Cross-border Payments ECommerce Global Payments Merchants Payments Acceptance

Episode 293 - Unlocking Merchant Growth in Emerging Markets, with João Del Valle, EBANX

In this episode, Drew Edmond is joined by João Del Valle, CEO and co-founder of EBANX, to talk about the origin story of EBANX, why Brazil has historically been such a difficult market for non-Brazilian merchants, and what João has learned as the company has expanded into new regions. Listen in as they cover some of the biggest topics shaping the next phase of global payments, including Pix and Pix Automático in Brazil, payment optimization when looking at local payment methods, and perspectives on agentic commerce and stablecoins.

Companies

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.”

Tags: Alchemy Pay

3-D Secure Authentication Payments Fraud Secure Customer Authentication

Episode 292 - Modern Authentication and the Impact on Payments Cost and Performance, with Amandeep Batra, Stripe and Dewald Nolte, Entersekt

In this follow-up conversation, Chris Uriarte welcomes back Amandeep Batra from Stripe and Dewald Nolte from Entersekt to discuss updated research and analysis on 3-D Secure and tokenization and to explore how authentication and tokenization interact in practice across different regulatory environments.

Global

EthSwitch Moves to Launch Merchant Portal and AI-Driven Credit Scoring System [Ethiopia]

Birr Metrics

“EthSwitch is preparing to introduce a merchant portal and a credit scoring framework as part of its next phase of infrastructure development, aimed at deepening payment interoperability and expanding financial inclusion in Ethiopia’s digital financial system. The national payments switch has already deployed the ETHQR interoperable QR standard and a Request to Pay (RTP) feature […]

Tags: Ethiopia

Companies

UnionPay Launches Agentic Payment Open Protocol Framework

Antara News

“UnionPay has released the Agentic Payment Open Protocol (APOP) framework – UnionPay’s solution for agent-based payments. The APOP framework aims to establish a unified trust mechanism and interaction paradigm. By connecting players in the agentic payment ecosystem through trusted routing, it enables any compatible agent, merchant, financial institution, and technology platform to integrate on a […]

Tags: UnionPay

Companies

Euronet Expands Omnichannel Payment Solutions with Strategic Acquisition of PaynoPain

Euronet

“Euronet Worldwide announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire PaynoPain, a Spanish fintech company recognized for its digital-first, online payment solutions serving businesses of all sizes—from SMEs to large enterprises—across industries including ecommerce, hospitality, microfinance, and marketplace platforms. The acquisition strengthens Euronet’s direct merchant acquiring footprint in Spain and Portugal and supports the […]

Tags: Euronet

Embedded Finance Merchants Payment Facilitation

Episode 291 - The Complex and Growing World of Platform Payments, with Blake Breathitt, Adyen

In this episode, Chris Uriarte speaks with Blake Breathitt, Senior Vice President of Platforms and Financial Services at Adyen, about one of the biggest growth engines in the industry over the past few years - platform payments. Listen in as they discuss the nature of this interesting segment of the industry, the nuance behind platform payments, and just what's driving this platform payment phenomenon.

Companies Global

Hong Kong’s Stablecoin Revolution Will Be Whitelisted

Blockhead

The HKMA handed its first approvals to the banks that already print the Hong Kong dollar. That tells you everything about what these tokens are meant to be. HSBC has been clear about its intended use cases: peer-to-peer payments through PayMe, merchant payments, and subscriptions to tokenised investment products.

Tags: HSBC

Companies

How Can Visa's Intelligent Commerce Connect Power AI Agents?

Zacks

“Visa Inc. is expanding its footprint in next-generation shopping with the launch of Intelligent Commerce Connect. This platform acts as a unified system, enabling businesses to connect directly with AI agents through a single integration on Visa’s acceptance network. Instead of people browsing and clicking through websites, AI agents can interact with merchant systems, compare […]

Tags: Visa

Global

Cross Switch Goes Live With Absa Pay to Deliver Frictionless, Bank Authenticated Payments for South African Merchants

Cross Switch

“When customers select Absa Pay at checkout, they are routed to a secure Absa environment to authenticate the payment directly with their bank before being returned to the merchant’s platform to complete the transaction. Absa developed Absa Pay to provide fintechs, e‑commerce platforms, and other digital partners with a safe, authenticated way to engage with […]

Tags: Africa

Agentic Commerce Artificial Intelligence ECommerce Technology

The Missing Context Layer in Agentic Commerce: Part 3

Glenbrook's Drew Edmond explores the specific implications for the payments and agentic commerce industry: how discovery changes when agents mediate it, how payment selection shifts upstream, how merchants need to prepare differently across categories, and who ultimately controls the agent layer.

Agentic Commerce Artificial Intelligence ECommerce Technology

The Missing Context Layer in Agentic Commerce: Part 2

Glenbrook's Drew Edmond examines why the agent’s role in agentic commerce varies significantly by purchase category, where the context layer is being built today, and how far along it actually is.

Agentic Commerce Artificial Intelligence ECommerce Technology

The Missing Context Layer in Agentic Commerce: Part 1

Glenbrook's Drew Edmond discusses the critical role of a persistent, cross-application context layer, ideally provided at the operating system level, in enabling the envisioned future of agentic commerce where AI agents can proactively and intelligently assist consumers in transactions.

Consumers Merchant Acquirers Merchants Payments Fraud Risk Visa

Episode 290 - The Evolution of VAMP and Card Network Fraud Monitoring, with Keith Briscoe, MRC, and Allan Shearer, J.P. Morgan

In this episode, Chris Uriarte welcomes Keith Briscoe, VP, Advocacy and Education at the Merchant Risk Council, and Allan Shearer, Executive Director, Head of TMT Relationship Management at J.P. Morgan, to focus on the evolution of card network fraud monitoring programs, and in particular, VAMP, Visa's Acquirer Monitoring Program, which combines fraud and dispute metrics to better manage risk at both merchant and acquirer levels. Listen in as the group discusses industry reactions, data transparency and reporting challenges, and implications for enforcement of new thresholds.

Industry

NRF: Swipe Fees Could Cost Easter Shoppers Almost $600 Million

Chain Store Age

“The National Retail Federation has a not-so-happy forecast for the financial impact of swipe fees on consumers who shop for Easter using credit cards. The Merchant Payments Coalition, a subsidiary of the NRF , estimates that if all of the record $24.9 billion the NRF has forecast consumers will spend on Easter this year were […]