Fed ‘skinny’ account idea draws criticism

A prototype payment account carries undue restrictions, fintech groups said in response to a Fed proposal that offers expanded real-time payments access.

By Justin Bachman • Feb. 9, 2026

Visa, Amex vie for small businesses

The card networks are each pitching new services to mom-and-pop stores, including financing options as well as tools for expense management and fraud mitigation.

By Patrick Cooley • Feb. 5, 2026

Explore the Trendline➔

Digital wallets proliferate as features advance

As more companies aim to offer digital wallets the rise in competition is sharpening their features.  

By Payments Dive staff

Modernizing payments is essential

“The shift toward a 24/7 payments ecosystem is inevitable...organizations that are prepared to support instant payments will have a distinct competitive advantage,” writes one industry executive.

By Mihail Duta • Feb. 5, 2026

Visa pushes real-time payments into China

The company is partnering with UnionPay International to bring direct payments to debit cardholders in one of the largest remittance markets.

By Justin Bachman • Feb. 3, 2026

Why some payments companies want to be banks

Banking charters let those companies streamline their services and save money by not partnering with banks.

By Patrick Cooley • Feb. 3, 2026

PayPal appoints new CEO

The digital payments company tapped former HP CEO Enrique Lores as its new chief executive Tuesday, casting aside Alex Chriss.

By Lynne Marek • Feb. 3, 2026

Charting 2026 payments trends

Here are 4 stories that round up our deep dive outlook for this year, including coverage of agentic payments, fraud and personalization.

By Lynne Marek • Jan. 30, 2026

Block opens Dublin office

The location, announced Thursday, will include a demonstration lab to show off products to potential European customers.

By Patrick Cooley • Jan. 30, 2026

Embedded finance to ‘explode’: panel

Tucking financial services, like payments, into a broader range of consumer situations is about to take off, bank executives said Thursday.

By Justin Bachman • Jan. 30, 2026

Visa doles out stablecoin advice

The company began offering clients strategic counsel on the digital assets last month, but doesn’t foresee many U.S. consumer use cases.

By Lynne Marek • Jan. 30, 2026

Mastercard reworks Cap One pact

The card network's CEO said the company signed a new agreement with Capital One, reaffirming ties despite the bank’s purchase of rival Discover.

By Lynne Marek • Jan. 29, 2026

Zelle network expands by 15%

Most of the 337 banks that were added to the network last year were small community banks and credit unions.

By Patrick Cooley • Jan. 28, 2026

Credit card delinquencies drop, says Fed bank

The decline happened even as U.S. consumers spent more on their credit cards, data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia shows.

By Patrick Cooley • Jan. 27, 2026

Secret Service foils card skimmers

The federal agency last year identified and deactivated some 400 illegal card reader inserts in major U.S. cities.

By Lynne Marek • Jan. 26, 2026

Brex CFO Erica Dorfman’s take on the Capital One deal

In a rare look inside a major fintech transaction, Dorfman describes the speed, scale and boardroom logic that led Brex to Capital One.

By Adam Zaki • Jan. 26, 2026

Affirm seeks Nevada bank charter

The company said Friday that it submitted applications to state and federal regulators to start Affirm Bank.

By Patrick Cooley • Jan. 23, 2026

Capital One nabs Brex for $5.15B

The deal, expected to close in mid-2026, lets the bank absorb a fintech player that specializes in corporate cards, payments and expense-management tools.

By Justin Bachman • Jan. 23, 2026

JPMorgan CEO mocks card rate cap idea

The government should impose a 10% credit card interest rate freeze in Massachusetts and Vermont as an experiment, CEO Jamie Dimon said.

By Justin Bachman • Jan. 22, 2026

Why Shift4 targets big merchants

The processor’s CEO explained why the payment processor looks for merchant customers with multiple locations or vendors with complex software needs.

By Patrick Cooley • Jan. 22, 2026

Klarna to offer after-purchase BNPL

Shoppers will be able to convert purchases into installment loans after the transaction, the company said Tuesday.

By Patrick Cooley • Jan. 21, 2026

Payments fraud risks burgeon with AI

The artificial intelligence threats are mounting, but so are the defenses, as new industry trends take hold, from agentic commerce to passkey adoption.

By Lynne Marek • Jan. 21, 2026

Consumers push back on swipe fees: survey

A third of merchants reported customers cancelling purchases when a credit card surcharge is included in their bill, analytics firm J.D. Power found.

By Patrick Cooley • Jan. 20, 2026

Affirm to offer BNPL for rent

The buy now, pay later player is one of the first to offer pay later installment financing for tenants paying their monthly rent.

By Patrick Cooley • Jan. 15, 2026

Trump interest cap might spur lawsuit

The CFO of the largest U.S. lender, JPMorgan, doesn’t rule out potential litigation by the banking industry to block any credit card interest rate cap.

By Caitlin Mullen • Jan. 14, 2026

Merchants take on banks with Trump’s help

Just two weeks in, 2026 is shaping up to be the biggest year in the battle over credit card reform in years.

By Lynne Marek • Jan. 14, 2026