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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 5, 2025
On the web
Tencent Showcases Future of Finance at Hong Kong Fintech Week 2025
Tencent
"Tencent joined the 10th anniversary edition of the Hong Kong Fintech Week X StartMeUpHK Festival 2025, highlighting how technology is shaping the future of financial innovation. Tencent announced that it's making payments simpler and more convenient for international travellers visiting the Chinese Mainland by expanding its cross-border payment support with Weixin Pay through the CPG scheme and more."
Staples Canada Customers First to Benefit from KONEK: New e-Commerce Solution from Interac and Canadian Financial Institutions
Interac
"Interac announced that Staples Canada has come on board as the first national merchant for its new Canadian e-commerce payment solution, KONEK™. KONEK enables consumers to select their preferred payment option from their eligible financial institution accounts when making purchases online. It is delivered by Interac in collaboration with Canada’s leading financial institutions. BMO, National Bank of Canada, Royal Bank of Canada, Scotiabank and TD Canada Trust customers will be the first to access this e-commerce solution."
OpenAI's ChatGPT Go Now Free in India: Users Fume as UPI Payments Fail During Free Plan Rollout
The Economic Times
"OpenAI is offering ChatGPT Go free for 12 months to users in India starting November 4, 2025. The company announced that anyone who signs up during this limited-time promotional period will receive free access to the otherwise paid plan. But OpenAI's AI chatbot ChatGPT is once again facing glitches with UPI payments, second in recent months. Many users of AI chatbot complained they have experienced payment issues with the UPI option."
Stripe and NEC to Provide Face Recognition Payment Service via Stripe Terminal
Yahoo Finance-PR Newswire
"Stripe and NEC Corporation have begun exploring integration of the Stripe Reader S700 payment terminal, compatible with the unified commerce solution Stripe Terminal, with NEC's face recognition payment service. By combining Stripe's payment terminals, payment services, and functions with NEC's face recognition technology, the companies aim to provide secure, simple, and convenient hands-free payments."
PPRO Enables Wero for CTS Eventim, Marking the Debut of the European-Born Digital Payment Solution in the Live Entertainment Sector
PPRO
"PPRO, the leading local payments platform, has enabled Wero for CTS EVENTIM, Europe’s largest ticketing provider. In a significant milestone for Europe’s payment landscape, CTS EVENTIM has become the first major e-commerce company in Germany to integrate the new European payment solution, Wero, into its online shop. The phased introduction marks the first time Wero is being made widely accessible to Germany’s live entertainment industry."
Hong Kong Monetary Authority Focuses on Tokenisation and AI in “Fintech 2030” Strategy
Hubbis
"The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has unveiled “Fintech 2030”, a forward-looking strategy for driving Hong Kong’s fintech development, at the Hong Kong FinTech Week 2025. The “Fintech 2030” will focus on four strategic pillars, collectively known as “DART”, with a comprehensive portfolio of over 40 initiatives, including: Creating Next-generation Data and Payment Infrastructure; A New Holistic “Artificial Intelligence x Authorized Institutions” Strategy (AI2Strategy; Enhancing Business, Technology and Quantum Resilience; Tokenisation of Finance."
On the wires
U.S. Bank Launches Split™ World Mastercard®
Business Wire
"U.S. Bank announced credit card that enables automatic no-fee, no interest equal monthly payments on purchases: the U.S. Bank Split™ World Mastercard®. Split Card introduces a new alternative to traditional Buy Now, Pay Later options backed by a major bank. The Split Card can be used to shop where Mastercard is accepted; every purchase is automatically split into a three-month payment plan with no interest or annual fee. Cardholders can choose to extend payment plans to six or 12 months for larger purchases for a small, fixed monthly plan fee."
November 4, 2025
Top Post
How AI Is Powering the ISO 20022 Postal Data Transition
Swift
"Thousands of institutions are already reaping the benefits of migrating to ISO 20022. But some upcoming ISO 20022 deadlines require careful planning, including the move from unstructured to structured postal data. Here’s how we're helping financial institutions make this transition as smoothly as possible. By November 2026, banks must stop using unstructured postal addresses in certain ISO 20022 payment messages to avoid message rejection, fundamentally changing how address data is captured, stored and transmitted."
On the web
Perplexity AI Accuses Amazon of Bullying With Legal Threat Over Comet Browser
CNBC
"Perplexity AI accused Amazon of “bullying” on Tuesday after it received a letter from the e-commerce giant demanding it prevent people from using its artificial intelligence browser Comet to make purchases on their behalf. Perplexity said it received “an aggressive legal threat” from Amazon “demanding” that it put a stop to that practice. Amazon has already taken steps in recent months to prevent external AI agents from crawling its website, including those developed by OpenAI, Google and Meta"
Five FedNow® Service Announcements From This Fall
Federal Reserve
"The FedNow Service has made major announcements recently: Instant federal agency disbursements; Transaction limit increase: The FedNow Service network transaction limit will increase from $1 million to $10 million, effective November 2025. Network intelligence pilot and enhanced reporting: A pilot program allowing financial institutions sending transactions over the FedNow Service to do a “pre-check” on receiver accounts before making a payment. Exception Resolution Service: FedNow participants can directly communicate with one another to ensure exceptions can be resolved swiftly for instant payments and 1,500 participant milestone."
Clear Junction Launches Multi-Currency Swift Service for Remittances Across Latin America, Asia-Pacific and EMEA
Clear Junction
"Cross-border payments provider Clear Junction has launched a multi-currency Swift service aimed at streamlining transactions for remittance companies across Latin America, Asia-Pacific and EMEA. The new service targets one of the industry’s long-standing pain points: achieving faster and more cost-effective last-mile payouts in destination markets."
Global Survey Explores AI's Future in Financial Services
University of Cambridge
"The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) has launched the AI in Financial Services 2030 Global Surveys. These insights will provide a comprehensive view of AI adoption, impact, oversight and expectations for the decade ahead. CCAF will harness the surveys to assess the impact and opportunities of AI in financial services, partnering with the World Bank, Bank for International Settlements (BIS), IMF and the World Economic Forum among others.on the project."
Visa and Transcard Collaborate to Deliver Advanced Embedded Working Capital Solutions in Freight & Logistics
Visa
"Visa and Transcard announced the launch of a next-generation embedded finance platform, designed to power payments and working capital solutions in the freight and logistics industry. Visa and Transcard are also collaborating on agentic initiatives for the B2B segment. This alliance puts embedded credit and working capital solutions in the hands of freight forwarders and airline carriers on WebCargo by Freightos, a leading digital booking and payments platform in the freight industry."
Payday Super to Deliver Stronger Retirement Outcomes for Australians
Australian Payments Plus
"Australian Payments Plus (AP+) has welcomed the passing of payday super legislation, which will help improve retirement savings for millions of Australians by ensuring superannuation contributions are paid at the same time as wages. The New Payments Platform (NPP), operated by AP+ will play a central role in enabling payday super. The ATO in August approved the NPP as a payment method for superannuation contributions and confirmed that, from July 2026, all super funds must be able to receive superannuation payments via the NPP."
November 3, 2025
On the web
Driving Public Blockchain Integration in Banking
OMFIF
"While the financial world is eager to embrace the promise of public blockchain technology, some in the regulatory community believe that it represents unique risks. They are responding by putting in place rules that limit the adoption of public blockchain, particularly at commercial banks. This stance is far from universal: US regulators are keen to see public blockchain adopted and are rapidly dismantling regulatory obstacles, leaving the world’s banks on an uneven playing field."
PhonePe Rolls Out ‘PhonePe Protect’ to Safeguard Users From Fraudulent Transactions
ITVoice
"PhonePe has rolled-out ‘PhonePe Protect’– a security framework designed to safeguard users from fraudulent transactions. The feature also offers insights into the risks involved when transactions are declined for security reasons. ‘PhonePe Protect’ incorporates a mechanism to identify and block transactions directed toward mobile numbers that are flagged as suspicious by The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) through their ‘Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI)’ feature."
Afriex and Visa Bring Real-Time Cross-Border Payments to 160+ Markets
TechAfrica News
"Afriex, a global fintech platform, announced a collaboration with Visa, a world leader in digital payments, to bring real-time cross-border payments to more than 160 markets. By integrating Visa Direct through Afriex’s financial institution partner, Afriex is making it faster and easier for individuals and businesses to send and receive funds across borders."
Tokenization Takes Prime Role in Hong Kong’s Fintech 2030 Strategy
Trading View
"The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is seeking to grow the tokenization ecosystem as part of its four-pronged growth strategy for its fintech sector over the next five years. In a statement on Wednesday during Hong Kong Fintech Week, HKMA said its Fintech 2030 strategy will focus “on four strategic pillars” referred to as “DART,” covering data, artificial intelligence, resilience and tokenization across 40 initiatives."
JPYC Stablecoin Launches in Japan. Has a Fraud Compensation Policy
Ledger Insights
"JPYC went live as a Japanese regulated stablecoin. It is the first Yen stablecoin to launch under Japan’s stablecoin regulations, which came into force in 2023. The law supports three types of issuers: funds transfer service providers such as JPYC, trust banks acting for third parties, or commercial banks. By international standards, the stablecoin has a novel feature – it offers compensation for fraud under certain circumstances. The issuer also announced a Philippines deal."
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."
On the wires
Marqeta Powers Expansion of Klarna Debit Card Across Europe
Business Wire
"Marqeta, Inc. announced it is working with Klarna, to expand the Klarna Card into 15 new European markets. This launch extends Marqeta’s long-term partnership with Klarna and leverages Visa’s Flexible Credential (VFC) technology, enabling customers to choose between paying now or later, all through a single debit card experience."
ACI Worldwide Acquires European Fintech Payment Components to Augment ACI Connetic
Business Wire
"ACI Worldwide announced that it has acquired Payment Components, a provider of AI-powered financial messaging and Open Banking solutions. ACI will integrate Payment Components technology into ACI Connetic, accelerating the roadmap of the industry's only cloud-native unified payments platform that seamlessly integrates account-to-account (A2A) payments, card processing, and AI-powered fraud prevention within a single, modular cloud-native architecture."
Ant Group to Strengthen Support for Hong Kong's Global Finance and Tech Leadership with AI, GoGlobal Services
Business Wire
"Eric Jing, Chairman of Ant Group, reaffirmed Ant’s commitment to deepening cross-sector collaboration on regulated AI and tokenization innovation in the territory, and to expanding its cross-border payment and trade financing services to support Hong Kong’s initiative to help Chinese businesses go global."
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
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."
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