John Adams

In this week's American Banker global payments and fintech roundup, Revolut, Tether and Circle made announcements designed to improve their standing in the stablecoin market. That comes amid new research from McKinsey that says the digital asset is growing quickly, but has not made even a small dent in payments.

There's speculation about a potential deal, which could boost Stripe's merchant appeal and accelerate its agentic commerce strategy. But payment experts also say Stripe could face a bidding war that includes AI companies.

Andrew Torre, the card network's president of Value-Added Services, said demand for security, agentic commerce and better processing are creating demand for technology and consulting.

Social Security numbers, business addresses and other sensitive information were exposed. The company has fixed the error and refunded the victims.

The Olympics are boosting spending in Italy, large-in-part thanks to Americans. In the U.K., Barclays is reportedly leading a meeting to seek support for an existing project. The meeting comes against the backdrop of geopolitical concerns and the dominance of American-based payment firms.

The card network is enabling organizations to monitor risk systems and receive grades and plans of action for improvement.

After losing nearly $700 million in the fourth quarter as bitcoin's valuation tanked, Brian Armstrong stressed product diversification will help the company navigate the downturn.

Minal Gupta has implemented new financial technology for years as an executive, and is taking the helm of her credit union as the entire industry ponders how to use real-time payments and new forms of AI.

Block's merchant unit is deploying a virtual assistant to sweeten its offer to merchants, while Amazon pushes Pay by Bank. Plus, Zelle reaches a milestone and more in American Banker's global payments and fintech roundup.

Following a massive earnings miss three months ago, the bank-technology seller on Tuesday reported signs of stability and an embrace of new payments and financial services technology.

The iOS technology enables payments without requiring merchants to add extra hardware. The card network is embedding the option into a broader suite of merchant technology to bolster its services strategy amid competition from Mastercard and fintechs like Block and Stripe.

By pairing its real-time transfer app with China's UnionPay card, Visa is pursuing business in the huge country, where shifting regulations create hurdles for outside companies.

The search giant has added Klarna to its growing list of companies that are supporting standards for agentic commerce. Also, Payoneer has added Indonesia and Mexico to its collections network and more in American Banker's global payments and fintech roundup.

The payment company opened a new office in Dublin to battle rivals like Adyen, Stripe and PayPal.

HP CEO and current PayPal board chair Enrique Lores will take over March 1, following a deep slump in the payment company's key metric.

While stablecoins aren't widely used for merchant payments, blockchain tech firms such as BVNK and Polygon Labs are seeking opportunities to add speed to slow-moving international transfers.

Like other payment executives, Steve Squeri expressed concern about affordability, but is not in favor of heavy restrictions.

The president has called for a 10% interest rate cap and endorsed the Credit Card Competition Act. Michael Miebach expressed strong opposition to the CCCA while expressing concern about a cap's potential impact on access to credit.

The London-based fintech has launched a suite of financial services as its global expansion gains steam. That and more in the American Banker global payments and fintech roundup.

The e-commerce giant, which is in the midst of a corporate downsizing, is discontinuing its Go and Fresh stores and One palm checkout while it repurposes the underlying technology.