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FinTech & AI on 9 October: 6 stories

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Regions

02All stories in this issue

  1. 02Mastercard to Keep Payments Moving During Power and Network Outages Across EuropeMastercard said all newly issued Mastercard cards in Europe will support offline payments from February 2027, and all new and replacement terminals must support them by May 2027. During an outage, chip-and-PIN payments can be approved locally up to €200 per transaction, a limit set by the cardholder's bank, and are cleared once the connection returns.Why it mattersThe requirement turns lessons from the 2025 Iberian blackout into a network-wide resilience standard, swapping outage risk for credit and fraud risk on offline approvals. Issuers gain a new limit decision to make, and acquirers face a terminal deadline.TakeawayPlan for transactions approved without a live check that reach clearing only once the connection returns: reconciliation, velocity rules and fraud scoring must tolerate delayed submission. Issuing programmes should set offline limits before the February 2027 issuance date.Financial ITRead the source Payments8 OctPayments8 Oct
  2. 03FTC investigating Block over frozen Square, Cash App accountsThe FTC is investigating whether Block violated consumer protection laws by failing to help Square and Cash App customers with frozen or deactivated accounts, court filings reported by Bloomberg show. The agency asked a judge to compel Block to hand over documents, citing allegations that frozen Square accounts left customers unable to reach funds totalling up to $2.5m since 2022.Why it mattersAccount freezes are usually framed as risk control; the FTC is treating the lack of a path to resolution as a consumer harm in its own right. Payment companies that tighten risk holds while cutting support capacity carry the same exposure.TakeawayEvery automated hold or freeze rule needs a documented review path, a deadline and a status the customer can see. Track time-to-release for frozen funds as a metric, since a regulator may ask for it.Yahoo FinanceRead the source Regulation8 OctRegulation8 Oct
  3. 04Card firms to face new CAT group claimAnn Pope, a former senior director at the Competition and Markets Authority, has brought a £700m opt-out claim at the Competition Appeal Tribunal against Visa and Mastercard on behalf of a proposed class of 126,000 UK businesses. The claim alleges the schemes overcharged UK merchants for online payments from EEA-issued cards since October 2020; Mastercard said it strongly disagrees.Why it mattersPost-Brexit cross-border interchange now faces a funded collective claim on top of the UK payments regulator's proposed price cap. Merchants with EEA customers have more reason to test alternatives to cards for those payments.TakeawayTrack interchange on UK-acquired payments with EEA-issued cards as a separate cost line in routing. A cap or a settlement would change the economics of those flows.Law GazetteRead the source Payments8 OctPayments8 Oct
  4. 05The elder statesman of trust charters makes its moveAnchorage Digital, which holds an OCC national trust charter, acquired payout platform Routable for an undisclosed sum. The deal pairs Anchorage's stablecoin issuance, custody and settlement with Routable's payee onboarding and verification, tax and compliance workflows and high-volume payouts through an API.Why it mattersCharter holders are buying the payout layer that sits between corporate ERPs and payment rails, so stablecoin settlement can be sold as a complete disbursement product. Payout platforms without a regulated balance sheet now compete with a bank that offers both.TakeawayIf you route business payouts, expect bundled fiat-and-stablecoin offers from regulated custodians and compare them with current payout partners on cost and control. Keep payee verification and limits in your own policy layer, not the vendor's.Banking DiveRead the source Crypto7 OctCrypto7 Oct
  5. 06Wise negotiates HMRC settlement after tax errors affect 4,000 customersWise is negotiating a bulk settlement with HM Revenue & Customs after third-party software produced incorrect tax statements for about 4,000 UK users of its investment products between 2021 and 2025, the Financial Times reported. Wise is in talks to cover tax shortfalls and compensate customers who overpaid, and says it has fixed the issue and issued corrected statements.Why it mattersA vendor's error became a direct financial and reputational cost for Wise, showing that outsourcing a calculation does not outsource the liability. Fintechs that add investment or savings products to payment accounts take on reporting duties a third-party engine can get wrong for years.TakeawayPut third-party outputs that customers rely on, such as statements, fees and FX rates, under periodic independent reconciliation. Errors that run unnoticed for years turn into remediation programmes.Scottish Financial NewsRead the source Banking8 OctBanking8 Oct

03Past issues

  1. Fri9 October 2026OCC Assesses $350 Million Civil Money Penalty Against American Express6 storiesShowing
  2. Thu8 October 2026NPCI receives requests to postpone UPI MDR implementation to January 20278 storiesOpen
  3. Wed7 October 2026Fed's Bowman unveils major overhaul of its bank supervision11 storiesOpen
  4. Tue6 October 2026ANZ completes cross-border tokenised deposit payment with Swift ledger7 storiesOpen
  5. Mon5 October 2026Mal Raises $230m Seed to Build AI-Native Islamic Bank from Abu Dhabi4 storiesOpen
  6. Sun4 October 2026Exclusive: ICBA sues OCC over trust charters5 storiesOpen
  7. Sat3 October 2026EMVCo Framework Targets Consumer Intent in Agentic Payments7 storiesOpen
  8. Fri2 October 2026Fiserv’s stablecoin system starts10 storiesOpen
  9. Wed30 September 2026Circle and Volante partner to help banks integrate stablecoins into payment operations10 storiesOpen
  10. Tue29 September 2026Fed proposes stablecoin rules10 storiesOpen
  11. Sat26 September 2026Fed proposes stablecoin rules9 storiesOpen
  12. Tue15 September 2026ECB calls on merchants to join digital euro pilot scheme12 storiesOpen