The Green Sheet Online Edition
December 8, 2025 • 25:12:01
Industry Update
ANNOUNCEMENTS
MWEC honors Dr. Lynne J. Baldwin
BHMI co-founder and President Dr. Lynne J. Baldwin was honored by the Midwest Women Entrepreneurs Collective for outstanding leadership, innovation and entrepreneurial achievement in technology. She received the recognition at MWEC's Pioneer Awards celebration on Nov. 20, 2025, held in partnership with Women's Entrepreneurship Day Organization.
Under her leadership, BHMI has become a respected payments technology provider, developing innovative back-office software for major financial institutions, MWEC stated. The honor also recognizes Dr. Baldwin's commitment to mentorship, community leadership and advancing women in business and technology.
EMVCo working on global specs to support agentic payments
EMVCo is exploring how global EMV specifications can support innovation in agentic payment solutions by increasing trust and interoperability. Agentic commerce allows AI agents to transact on consumers' behalf, creating new considerations for transaction initiation, authentication and security.
EMVCo is evaluating how specifications such as EMV 3-D Secure, EMV Payment Tokenization, and EMV Secure Remote Commerce can be enhanced to enable secure, scalable agentic payments. The organization said it is engaging industry stakeholders and technical bodies to collaborate on developing trusted card-based agentic payment frameworks.
POS Supply helps ease impact of bisphenol receipt demise
With Washington State businesses facing a Jan. 1, 2026, deadline to eliminate BPA- and BPS-based thermal receipt paper under the Safer Products for Washington initiative, POS Supply Solutions is helping organizations transition smoothly.
The company said it offers the nation's largest selection of non-phenol thermal paper, manufactured without BPA, BPS or other phenols. POS Supply provides compliant options across common POS, gas pump, ATM and kiosk roll sizes, while advising businesses to audit inventory, educate staff and switch early. A state reimbursement program can help offset transition costs, the company noted.
TAG honors Barry C. McCarthy
The Technology Association of Georgia honored Deluxe President and CEO Barry C. McCarthy with its Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2025 Chairmen's Gala. McCarthy is only the third recipient and the first to also be inducted into the TAG Fintech Hall of Fame.
Since joining Deluxe in 2018, McCarthy has led the company's transformation into a technology-driven payments and data analysis provider, delivering sustained financial performance, and processing more than $2 trillion in electronic payments annually. His leadership has expanded Deluxe's Atlanta innovation presence and strengthened Georgia's fintech ecosystem, TAG noted.
RESEARCH
Public awareness of payment fraud fades between crises
Payments technology firm CONCRYT released its z,izzz.Payment Fraud Trends: 2024–2025 Updatez,/iz., sharing that public awareness of payment fraud spikes around major regulatory announcements or incidents, then quickly fades, even as AI-driven threats intensify. Analyzing search data, regulations and enforcement actions, the report shows attention surged during UK reforms in late 2025 but soon returned to baseline, and that regulatory developments now drive awareness as strongly as breaches.
The study also highlights regional awareness gaps, rising AI-enabled scams and synthetic identity fraud, and stresses the need for sustained consumer education.
Millennial parents willing to pay more for convenience
A survey of 1,000 U.S. millennial parents by NMI found that holiday shopping evokes joy and nostalgia but is overshadowed by time, budget and checkout frustrations. Most respondents in the study value speed and convenience, with strong demand for frictionless, modern payment options and line-skipping technology. Rising costs are driving thrifting, DIY gifting and increased use of buy now, pay later. And convenience heavily influences loyalty, cart abandonment and retailer choice.
The research identified three personas among participants: efficiency elves, holiday hustlers, and tradition treasurers, revealing differing needs for speed, finances and in-store experience.
Holiday shoppers value experiences, flexible, secure payments
Global consumer research from Paysafe shows shoppers are reshaping holiday traditions around meaningful experiences and seamless, secure payments. Surveying 8,500 consumers across seven countries, the Inside the Wallet: Holiday Edition report found half of respondents prefer gifting experiences such as travel, dining and entertainment.
Also, demand for travel, digital gift cards for gamers, omnichannel and social commerce, and online sports wagering is rising. Consumers favor flexible payment options, including digital wallets and local methods, while checkout convenience and security heavily influence purchasing and cart abandonment.
Visa identifies five forces reshaping global payment security
Visa released its Fall 2025 Biannual Threats Report during International Fraud Awareness Week, outlining five forces reshaping global payments security. Produced by Visa's Payment Ecosystem Risk and Control team, the report shows fraud has become industrialized, with criminals operating like technology enterprises.
Key threats include advanced monetization strategies, an authenticity crisis driven by impersonation and synthetic content, erosion of traditional controls, and rising third-party vulnerabilities. Visa also reported sharp increases in ransomware and compromised accounts as it continues investing in intelligence sharing, analytics and next-generation security technologies to counter emerging risks.
PARTNERSHIPS
Checkbook, LianLian partner on cross-border payments
Checkbook partnered with LL Pay U.S. (d/b/a LianLian Global) to streamline international payments for platforms, merchants, students and travel agencies. The collaboration combines LianLian Global's cross-border infrastructure with Checkbook's digital payment capabilities, including ACH and PayPal wallet payouts. Together, they aim to support global ecommerce settlements, payments education for international students, and flexible wallet-based payouts. The partnership enhances efficiency, transparency and accessibility in cross-border payments and is expected to accelerate growth, particularly in the U.S. market.
Juspay, Sabre team up to transform travel payments
Juspay, a global payments technology company and division of Sabre Corp., entered a strategic agreement with Sabre to modernize travel payments. Combining Juspay's payment orchestration and tokenization with Sabre's global network, the partnership targets higher conversion rates, enhanced security and improved customer experiences as online travel bookings are projected to approach $1.2 trillion by 2026. The collaboration is designed to help travel merchants access local payment methods, optimize cross-border transactions, streamline reconciliation, and deliver seamless, secure checkout experiences for airlines, hotels and booking platforms worldwide.
Netevia, Stackably launch next-gen vertical platforms
Netevia partnered with Stackably to launch three vertical-specific platforms: GymnasticsStack, DanceStack, and SwimStack for gymnastics gyms, dance studios and swim schools. Built with Netevia's payment infrastructure at the core, the platforms will deliver integrated operations, same-day funding and upcoming instant funding. Merchants also gain access to embedded financial tools such as working capital, business account and card issuing. The platforms aim to challenge legacy software by unifying payments, software and financial services into a single, purpose-built ecosystem.
UBS, Ant tackle blockchain-based cross-border payments
UBS formed a strategic partnership with Ant International to explore blockchain-based innovation in tokenized deposits, global payments settlement and liquidity management. Their agreement centers on UBS Digital Cash, a blockchain-based payment platform, and Ant's Whale treasury system. Together, the firms aim to enable real-time, multi-currency fund flows with greater transparency, efficiency and security. The partnership builds on UBS's digital asset initiatives and Ant's blockchain expertise to enhance cross-border payment capabilities and client value.
ACQUISITIONS
Exodus to acquire W3C
Exodus Movement disclosed it will acquire W3C Corp , the parent company of Monavate Holdings Ltd. and Baanx.com Ltd. and its U.S. subsidiary, adding established card and payments infrastructure to its crypto platform. Once integrated and upon regulatory approval, Exodus expects to offer end-to-end payments, handle stablecoin-based transactions, and issue payment cards through major networks like Visa, Mastercard and Discover across the United States, UK and European Union.
The deal is aimed at reducing third-party dependencies, expanding stablecoin payment offerings, and generating recurring revenue through processing and interchange fees.
ACI Worldwide gains Payment Components
ACI Worldwide acquired Payment Components, a Greece-based fintech that offers modular software for A2A payments, open banking and financial messaging. Payment Components' technology, including its payment hub, open banking platform, account-aggregation SDK and messaging tools, will be integrated into ACI's cloud-native unified payments platform, ACI Connetic.
The acquisition brings onboard established tech, intellectual property and a global customer base, while enhancing ACI Connetic's ability to support account-to-account payments, open banking and modern messaging.
APPOINTMENTS
Bhavna Kaushal joins Payments+Partnerships
Payments+Partnerships appointed Bhavna Kaushal as engagement lead and senior consultant. Kaushal brings to the company more than 20 years of experience across financial services, fintech and loyalty in a career focused on innovation, partnerships and digital transformation.
Previously, she led multi-market digitization and loyalty initiatives at Scotiabank and held senior roles at American Express and Berkeley Payments. An industry thought leader, Kaushal serves on Euromonitor's Global Loyalty Expert Council and has been recognized by Women in Payments with the 2023 Women in Payments Social Impact & Sustainability Award.
Truist hires Lo Li
Truist named Lo Li its chief divisional technology, data and operations officer for consumer and small business banking. A seasoned technology executive, Li brings deep experience in digital transformation, operational excellence and client-centric innovation to the company.
She most recently served as chief technology officer and managing vice president for Capital One's retail bank, where she led major technology and operations initiatives supporting growth and customer-focused solutions. In her new role, Li will oversee strategic technology, data and operations execution to advance innovation and enhance banking experiences for consumers and small businesses.
Worth expands leadership team
Worth strengthened its executive leadership team with three senior fintech hires as it scales rapidly following its recent seed funding. The additions reflect a focus on experience in data, technology and operations to support growing enterprise demand.
Craig Snodgrass joins as chief data officer, bringing extensive expertise from his tenure as CDO at Cardlytics. He will oversee data architecture, governance and analytics, with responsibility for the integrity, scalability and intelligence of the data that fuels Worth's AI-driven platform. His background in building enterprise-grade data ecosystems positions him to enhance accuracy and decision-making across the platform.
Sethen Maleno was appointed chief technology officer. Formerly CTO of WorldWinner and vice president of engineering at PrizePicks, Maleno brings to the company deep experience modernizing and scaling high-performance platforms. At Worth, he will guide technology strategy and innovation to help ensure the company's infrastructure delivers reliability, speed and scalability for financial institution clients.
Blaine Dawson joins Worth as chief operating officer, contributing a strong operational track record from leadership roles at FieldPulse and Stax. He will lead internal operations, implementations and client delivery, focusing on execution excellence as Worth's enterprise footprint expands.
Together, Worth noted, these appointments bring proven leadership in data, engineering and operations, positioning Worth to meet increasing demand while delivering AI-powered onboarding and underwriting with greater speed, precision and consistency. 
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