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.

June 25, 2026

How South Africa Became Revolut’s First African Market

TechTrendsKE

“In March, British fintech giant Revolut applied for a U.S. national banking charter as part of an ambitious plan to expand its presence across major financial markets. A few months later, the company revealed that South Africa would become its first destination in Africa, with a launch targeted for 2028 pending regulatory approval.  The sequence […]

June 22, 2026

Why Meta Wants CRED: The $4B Fintech Deal That Could Reshape India’s Payments Industry

Tech Funding News

“Meta is reportedly in talks to invest in Bengaluru-based fintech CRED at a valuation of around $4 billion, according to Moneycontrol. Discussions remain exploratory and no final decision has been made. The move could help Meta build an end-to-end commerce and payments ecosystem across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and CRED. Despite processing billions in transactions, India’s UPI market […]

June 18, 2026

PayPal Ventures Shutters as Company Restructuring Continues

TechCrunch

“Five sources told Fortune that the corporate venture arm, will be winding down operations. A company spokesperson confirmed the news to TechCrunch, with a statement. PayPal Ventures has made more than 80 investments, including the crypto trading platform Talos Global, fintech infrastructure company Plaid, and the crypto bank Anchorage Digital.  PayPal Ventures still exists on […]

June 12, 2026

Europe’s Most Valuable Fintech Faces Banking-Supervision Reality

EU Today

“The issue is not whether Revolut is a successful fintech. It is one of Europe’s most prominent technology businesses. The London-based company has secured a full UK banking licence after a prolonged regulatory process, and has built a business that extends beyond foreign exchange and card payments into savings, investments, crypto, lending, subscriptions and other […]

June 11, 2026

Mastercard Opens Card Rails to AI Agents With 30-Plus Crypto Partners

Defiant

“Mastercard launched Agent Pay for Machines (AP4M), extending its payments network to AI agents with 30-plus crypto and fintech partners including Coinbase, RippleX, Solana Foundation, Polygon, Aave Labs and Stellar. Agent Pay for Machines positions Mastercard’s network as the governance and trust layer for commerce conducted entirely between software agents, without human checkout flows. The […]

June 10, 2026

Episode 295 - Fanning the Flames - 2026 Mid-Year Payments Industry Trends Update

The Glenbrook team is taking stock in June 2026 to see how the predictions from our January episode are holding up. Tune in for updates on trending topics in payments, including agentic commerce, stablecoins, cross-border and instant payments, risk and fraud, and the regulatory landscape. We also share insights on the “hot off the presses” news on tokenized deposits and the Visa/Mastercard interchange settlement.

June 5, 2026

JPMorgan, Citi, and BofA Build Blockchain Network to Challenge Stablecoins Dominance

Coinpedia Fintech News

“The stablecoin market has grown from a crypto experiment into a potential threat to traditional banking. Therefore, now, JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citi, and other major lenders are jointly preparing a blockchain-based deposit network designed to keep customer money inside banks. According to reports, America’s largest banks are working on a shared tokenized deposit network […]

June 4, 2026

June 3, 2026

MONEY20/20 Europe Day One: AI, Decacorns, and the Dawn of Agentic Commerce

Fintech Futures

“Money20/20 Europe has returned to the fintech conference circuit in Amsterdam this week with an agenda predominantly focused on AI and agentic governance, stablecoins, and innovation in payments. Here, FinTech Futures recounts the key highlights from day one, including panel coverage, major news announcements, and exclusive commentary from the industry’s biggest shakers.”

June 2, 2026

June 1, 2026

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. […]

TrueLayer Expands Into Credit Following Acquisition of in3

TrueLayer

“TrueLayer, Europe’s leading Pay by Bank network, announced the acquisition of in3, a Dutch fintech specialising in consumer credit via bank payments. The deal makes TrueLayer the only Pay by Bank network in Europe to offer both debit and credit at checkout, and means consumers will be able to choose to pay immediately or over […]

Take us with you

Payments on Fire is available on iTunes, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, and other podcast apps and services. Or just say “Alexa, play Payments on Fire podcast.”

Stay up-to-date on payments!

Join Glenbrook’s mailing list to get access to valuable information about payments and discover how you can expand your knowledge.

Glenbrook Payments Boot Camp®

Register for the next Glenbrook Payments Boot Camp®

An intensive and comprehensive overview of the payments industry.

Train your Team

Customized, private Payments Boot Camps tailored to meet your team’s unique needs.

OnDemand Modules

Recorded, one-hour videos covering a broad array of payments concepts.

Glenbrook Press

Comprehensive books that detail the systems and innovations shaping the payments industry.

Strategy Consulting & Custom Research

  • Investor Due Diligence
  • Product Strategy
  • Merchant Payments Strategy
  • Market Analysis
  • Industry Research
  • and more…

Launch, improve & grow your payments business