Fed loses debit card cap appeal

The Federal Reserve’s debit card interchange rule doesn’t follow the intent of Congress in setting a limit for swipe fees, an appellate court ruled Monday.

By Justin Bachman • Oct. 26, 2026

Sezzle seeks OCC bank charter

The buy now, pay later provider wants a U.S. charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency amid new state rules.

By Justin Bachman • Oct. 23, 2026

Explore the Trendline➔

Stablecoins enter the payments universe

Stablecoins are gaining ground thanks to passage of the Genius Act, forcing companies to consider competitive strategies in the digital realm.

By Payments Dive staff

Treasury tallies $270M in suspicious financial aid transactions

The department flagged the potentially fraudulent activity as it seeks to stop criminals from stealing student financial aid payments.

By Lynne Marek • Oct. 22, 2026

Utah forms digital ID consortium

The state is using its digital identity law as a model for having individuals, not governments, control their personal data, Utah’s chief privacy officer said.

By Justin Bachman • Oct. 19, 2026

Congress should examine EWA bill

“Combining employer-integrated solutions and direct-to-consumer products under a single, relaxed standard weakens consumer safety,” writes an industry executive.

By Carl Morris • Oct. 16, 2026

Businesses view stablecoins warily

Despite the hype surrounding the digital assets, businesses remain cool to using the cryptocurrency, according to the results of a Cleveland Federal Reserve survey.

By Peter Lucas • Oct. 14, 2026

How agentic payments present risk

“There's no clear legal rule for who bears the loss when an AI tool exceeds its mandate,” writes one financial services consultant. “That's a problem for issuers as they contemplate making credentials available to AI tools.”

By Aaron Cheiffetz • Oct. 9, 2026

Amex dinged by Fed, OCC

American Express must pay a $350 million penalty after regulators cited “significant deficiencies” in its anti-money laundering program.

By Gabrielle Saulsbery • Oct. 8, 2026

Payments conferences for 2027

Real-time payments, stablecoins and AI use cases are expected to be among the hot topics at next year’s industry events.

By Shefali Kapadia • Oct. 6, 2026

Fintechs press for Fed access

Stripe and Ramp executives highlighted their companies’ need for more access to the Federal Reserve’s payment rails during a Fed conference.

By Justin Bachman • Oct. 6, 2026

Will Europe unseat Visa, Mastercard?

The Wero project launched by European banks is making progress in challenging the card networks’ dominance on the continent, but the U.S. companies still have an edge, one firm’s analysts contend.

By Lynne Marek • Sept. 30, 2026

Senate passes Common Cents bill

The measure to provide merchants a cash rounding framework, and to formally phase out the penny, now heads to the White House.

By Justin Bachman • Sept. 29, 2026

FedNow tiptoes into cross-border

The Federal Reserve is inching toward adding some sort of cross-border capability to FedNow, but it’s not clear when or how.

By Lynne Marek • Sept. 29, 2026

Fed proposes stablecoin rules

The regulations aim to make these digital assets “foster payments improvements that benefit households and businesses,” Federal Reserve Gov. Michael Barr said.

By Gabrielle Saulsbery • Sept. 28, 2026

How digital IDs may battle fraud

Americans are vulnerable to identification and payment frauds because the U.S. has been slow to adopt digital identification, two Congress members said.

By Justin Bachman • Sept. 23, 2026

FleetCor enters $100M settlement

The fuel card company, now known as Corpay, and its CEO agreed to pay the Federal Trade Commission $100 million to settle an action over fees.

By Lynne Marek • Sept. 17, 2026

Scammers fake student identities to siphon aid payments

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is warning payment processors and financial institutions “to be vigilant” of the fraud schemes.

By Shefali Kapadia • Sept. 17, 2026

Clarity Act bill stumbles

A measure to regulate crypto assets and stablecoin payments failed in the Senate. Regulators now may have to forge a blueprint for the sector.

By Dan Ennis • Sept. 17, 2026

House passes Common Cents bill

The bill officially ends minting of pennies and allows merchants to round to the nearest nickel, though the coins are already out of production. It’s the second time the chamber has taken up such legislation.

By Lynne Marek • Sept. 16, 2026

Block seeks OCC bank charter

Cash App’s parent is joining a parade of fintechs seeking to become national banks as the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency allows more leeway for such licenses.

By Justin Bachman • Sept. 9, 2026

Processor pays $12M to settle ‘sham’ merchant case

ISO Humboldt Merchant Services agreed to settle a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit that alleged it processed fraudulent payments.

By Justin Bachman • Sept. 9, 2026

Nuvei pays $4.9M to settle FTC case

The company has agreed to settle a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit that alleged it handled processing for merchants that were engaged in scams.

By Justin Bachman • Sept. 8, 2026

EWA grows despite legal limbo

Instant Financial and Clair are among the earned wage access companies expanding even as state and federal oversight evolves.

By Lynne Marek • Aug. 31, 2026

Visa delivers 6M documents to DOJ

The government and the card network will need to complete their pre-trial evidence work by the end of January, a magistrate ruled Friday.

By Justin Bachman • Aug. 31, 2026

Illinois seeks to support cash use

A new state law will require retailers to accept cash for most transactions below $500, and fine repeat violators up to $5,000.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Aug. 28, 2026