John Adams

While often used to describe a digital asset that hedges against cryptocurrency's volatility, the reality of stablecoins is much more complex.

The country's central bank cited geopolitical uncertainty and the increased reliance on digital payments as a reason to focus on offline payments as a backup. Also, a look at U.K. bank outages and other news in American Banker's global payments and fintech roundup.

The Financial Conduct Authority is summoning industry professionals to weigh in on potential regulatory updates to make British institutions more competitive with the U.S.

Firms such as Circle, Binance and Coinbase say new bipartisan legislation will attract banks to the market, providing a boost for mainstream payments.

Experts at American Banker's Payments Forum said health care, fintech and even gaming are emerging as popular uses for checkout and other financial services that integrate directly into digital commerce platforms.

Visa and Mastercard have long been in legal battles over payment fees, with out-of-court agreements proving elusive.

The card-issuing company has appointed CFO Mike Milotich as interim CEO as Simon Khalaf steps down. The firm also agreed to buy European payment provider TransactPay.

As the company asserts profitability and focuses on AI-powered checkout, its $95 billion high-water mark from the pandemic-era 2021 bubble is in sight, providing clues about broader investor demand.

The company's cards will combine with the Alipay digital wallet, enabling foreign travelers to use local currency while reducing fees and processing steps. That and more in the American Banker global payments roundup.

The collaboration will enable the payment company's Fastlane system to reach merchants in the U.K. and Europe, addressing a need to scale the product quickly.