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PYMNTS reports that HSBC launched a Hong Kong dollar stablecoin for everyday payments, with banking-app and institutional uses planned rather than live at launch. Those integrations would extend its uses beyond purchases. Merchant acceptance depends on settlement arrangements and redemption conditions; HSBC’s next test is sustained repeat usage.
Nacha reported 470.4 million Same Day ACH payments worth $1.3 trillion in Q3 2026, with volume rising 36.7% and value approximately 32% year over year. B2B ACH volume also grew 9.7% to nearly 2.3 billion payments. For banks, payroll providers and accounts-payable platforms, the growth reinforces the importance of banking-day cutoffs, payment routing and reconciliation alongside instant-payment services. The figures do not establish share gains against instant rails, wires or checks.
Source: NachaEarly Warning Services said Paze is prioritizing the 100 largest U.S. merchants following a checkout rebuild launched June 15. Paze says its wallet now contains approximately 220 million cards, but card availability does not establish active usage. Executives acknowledged inadequate conversion and approval rates before the rebuild and reported improvements after the changes and incentives. Merchant-level comparisons remain undisclosed, leaving sustained demand after the September 11 end of its summer promotion a separate measure of adoption.
Source: Banking DiveSezzle applied to the OCC for a national bank charter and the FDIC for deposit insurance, and plans to seek Federal Reserve approval to become a bank holding company. If regulators approve the applications, the proposed Sezzle Bank would offer checking, savings and credit products, extending its business beyond installment purchases. Sezzle disclosed no launch date, deposit pricing or proposed capitalization; product availability remains contingent on regulatory approval and implementation.
Source: PYMNTSLianLian Global announced an October 22 partnership powered by PayPal Payouts that enables clients to send funds to PayPal accounts in 96 countries and make U.S. domestic payouts to Venmo. Marketplaces and other platforms gain wallet destinations for mass disbursements, offering an alternative to collecting recipients’ bank-account details. Neither company disclosed pricing, FX spreads or measured settlement times, so the announcement does not establish a cost or speed advantage over bank payouts.
Source: PYMNTS“The U.S. Federal Reserve’s 1918 wire-transfer system used Morse code over telegraph lines to move funds between banks; it later became Fedwire, which now settles payments electronically. Source: Federal Reserve History, https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/fedwire
Filed under: Payments History · The Long Memory
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