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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May 29, 2026
Brazil Nixes Settlement for Stablecoin eFX
Global Finance Magazine
“Banco Central do Brasil (BCB) has banned fintech and payment providers from settling overseas payments in stablecoins or crypto. The BCB is implementing new rules regarding its electronic foreign exchange (eFX) policy, which governs how payment institutions and e-money issuers provide cross-border services. Its immediate effects, when the new rules go into effect on Oct. […]
RBI Plans Cross-Border CBDC Pilots Amid Digital Currency Experiments
Business Standard
“The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it would explore bilateral and multilateral cross-border central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilots in 2026-27, as the central bank expands experiments around digital payments, asset tokenisation and programmable money. Additionally, the RBI, in its annual report, said that in 2026-27 it would widen domestic CBDC pilots to include […]
Education: Ripple vs SWIFT vs Visa: The Quiet Battle Over Cross-Border Payments
24/7 Wall St.
“Ripple now runs more than 300 financial institutions on the same ISO 20022 messaging standard SWIFT is adopting, letting it compete for bank settlement directly, though most of those banks still use its rails without touching XRP. SWIFT is building a blockchain settlement ledger with more than 30 banks across 16 countries, going live with […]
May 28, 2026
ISO 20022 Milestone for November 2026: Unstructured Addresses to Be Removed
Swift
“As the global payments community continues its transition to ISO 20022, a key component of the transition will be the removal of unstructured postal addresses, planned for November 2026 as part of the SR 2026 standards release. The removal of unstructured addresses will improve data quality in cross-border payments. Structured address data allows for greater […]
May 27, 2026
Project Agorá: A Shared Programmable Platform for Wholesale Cross-Border Payments
BIS
“Project Agorá is a collaboration convened by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the Institute of International Finance (IIF) to explore how tokenisation can enhance wholesale cross-border payments. The collaboration included seven central banks and more than 40 financial institutions. It delivered a prototype demonstrating that tokenised commercial bank deposits can be combined with […]
Bank of Canada Joins BIS Project Agorá to Test Improvements in Wholesale Cross-Border Payments
Bank of Canada
“The Bank of Canada is joining the Bank for International Settlements’ Project Agorá, an initiative exploring how tokenization could improve wholesale cross-border payments. The project has successfully tested the feasibility of a multi-currency unified ledger that enables atomic settlement of cross-border wholesale transactions. The Agorá prototype combines tokenized commercial bank deposits and wholesale central bank […]
Tencent Announces Three Initiatives to Make Inbound Payments for International Visitors Easier Than Ever During APEC 2026
PR Newswire
“Tencent launched the “2026 Inbound Payment Service Upgrade Initiative” with three measures: a collaboration between TenPay Global, Tencent’s cross-border payment platform, and PayPal World which enables PayPal users to complete payments at Weixin Pay merchants in China by scanning QR codes; a 90-day transaction fee waiver of 3% for first-time users who link an international […]
Japan’s 3DS Mandate: One Year In
Forter
“On April 1st, 2025, Japan’s 3DS mandate went into effect. In the year that has followed its roll-out, the impact has been widespread across the payments landscape. In response to rising fraud, EMVCo’s 3D Secure protocol became mandatory for eCommerce credit card transactions processed in Japan. This applied to both domestic and cross-border transactions, and […]
ISO 20022: What Changes for Your Payments in November 2026
BNP Paribas
“From 15 November 2026, businesses must be prepared. SEPA and international payment messages will require structured or semi-structured addresses. Failure to comply may result in payments being delayed or even rejected. This change is part of ISO 20022. All businesses that initiate payments (whether domestic, cross-border or in foreign currencies) will be affected. The minimum […]
May 20, 2026
FedNow’s Role in Modernizing Payments
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
“One key part of that the U.S. payments system is the FedNow® Service, the Federal Reserve’s instant payment rail. Launched in 2023, it enables financial institutions to move funds instantly – 24/7, 365 days a year. While FedNow is focused on domestic payments, the Fed is also exploring how it could eventually help make cross-border […]
May 7, 2026
Indonesia–China Launch Cross-Border Payments Connectivity, Connecting Millions of Merchants via Ant International’s Alipay+
PR Newswire
“Under the guidance of Bank Indonesia and People’s Bank of China, the China-Indonesia cross-border QR payment linkage was launched between Indonesia’s Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS) and China’s leading payment ecosystems, enabled by Alipay+, the unified wallet gateway of Ant International, and UnionPay International.”
The Alchemy Chain Mainnet is Live
Alchemy Pay
“Alchemy Pay today announced the launch of the Alchemy Chain mainnet, marking a major milestone in its evolution toward building a globally compliant stablecoin payment network. Alchemy Chain is a Layer-1 blockchain purpose-built for stablecoin payments, designed to support fast, low-cost, and predictable transactions across real-world use cases, including merchant payments, remittances, and cross-border settlement.”
May 4, 2026
Brazil’s Central Bank Bans Stablecoin and Crypto Settlement in Cross-Border Payments
CoinDesk
“Brazil’s central bank banned electronic foreign exchange (eFX) providers from using stablecoins and other cryptos (like Bitcoin) to settle overseas remittances, effective October 1. The ban applies to fintechs and payment firms, closing the back-end payment rail for cross-border flows, but individual crypto investors can still buy and hold assets. EFX payments must now use foreign exchange […]
May 1, 2026
Hong Kong a Key Global Hub for USDC Cross-Border Payments
South China Morning Post
“Stablecoin payments into Hong Kong are surging on the cross-border payment network of Circle Internet Group, operator of the world’s second largest stablecoin issuer USDC, as the US firm eyes regulatory approval in the Asian crypto hub, its CEO said in an interview. HSBC plans to integrate stablecoins into its consumer app PayMe, while Anchorpoint […]
April 28, 2026
Thunes and WireBarley Launch Real-Time Payment Solution for 1.1 Million Users Across Asia and Beyond
PR Newswire
“Thunes announced a strategic collaboration with WireBarley, a rapidly growing Asia-Pacific payment platform. The alliance represents a shared commitment to digital transformation and will fuel WireBarley’s international expansion. Together, Thunes and WireBarley will provide real-time, seamless cross-border payments for businesses and individuals living abroad across major corridors, including South Korea, the U.S., Australia, and Vietnam.”
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