PaymentsJournal

The ACH Network is reliable and ubiquitous. And over the past year, it continued to realize strong growth, both in the volume of payments and overall dollar amount. In 2025, ACH Network payment volume increased by roughly 1.6 billion, reaching a total of 35.2 billion, or an average of 141 million payments per day. In the same period, $93 trillion moved across ACH rails, up nearly $7 trillion from...

Fraud is evolving faster than ever, with AI-powered scams, deepfake-enabled identity theft, and a surge in account takeovers putting financial institutions on high alert and accountholders at risk. As the most visible safeguard of the past few decades, the humble password is coming under increasing scrutiny. In a PaymentsJournal podcast, Dr. Adam Lowe , Chief Product and Innovation Officer at Comp...

Banks are no strangers to artificial intelligence. For years, machine learning and deep learning models have quietly powered fraud detection, transaction monitoring, and risk analysis. But the industry is now approaching a more consequential shift: agentic AI—systems that don’t just analyze data, but can act on it. With that shift comes a fundamental question about how much authority banks are pre...

In today’s world, nearly anything a business or individual desires is available instantly. Yet, for most, receiving a payment still takes two to three days to clear, despite the availability of instant payments networks such as FedNow. What will it take for instant payments to reach a tipping point and become a standard expectation? In a PaymentsJournal Podcast, Justin Jackson , Head of Enterprise...

The rise of artificial intelligence is coinciding with a shift toward instant payments that are increasingly difficult to stop once fraud occurs. Real-time payments put a stopwatch on fraud prevention, leaving businesses with only moments to detect and respond to suspicious activity. Striking the right balance between frictionless customer experiences and strong controls is becoming a critical cha...

Digital banking has trained consumers to expect speed, simplicity, and instant results. Yet, when those same expectations reach the commercial side of the house, many financial institutions fall short—leaving business clients stuck in slow, manual onboarding journeys that drive up costs and frustration. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Penny Townsend , Co-Founder and Chief Payments Officer at...

As payments have evolved from cash and checks to cards and digital payments, something essential has been lost: the human touch. Yet consumers are not data points—they crave a payments experience that is fast, secure, and effortless, and when they do need support, they want it to shift seamlessly into something personalized and attentive to their needs.  In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast,&#...

Running a small business is hard enough—juggling operations, customers, and cash flow. Now imagine software that not only streamlines day-to-day work but also provides the financial tools needed to grow. That’s the promise of embedded finance. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Ian Hillis , SVP of Growth at Worldpay, and Don Apgar , Director of Merchant Payments at Javelin Strategy & Researc...

Creating a synthetic identity used to be the realm of seasoned hackers, but now it can be done with a few simple prompts. Just as artificial intelligence has fueled countless business innovations, it has also been a boon for bad actors—allowing cybercriminals to commit fraud at a fraction of the cost and with greater sophistication. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Danica Kleint , Product Mark...

From transforming member experiences to building a culture of information literacy, data has become a catalyst for innovation at credit unions. New use cases are constantly emerging for organizations willing to explore them, and artificial intelligence will only increase their value. In a PaymentsJournal Podcast, Jeremiah Lotz , Senior Vice President of Experience Design and Enterprise Data at Vel...

The next iteration in the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence has arrived, and organizations are racing to harness the potential of AI agents to create a dynamic new shopping experience. However, as powerful as agentic commerce can be, the road to adoption won’t be without hiccups—many of which will lead to a surge in disputes. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Joseph McLean , CEO and Co...

Across shopping, streaming, and social media, consumers have grown used to receiving personalized recommendations powered by artificial intelligence. While some may feel less comfortable with AI taking on a similar role in their banking experience, a hyper-personalized digital banking platform can deliver far greater value than simply suggesting the next show to binge. In a recent PaymentsJournal...

Different payment methods have gained popularity in different parts of the world. For example, buy now, pay later is widely used in Australia and the Nordics, while account-to-account payments lead the way in the Netherlands and Brazil. As commerce becomes increasingly globalized, merchants everywhere must adapt to these local payment preferences—or risk losing customers. In a PaymentsJournal Podc...

Cybercriminals have been after personal data for years, but new technology is giving them a dangerous boost. Infostealers—malware that extracts sensitive data like passwords and credit card numbers—are becoming one of today’s biggest online threats because they are easy to use and hard to spot. While conversations about online safety often peak during Cybersecurity Awareness Month, the reality is...

As dynamic technologies continue to revolutionize the payments space, conferences have become a critical way for payments professionals to stay informed and share their expertise. One of the signature events of the payments space is Nacha’s Smarter Faster Payments 2026 , which will take place in San Diego from April 26-29, 2026. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Stephanie Prebish , AAP, AFPP, A...

Gift cards have evolved from being a thoughtful, last-minute birthday gift into a mature industry that’s helping companies build loyalty both inside and outside their organizations. Their use cases are expanding rapidly, offering innovative ways for business to not only reward employees but also strengthen their bottom line. In a PaymentsJournal Podcast, Samara Swenson , U.S. Senior Marketing Mana...

For decades, typically large regional or money center banks served as correspondent banks that enabled smaller banks to offer cross-border payments. It was rare for credit unions, community banks, and other smaller financial institutions to offer cross-border payments. And if they did, it was a money-losing proposition, offered out of necessity to prevent their customers from leaving for larger ba...

As more people choose to bank online, the role of the traditional branch has undergone a transformation. Once the go-to place for every financial need, the branch is now primarily a hub for more complex transactions that can’t be completed digitally or at an ATM. At the center of this evolution is the interactive teller machine (ITM), which enables customers to connect with a live teller at any ti...

Almost without notice, disappearing payments have shifted from novelty to expectation in small business transactions. A traveler arrives at an airport, books a rideshare, and checks into a hotel—never pulling out a wallet or handing over a card. The transaction happens seamlessly, almost invisibly. The same technology fueling consumer-facing apps is now within reach for small businesses. Research...

Customers signing up for new accounts and services can feel frustrated by the hoops they have to go through, assembling information and entering it in complicated, sometimes multiple forms, whether on paper or online. What they may not realize is that the process can be just as frustrating for the people working at financial institutions, or other businesses performing underwriting functions. Too...

Amid the rise of subscriptions and digital services, consumers are juggling more bills than ever. In fact, the average U.S. household now pays around 10 bills each month—a growing list that can be tricky to track and manage. While more consumers are turning to their financial institution for help managing these responsibilities, many banks have continued to direct their innovation investments else...

In just the first half of the year, ACH payment volume grew by 5.5% on a daily average basis, reaching roughly 17.25 billion payments. The growth is even more pronounced in terms of dollar value, with the ACH Network processing $45 trillion in the first half of 2025—a 6.8% increase compared to the same period last year. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Michael Herd , Executive Vice President o...

The passage of the GENIUS Act in the U.S. has brought stablecoin interest to a fever pitch in recent months. However, even as more of the world’s leading organizations consider launching stablecoin, the use cases for these fiat-backed assets are still being unlocked. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Nabil Manji , SVP, Head of Fintech Growth and Financial Partnerships at Worldpay, and James Wes...

One of the most effective tools in the fight against cybercrime is information sharing—particularly through anonymized consortium data signals—a practice increasingly referred to as cyber fusion. Despite its promise, many institutions remain wary of collaborating in this way, often even within their own organizations. Greater cooperation—through shared data and interoperable fraud, anti-money laun...

Many organizations treat their reconciliation and reporting as mere check-the-box activities, investing only the bare minimum to remain compliant. However, companies that deprioritize these critical back-office functions risk being caught unprepared when faced with a more stringent regulatory environment. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Roger Binks , Chief Commercial Officer at Kani, and Jame...