Why Fraud in Bank Communications Has Been So Hard to Shake
For many years, banks have promised not to send their customers correspondence that looks like scams. They would never ask consumers to click on a link and provide information or ask them for one-time pass codes over the phone. But those strategies aren’t working anymore. Scammers are starting to mimic what bank professionals have been […]
Mastercard Upgrades Agentic Commerce Platform Ahead of the Holidays
The movement to inject agentic artificial intelligence into the shopping experience has taken another step forward. Mastercard has unveiled updates to its Agent Pay platform while expanding agentic commerce partnerships to drive adoption, including recent collaborations with Stripe, Google, and Ant International’s Antom. The platform’s reach is also broadening. Mastercard noted that Citi and U.S. […]
Big Banks Will Soon Rely Heavily on Developer Communities
Why have startup fintechs been able to make up so much ground on 150-year-old banks in recent times? To a great extent, it’s because they have built up developer portals. With open banking on the way, legacy banks face an imperative to build up and work with these developer communities. In a new report from […]
UK Considers Scrapping Transaction Caps on Contactless Card Payments
After years of gradually increasing the limits on contactless card payments, the UK is now considering removing transaction caps entirely. The current limit on contactless card payments is £100 ($136), and many transactions still require four-digit PIN authorization. If the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) moves forward with its proposal, both the cap and the PIN […]
FedNow Transaction Limit Will Match RTP at $10 Million
For the second time in less than a year, the Federal Reserve will raise the transaction limit for its FedNow instant payment system. Starting in November, the cap will increase from $1 million to $10 million. As recently as February, the limit stood at just $500,000. FedNow’s competitor in instant payments, The Clearing House, raised its […]
How Prepaid Products Continue to Transform Holiday Shopping
Gift cards have become a year-round payment vehicle, in part because birthdays are the most popular occasion for prepaid purchases. However, even with other spikes in prepaid shopping throughout the year—such as Dads and Grads season in June—the holidays are still the single most popular time to purchase prepaid products. As Jordan Hirschfield, Director of […]
American Express Dramatically Increases Merchant Base
The average yearly spending on American Express cards is significantly higher than that of competing credit cards, which helps explain its thriving network of merchants. The lender’s cards are now accepted at roughly 160 million merchants worldwide, representing a five-fold increase over the past eight years. One of the main reasons for this growth is […]
Insurance Fraud: Not a Problem for Younger People
Younger people are far more likely to consider committing insurance fraud than older generations, a finding that aligns with other age-related patterns in fraudulent behavior. Researchers at the University of Georgia surveyed respondents on whether they would consider such actions such as including damages from a previous incident in a new car accident claim or […]
Fighting Authorized Push Payment Fraud on All Fronts
The modern financial landscape has created fertile ground for authorized push payment (APP) fraud, where victims are tricked into willingly transferring money under false pretenses. The expectation for real-time banking and instant payment settlement means transactions are often completed in seconds—leaving little room for reversal. Cross-border payments have become routine, even for everyday consumer purchases. […]
Irish Banks Announce Payment App to Compete with Revolut
Ireland’s three largest banks are once again joining forces to develop a rival instant payments app to counter Revolut. The new service, Zippay, will launch early next year and be available to the banks’ five million eligible customers. AIB, Bank of Ireland, and PTSB are backing the initiative, and other financial institutions—such as credit unions—are […]