PAYMENTS ON FIRE RESOURCE CENTER
Smart thinking for smart payments professionals
Payments On Fire is the industry’s leading resource center for payments professionals. Here, you’ll find the resources and thought leadership that only Glenbrook’s experienced team can provide. Curated news stories, insightful opinion papers, provocative podcasts, and more – it’s all the thinking you need to stay competitive in a dynamic payments world.
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October 30, 2026
Secret SantAI? Visa Survey Finds Americans Quietly Turning to AI for Holiday Shopping Help
Visa
“There may be a Secret Sant-AI behind your presents this year. New Visa research finds 41% of Americans wouldn’t tell someone that AI helped choose their gift as more shoppers quietly hand AI the job of finding gifts and tracking down deals. More than half of U.S. adults (54%) have already used AI for at […]
Visa and Senegal Join Forces to Accelerate Digital Transformation and the Development of Digital Payments
Africa.com
“Visa and Senegal’s Ministry of Telecommunications and Digital Affairs have signed a Memorandum of Understanding establishing a two-year framework for strategic collaboration to support Senegal’s digital transformation ambitions. This partnership will foster cooperation on digital payments, financial innovation, cybersecurity and regulatory matters, while enabling the exploration of high-impact use cases that could help modernise public […]
ECB Selects Nexi and Deutsche Telekom to Power Digital Euro Connectivity
FF News
“The European Central Bank has selected a consortium of Nexi and Deutsche Telekom to provide the critical network infrastructure for the digital euro. This ten-year agreement establishes the backbone for the future currency’s pilot phase, ensuring secure connectivity between central banks, payment service providers, and the core digital euro platform as Europe moves toward a […]
AI, Agentic Commerce and the New Rules of Chargeback Management
Yahoo Finance
“With first-party fraud and friendly disputes eroding already thin retail margins, managing chargebacks requires far more than basic operational recovery. Here, Tim Tynan, CEO of Chargeback Gurus, discusses how local AI streamlines dispute documentation, why fighting invalid chargebacks won’t destroy legitimate customer relationships and how retailers must adapt their risk protocols for new protocols like […]
Binance Suspends Withdrawals After Crypto Hackers Steal $6.3 Billion
New York Times
“Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, said on Thursday that it had halted withdrawals after it was attacked by hackers who made off with more than $6 billion in digital coins, in what appears to be the biggest crypto heist in history.”
Botim Launches Jaywan Prepaid Card for Digital Payments
IBS Intelligence
“Botim, the UAE-based FinTech platform, launched the Botim One Jaywan Prepaid Card, becoming the first FinTech company in the country to issue a prepaid card under Jaywan, the UAE’s national card scheme. The launch is aimed at supporting wider adoption of Jaywan among workforce communities, leveraging Botim’s user base of more than 8.5 million people […]
Alexa for Shopping Adds 100+ New Capabilities to Make Shopping Even Faster and Easier
Amazon News
“Customers can now manage their lists, registries, Subscribe & Save, payments, memberships, and a broad range of Amazon account actions simply by asking Alexa for Shopping. Over 400 million customers have used Alexa for Shopping in the last 12 months, and the number of customers using Alexa for Shopping’s agentic features has grown more than […]
October 29, 2026
Is Your Bank Ready for Stablecoins and AI Agents?
The Financial Brand
“A Coinbase-commissioned study by The Block Research found that 7 of the 10 largest U.S. banks have tested stablecoins or tokenized deposits for settlement, and the other 3 have signaled plans to follow. The same study found that 73% of screened stablecoin transfer volume over a 12-month period took place outside U.S. banking hours.”
Natural Launches Direct, Bringing ACH, Wire, and Realtime Payments to AI Agents
PR Newswire
“Natural, the company building the foundational financial stack for AI agents, today announced the general availability of Direct. With Direct, AI agents can choose the payment rail for each payment they send: ACH, wire, or realtime payments over RTP and FedNow. Mailed paper checks, international wires, and more are coming soon.”
Mastercard, Interswitch Enable Google Pay in Nigeria
Africa Business Communities
“According to the companies, the collaboration allows eligible consumers to add supported Mastercard cards to Google Pay and tap their Android phones at contactless-enabled payment terminals. Powered by Mastercard’s tokenization technology, the solution promises secure digital transactions by replacing sensitive card information with unique digital credentials, thereby reducing the chances of cyber risk.”
American Express Connects Cash Back to High Yield Savings Accounts and Business Checking Accounts
Business Wire
“Today, American Express introduced a new way for eligible U.S. Consumer and Business Cash Back Card Members to redeem rewards for a deposit into eligible American Express bank accounts, creating a more integrated experience across their Card and banking products and giving customers more options in how to redeem the rewards they earn.”
Accertify Formalizes Partner Ecosystem as Fraud, Payments, and Chargebacks Converge Into a Single Risk Surface
Business Wire
“Accertify today announced the launch of the Accertify Partner Program, a formalized partnership ecosystem connecting payment providers, orchestrators, commerce platforms, and consultancies to Accertify’s network-powered fraud intelligence.”
Tencent, Visa Deepen Payments Push in China After Regulatory Green Light
CNBC
“Tencent and Visa are expanding their partnership in cross-border payments and AI-powered commerce, the companies said Thursday, deepening their push into China’s payments market. The agreement follows fresh regulatory approvals for U.S. financial firms in China, with Visa and Citi receiving the green light this month to expand their operations in the world’s second-largest economy.”
October 28, 2026
Episode 305 - Fanning the Flames: Glenbrook Answers your Payments Questions
We’ve had over 35,000 professionals complete a Glenbrook workshop, and we constantly hear from participants that they were surprised by how something in the industry works or a specific data point. How people think about payment systems is largely driven by how they use them as an individual consumer, and also influenced by where they sit in their career.
One of the goals of our payments workshops is to add clarity to ambiguous industry terminology. We also allow ample time for interactive Q&A, and whether the workshop is in-person or virtual, we hear some questions over and over.
In this episode, Debbie Bartoo surfaces some of our most frequently asked workshop questions and lets Russ Jones guide us through the answers.
Paysafe Completes Euro-Area Rollout with PaysafeWallet Expansion into Croatia, Bulgaria and Estonia
Fintech Finance News
“Paysafe has expanded its PaysafeWallet digital wallet into Croatia, Bulgaria, and Estonia, completing a significant phase of its European rollout. For fintech professionals, this move signals a consolidation of cash-to-digital services in the euro-area, bridging the gap between physical currency and digital banking for consumers in these emerging digital markets.”
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