As AI agents assume more responsibility for commerce, the transaction remains visible, but the decision-making behind it becomes increasingly opaque.
Financial services are reconstructing the decision trail AI has hidden. That's why the industry's conversation increasingly revolves around intent, context, governance, permissions, explainability, and accountability.
Most payment discussions assume the biggest challenge is moving money from Point A to Point B. What if the bigger bottleneck is actually the operational noise surrounding the payment?
Investing in checks sounds like a step backward, but J.P. Morgan Payments is doing exactly that – because paper checks still create the greatest operational friction in the modern financial system.
Revolut filed for a US national bank charter in March 2026 to break free from its partner-bank arrangement.
The firm is betting on stablecoins and cross-border/multi-currency banking to win over international-minded US customers, backed by a $500 million commitment and a buildout led by new US CEO Cetin Duransoy.
As AI agents take a larger role in commerce, BNPL providers may need to rethink whom or what they evaluate when approving transactions.
Zip Co's Rory Herriman believes a future payments ecosystem may need to prove that an agent had authority to act, but also that the action reasonably reflected the user's objectives.
Max Flötotto, who leads McKinsey’s global retail banking practice, and Mike Packer, a partner at QED Investors, just co-authored a report mapping where fintech goes next — and they agree on almost everything in it.
We dig into why “a feature is no longer a fintech,” why only 1% of stablecoin volume is actual end-user payments, and why the simplest version of banking — deposits and loans — may be the part most at risk from AI agents.
