John Adams

PayPal has brought on expert pitchmen from Uber and Plaid to build an advertising platform for merchants. Its rivals are on a similar path.

Digital assets have never caught on for mainstream payments, but the card network isn't giving up hope. Its latest effort aims to reduce complexity by learning from the successes of digital wallets.

By making it easier to enroll and access financial services such as buy now/pay later lending, the search giant hopes to enhance connections with users.

Mastercard launches palm checkout in Uruguay, the U.K. commits to a gradual rollout of King Charles banknotes starting this week, and more.

The technology is adept at working with partial account numbers and other shreds of data to alert banks of ongoing and potential crime, the network contends.

Payment firm BVNK is betting that PYUSD's potential to connect to PayPal's network of millions of consumers and businesses will make it more than another investment currency.

The Swedish financial institution argues over potential regulations that treat buy now/pay later lending like credit cards in the U.S.; Discover seeks the next hot market for real-time payments; and more.

Rather than compete against the rising tide of account-to-account transactions, the two card networks are looking for ways to make themselves essential to this growing market.

Santander joins Iberpay as the first supporters of the European Payment Council's instant account-to-account network, Australian lawmakers approved bills to create a federated digital identity system, and more.

These three payment firms are working to grow revenue by pivoting to new markets and technologies, all while waiting for a turnaround in the industry.

The card network is working with Salesforce to use large language models to be more proactive in how it resolves these interactions.

The bank is connecting billers and brokerage accounts as it builds the case for instant funding. It also points to countries such as Brazil and India as models to follow.

Amex is working with Worldpay to reach businesses in the U.K., Western Union has resumed remittances to Cuba after shutting down that corridor in 2020, and more.

Wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. Fiercely polarized U.S. politics. Rapidly multiplying payments options on social media networks and elsewhere. Those factors and more are making it harder than ever for banks to combat illicit financial transactions.

Thomas Halpin, who heads global cash management for North America, talks about real-time processing, generative AI, central bank digital currencies and why the ISO 20022 messaging standard is cool.

Samsung and Curve are setting the groundwork for a return of smart rings and other devices that can turn top-of-wallet cards into a fashion accessory.

TD Bank is among the latest to support Tap to Pay, which allows clients to accept contactless payments on their personal smartphones. Through its investment in Autobooks, it enables others to do the same.

In unrelated initiatives, the two companies are extending their use of open banking to create deeper client relationships.

To serve an increasingly online audience, POS Nation has acquired agriculture e-commerce platform GrazeCart, an example of vendors joining forces to adapt to shifts in the agriculture industry.

Monzo raises a $430 million investment to accelerate its expansion in the U.S.; Stripe adds support for Tap to Pay on iPhone; and more in this week's global payments news roundup.