Brighty, a Poland-based financial-technology platform that bridges digital finance and traditional banking, has launched an application programming interface that enables AI agents to perform banking tasks. The API enables AI agents to check balances across all accounts, send payments, convert currencies in real time, manage payroll, and reconcile transactions. In …

Splitit USA, Inc. is betting its adoption of Google Inc.’s Universal Commerce Protocol will simplify the purchasing process for consumers shopping with AI agents. It figures the protocol will bring more payment flexibility and predictable BNPL approvals that can help AI agents close a sale. Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) is an …

The Top 50 originating financial institutions handled 30.7 billion automated clearing house payments in 2025, up 4.7% from 2024, and accounted for 91.4% of the ACH Network’s total commercial payments volume, down from for 93.8% in 2024, according to Nacha, the rules-setting organization for the ACH network. The Top 50 …

Kraken Financial, a Wyoming-based special-purpose depository institution operated by Payward Inc., has become the first digital bank to get a Federal Reserve master account. With the account, Kraken will be able to settle transactions directly on core payment rails in the United States, such as Fedwire, the Federal Reserve’s real-time …

Stripe Inc. has expanded its reach into agentic commerce to include support for buy now, pay later options through deals with Klarna AB and Affirm Holdings Inc. At the same time, Stripe is partnering with Visa Inc. and Mastercard to support the two networks’ agentic network tokens. Affirm and Klarna …

N3XT Inc., a blockchain-powered bank, has partnered with YouHodler, a Web3 platform that supports crypto-backed loans, crypto-reward accounts, cryptocurrency trading, and universal currency exchange. Launched in 2025 by former Signature Bank executives, N3XT provides instant, programmable USD Coin business-to-business payments. A so-called narrow bank, N3XT Inc., uses smart contracts for automated, …

Block is cutting its headcount by more than 40%, the company announced late Thursday during its fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call. The move—which will leave Block with less than 6,000 employees, down from more than 10,000—comes as the fintech posted one of its best financial performances for 2025, according to company …

Ziosk, the restaurant-technology platform for Dallas-based fintech Tabletop Media LLC, is working with restaurant chains Gringo’s Tex-Mex and Jimmy Changas to provide its Drop & Pay payment technology across all locations. The two chains, which are part of Ybarra Franchising Group, have a combined 21 locations throughout Texas. Drop & …

Verifone Inc. announced early Wednesday it has expanded its partnership with payments-solutions provider Unzer Group GmbH. Verifone will integrate its hardware and processing technology into Unzer’s UnzerOne platform. The expanded partnership will enable merchants to deploy a unified payment system from checkout to payout across in-store and online channels, Verifone …

New York Governor Kathy Hochul late Monday unveiled new rules to regulate buy now, pay later lenders in the state. The proposed regulations, the governor says in a statement, are intended to protect residents of the state from excessive BNPL fees and the misuse of personal data, and require greater …