Payment Methods/page/4 news and trends

Consumer AI Agents Put the Subscription Economy on Notice
Subscriptions // October 05, 2026

Consumer artificial intelligence (AI) agents are getting the keys to inboxes, browsers and payment accounts. Meta’s Muse, launched Sept. 8, can send emails, fill out forms and pay at checkout through Stripe’s Link, PYMNTS reported. Three weeks later, OpenAI introduced “dots,” AI agents which run...

Jackson Hole and G20 Map a Future of 24/7 Payments and AI
Payments Innovation // September 01, 2026

A financial market that trades around the clock can’t wait until the next banking day to settle. A business selling digital services overseas has a different problem: the product can cross the border more easily than the payment. Both issues surfaced last week at the...

Standard Chartered and HSBC Complete First Transaction on Swift Blockchain Ledger
Blockchain // August 21, 2026

Standard Chartered and HSBC have completed the first interbank transaction executed on Swift’s blockchain-based ledger, Standard Chartered said in a Wednesday (Aug. 19) press release. This live cross-border transaction demonstrated interbank operability and helped advance industry progress on 24/7 cross-border payments, according to the release. By doing so, it marked...

Rain CEO Says Merchants Receive Stablecoin Payments Without Knowing It
Blockchain // August 19, 2026

With stablecoins increasingly moving through existing payment networks, many merchants don’t know they are receiving stablecoin payments, Rain CEO Farooq Malik told The Block, according to a report posted Wednesday (Aug. 19). Rain facilitates stablecoin payments that settle through Visa’s payment network in about three days, according to the report. More than...

Interviews & Exclusives
5 Ways Missing Payment Options Send Shoppers Elsewhere

October 07, 2026
A shopper who reaches checkout has already selected what to buy. For tens of millions of consumers, however, the available ways to pay can still determine whether the purchase happens. PYMNTS Intelligence’s “The Hidden Cost of Checkout Gaps: What 56 Million Abandoned Carts Mean for U.S. Merchants and How Agentic AI is Changing What Comes […]

Banks Turn $5.3 Million Wires Into Strategic Assets

July 28, 2026
Wire payments are starting to look less like back-office plumbing and more like a competitive tool for banks. That shift anchors “Rewiring Wires: Modernizing CHIPS and Fedwire for a New...

AML Debate Shifts From Transactions to Hidden Networks

June 09, 2026
The title of Tuesday’s House Financial Services Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee hearing pointed toward Chinese money laundering networks and cartel financing. But witness testimony and lawmaker exchanges centered on a...

Merchants Start Chasing High Approvals Instead of Low Fees

March 04, 2026
Watch more: Need to Know With North’s Suril Patel When merchants viewed payments solely through the lens of cost, they typically looked for as little cost as possible. But that...

Quick Reads
Standard Chartered and HSBC Complete First Transaction on Swift Blockchain Ledger

August 21, 2026
Standard Chartered and HSBC have completed the first interbank transaction executed on Swift’s blockchain-based ledger, Standard Chartered said in a Wednesday (Aug. 19) press release. This live cross-border transaction demonstrated interbank operability and helped advance industry progress on 24/7 cross-border payments, according to the release. By doing so, it marked a milestone in the use of tokenized deposits by regulated […]

Rain CEO Says Merchants Receive Stablecoin Payments Without Knowing It

August 19, 2026
With stablecoins increasingly moving through existing payment networks, many merchants don’t know they are receiving stablecoin payments, Rain CEO Farooq Malik told The Block, according to a report posted Wednesday (Aug. 19). Rain facilitates stablecoin payments that...

Klarna Card Users Hit 6.5 Million but Stock Plunges on Lower Outlook

August 18, 2026
Klarna is getting consumers to use it for more than pay-in-four, but the second quarter also showed what happens to transaction growth when discretionary spending slows in a major market....

N3XT Unveils Tokenized Cross-Border Payments

August 17, 2026
Blockchain-powered bank N3XT has secured approval from Wyoming regulators to let customers use its digital token to transact with foreign counterparties, Bloomberg reported Monday (Aug. 17), citing its interview with N3XT Founder Scott Shay. This...