Another State Grapples with Debit Fee Surcharges
Louisiana lawmakers have passed a bill that would allow the state attorney general to levy civil penalties of up to $500 per violation against merchants who add surcharges to debit card purchases. The measure also mandates a toll‑free hotline and an online portal for consumers to report offending receipts. The legislation follows Illinois' recent effort to ban credit and debit interchange fees on taxes and tips, a rule currently tied up in court. Together, the two states signal a growing push to curb debit‑card surcharge practices nationwide.
India Pilots Digital Rupee for Aid Distribution, Cross-Border Payments
India’s Reserve Bank is testing the digital rupee as a tool for welfare payments, piloting food‑benefit disbursements that leverage the currency’s instant settlement and programmable features. The RBI also announced cross‑border pilots with Singapore and the United Arab Emirates to...
The Next Phase for Prepaid Cards Could Be Stablecoins
Prepaid cards are poised to shift from balance‑sheet liabilities to tokenized assets by holding stablecoins, according to Javelin Strategy’s new research. The move could unlock yield, improve cross‑border efficiency, and protect consumer value if a retailer fails. Recent U.S. legislation—the...
Stablecoins Are Turning the Remittance Business Model on Its Head
Stablecoins are poised to overhaul the $700 billion global remittance market by offering real‑time settlement, lower fees, and blockchain‑based transparency. In a PaymentsJournal webinar, Fireblocks SVP Ran Goldshtein, MoneyGram CTO Luke Tuttle, and Javelin’s James Wester highlighted how stablecoin‑backed digital wallets...
UK Moves to Tackle Late B2B Payments
The UK government is drafting its toughest commercial‑payment reforms in 25 years, targeting chronic late B2B invoices that cripple small suppliers. The proposed bill would set strict payment timelines, require large firms to publish performance data, and give suppliers visibility...
Why Too Many Banks Are Losing Out on Merchant Services
Banks are ceding merchant‑service relationships to fintechs by treating acquiring as a low‑margin utility rather than a data‑driven platform. SaaS point‑of‑sale systems like Toast give fintechs real‑time visibility into sales, inventory and cash flow, enabling targeted credit and payroll products....
Anthropic Shifts Stance on Mythos to Enable Shared Threat Intelligence
Anthropic announced that its AI‑driven cybersecurity platform Mythos will now permit partners to share threat findings, best practices, and tools with each other, the public, and media outlets. Until now Mythos was limited to a few tech firms and U.S....
Bank of England Plans Sweeping Overhaul to UK Payments Infrastructure
The Bank of England announced two parallel reforms to modernise the UK payments landscape. It will extend the operating hours of core payment systems to include Sundays and selected bank holidays, aiming for near‑continuous settlement. Simultaneously, the BoE and FCA...
After Kraken’s “Skinny” Fed Account, What’s Next for Crypto?
In March, Kraken became the first cryptocurrency exchange to obtain a Federal Reserve “skinny” master account, granting it direct access to FedWire and FedNow payment rails. The limited account provides settlement capability without traditional banking privileges such as interest earnings...
Mexico Moves Away From Cash and Into Digital Payments
Mexico’s president announced that FEMSA’s NetPay unit will install an integrated digital payment system at roughly 600 gas stations and convenience stores, linking card, QR and CoDi options directly to store management platforms. The rollout follows a broader government push...
Palo Alto Network Warns of Looming AI Fraud Deluge
Cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks warns that AI‑driven fraud attacks could become commonplace within the next three to five months. The company cites a recent Google‑detected incident where hackers used an AI model to locate a zero‑day vulnerability and bypass...
PhotonPay Completes Its First Live Agentic Payment Together with Mastercard
PhotonPay, a next‑generation financial operating system, completed its first live AI‑driven payment with Mastercard in Hong Kong. In the demo an AI agent used a PhotonPay tokenized card to autonomously book a hoppa ride and settle the transaction in real time....
Amazon Rolls Out New Business Cards, Its First with U.S. Bank
Amazon has partnered with U.S. Bank to launch two Mastercard‑based business cards, ending its eight‑year exclusive relationship with American Express for business products. The Prime Business Card and Amazon Business Card integrate real‑time spend visibility, unlimited virtual cards, cashback rewards and...
The Hidden Cost of Fraud Disputes Is Hitting Banks Hard
In this episode, host Rima Katz talks with Steve Derny of Quavo Fraud and Disputes and Suzanne Sando, lead analyst at Javelin, about the hidden costs of fraud disputes for banks. They explain how inefficient dispute processes erode revenue through...
Staying Afloat as Payment Operations Rapidly Evolve
AutoRek’s *Future of Payments Operations 2026* report warns that rapid volume growth and new rails are outpacing the industry’s infrastructure. 69% of surveyed firms point to manual, people‑dependent workflows as the chief scalability blocker, while 96% have deployed AI but...