Mastercard makes agentic AI a star of its services strategy

During Thursday’s earnings call, CEO Michael Miebach said the payment company is partnering with large technology firms and offering consulting for the emerging form of artificial intelligence, attempting to expand a strategy to draw revenue beyond card processing.

Small businesses’ must-haves: Speed, simplicity, capital

American Banker’s 2025 Small Business Banking conference yielded lessons about the need for speed, simplicity and safety in small-business lending. Other key takeaways included the significance of digital payment options and the importance of continuing to process SBA loan requests during the government shutdown.

Western Union plots its stablecoin move

The legacy money transfer firm plans to launch USDPT, a coin designed to improve international payment processing. That and more in the American Banker global payments and fintech roundup.