17 August 2026

64 new posts across 4 fintech and payments sources — 7 worth your time.

One week of Fintech & Payments, 7 stories, as published.

Mastercard Seeks Deal Over Card Losses Left by Brazilian Bank Collapse

Mastercard has proposed to pay 50% of the losses claimed by Brazilian merchant acquirers following the collapse of Will Financeira (Will Bank), a fintech linked to the failed Banco Master. The proposal also includes providing multi-year fraud protection services to the affected firms to settle the dispute.

Why it matters — Demonstrates how card networks manage systemic risk and settlement failures by offering partial financial recovery combined with value-added security services to preserve ecosystem trust.

PYMNTS · 17 August 2026 · Read the original →

Core Banking

How to Define Relevant Metrics for a Successful Core Modernisation Project

Paul Weiss, Chief Transformation Officer at Regions Bank, outlines how to establish and measure KPIs for core banking modernization. He argues that successful transformations must start with defining the underlying business necessity first, allowing natural operational and financial metrics to follow.

Finextra · 17 August 2026 · Read the original →

Payment Rails

Different Rails for Different Purposes: The Nuance of Simplifying Modern Banking

Craig Ramsey of ACI Worldwide discusses the rapid scaling of instant payment initiatives like Europe's Wero. The post addresses the technical and operational challenges banks face in keeping up with these changes, highlighting the need to manage and scale distinct payment rails reliably.

Why it matters — Highlights the operational complexity banks face when integrating new real-time rails like Wero, requiring them to run and scale multiple distinct payment infrastructures simultaneously.

Finextra · 17 August 2026 · Read the original →

Regulation

OCC Approves Conditional Bank Charter for Trump Family Crypto Company

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has granted preliminary conditional approval for a national banking charter to World Liberty Financial (WLF). The company plans to issue and manage dollar-backed stablecoins under a regulated national bank framework.

Why it matters — Establishes a regulatory precedent for stablecoin issuers obtaining national bank charters, potentially bridging the gap between decentralized finance and federal banking oversight.

PYMNTS · 17 August 2026 · Read the original →

Market & Vendors

Mapping the AI economy

Stripe analyzes global transaction data to map the expansion and growth of AI companies. The post highlights where international demand is strongest and how platforms can optimize their setups to capture this cross-border volume.

Why it matters — Analyzing aggregate payment processor data helps identify high-growth corridors and geographic demand patterns for digital services.

Stripe Blog · 17 August 2026 · Read the original →

Cross-Border

Airwallex Taps Affirm for BNPL

Airwallex has partnered with Affirm to allow merchants in 35 countries to offer BNPL options to US consumers. The integration is designed to work out-of-the-box without requiring merchants to perform additional development work.

Why it matters — Platforms can eliminate integration friction for international merchants by embedding localized payment methods directly into the core payment gateway.

Finovate · 17 August 2026 · Read the original →

Fraud & Risk

12 Fintechs Innovating in Fraud, Risk, Compliance, and Trust Infrastructure

This post highlights twelve fintech companies developing infrastructure to tackle fraud, risk, and compliance challenges. It focuses on the industry's shift toward proactive trust infrastructure to mitigate bad outcomes before they occur.

Why it matters — Building robust trust and compliance infrastructure requires shifting from reactive fraud detection to proactive, embedded risk mitigation tools.

Finovate · 17 August 2026 · Read the original →

Another week of pretending we can simplify banking without touching the mainframe.

7 stories, every Monday

Published here every week. Follow by RSS to get it as it lands.

Subscribe by RSS All issues

← Previous issue Next issue →