Payments

The card network's Start Path engagement program is scouring the technology world for entrepreneurs working on the new form of artificial intelligence.

The risk facing U.S. banks is not that stablecoins will suddenly siphon deposits through yield alone. It is that deposits will gradually follow utility as financial experiences improve elsewhere.

Pre- and post-purchase, buy now/pay later loans from Affirm will be available on Fiserv-issued debit cards. Last year, Affirm and FIS inked a deal to bring Affirm's BNPL loans to FIS-issued debit cards.

The bank technology seller closed the sale of its payment processor to Global Payments, which sold its card issuing unit to FIS. Helping banks get a handle on artificial intelligence is a big part of FIS' plan to reach banks.

The buy now/pay later lender is seeking to create Affirm Bank, a Nevada-chartered industrial loan company.

The McLean, Virginia-based bank plans to close the deal in mid-2026, about a year after it sealed its landmark purchase of Discover Financial Services.

The acquisition will improve how clients can use agentic artificial intelligence to attract and reel in consumers.

Tech giants such as Google and OpenAI are pushing to bring commerce and checkout into their platforms. But for many merchants, solving the question of how payments fit in is less of a priority.

Crypto-linked cards are seeing strong volume growth despite offering little more than a crypto add-on to traditional payments systems — but familiarity is often a backdoor to more profound changes.

The bank technology seller's deal with Sumitomo Mitsui Card Company is an opportunity to cash in on a government initiative to reduce cash — and comes on the heels of an earnings miss. Plus, Klarna plans to offer more credit options through a partnership with Walmart-backed OnePay, Revolut embraces agentic AI protocols and more in American Banker's global payments and fintech roundup.

Executives surveyed by American Banker said companies vying to wrestle market share from banks are a major threat to operations in the coming year.

President Trump in Davos, Switzerland, talked about his call for lower credit card interest rates and more affordable housing in a lengthy speech that mostly focused on his plan to take over Greenland.

The payment company is betting on agentic commerce to get its checkout tech in front of more merchants and consumers.

As artificial intelligence agents play an increasingly large role in enterprise finance, traditional credit card rails will be incapable of handling the speed and volume of transactions. Something new is needed.

Cryptocurrency has traditionally been an investment product more than a way to make purchases, but fintechs are betting there's a future for digital assets at the point of sale.

The payments firm is hoping that planting a flag in merchant stablecoin payments now will be accretive as stablecoins gain greater adoption.

White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Friday that the administration expects banks to voluntarily issue "Trump cards" with 10% rate caps, a move that could quell Congress' moves to impose a cap through legislation — but that's no guarantee.

Merchant groups are not taking a position on President Donald Trump's threats to cap interest rates, but they are bullish on the president's endorsement of the Credit Card Competition Act.

Bilt's new card caps interest rates at 10% for one year and Affirm is adding BNPL for rent as analysts predict the political environment will benefit fintechs.