Mastercard Inc. is looking to sell a majority interest in its United Kingdom-based Vocalink payments-processing business, according to press reports that emerged early Monday. DeliveryCo, a technology company backed by U.K. banks and payments platforms, is reportedly a potential buyer. A 51% stake in 19-year-old Vocalink could fetch nearly $535 …

Circle Internet Group Inc. said its plan to establish First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A., has been approved by the Comptroller of the Currency. The bank’s operating name will be Circle National Trust. Circle submitted its banking application June 30 last year and received conditional approval in December. The move …

A blockchain ledger developed by the financial-messaging platform Swift debuted with an announcement early Thursday by the Brussels-based network. Declaring the system “ready for initial use,” Swift said the technology will enable cross-border payments at all times of day or night using tokenized deposits, or digital equivalents of fiat currency. …

As small businesses increasingly look for faster payment capabilities, banks are starting to see a potentially profitable market. The latest offering emerged early Wednesday with U.S. Bank’s unveiling of Enhanced Payments, a bundled offering accessible online and through the bank’s mobile app. The new platform, open to entities with a …

The economics of proprietary debit networks appears to be asserting itself as a consortium of big banks is reportedly looking to acquire a debit card system from Fiserv Inc. The banking group, which includes JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and PNC Financial Services Group, has had “tentative discussions” …

The buy now, pay later specialist Klarna AB said early Monday it has submitted applications with U.S. regulators to start an industrial bank called Klarna Bank USA. The company’s applications, filed with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. as well as the Utah Department of Financial Institutions, follow its move toward banking in …

Square, the point-of-sale unit of the payments provider Block Inc., said early Wednesday it is plunging head-first into AI in an effort to build business for its client merchants. The company said it has adopted an app for OpenAI Group’s ChatGPT and a plugin for Anthropic’s Claude technology to help …

The summer travel season has arrived, promising big volume uplifts for payments processors. But wonky payments, checkout letdowns, and fraud fears could lead to less volume than travel companies expect, according to a pair of travel reports released Tuesday. So far, demand looks strong. Some 91% of consumers are planning …

No sooner has agentic commerce entered the domain of digital payments than questions have sprung up regarding issues of trust and identity. The trust issue in particular came to the fore early Monday with survey results indicating that just 19% of adult consumers in the U.K. trust that AI agents …