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"Mastercard will be phasing out the magnetic stripe on its payment cards. They will start to disappear in newly-issued cards in Europe in 2024, while U.S. banks will no longer be required to issue chip cards with a magnetic stripe starting in 2027. By 2029, no new cards will be issued with a magnetic stripe, except for prepaid cards in the United States and Canada, and Mastercard expects that none of its credit or debit cards will have a magnetic stripe by 2033."

Looking to advance its cryptocurrency ambitions, payments processor Stripe has finalized a deal to buy stablecoin platform Bridge for $1.1 billion. Stripe, which enables companies to accept payments online or in-person, has this year been exploring extending its offering to cryptocurrency through Circle's USDC stablecoin. Bridge previously said it aspired to become the blockchain version of Stripe, operating a global system in which other developers could integrate.

Stripe has rolled out a new card issuing product in the U.S., allowing businesses to create, manage and distribute tailored virtual and physical cards to their customers and employees. Stripe Issuing is an API that allows businesses to issue cards on a self-serving basis. These programmatic cards can be set up quickly and come embedded with capabilities to give flexibility and cater to different needs.

Paxos launched a new stablecoin payments platform targeting payment service providers (PSP) and Fintechs that want to enable stablecoin payments. Global payment processing company Stripe will be the first PSP to integrate the new platform into its system. The infrastructure will be featured on Stripe's Pay with Crypto product, which allows users to accept stablecoin payments settling in fiat currencies. Once a stablecoin payment is received via Paxos, users can choose whether to immediately convert to fiat currency and settle in local currency, or pay out stablecoin balances directly to merchants. Merchants will have the ability to issue refunds by instantly converting fiat into the stablecoin originally used, then sending directly to the wallet used in the initial payment. https://paxos.com/blog/paxos-launches-new-stablecoin-payments-platform/ https://docs.stripe.com/crypto/integrate-pay-with-crypto

"Last year Stripe spent $1.1 billion acquiring Bridge, the company that provides cross border API infrastructure for stablecoin payments. On April 25, 2025 a member of Stripe's crypto product team, Jennifer Lee, announced on X that the company is starting to test its Bridge-based product and invited companies outside the US, UK and EU who want to access dollars. She didn't mention which stablecoins solutions would be offered initially."

Two U.S. lawmakers - Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii - have asked three payments giants Visa, Mastercard and Stripe to reconsider their partnerships with Facebook-led proposed stablecoin project, Libra.

EBay, Stripe and Mastercard are abandoning Facebook's cryptocurrency project Libra, the latest blow to the troubled effort that has drawn criticism from lawmakers and lost other early partners such as PayPal

Stripe, which processes payments for millions of online businesses and e-commerce platforms, is teaming up with banks including Goldman Sachs and Citigroup to offer checking accounts and other business-banking services. It will soon give its customers the option of offering insured, interest-bearing bank accounts, debit cards and other cash-management services. These products aren't meant for consumers. Rather, they are designed for the merchants and vendors that do business with Stripe's customers.

Visa Inc., Mastercard Inc., PayPal Holdings Inc. and Stripe Inc. are undecided about formally signing onto Libra's organizing charter because they're concerned about maintaining positive relationships with regulators who have reservations about the project, the people said.

Online travel company Booking.com joins PayPal, Stripe, Visa, Mastercard, MercadoLibre and EBay on withdrawing from participation in the Libra Association.

Mastercard, Visa, eBay and payments company Stripe are dropping out of the coalition of companies Facebook enlisted to launch its Libra global cryptocurrency-based payments network.

"Industry sources have told the FT that the decisive factor was a letter that Democratic Senators Sherrod Brown and Brian Schatz sent to Mastercard, Visa and Stripe. It warned that proceeding with the project would expose even their non-Libra businesses to heavier regulatory scrutiny."

Data aggregator Plaid Inc., whose software is used by apps including Venmo, Coinbase, Square, and Stripe, accesses user bank accounts and collects detailed financial information without consent, a new class suit filed in federal court claims. Plaid's software is used by more than 2,000 apps to link consumer financial accounts, and about 1 in 4 people in the U.S. have an account linked via Plaid, the suit says.

"Relative to other crypto-exchanges, transparency and regulatory compliance were virtues for Bankman-Fried's FTX. Here's a glimpse of the exchange's operations, according to data provided by its own general counsel, as of August 2022."

Stablecoins and the New Payments Landscape Coinbase believes stablecoins represent the next major leap forward for payments and capital movement, particularly as it's becoming easier for merchants and other entities to integrate this technology into their economic workflow - even compared to a couple years ago. Most recently, Coinbase announced a partnership with payments provider Stripe to offer USDC on Base for crypto payouts and on their fiat-to-crypto onramp, while Visa, Mastercard and PayPal have all launched their own stablecoin initiatives in recent years. Other notable mentions include Shift4, Nuvei, Worldpay and Checkout.com. That said, stablecoins require greater regulatory clarity and a smoother crypto user experience to more firmly establish the foundations for their potential.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta published an article on the growing use of stablecoins. It points to retailers like Overstock, Chipotle, Whole Foods, and GameStop now accepting them, Stripe enabling merchants to accept USD Coin (USDC). Regal Cinemas offering a 10% discount on tickets and concessions for USDC payments, and Travala letting users book travel services with USDC or USDT. Benefits to merchants include reduced transaction fees, immediate settlement, and attracting crypto-savvy customers. However, the article points to concerns over the stability of the assets backing them, regulatory uncertainty, and security vulnerabilities like cyberattacks, and stablecoins used in decentralized finance platforms facing risks such as smart contract failures and liquidity issues.