Payment Expert’s Fintech Unwrapped delivers the latest and developing news that has shaped the sector over the course of the week.
This week, Barclays and Visa extended their six decade relationship to continue card issuing and acquiring, while also delving into the embedded finance sector. Also this week, Checkout.com integrated its AI services for Uber’s payment system, and ClearBank is working with Circle to support stablecoin payment growth.
Barclays and Visa collab to enter embedded finance with new card types
Visa announced an extension of its pre-existing, six decade-long relationship with Barclays by supporting the UK bank with a range of payment methods, channels, and technologies.
Barclays will continue to be backed by Visa with retail issuing and the expansion of the bank’s commercial issuing unit into new markets, which will involve a new exploration into providing card programmes to the burgeoning embedded finance sector.
“Together we are investing in the future of payments and making it easier, faster and more secure for people and businesses to pay and get paid, wherever they are in the world,” said Vim Maru, Chief Executive of Barclays UK.
“Extending this relationship allows us to continue innovating and providing trusted solutions for millions of customers.”
Uber leverages Checkout.com’s AI for greater payment performance
Checkout.com confirmed it will provide Uber with its acquiring and gateway services to help accelerate the payment process for its customers.
From October 27, Uber will integrate Checkout.com’s Intelligent Acceptance, an AI-backed service which uses real-time data from its global network of transaction routes to help improve payment speed, mitigate failures and enhance the customer experience.
“Helping to support the millions of transactions Uber processes daily requires a payments infrastructure that is resilient, global, and continuously improving,” said Guillaume Pousaz, CEO of Checkout.com.
“We’re committed to delivering the digital payments performance that helps Uber continue pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in digital mobility.”
ClearBank joins Circle’s Payment Network to fuel stablecoin payment growth
ClearBank has agreed to become one of the first European banks to join the Circle Payment Network to support the growth of USDC and EURC stablecoin payments.
In a statement published on October 27, ClearBank said it was set to integrate Circle’s stablecoin payment infrastructure and utilise Circle Mint and CPN to connect to its cloud-native banking platform to support stablecoin settlement.
This will further bridge the gap between fiat and digital currencies, ClearBank said.
payabl. debuts POS terminal in UK
Launching in the UK for the first time, payabl. announced on October 30 that it has launched its point-of-sale (POS) solution for merchants in the country.
Customers can now make in-person payments using the payabl. POS terminal, which supports payment methods such as Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay.
“The UK launch marks a major step in our mission to make money flow for merchants everywhere,” said Kristaps Zips, UK CEO at payabl. “Our POS solution gives businesses a reliable, easy-to-use way to accept payments and gain complete visibility of their transactions, across every channel.”
New Ingenico CEO to steer next global expansion phase
Ingenico announced the appointment of Floris de Kort as its new CEO, effective on November 1, 2025.
He takes over the reins at the payment acceptance company from Laurent Blanchard after he stepped down from the position. De Kort comes from Worldpay, where he was the CEO of Global E-commerce. He will be tasked with supporting Ingenico’s global expansion plans.
“I am honoured to join Ingenico at a time of great opportunity. The company has a unique position in the payments ecosystem, trusted by merchants, banks, and partners around the world. I look forward to working with the team to further expand our global offering, accelerate growth and execution, and deliver world-class solutions to our customers,” said de Kort.
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