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Archive · September 23, 2026

September 23, 2026.
Five payments stories that matter.

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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The Lead

Story 01

SoFi Bank and Mastercard Move $25B Card Program to Stablecoin Settlement

SoFi Bank has partnered with Mastercard to settle its entire card program—over $25 billion annually—on blockchain rails using SoFiUSD stablecoin. This makes SoFi the first major US bank to fully migrate card settlement to a proprietary stablecoin, leapfrogging peers in blockchain adoption. Other banks and card issuers now face direct competitive pressure to modernize settlement infrastructure or risk falling behind on speed and cost.

Source: Finextra
Also Worth Knowing
№02

Canadian Banks Unite to Build Tokenized Deposit System for Programmable Payments

Canada’s largest banks are collaborating on a tokenized Canadian dollar deposit platform to enable programmable payments and faster settlement. By jointly developing shared standards and interoperability for tokenized deposits, Canadian banks could provide a blueprint for other G7 countries seeking to modernize digital money infrastructure. If successful, programmable deposits could become a new baseline for digital banking and B2B payments.

Source: Finextra
№03

Airtel Money Targets $800M in London IPO to Fund African Payments Expansion

Airtel Money plans to raise at least $800 million in a London IPO, seeking a valuation between $8 billion and $9 billion. The listing would give Airtel Money fresh capital to expand its mobile payments footprint across Africa and beyond, intensifying competition with regional fintechs and global PSPs. Success could open the door for more African fintechs to pursue international public listings.

Source: Financial Times
№04

Binance Invests $100M in Circle, Extends USDC Partnership for Five Years

Binance has acquired a $100 million stake in Circle and renewed its USDC partnership through 2031, aiming to boost USDC adoption on its exchange. This move strengthens Binance’s stablecoin strategy and positions USDC as a more prominent alternative to Tether within Binance’s ecosystem. Competing stablecoins and exchanges are expected to respond by increasing USDC trading pairs or offering enhanced incentives to retain users.

Source: The Block
№05

Deutsche Bank Deploys AI to Boost KYC Onboarding Efficiency by 30%

Deutsche Bank has rolled out an AI-powered solution for Know Your Customer (KYC) checks, reporting a 30% improvement in client onboarding speed. This gives Deutsche Bank a measurable edge in compliance and customer experience, prompting rivals to accelerate AI adoption or risk losing lucrative corporate clients to faster onboarding processes.

Source: Finextra
The Long Memory
“The first electronic data interchange (EDI) payment in 1983 replaced paper checks, marking a pivotal shift toward automated, digital business payments decades before APIs or blockchain.

Filed under: Payments History · The Long Memory

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