Payments

Zelle's parent Early Warning Services said Friday it was planning to take its peer-to-peer payments network international through a new stablecoin initiative. It says the details will come later.

There are regulatory and technology efforts to reform international payments, but it's a multifaceted, long process. Swift, The Federal Reserve, and fintechs like Wise and Revolut are pushing potential solutions. Here's what banks need to know.

Some customers reportedly complained about getting locked out of their accounts after signing up for the bank's new Strata Elite credit card. "We feel like we have done the right thing for all of our good customers," Pam Habner, Citi's head of U.S. branded cards, said Tuesday.

The credit card issuer added two programs with home goods retailers Raymour and Flanigan and Bed Bath and Beyond during the quarter while also increasing its stock buyback allocation and dividend payouts.

U.K. regulators approved the acquisition, which is part of Global Payments' plan to scale its point of sale restructuring.

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

Banks and credit unions are steering away from stablecoins chiefly due to lack of customer demand, per new American Banker research.

The two companies are collaborating on making the digital asset private for payroll and other business transactions. While it's unusual, as the most well-known stablecoins are on public ledgers, tech firms are warming to the idea.

The number of states with earned wage access legislation doubled in 2025 with six states passing new laws. Connecticut regulators have been particularly strict, creating conflict between lenders and the government.

The payments division of the country's largest bank posted $4.9 billion in revenue in the third quarter as transaction volumes in merchant services outpaced volume in 2024.

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.

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

The BNPL lender is launching a three-day shopping event that pushes 0% financing offers to draw more consumers into the app and increase sales volumes for merchants ahead of the holiday season.

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.

New research from American Banker finds that financial institutions are asking about ROI, infrastructure costs and compliance burdens.

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.

"We actually see a little bit more strength in the nonprime [consumer]," CFO Brian Wenzel told American Banker.

New research from American Banker finds that most are still hashing out plans for crypto and stablecoins, but a handful have already launched projects.

Credit cards that pay rewards in cryptocurrencies are nothing new, but the GENIUS Act has opened the door for new incentive programs.