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Mastercard has selected the UK as the launch market for Proto, a new sandbox designed to help banks, retailers and technology partners test agentic artificial intelligence before deploying it in live commercial environments. Mastercard selects UK to test agentic AI commerce The platform, which is expected to become available in August 2026, extends Mastercard’s Agent […]

Velocity has raised $38 million in a Series A funding round as investors increase their exposure to stablecoin infrastructure designed for enterprise treasury and cross-border payments. Velocity raises $38 million The round was led by Dragonfly and FirstMark, with participation from Activant Capital, Capital One Ventures, QED Investors, Coinbase Ventures, Wintermute Ventures and Ripple. It

Visa has unveiled an artificial intelligence-powered financial assistant that banks can integrate into their mobile applications, as the payments group expands beyond transaction processing into digital engagement and personalised financial services. The white-label service allows financial institutions to offer conversational guidance under their own branding Visa brings AI-powered financial advice into apps without developing an

BNPL providers in the UK, have entered a new regulatory era, with the Financial Conduct Authority assuming oversight of a market that expanded from £60 million in 2017 to more than £13 billion in 2024. UK BNPL regulation begins as FCA takes control From 15 July 2026, third-party lenders offering deferred payment credit — the

German-regulated e-money institution will contribute acquiring expertise to practical testing of a possible future digital euro RS2 Financial Services GmbH, an electronic money institution supervised by BaFin and part of the RS2 Group, operating under its innovation brand Beyond by RS2, has been selected to participate as an acquiring payment service provider in the Eurosystem’s

Stripe and private equity group Advent International have reportedly submitted a joint $53 billion bid for PayPal, in a proposed transaction that could significantly reshape the digital payments market. Stripe and Advent $53 Billion bid for PayPal The consortium has offered $60.50 per share, representing a premium of approximately 28 per cent to PayPal’s closing

As of April 2026‚ nearly half the total USDT supply exists on the Tron blockchain‚ specifically $86 billion of the 130 billion‚ more than half․ That was not a coincidence․ Casinos not on GamStop‚ remittance platforms‚ and P2P traders all reached the conclusion independently that TRC-20 could move dollar-pegged value faster and cheaper than any

The UK government has formally designated four of the world’s largest cloud service providers as Critical Third Parties (CTPs), placing them under direct supervision by the country’s financial regulators in a landmark move to strengthen the resilience of Britain’s financial system. UK to financially regulate major cloud providers The designation covers Microsoft Ireland Operations Limited,

Banks that embed artificial intelligence into their core operations today are likely to emerge as the dominant players in European retail banking by the end of the decade, according to new research from Visa Consulting & Analytics (VCA). Visa  finds early AI adopters lead European banking The study, based on responses from 325 senior banking

Mastercard is reportedly exploring the sale of a majority stake in Vocalink, the company that operates much of the UK’s retail payments infrastructure, in a move that could reshape ownership of one of the country’s most strategically important financial assets. Mastercard weighs sale of majority stake in Vocalink According to reports from the Financial Times