Fraud & Security

Google Inc. early Tuesday launched its Agent Payments Protocol, an open protocol to authenticate consumers who are initiating a payment using an AI agent when shopping online. Developed with 60 payments and technology companies, including Adyen NV, MasterCard Inc., and PayPal Holdings Inc., the protocol is intended to remove a …

Zelle, the peer-to-peer payment service, appears on track for a banner year with a record 2 billion transactions processed in the first six months of 2025, a 19% increase from the 2024 first half. The dollar amount of these transactions increased more, reaching nearly $600 billion, up 23% from $481 …

Block Inc.’s Square point-of-sale unit launched a national marketing campaign featuring what the company calls a “refreshed brand identity” and a focus on local small businesses. Payments-technology provider Kuvasz Solutions and comforte, a provider of payments-data protection, said they are expanding their partnership to North America from their base in Latin America. Paysign …

Klarna Group plc, a Sweden-based buy now, pay later platform with major U.S. operations, said its initial public offering closed with 34.3 million shares outstanding at an IPO price of $40 per share. Klarna closed at $42.74 per share after the first day of trading Thursday. Alipay said its Alipay Tap! contactless-payment service …

Financial-services organizations have long held a sobering view of the cost of scams and fraud. Now, the cost of these crimes and misdeeds has reached an average of $5.75 per every $1 of fraud loss, finds the latest edition of the 2025 True Cost of Fraud Study for North America …

Payroc said it will begin processing Sept. 1 for merchants using Cinfed Credit Union under a new agreement with the financial institution, which serves members in Southwest Ohio. Digital-asset platform Fireblocks Inc. launched Fireblocks Network for Payments, aimed at enabling stablecoin-based transactions in more than 100 countries. Sola Security, a cybersecurity firm whose …

VikingCloud, a cybersecurity and PCI-compliance company, is collaborating with Fiserv Inc. to make Mastercard Inc.’s Compliance and Validation Exemption Program available to small and mid-size businesses. Announced earlier this year, Mastercard’s C-VEP exempts eligible merchants from complying with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard and validating their PCI-DSS compliance …

Euna Solutions, a provider of payments software to the public sector, launched Storefront Pro, e-commerce software aimed at easing purchases through existing procurement channels. Equifax Inc. has launched Identity Proofing, aimed at helping online merchants and financial institutions in verifying customer information during transactions and onboarding processes. Nasdaq Verafin and BioCatch announced …

American Express Co. and the National Trust for Historic Preservation announced 50 restaurants will each get a $50,000 grant plus one year of free service from Resy, an AmEx company. The grants are part of the Backing Historic Small Restaurants program. Payments provider TouchSuite said it acquired a majority ownership in STG, a …

PayLaterr Inc., a bill-payment platform provider, has partnered with Experian to use the credit bureau’s advanced identity and behavioral analytics for fraud detection and to help consumers make better budgeting decisions. PayLaterr says it will integrate Experian’s fraud-detection tools and alternative credit-data solutions into its identity-verification and decision-making processes. PayLaterr …