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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 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."
Payments Passkeys Cases: Mastercard & Pix (Authenticate '25)
Corbado
"At Authenticate 2025, one theme stood out: Payments are becoming the next frontier for passkeys. What began as a technology for logging into apps and accounts is now transforming how people pay - whether in e-commerce checkouts, mobile wallets, or real-time transfer systems. The payment industry, long shaped by complex compliance requirements and entrenched legacy infrastructure, is now embracing passkeys to make authentication both phishing-resistant and frictionless."
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."
Education: What Is Tokenization?
IMF
"Thousands of years ago, long before coins, paper money, credit cards, and banking apps, our ancestors bought and sold goods using cowries, a type of seashell. These shiny physical tokens were humankind’s first financial innovation. What made them especially useful was that they were easy to verify: When someone handed you a cowrie shell, you could see it, feel it, and trust that it had value."
October 30, 2025
Top Post
US Judge Blocks Consumer Agency’s 'Open Banking' Rules for Now
U.S. News & World Report
"A coalition of banking groups has convinced a federal judge to temporarily block enforcement of a U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule aimed at making it easier for consumers to switch financial-service providers. In a ruling Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves in Lexington, Kentucky, paused compliance deadlines for the so-called “open banking” rule in a lawsuit brought by Forcht Bank, the Kentucky Bankers Association and the Bank Policy Institute."
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."
Eurosystem Moving to Next Phase of Digital Euro Project
European Central Bank
"The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) has decided to move to the next phase of the digital euro project. This decision follows the successful completion of the preparation phase. The Governing Council’s decision aligns with European leaders’ request to accelerate progress on the digital euro, as recently stated at the October 2025 Euro Summit."
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
DeCard Unlocks Stablecoin Payments for 150M+ Merchants Globally, Powered by Polygon
Polygon
"DeCard, a next-gen card platform by DCS (formerly Diners Club Singapore), has integrated on Polygon Users can make USDT0 and USDC deposits directly into DeCard and DeCard Luminaries accounts and spend instantly at over 150 million merchants worldwide This is one of the largest real-world rollouts of stablecoin utility to date, bringing speed, affordability, and mainstream usability to stablecoins"
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."
Google Taps Yepily to Power Bank Account Verification in Europe
IBS Intelligence
"Yapily has partnered with Google to enable the rollout of Google’s bank account verification service for business customers across Europe. The partnership marks a significant milestone in advancing digital finance, combining Yapily’s secure, API-driven connectivity with Google’s innovative financial technology to deliver a seamless, fast, and trusted verification experience for businesses. The announcement comes at a pivotal time for open banking in Europe, as adoption continues to accelerate across markets."
M-PESA Ethiopia Integrates with EthSwitch to Advance Financial Inclusion and Interoperability
TechAfrica News
"M-PESA Ethiopia has announced the successful integration of its mobile money platform with EthSwitch, Ethiopia’s national payment network, marking a major milestone in the country’s journey toward financial inclusion and interoperability. The integration enables seamless money transfers and payments between M-PESA and 15 participating banks and mobile wallets across Ethiopia, with more integrations planned in the coming weeks."
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."
Balance Introduces MCP Server, Enabling AI Agents to Analyze and Manage B2B Payments in Real Time
Business Wire
"Balance, an AI-powered financial infrastructure platform for B2B commerce, announced its beta release of the Balance Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server, enabling customers’ AI agents to directly communicate with Balance’s payments, credit, and receivables APIs. By connecting Balance to Large Language Models through MCP, merchants can unlock real-time buyer intelligence and act on it without leaving their preferred AI chat interface."
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."
USBC Launches World’s First Retail Tokenized Dollar Deposits
Banking Exchange
"USBC has partnered with Uphold and Vast Bank to launch the world’s first retail tokenized deposit offering, expanding global access to real US dollar deposits, particularly for users beyond the reach of the traditional US banking system. The product offers global access to US dollar deposit accounts and tokenized US dollar deposits for individuals, businesses, and financial institutions."
October 27, 2025
On the web
China’s Digital Yuan CBDC Processes $2 Trillion
Ledger Insights
"The People’s Bank of China reported that digital yuan payment volumes nearly doubled over the past 14 months, reaching RMB 14.2 trillion ($2 trillion) through September 2025, up from RMB 7.3 trillion in July 2024. The CBDC figures represent a significant acceleration in adoption of the central bank digital currency. The surge in volume comes alongside explosive wallet growth."
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."
On the wires
Chargebacks911 Launches First ‘Disputes-as-a-Service’ Platform, Unifying Data for Issuers, Acquirers and Merchants
Business Wire
"Chargebacks911 and its sister company, Fi911, announced the official launch of their Unified Dispute Management System (UDMS)—the first Disputes-as-a-Service (DaaS) platform of its kind that unifies dispute-related data and workflows, providing a configurable interface for merchants, acquirers, payfacs, fintechs, issuers, and their customers, through a single-source platform."
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