John Adams

SEO Steve Squeri told analysts its platinum card upgrade has gotten off to a strong start, and added he's not noticing signs of consumer weakness due to recent political battles.

The bank technology company has released Smart Basket, which uses emerging artificial intelligence to improve transaction routing, a strategy that's quickly becoming table stakes for fintechs and financial institutions that offer payments.

Mastercard has added an "agentic cloud" to speed deployment, while Visa has issued a protocol to help AI agents communicate. That and more in American Banker's global payments and fintech roundup.

The company is becoming a full-fledged processor and accelerating its artificial intelligence plays, moves CEO Paulette Rowe said provide more control over agentic commerce, which payment experts say is threatening traditional payment facilitators.

Fintechs and banks are rapidly placing checkout inside apps, e-commerce sites and travel services, standing on the shoulders of a new generation of artificial intelligence and data science to revolutionize customer experience. Some of the bank executives leading the charge spoke with American Banker about the innovation's potential.

The "Roughrider" coin, which is scheduled to launch in early 2026, will be the first state stablecoin to launch on Fiserv's digital asset platform.

The retail giant is betting on the mainstream appeal of digital assets, while Lloyds' cash-preservation strategy gains steam. That and more in American Banker's global payments and fintech roundup.

The messaging service is building a network of banks to support the technology that underpins digital currencies. Technology experts say this "single location" concept encourages legacy institutions to adopt digital assets, but it's just one of many options.

Chayt said the bank has been able to onboard customers "at the speed of fintech" rather than "the speed of banking."

Under Habner's leadership, Citi has become the third largest issuer in the U.S. general purpose credit card market.

The London-based firm is seeking a license that would provide a direct connection between merchants and card networks, reducing reliance on third parties and brandishing the London company's image as a player in America.

A flurry of product launches are designed to keep the payment company's merchants in-house by making it easier to deploy artificial intelligence-driven payments and stablecoins.

Real-time cross-border payments are in demand, but lack interoperability — creating demand for Swift and Ripple to add new tech. Plus, PayPal pledges to add payment technology in the Middle East and Africa, and more international payments and fintech news.

The bank added an AI assistant to improve business payment tools, a move that comes at the same time that Citigroup and Temenos pushed their strategies for emerging AI at banks.

After a slump of several years, there's been a renewal of payment and financial tech firms going public.

The crypto company's x402 Foundation will standardize transactions, making the company one of many technology firms working on standards for AI-powered commerce.

PayPal agrees to a $7 billion BNPL loan purchase agreement with Blue Owl Capital, while Revolut, which is building a financial superapp, is looking for permission to offer more banking products. That and more in the American Banker global payments and fintech roundup.

The president is charging $100,000 for H-1B visa petitions that allow skilled workers to migrate to the U.S. Here's a look at the impact on banks and payment firms.

The company is selling its Genius platform to large restaurant and entertainment companies in an attempt to counter the wave of improvements from its rivals.

PayPal, Google and Mastercard in recent days expanded support for agentic AI commerce. Card issuers will need to respond quickly to compete, payment experts say.