U.K.

Visa has formed a strategic partnership with Global Processing Services. It also announced its Visa Direct debit push service will power real-time cross-border payments in Europe via TransferWise.

Nationwide Building Society is investing in the U.K. fintech charity app Percent, broadening Nationwide's support of charities and expanding Percent’s user base beyond its traditional core segment of students and young adults.

The Bank of England fined Citi $57 million for failing to properly report capital and liquidity levels at its European investment bank and other global operations.

Merchants are embracing open banking at a high rate, creating new opportunities once consumers get on board, says Nuapay's Brian Hanrahan.

The rise of challenger banks has meant that this revenue stream is becoming increasingly squeezed.

Modern technology is making it easier for fraudsters to trick consumers into believing they are making payments from their accounts to legitimate providers, but governing bodies in the U.K. are putting the brakes on rushing to create a new fund to compensate victims of those scams.

The adoption of payment cards over cash varies by nation, but debit ruled nearly everywhere on the continent.

A week after U.K. fintech Curve announced its integration with Samsung Pay, it is doing the same with Google Pay in a move that will allow its users to link all of their bank cards to Google's mobile wallet.

Cash access has grown tighter in the U.K. as more consumers adopt digital payments and banks shrink their fleets of branches and ATMs. Could the U.S. could see a similar phenomenon?

While the impact of the U.K.’s endemic late payments culture has captured the headlines over the past couple of years, there is arguably an even bigger problem afflicting the country’s merchant population — the threat of not being paid at all.