April, 2025

• 1 April

  Security Notes: Randomness Is Better Than Math

  

  We were all fascinated, and perhaps intimidated, in school when we learned Euclid’s geometry and the way he was able to prove statements and declare facts that exceeded human experience. Euclid did not draw all possible triangles to measure and verify that any and all triangles will have exactly 180 …
• 1 April

  Digital Wallets Win in the Senate—Now What?

  

  The U.S. Senate early last month voted 51-47 to scrub a regulation issued in November by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and aimed at mobile wallets and digital money transfers. The repeal legislation, which moved to the House of Representatives, comes as major payment-app developers like Apple Inc., Block Inc., …
• 1 April

  Payments 3.0: Reform—Don’t Eliminate—the CFPB

  

  After the election, many in the payments industry hoped the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would be eliminated. While it does not seem like that will happen in the immediate future, the power of the Bureau has been curtailed. But where do things go from here? With its nomination of a …

March, 2025

• 1 March

  Payments 3.0: Get Set for the Mini CFPBs

  

  Will the states step into a regulatory gap left by the new Trump administration? In February, acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director Russell Vought, director of the United States Office of Management and Budget, ordered the Bureau to close for a week and two senior officials resigned. The Department of …
• 1 March

  Security Notes: Tokenization: Money’s Road to Cyberspace

  

  As human civilization migrates to cyberspace, we run into a big problem. Unlike the migration of the Israelites from Egypt to the promised land—where they took along all their belongings (however few they had)—cyberspace migration does not allow us to carry along our material assets. The gatekeepers are quite adamant …
• 1 March

  Fiserv Finds a Successor As CEO Bisignano Takes His Leave

  

  Fiserv Inc. late in January announced Michael P. Lyons will take over as chief executive at Fiserv Inc., replacing Frank Bisginano. Lyons, who is also taking on the office of president at the Milwaukee-based company, arrives from PNC Financial Services Group, a Fiserv client, where he was president and a …

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. …