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.

July 9, 2025

Mastercard, Visa’s Merchant Fees Breach Competition Law, UK Tribunal Rules

MSN

“Global payments processors Visa and Mastercard’s default multilateral interchange fees which are charged to retailers infringe competition law, a London tribunal ruled on Friday in the latest round of the long-running legal saga. London’s Competition Appeal Tribunal unanimously ruled that Visa and Mastercard’s multilateral interchange fees breach European competition law, in a ruling in linked […]

July 7, 2025

Visa’s Blockchain Leap Redefining Global Payments

Blockchain Magazine

“Visa is pioneering blockchain with two key projects. The Visa Tokenized Asset Platform (VTAP), launched in October 2024, enables banks to issue digital tokens, like stablecoins (digital currencies tied to dollars) or tokenized bank deposits, on public blockchains like Ethereum. In 2025, Visa partnered with Bridge, a Stripe-owned startup, to expand stablecoin payments in Latin […]

June 27, 2025

Mastercard, Visa's Merchant Fees Breach Competition Law, UK Tribunal Rules

Reuters

“Global payments processors Visa and Mastercard’s default multilateral interchange fees which are charged to retailers infringe competition law, a London tribunal ruled on Friday in the latest round of the long-running legal saga. London’s Competition Appeal Tribunal unanimously ruled that Visa and Mastercard’s multilateral interchange fees breach European competition law, in a ruling in linked […]

Bolt Announces Bolt Connect for Marketplaces and Launches Support for Stablecoin Payments

PR Newswire

“Bolt, the checkout, identity and payments platform, today announced Bolt Connect, a new product designed to help marketplaces onboard merchants faster, streamline operations and scale with fewer resources. Bolt Connect gives marketplace operators a single integration to support one-click merchant onboarding, built-in compliance workflows, and low-fee or no-fee payouts.”

June 23, 2025

Fiserv and PayPal Expand Partnership to Advance Stablecoin Payments

Fiserv

“Fiserv and PayPal today announced that they are partnering to build future interoperability between FIUSD and PayPal USD (PYUSD), to allow consumers and businesses to move funds domestically and internationally. Combining the global reach of Fiserv and PayPal across banking, consumer, and merchant payments, interoperability will allow both firms to further expand the use of […]

June 12, 2025

Paytm Shares Plunge 10% as Government Denies MDR on UPI

NewsBytes

“Shares of One97 Communications, the parent company of digital payments platform Paytm, fell by as much as 10% on Thursday. The decline came after the Finance Ministry rejected rumors about the possible introduction of a Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) for Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions. The ministry called such reports “baseless and sensational speculations” that create unnecessary uncertainty […]

June 3, 2025

Deutsche Bank and Mastercard Partner to Power Merchant Solutions With Open Banking Payments

Mastercard

“Deutsche Bank and Mastercard are proud to announce a strategic partnership designed to accelerate the evolution of open banking and redefine the payment experience for merchants and consumers across Europe. The collaboration will elevate Deutsche Bank’s Merchant Solutions offering, particularly its Request to Pay (R2P) service, by introducing new levels of choice, flexibility, and efficiency […]

May 22, 2025

May 20, 2025

April 29, 2025

Indian Authorities Keen to Charge Merchants Fees to Bolster Homegrown Payments Network, Sources Say

MarketScreener

“India’s payments authority, the central bank, and industry are pushing the government to allow a fee on digital payments to large merchants made via its homegrown network to help boost growth, five sources told Reuters. The charge, known as Merchant Discount Rate (MDR), is considered crucial to boosting investment for payments firms, and reviving slowing […]

April 15, 2025

Klarna Scales In-Store Offering With Clover, Expanding to Stores, Salons and Service Providers

Fiserv, Inc.

“Klarna has signed an agreement with Clover, the world’s smartest point-of-sale system, to auto-enable Klarna’s flexible payment options into shops and service businesses across the United States, with initial plans to enable over 100,000 merchant locations. With this strategic partnership, shoppers will be able to choose Klarna for payments on Clover devices for in-store purchases.”

Banked Acquires UK’s Vibepay To Accelerate Global Adoption of Pay by Bank

Disruption Banking

“Global Pay by Bank platform, Banked announced the acquisition of UK-based app VibePay, to accelerate global Pay by Bank adoption through innovative consumer and merchant incentives. Like Cash App and Venmo in the US, the company has gained a loyal Gen Z and Millennial following, pioneering ‘Conversational Commerce’ through an innovative blend of personalised offers, […]

April 11, 2025

AfricaNenda Foundation and Partners Celebrate the Successful Announcement of Rwanda’s Instant Inclusive Payment System – eKash

AfricaNenda

“The AfricaNenda Foundation, in collaboration with the Rwanda Information Society Authority, RSwitch, Ministry of ICT & Innovation, National Bank of Rwanda and RSwitch, successfully launched the second use case of eKash (Rwanda National Digital Payment System RNDPS) in February 2025. The unveiling of eKash’s interoperable merchant payments was highlighted at the Inclusive Fintech Forum 2025, […]

April 10, 2025

RBI Eases UPI Rules To Enable High-Value Merchant Payments [India]

IBS Intelligence

“The Reserve Bank of India has introduced a significant update to its Unified Payments Interface (UPI) framework by allowing banks and payment service providers more control over transaction limits for in-person payments at merchant outlets. Under the new guidelines, financial institutions can set their transaction caps for UPI-based payments at physical stores, provided they stay within the overarching […]

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