agreement to acquire GoCardless. The strategic combination creates one provider serving over 350,000 businesses that integrates card payments, local methods, and bank payments into a single solution. By combining forces, Mollie and GoCardless will give businesses access to a suite of tools from a single partner, designed to solve these problems and fuel growth."
Global Payments: 2026 Commerce and Payment Trends Report
GLlobal Payments
"The Global Payments 2026 Commerce and Payment Trends Report is about the next era of connected commerce. This report focuses on six key trends reshaping the future of commerce. From the rise of agentic commerce, where AI-powered systems anticipate and act on customer intent, to the evolution of point-of-sale (POS) technologies that extend beyond the countertop, and the expansion of embedded payments that make every interaction frictionless—these shifts are defining the next competitive edge."
Stripe Expands Crypto Push by Acquiring Valora Team to Boost Stablecoin Payments
TokenPost
"Stripe is accelerating its move into blockchain technology with the acquisition of the team behind Valora, a mobile-first crypto payments app built on the Celo network. Valora founder Jackie Bona announced the news in a Wednesday blog post, explaining that the partnership will help expand access to stablecoins and strengthen global payment infrastructure. According to Bona, joining Stripe became an obvious path forward as both companies share a mission to increase economic accessibility through crypto-powered financial tools."
OpenAI, Anthropic, and Block Join New Linux Foundation Effort to Standardize the AI Agent Era
TechCrunch
"The Linux Foundation is launching a new group dubbed the Agentic AI Foundation (AAIF), to act as a neutral home for open source projects related to AI agents. Anthropic is donating its MCP (Model Context Protocol), a standard way to connect models and agents to tools and data; Block is contributing Goose, its open source agent framework; and OpenAI is bringing AGENTS.md to the table, its simple instruction file developers can add to a repository to tell AI coding tools how to behave."
Why Chargeback Rates Are Soaring
Chain Store Age
"Two key factors drove sharp growth in chargebacks throughout 2025. Chargeback rates climbed steadily throughout 2025, reaching 0.26% in the third quarter, a 53% increase from the first quarter of 2025. Retail e-commerce chargeback grew explosively by 233% between the first and third quarters of the year, the highest increase of any merchant category."
Zilch Bags Payments Licence
Tech EU
"Zilch, the UK BNPL fintech, has received a licence which it says will remove its reliance on third parties and allow it to build more payment methods in-house. Zilch, which is backed by Goldman Sachs and eBay, also said it had strengthened its ties with Visa, which earlier this year replaced Mastercard as Zilch’s card network partner. The UK fintech has received a payments services licence from the UK's main financial regulator, the FCA."
Payments Leaders Unprepared for 2026 Disruption, Warns ACI Worldwide
ACI Worldwide
"Most global payments leaders lack a clear roadmap to navigate the seismic changes coming in 2026 , according to the latest Top Ten Payments Predictions from ACI Worldwide. With AI-driven intelligence, next-gen authentication, new regulatory frameworks, and soaring demand for instant, embedded, and secure payments, the industry is entering an era of structural disruption. However, ACI’s recent report Payments in Transition: Leadership in an era of transformation reveals that only 36% of payments executives have a clear long-term modernization roadmap, leaving many without a strategic vision for transformation."
Norway Pauses CBDC Plans as Norges Bank Says No Immediate Need for Digital Krone
TradingView
"Norway has officially decided that a central bank digital currency (CBDC) isn’t an immediate necessity, despite years of dedicated research and global momentum around digital currencies. In a fresh update, Norges Bank said the current payment system still works efficiently for consumers, banks, and merchants, meaning there’s no urgent push to introduce a digital krone right now. The bank’s conclusion hinges on one key finding. Norway’s payment system is already among the most secure and efficient in the world."
December 10, 2025
On the web
U.S. Faster Payments Council Study Highlights Instant Payment Adoption Drivers and Opportunities
FedPayments Improvement
"A study of U.S.-based third-party enablers to financial institutions signals that instant payments are continuing to reach new heights due to interest in a widening and diversifying set of use cases for these types of transactions, according to the U.S. Instant Payments Adoption Quantitative Study published by the U.S. Faster Payments Council (FPC). In addition, the study shows that instant payment growth is being shaped by a combination of perceived benefits, access to the correct technology and emerging standards."
Stripe Charges 1.5% for Stablecoin Transfers That Cost $0.0002 On-Chain
Crypto News
"Stripe launched stablecoin payment processing with a 1.5% fee for USDC transfers that cost fractions of a cent on-chain, sparking debate over pricing that critics call excessive and defenders justify as infrastructure abstraction."
Instacart Launches App, End-To-End Shopping in ChatGPT
Chain Store Age
"Instacart is making a major overture to users of the ChatGPT next-gen artificial intelligence platform. Customers can also securely pay directly in the Instacart app within ChatGPT leveraging "instant checkout," a feature from OpenAI that enables users to discover, browse, and purchase items directly from partner retailers within the ChatGPT environment, with no need to switch tabs. Items will then be shopped and delivered through the Instacart platform."
Subscriptions are Reshaping the Ecommerce Landscape. Recurly Deepens Shopify Partnership to Lead the Shift.
Yahoo Finance
"Recurly, the subscription growth platform, announced an expanded investment in the Shopify ecosystem as ecommerce brands increasingly shift toward recurring revenue models. Recurly Commerce is built for this shift, giving merchants a flexible, enterprise-ready subscription engine that supports advanced use cases across replenishment, memberships, mixed-cart subscriptions, prepaid programs, and digital and physical goods."
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