PAYMENTS NEWS
CFTC chair to issue crypto rules if Congress stalls on CLARITY
Aug 21, 2026
Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Michael Selig has directed staff to explore potential rulemaking to create a framework for crypto exchanges in the U.S.
Visa, DOJ lawyers clash ahead of trial
Aug 21, 2026
The government and card network are trading accusations of overly broad discovery requests and ‘gamesmanship’ in the DOJ’s debit card lawsuit.
Zombie Card Attack Can Revive Expired Visa Cards for Contactless Payments
Aug 21, 2026
The attack revives expired Visa contactless credit cards for real in-store purchases by rewriting the expiration date a POS terminal reads over NFC, without breaking any of the card’s cryptography.
Visa and Mastercard Join Rain’s Agentic Commerce Coalition
Aug 20, 2026
The Agentic Payments Coalition, formed by stablecoin payments company Rain, was announced this week, listing Visa, Mastercard, Fiserv, Circle, Solana, and Remitly among its founding members.
Visa debit case turns on market definition, lawyers say
Aug 11, 2026
The card network will argue that the DOJ’s view of the debit card market is too narrow.
Senate passes cash-rounding bill
Aug 11, 2026
If enacted, the new law would provide a federal framework for how to round cash retail transactions as pennies grow scarce.
Credit Card Competition Act Gains New Senate Support
Aug 11, 2026
Sens. Angus King (I-Maine), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming), and Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), have signed on as co-sponsors of the CCCA.
FDIC Floats Standard-Setting Body for Banks’ Fintech Partners
Aug 7, 2026
The FDIC is working with banking and fintech trade associations to establish an independent standard-setting body that would help certify whether bank service providers meet federal regulatory guidelines.
Square, Toast Jump into AI-Boosted Google Maps
Aug 6, 2026
Google is integrating elements of its Gemini AI engine into its Maps product, enabling users to ask for complex, multi-step tasks such as ordering food.
What we know about the CFPB's forthcoming open-banking rule
Aug 6, 2026
Under a revised open-banking proposal, banks are expected to be allowed to charge fees to fintechs and other third parties seeking access to customer financial data.
Use Case Evolution Is One Factor in RTP’s Instant Payments Growth
Jul 28, 2026
Business-to-business payments were one of the first use cases for instant payments when the RTP network from The Clearing House Payments Co. LLC debuted in 2017. As more businesses and consumers want to use such services, the use cases are evolving, with digital wallets—like PayPal and Venmo—now being the largest use cases on the RTP network.
Mastercard bolsters scam defense
Jul 28, 2026
Acquiring banks that process Mastercard payments are required to follow up within three days on certain flagged fraud activity.
Maryland joins states issuing chip-enabled EBT cards
Jul 24, 2026
Maryland rolls out EBT cards that use chip-and-tap technology, joining a growing list of states adopting chip-enabled EBT cards.
Indian payments firms oppose one-click UPI checkout proposal, citing competition risks
Jul 24, 2026
Several Indian digital payments firms have opposed a proposal that would allow merchants to store customers’ preferred Unified Payments Interface option for one-click checkouts, arguing it could entrench the dominance of the bigger payment apps.
Trump’s trade war targets Brazil’s payment rail
Jul 21, 2026
Trump plans a 25% tariff on most Brazilian exports, citing the role of the country’s Pix payment rail as one of the reasons.
NGA Backs House Bill to Round Cash Without Pennies
Jul 16, 2026
MAG joins NGA and other business groups urging Congress to pass the Common Cents Act.
Penny’s end poses rounding challenge
Jul 16, 2026
Merchants press for passage of a bill to enact rounding standards as cash-handling businesses grapple with the cent’s gradual demise.
Mastercard examines sale of UK payments subsidiary Vocalink, FT reports
Jul 14, 2026
Mastercard is exploring the sale of a majority stake in its UK payments subsidiary Vocalink back to British banks as it responds to concerns about a critical asset being under U.S. ownership, the Financial Times reported on Monday citing people briefed on the talks.
Debit cards top payments, Fed says
Jul 10, 2026
In the Federal Reserve’s latest Payments Study, debit cards dominated, accounting for the bulk of all non-cash payments.
Study shows decade-long decline in federal enforcement activity
Jul 8, 2026
Annual enforcement actions by the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency have fallen steadily dating back to the Obama administration. Other data points indicate that enforcement activity could still decline further.