Visa

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.

CEO Ryan McInerney reiterated the company's long-held stance that the Credit Card Competition Act was "very harmful" and "just simply not needed."

With fintechs and legal cases pressuring payment fees, the card companies are leaning more on revenue from other sources.

The card network and bank technology seller partnered to expand AI protocols, while British payment companies face tougher fee disclosures but looser rules for contactless transactions. That and more in the American Banker global payments and fintech roundup.

The card networks have entered a series of partnerships in Europe and Asia amid signs of growing demand and Apple's waning control over the underlying technology.

Visa launched its Stablecoin Advisory Practice, a value-added service from its consultancy arm Visa Consulting & Analytics, to help financial institutions, fintechs and merchants deploy stablecoin technology.

The card networks entered separate partnerships to tap the remittance market, while the French payment company continued its turnaround strategy following regulatory and economic challenges.

The card network is making a digital wallet push following the Digital Markets Act, which dilutes Apple's control over mobile payments technology.

Companies such as Google, Visa and Mastercard are building a framework that will allow AI agents to shop and make payments. There are signs that consumers are warming to the idea.

Acquisition talks fell through in the final hours, according to reports. Also: Visa launched another stablecoin pilot on Visa Direct; the Bank of England seeks input on stablecoin restrictions; and more in this week's global payments roundup.

Following a judge's rejection of a 2024 settlement with merchants, the card networks are offering a slightly higher interchange reduction and easing card acceptance rules. It's the latest attempt to end a legal fight that's two decades old.

As Standard Chartered boss Bill Winters says cash will soon fully give way to digital currency, Western Union, Worldline, Coinbase and Ripple entered separate collaborations to bring digital assets to wider audiences. That and more in the American Banker global payments and fintech roundup.

The payments giant had a "better than expected" fiscal fourth quarter, and said it expected that momentum to carry through the holidays. It's also looking forward to tailwinds brought by the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup in 2026.

Revolut receives a banking license, while SumUp introduces its payments hardware. That and more in the American Banker global payments and fintech roundup.

Merchants alleged the major card networks illegally conspired to shift fraud liability onto them with the adoption of EMV chip technology.

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 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 payments company is opening its real-time payments network, Visa Direct, to stablecoins through a prefunding pilot that will allow businesses to move money across borders when banks are closed.

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.