Friendly fraud: telling customer regret apart from card theft
Friendly fraud comes from real customers, so fraud tools rarely catch it. These are the signals and the fixes that actually reduce it.
Payments & Fintech
Payment networks, fintech innovation, BNPL, crypto payments, and POS technology covering global commerce.
Chargeback representment: building evidence that actually wins
How to assemble a representment case a bank will accept, and how to tell quickly which disputes you should simply write off.
3-D Secure 2 explained without wrecking your conversion rate
3DS2 moves fraud liability to the issuer, but only if you use it correctly. Here is how to apply it without adding checkout friction.
Payment fraud and chargeback prevention for online retailers
A hub guide to fraud and disputes in online retail: the attack types, the controls that stop them and the cost of getting the balance wrong.
Why US buy-now-pay-later is converting into deposit-funded banking: 3 charter signals
Klarna and Affirm are both pursuing US industrial bank charters, and the pattern points to buy-now-pay-later converting from securitization-funded lending into deposit-funded banking. Expect the first hard tells before year-end 2026 and product moves in 2027.
Why the UK’s new BNPL rules will shrink checkout volumes this half: 3 regulatory signals
The UK’s BNPL regime went live on 15 July 2026, and the signals point to a measurable contraction in transaction volume across Q3 and Q4. Expect at least one major provider to acknowledge the drag by early 2027.
PayPal Just Called Stripe’s $53 Billion Bid Too Low
PayPal’s board has looked at the biggest check in fintech history and decided it is not big enough. Directors reviewing the roughly $53 billion joint …
Why retail’s 2026 stablecoin wave lands in settlement, not checkout: 3 signals
Three signals from the last month point to stablecoins entering US retail through the back office, not the checkout page, before the 2026 holidays. Here is why settlement, treasury, and cross-border payouts are likely to move first, and which platforms are positioned to disclose it.
Why agentic checkout becomes a named sales channel before year-end 2026: 3 convergence signals
Three signals from June and July 2026 (a live payments rail, a platform at general availability, and an agentic hiring wave) point to agentic checkout becoming a named sales channel before year-end. Expect at least one major US retailer to cite agent-referred or proxy sales in Q3 or Q4 investor commentary.
Stripe and Advent bid $53bn for PayPal: payments megamerger looms
Stripe and private equity firm Advent International have offered more than $53 billion, or $60.50 a share, to buy PayPal. The unsolicited bid marks one of the largest deals in payments history and faces steep antitrust hurdles.