Payments

The 21st century financial system that digital currency promised is being built, but by banks, not by the bitcoin crowd.

Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook said Friday that she believes tokenization could improve efficiency across the financial system, including faster settlement times and more effective recordkeeping. But those advantages will take place within traditional finance rather than supplanting it, she said.

The measure, sent Thursday to the governor's desk, would mark the second state ban on interchange fees and could inform an ongoing bank-led legal challenge to a similar Illinois law.

Research from American Banker shows that at least a quarter of all respondents see BNPL as a credible threat to credit card revenue.

The neobank reported a 25% year-over-year increase in revenue for the quarter ended March 31, with active users jumping 19% to 10.2 million. The company also raised its full-year 2026 guidance and authorized a $200 million share repurchase program.

Banks are mixed in their adoption of buy now/pay later and installment lending, according to American Banker research. Those that offer or are planning to offer it say that the primary motivating factor is to stay competitive.

Citi payments exec Driss Temsamani said there's more work needed to bridge gaps to enable artificial intelligence to work broadly for payments and finance.

If a card is immediately not easy and safe to use in an external app, consumers will quickly turn to another card, executives from Regions Bank, Pinnacle Financial Partners and Barclays warned American Banker's Payments Forum.

The payments company said payment volume increased, but net income decreased compared to 2025.

Ather Williams III, Wells Fargo's head of global payments and liquidity and wholesale digital, discussed the changing payments landscape and how banks can stay ahead during the keynote address at American Banker's Payments Forum 2026.

The company is officially releasing a digital asset product that it first announced back in October.

American Banker research finds that while more than 30% agree buy now/pay later is good for banks and consumers, the majority of respondents are unconvinced.

The B2B payments fintech contends the digital asset can wring inefficiencies out of corporate payments processing.

Hokodo, a British business-to-business buy now/pay later fintech, has shut down after eight years. Its closure offers important lessons about the future of the concept.

President and CEO Enrique Lores, who took the payment company's top job in March, is looking to turn the company around with fresh talent and a renewed focus on what he says are the company's fundamentals.

The card network, which reported earnings on Thursday, reports some early impacts on travel payments, and has set up a site to help customers with questions about changes in consumer and business spending habits.

Expenses and foreign exchange pressured Western Union; while Visa added more blockchains to its stablecoin settlement pilot. That and more in American Banker's global payments and fintech roundup.

Tipalti has developed a set of agentic artificial intelligence agents designed to help businesses navigate transactions and apply for refunds.

The payments giant is counting on the FIFA World Cup this summer for windfalls in its consumer and commercial businesses. Long-term, agentic commerce is creating a whole new ecosystem to which Visa can attach itself, Visa CEO Ryan McInerney said on a call with analysts.