In the US, Google Pay is discontinued in favor of Google Wallet.

Google has said that it would discontinue Google Pay in the US, making the app unavailable starting on June 4.
Going forward, Google Wallet users in the United States will still be able to utilize the tap to pay option.

This happened after Google Wallet was released globally in 2022, although both apps were still available in the US up to this point.

EU enacts regulations for quick payments

Instant payment guidelines were agreed by the European Council, enabling businesses and consumers in the EU and EEA nations to make 10-second euro payments.

The European Parliament and Council decided on the regulations last year.

The regulations will go into effect in two phases, with the euro zone having a shorter implementation period and the EEA members having a longer one.Discover to be purchased by Capital One

A possible shake-up for the credit card industry came when Capital One bid $35 billion to buy Discover Financial Services.

With the combined strength of these two systems, they could be able to take on the industry leaders in payments, Visa and Mastercard.

Lawmakers like Elizabeth Warren opposed the pact, arguing that it could "threaten financial stability."

Credit cards now include American Express's "Plan It" BNPL program.

American Express introduced its latest feature, "Plan It," to the United Kingdom market. This enables credit card users to make buy now pay later (BNPL) payments in installments for items on their statement or a portion of their monthly bill.

Customers with credit cards can choose to place any transaction above £100 or an amount from their most recent statement into an installment plan for 3, 6, or 12 months under the terms of the arrangement.

For adopting this feature, users will pay a set monthly cost; however, interest on any remaining balance in their installment plan will not be assessed.

TCS may assume management of Faster Payments.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has surfaced as a strong candidate to take over management of the UK's Faster Payments Service, according to reports from Sky News.

The procedure is being managed by Pay.UK as part of the UK's New Payments Architecture, which will replace the retail interbank payment systems Bacs and Faster Payments with a single, specially designed central infrastructure for clearing and settlement.

Mastercard currently owns Vocalink, which runs Faster Payments.