Payments News Update – October 31, 2025
Legal and Regulatory Developments
SPOTLIGHT: Senator Urges CFPB to Finalize New Open-Banking Rules ‘As Soon as Possible’
Competition Policy International – October 24, 2025 (subscription may be required)
The chair of the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) wrote to Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Russell Vought to urge the agency to finalize a pending open-banking rule “as soon as possible.”
“There’s no way to connect your existing bank accounts to your preferred digital asset exchanges without the open banking rules of the road,” the letter said. “The CFPB has an opportunity to protect innovation by establishing clear guidelines that put consumers in charge of their own data, broadly define ‘consumer’ in a way that allows individual consumers to utilize third party tools they need (with proper authorization and disclosures) to access digital assets and manage their financial future.”
The open-banking framework was first finalized in October 2024 under then-President Biden. . . .
Major Update in RBA Card Surcharge Ban as Bank Vows to ‘Get These Changes Right’
Yahoo! Finance – October 27, 2025
Australians will have to wait longer to find out the outcome of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) card payment costs and surcharging review.
The central bank has pushed out the time for finishing the review to March 2026, saying it needs more time to assess how the major change will impact the sector.
The RBA proposed scrapping surcharges for EFTPOS, Mastercard and Visa card payments in July, which currently cost consumers $1.2 billion per year. It also flagged lowering the cap on interchange fees paid by businesses, and requiring card networks to publish fees charged. . . .
Industry Developments
SPOTLIGHT: Stablecoin Payments Surge 70% Post-GENIUS Act
PYMNTS – October 26, 2025
Stablecoin payment volume has ballooned in the wake of new U.S. cryptocurrency legislation.
More than $10 billion flowed through stablecoins in August for goods, services and transfers, according to a recent report from blockchain data provider Artemis Analytics.
That figure is up from $6 billion in February and more than twice the volume from August of last year, according to a report from Artemis, a blockchain data provider. Stablecoin payments could reach $122 billion over a full year, the report said. . . .
PayPal, Mastercard Advance Agentic Strategy
Payments Dive – October 27, 2025
The digital payments company PayPal Holdings and card network Mastercard are building on their longtime ties to advance agentic shopping options by integrating the former’s digital wallet with the latter’s cards, the companies said in a Monday press release.
PayPal will pilot Mastercard’s evolving agentic e-commerce system, testing it with artificial intelligence agents and merchants in the marketplace.
“This work will ensure compatibility and interoperability with Mastercard and common agentic protocols, as well as enable AI agent verification and data exchange compatible with recently announced agentic protocols,” the companies said in the release. . . .
Coming to the U.S.: A Beefed-Up Klarna Rewards Program
Digital Transactions News – October 27, 2025
Banking and payments platform Klarna AB announced early Monday a global membership program featuring Premium and Max rewards levels and offering cash back and benefits related to travel. The new program is starting out in Europe but “expansion to the U.S. is planned for the coming weeks,” the payments company says.
Stockholm-based Klarna, which entered the U.S. market in 2015 in a partnership with Macy’s, the department-store chain, says the new program has already signed 1 million customers for the new program and notes it is competing with credit card rewards offers that require higher levels of spending for comparable rewards.
Klarna also has a strategic purpose in mind with the new rewards program. . . .
Citi and Mastercard Offer ‘Citi Flex Pay’ to Expand Installment Options
PYMNTS – October 24, 2025
Citi cardholders will be able to begin using the bank’s pay-over-time solution, Citi Flex Pay, at checkout. This will be available at merchants participating in Mastercard’s Installments Payment Services by the end of the year.
The companies said in a Friday (Oct. 24) press release that Citi will enable this capability by joining Mastercard’s Installments Payment Services. Citi will be the first issuer to do so.
Citi Flex Pay allows cardholders to select a pay-over-time plan at checkout, according to the release. This plan is built into Citi credit cards. It allows users to split eligible purchases into fixed monthly payments. It does not require additional applications, credit lines or credit checks. . . .
Zelle Parent Pursues Crypto for International Payments
Payments Dive – October 24, 2025
Peer-to-peer money transfer operator Early Warning Services plans to let users tap its Zelle service to send money overseas using cryptocurrency.
“The effort marks an important step in expanding the reach of Zelle globally by leveraging stablecoins,” a news release said Friday, referring to digital assets pegged to the value of a fiat currency such as the dollar or the euro.
Zelle parent Early Warning Services is owned by seven big banks and currently only lets customers send money domestically. . . .