The 5-minute briefing for payments professionals who need to know what happened, what it means, and what to do about it — before their 9am.
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Story 01
Europe’s new regulation requires banks and fintechs to support real-time payments, making instant settlement a legal obligation. Non-compliant institutions face regulatory penalties and potential loss of customer trust. The mandate compels rapid modernization of payment systems, impacting technology budgets and operational timelines across the region.
Adyen processed €382 billion in Q1 2026, up 21% year-over-year, as merchants increasingly favor unified payment solutions. This growth challenges Stripe and PayPal to enhance their own platform offerings. Merchants are consolidating providers to access seamless omnichannel and value-added services.
Source: PYMNTSSebastian Gunningham, Remitly’s new CEO, is focusing on removing friction in international money transfers to reach underserved customers. This approach intensifies competition among remittance providers and may prompt incumbents to streamline operations and reduce fees. Regulatory attention to transparency and pricing is expected to increase as digital solutions expand.
Source: PYMNTSMastercard is extending virtual card applications beyond payables, aiming to improve financial oversight and reduce fraud in a wider range of business transactions. This move positions Mastercard to capture more B2B spend and pressures Visa and other networks to accelerate their virtual card strategies. Corporate finance teams may increasingly adopt secure, programmable payment options over traditional cards and ACH.
Source: PYMNTSTeam 313, a hacktivist group, allegedly accessed Chime customer data, resulting in lawsuits and reputational damage for the neobank. The incident exposes ongoing vulnerabilities in fintech security and is prompting regulatory scrutiny and increased investment in data protection. Fintechs may face higher compliance costs and renewed customer concerns about data safety.
Source: Banking Dive“The UK’s 2017 open banking initiative is widely cited as the first government-mandated framework requiring banks to share customer data with licensed third parties.
Filed under: Payments History · The Long Memory
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