February, 2025

• 1 February

  Looking for Trends? Look at AI, Interchange, And Open Finance

  

  The payments business in 2025 will be rife with open finance, instant payments, multi-rail payments, interchange questions, and the increasing use of artificial intelligence, observers suggest. Meanwhile, the top three payments trends will be open finance, instant payments adoption, and point-of-sale innovations, says Capgemini Research Institute in its “Capgemini Financial …
• 1 February

  Security Notes: Is Washington Walking into a Trap?

  

  At some point recently, President Trump flipped from dismissing Bitcoin to glorifying this coin, and declaring his wish to turn Washington into the “Crypto Capital of the World.” He even spoke of establishing strategic Bitcoin reserves. For those who are familiar with the mathematical foundation of this digital currency, the …
• 1 February

  Payments 3.0: A Resurgence of Cash in 2025?

  

  While cash use has been trending down for a number of years, shoppers, diners, and travelers may soon find more value in paying with coins and folding money. Like many people, I was traveling and dining out around the December holidays. As I crossed four Midwestern states, it seemed that …

January, 2025

• 1 January

  Security Notes: Bitcoin: Communism Tries Again

  

  In the year 1848, a short publication called “The Communist Manifesto” soon swept up millions in a kind of religious devotion, raving about the end of oppressive governments, declaring a world order where power is vested not in the ruling elite but in the roaring voice of the industrial crowds. …
• 1 January

  Has the CCCA Reached the End of the Road?

  

  The odds are against passage of the Credit Card Competition Act any time soon. Prospects that the bill might advance received a major blow late in November as Sen. Thom Tillis said during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing about credit card swipe fees the bill “is not going to pass” …
• 1 January

  Payments 3.0: The Complications of Trump 2.0

  

  Don’t start laying off your compliance and government-relations teams just yet. After the Republican sweep of the White House and Congress, the payments industry seems to think its regulatory problems are solved. With the Congressional Review Act to eliminate present regulations, campaign promises for deregulation, and calls to “delete” the …

December, 2024

• 1 December

  Payments 3.0: The CFPB And the Future of Open Banking

  

  Beyond opposing a sweeping new rule on data sharing, the financial industry will have to cope with the new digital reality that led to the rule. In October, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued its final rule on “Personal Financial Data Rights.” To oversimplify, it requires that companies share their …
• 1 December

  Security Notes: An Open Letter to President Elect Trump

  

  Digital money may turn out to be the biggest global story of the first half of the 21st century. The phenomenon was launched by Bitcoin, and its promise only begins to unfold. Payments, loans, credit, growth, innovation, charity, and efficiency are already showing the welcome impact of the new form …
• 1 December

  How Embedded Finance Is Finding New Outlets

  

  Talk of embedded finance—the marrying of financial services with unrelated applications for businesses—is in the air, and most recently was a dominant theme at the big Money 20/20 conference in October in Las Vegas. The discussion comes as fintechs and financial institutions devise initiatives that extend beyond simple credit and …

November, 2024

• 1 November

  Security Notes: LoanChain: A New Market for Entrepreneurs

  

  Blockchain is robbing traditional banks. It’s yanking money from beyond concrete walls, metal locks, and private ledgers and putting it behind cryptographic walls, mathematical locks, and public ledgers. As legacy banks gasp for air, here comes the one-two-punch: LoanChain. Its blow may be deeper at the core level. Banks make …