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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June 18, 2025
Episode 266 - Innovating Inclusive Financial Systems on the African Continent, with Sabine Mensah, AfricaNenda
In this episode, Joanna Wisniecka welcomes Sabine Mensah, Deputy CEO of AfricaNenda, a leader in financial inclusion, to explore Africa's dynamic path towards inclusive instant payment systems and the need for continued innovation and collaboration to enable access to financial services for all Africans on the continent by 2030.
May 30, 2025
BIS: Digital Fraud
BIS
“The ongoing digitalisation of finance brings numerous benefits, such as increased efficiency, convenience, financial inclusion, transparency and quicker responses to crises. However, it also introduces significant risks to bank soundness and financial stability. One such risk is digital fraud.”
May 23, 2025
Ethiopia Unveils Faydapass Digital Wallet to Boost Financial Inclusion
Biometric Update
“Ethiopia has launched what it calls the FaydaPass wallet, the latest move in its digital public infrastructure (DPI) program aimed at speeding up financial inclusion as well as verification for access to a number of other government services. Tech5 and payments giant Visa supported the country in the development of the wallet, the former providing its T5-Airsnap and […]
May 7, 2025
Episode 263 - Driving Digital Financial Inclusion: The Journey We’re On and the Road Ahead - Michael Wiegand, Gates Foundation
In this episode, Joanna Wisniecka joins Yvette Bohanan to chat with Michael Wiegand, Director of Inclusive Financial Systems at the Gates Foundation, about the work the Foundation is doing globally and the transformative impact of digital financial inclusion on economies and societies.
April 16, 2025
Celebrating the Expansion of Glenbrook's Leadership Team
Glenbrook is celebrating the expansion of its leadership team by announcing the promotions of Simon Skinner and Joanna Wisniecka to Associate Partner.
March 21, 2025
How Agentic AI Will Transform Financial Services With Autonomy, Efficiency and Inclusion
World Economic Forum
“Agentic artificial intelligence (AI) goes beyond generative AI (GenAI) by enabling autonomous decision-making, collaboration, and learning to revolutionize financial services. While offering efficiency and innovation, Agentic AI raises concerns about labour disruption, privacy, market volatility and governance, necessitating robust oversight and ethical frameworks.”
Visa and Misa Partner To Drive Digital Payments in Vietnamese Businesses
IBS Intelligence
“Visa and MISA, a provider of digital transformation solutions for finance, accounting, and enterprise management, have teamed up to empower Vietnamese businesses through comprehensive digital payment solutions. This collaboration aims to accelerate digital transformation within Vietnam’s business community, fostering greater financial inclusion and operational efficiency for enterprises of all sizes.”
March 6, 2025
Safaricom M-Pesa to Assist Healthcare Payments Digitisation in Ethiopia
Developing Telecoms
“The mobile payment group Safaricom M-Pesa, along with another, unnamed financial service provider, has signed a service level agreement (SLA) with the Ministry of Health of Ethiopia to transform healthcare payments through a secure, efficient and scalable digital payment system. This partnership aims to enhance financial inclusion, streamline healthcare payments, and improve service delivery nationwide.”
What’s Next for Real-Time Payments: Navigating the Next Wave
Mastercard
In the latest episode of “What’s Next In,” Mastercard’s podcast that informally explores technology, innovation and ideas, host Vicki Hyman chats with Peter Reynolds, Mastercard’s executive vice president for real-time payments, about the growth of real-time account-to-account payments, what is means beyond speed, and how it can help enable greater financial inclusion and well-being.
March 5, 2025
U.S. Faster Payments Council Report Explores How Digital Assets Can Advance Financial Inclusion
Faster Payments Council
“The U.S. Faster Payments Council, a membership organization devoted to advancing safe, easy-to-use faster payments in the United States, announced the publication of a new industry report, Digital Assets and Digital Ledger Technology: A Pathway to Financial Inclusiveness.”
March 4, 2025
Mastercard And MoMo Uganda Launch Virtual Card
CIO Africa
“MTN Mobile Money Uganda has unveiled its new Virtual Card by MoMo through a partnership with Mastercard, Diamond Trust Bank, and Network International. This strategic move is part of MTN Group’s broader Ambition 2025 initiative aimed at driving financial inclusion and boosting digital accessibility across Africa.”
February 19, 2025
Instant Payments Wait Their Turn
Gadget
“Cash is dying. But it’s not going quietly. Across the globe, instant payments are accelerating financial inclusion, economic activity, and the velocity of money, but adoption remains uneven. While countries like India and Brazil have embraced real-time transactions, the United States lags far behind – and South Africa finds itself at a crossroads.”
February 12, 2025
Episode 256 - Banking on Fintech, with Anthony Sharett, Pathward
In this episode, Anthony Sharett, President of Pathward, joins Glenbrook’s Bryan Derman to share insights on the evolving partner banking space, the importance of risk and compliance frameworks, and Pathward's mission of financial inclusion. Tune in as they also discuss potential policy and regulatory changes due to implications of major discrepancies in the banking-as-a-service arrangement between fintech platform Synapse and its banking partners.
February 7, 2025
South Sudan Launches First-Ever Instant Payments System Three Years After Proposal
TechCabal
“Three years after it was first proposed, the Bank of South Sudan (BoSS) has launched its first National Instant Payment System (NIPS) in collaboration with the AfricaNenda Foundation, an advocacy group for instant payments. NIPS will enable instant transactions to cut delays, lower costs, and improve financial inclusion for over 6 million adult citizens with […]
January 23, 2025
African Fintech Moniepoint Gets Visa Backing, Plans to Work on Contactless Payments
TechCrunch
Visa has joined African fintech Moniepoint as a new investor. The business banking and payments platform confirmed to TechCrunch that it received a “strategic investment” from the global payments giant as both companies look to drive financial inclusion and support the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Africa.
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