Are Customer Demands Higher Than Bank Capabilities?
Whilst attending the 2025 NextGen Nordics event, Patrik Havander, Head of Nordics & Baltics at Visa Direct, spoke to FinextraTV to address cross-border payments and the current disparity between customer expectations and bank capabilities. Alongside this, Havander explained how G20 directives and input from the Financial Stability Board show the way the world is evolving and how banks have had to rely on Fintech partnerships to keep up.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Finextra
12 hours ago
- Finextra
Deep Dive: Agentic AI in Payments and Commerce: By Sam Boboev
The fintech world is entering a new era where AI can do more than chat or make recommendations – it can act. In this 'agentic' age of commerce, autonomous AI agents are increasingly capable of making purchases, managing finances, and executing transactions on behalf of users without direct human intervention. What began as experimental chatbots has rapidly evolved into full-fledged agentic AI systems with 'advanced human-like reasoning and interaction capabilities' that are 'transforming the finance and retail sectors' among others. In just the past few months, major payment networks, fintech giants, and startups alike have unveiled tools to empower these AI agents to shop, pay, and transact in the real world. This deep dive explores how the concept of agentic AI emerged in payments and commerce, what key solutions are being built – from PayPal's Agent Toolkit to Visa's Intelligent Commerce – and what it all means for consumers, merchants, and the broader fintech ecosystem. The significance of this shift is hard to overstate. Some compare it to the leap from physical stores to e-commerce, or from web shopping to mobile. As Visa's Chief Product and Strategy Officer Jack Forestell put it, 'Just like the shift from physical shopping to online, and from online to mobile, Visa is setting a new standard for a new era of commerce' with AI agents. The idea is that soon millions of consumers will trust AI assistants to not only find the perfect product or best deal, but also buy it for them – all while handling payments seamlessly in the background. According to Forestell, 'Soon people will have AI agents browse, select, purchase and manage on their behalf. These agents will need to be trusted with payments, not only by users, but by banks and sellers as well'. In other words, the race is on to build the trust, infrastructure, and standards that will let AI-driven commerce flourish safely. This isn't just hype from incumbents. A wave of startups and developers is also charging into the agentic payments gold rush. In late 2024 and early 2025, 'a surge of launches by startups [aimed] to capitalize on the new AI agent economy' has been evident. Fintech innovators see an opportunity to remove friction from transactions by letting AI do the heavy lifting. But they also recognize huge challenges around security, identity, and fraud when algorithmic agents start handling money. Are we really ready to let AI agents loose on our wallets? This article will delve into how the industry is addressing those questions and reimagining commerce itself – from autonomous shopping assistants to AI-powered back-office bots – all through the lens of factual developments and solutions that have emerged in the past year. The Rise of Agentic AI in Commerce Not long ago, 'autonomous AI agents' sounded like science fiction. Yet the rapid advances in generative AI (GenAI) and large language models over 2023–2024 have made it possible for software bots to carry out complex tasks with minimal supervision. Instead of just answering questions, AI can now be agentic – capable of making decisions and taking actions to achieve specific goals. In practical terms, an agentic AI might not only recommend a product but actually place an order, or not only flag a fraudulent transaction but automatically shut down the affected account. The concept took center stage as companies like OpenAI released frameworks for AI agents that can use tools and APIs. This opened the door for integrating payment capabilities directly into AI workflows. Financial services quickly became fertile ground for these innovations. According to a PwC executive playbook, 'multimodal GenAI agentic frameworks have emerged as transformative catalysts, enabling businesses to accelerate process automation at an unprecedented scale', with finance and retail among the sectors already seeing impact. Early experiments had AI agents assist with things like investment research, loan document analysis, and customer support. By late 2024, attention turned to payments and commerce – arguably the next frontier for agentic AI. After all, shopping and financial transactions involve myriad routine decisions and steps (searching for products, comparing options, entering payment details, etc.) that an AI could potentially handle faster and more efficiently than a human. Crucially, the infrastructure to support such autonomy was starting to fall into place. Payment APIs have proliferated, digital wallets and tokenization are widespread, and e-commerce is API-driven – all of which make it easier to plug an AI agent into the commerce loop. In October 2024, industry observers like Sardine noted that 'AI agents are the hottest trend in banking right now, offering massive productivity gains by automating complex tasks and making decisions at lightning speed – tasks that once required human oversight'. However, as Sardine's Head of Strategy Ravi Loganathan cautioned, this promise comes with challenges: 'How do you know the AI agent is operating within your consent? How do you link each payment back to a verified identity? How do we prevent fraud against the agents or prevent the agents from committing fraud?'. These questions underscored the need for new frameworks and safeguards before handing the keys (and the credit cards) to AI. By early 2025, the concept of agentic commerce had moved from theory to reality. In April and May 2025, a flurry of announcements from top payments companies signaled that autonomous shopping and payments are officially here. Mastercard unveiled its Agent Pay initiative; Visa introduced Intelligent Commerce; PayPal, Stripe, and Coinbase each launched toolkits for AI agent transactions; and startups like PayOS came out of stealth to tie everything together. Each of these efforts contributes a piece to the emerging ecosystem of agent-enabled commerce. Let's examine these key products and solutions driving the agentic AI revolution in payments.
The Sun
a day ago
- The Sun
Holiday ATM warning that could leave holidaymakers without cash this summer
HOLIDAYMAKERS might end up without cash this summer if they are not aware of this banking feature. Many travellers choose to withdraw cash at the ATM when they are abroad. 1 However many could be unaware that there is a limit to how much you can take out every day The amount can vary so it is worth checking with your provider ahead of your travels to avoid being caught short. Below we share how much money each high street bank lets you withdraw each day. BARCLAYS The bank of over 20 million Brits lets customers withdraw up to £300 per day when abroad. This rises to £1000 for those with a premier account. Barclays said customers have amended their cash limits in their Barclays app then these will apply when abroad as well. That means if you set your withdrawal limit to £200, you will only be able to take this much out when you are abroad. You will also be charged a 2.99% fee for withdrawing cash abroad with your Barclays debit card. That means you would be charged an extra £2.99 for withdrawing £100 abroad. The fee will also apply if you pay using your debit card. Lloyds Lloyds said customers can withdraw up to £800 per day when abroad. However, it warned the amount you can take out may vary depending on which ATM you choose to withdraw cash from. Lloyds customers are also charged a 2.99% fee for using their card abroad. But Club Lloyds members have recently had this fee waived as part of changes to the scheme. It now costs £5 per month to have a Club Lloyds account after the price was hiked from £3. Halifax Halifax is a subsidiary of Lloyds and also has a £800 maximum withdrawal fee. Customers are also charged a 2.99% fee for using their card abroad. But from August 1, Halifax Rewards customers will have this charge removed. It comes as part of a refresh of the banking offer, which will see new features added and some taken away. SANTANDER The high street bank said the highest amount that customers can withdraw abroad is £300. The same rate applies to customers withdrawing cash in the UK. This applies to Santander customers using the Edge, Edge Up and Everyday current account. However customers with a Private Current Account, which has a £5 monthly fee, the daily withdrawal limit can be up to £1,500. Santander warned this may vary depending on the ATM. NATWEST NatWest has over 19 million users across the UK, making it another popular bank for customers. How much you can withdraw from an ATM when abroad depends on what type of account you have. For example, customers with a student, graduate savings and teen accounts have their limit set at £250 per day. This increases to £300 for those with premium accounts such as NatWest Silver of Platinum, which offers rewards and travel insurance. The bank also charges customers a 2.75% fee to use their debit card abroad. NATIONWIDE The bank, which has 17 million customers, said current account holders can withdraw up to £500 per day at an ATM abroad. However, the bank warned overseas banks may put higher limits on transactions. For safety purposes and customers may find they are only able to withdraw a sterling equivalent of £135 to £150 per transaction. If customers are affected by this, they can make further withdrawals on the same day up to the accounts withdrawal limit. Customers may be charged for their transactions. Nationwide customers are charged a 2.75% fee to use their debit card abroad. BEWARE OF THIS SIMPLE MISTAKE If you are travelling abroad this summer you should also be aware of this easy ATM mistake that could cost you. Cash machines will usually give you the option to pay in the local currency or in pounds. It may seem like the obvious option to pay in pounds, as it's more familiar and the currency linked to your card. However, by choosing this option you could end up paying more for the cash coming out of the ATM or for the goods you're paying for at the till. That is because the overseas bank will do the conversion to pounds and the rates are unfavourable. However, if you choose to pay in the local currency your card will instead do the conversion which is usually much more favourable. So if you are keen to save cash when abroad, you should opt to pay in the local currency and not pounds. Are there other options to for spending abroad? There are several specialist cards that can give you a great exchange rate. These cards include travel credit cards and pre-paid cards which can let you pay abroad without fees or at a set exchange rate. Senior Consumer Reporter Olivia Marshall explains all the options. Travel credit cards: Travel credit cards allow you to spend money abroad without being hit by any fees or hidden charges. But, they may still charge you for taking cash out. We recommend the Halifax's Clarity Card as it won't charge you for using it abroad, nor are there any fees for withdrawing cash. But you will be charged interest if you don't repay your balance in full at a rate of 19.9 per cent. And you will be charged interest on cash withdrawals until your balance is paid off too, at a rate of between 19.9 and 27.95 per cent depending on your credit score. In other words, just because you are using plastic abroad doesn't mean you don't have to pay these credit cards off like you normally would. Always pay off your balance before the end of the month with these cards to make sure that any money you saved isn't wiped away by paying interest. For more on travel credit cards you can read our guide here. Pre-paid cards: An alternative to carrying cash around is to get a pre-paid card. These cards allow you to put a set amount of cash on the card at a fixed exchange rate. So if the rate is good at the moment, you can put money on your card and it will stay that rate when you are on holiday. Just keep in mind that these cards can sometimes have hidden costs and charges so be sure to read the small print.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE One in four senior bank staff say closing branches 'isn't a concern'
More than a quarter of senior banking professionals say the closure of bank branches isn't a major concern for their business, figures seen by This is Money reveal. While as many as 27 per cent of senior bank staff said branch closures weren't a challenge to their business, the same cannot be said for the public. There is growing concern over access to bank branches, as more find themselves living in bank and cash machine deserts. Some 60 per cent of bank customers said closures have made it more difficult to speak to a member of staff, according to the data from credit information provider CRIF. A majority also said banks are now less focused on serving and looking after their customers than they were five years ago. A third said the increasing numbers of bank closures have made it more confusing to get what they need form their bank because they are now unable to speak to bank staff directly and instead often have to find information on their website. As many as 13million banking customers still rely on physical branches, recent figures from the Financial Conduct Authority reveal. Sara Costantini, regional director for the UK and Ireland at CRIF, said: 'Financial services have changed rapidly over the last decade, as people continue to embrace digital banking and manage multiple aspects of their finances online. 'The knock-on impact of this has been the reduction in physical, in-person banking services. 'While many working in the sector don't see this as a major challenge to their business, bank branch reductions are continuing to fuel concerns over the quality of customer services and what further closures may mean for the future.' How many bank branches are closing? According to data from Which?, some 379 bank closures have been earmarked for 2025, with a further 22 already planned for 2026. This is despite rules brought in last year that banks must prove to regulators that local communities will still have free cash access if they close their branch. Since 2015, there have been as many as 6,377 branch closures across the UK, meaning two thirds of all the branches open in 2015 have now closed. Bank closures are increasingly giving rise to the creation of banking deserts. Data from Nomis shows that in 2024 there are as many as 15 'grey zones' in the UK. North East Derbyshire, a district with more than 100,000 residents, has no bank branches whatsoever. In the CRIF survey, a fifth of consumers said they are concerned about the closure of more bank branches over the coming five years. Costantini said: 'The findings highlight the difficult tightrope that banks now need to walk, balancing the need to ensure their digital services remain cutting edge and up to scratch, which has become a competitive area for so many, without losing the personal touch that more traditional services offer.' Meanwhile, its not just bank branches that are shutting their doors. Between October 2019 and January 2024, there was 30 per cent reduction in the size of the UK's ATM network, likewise creating ATM dead zones and stifling Britons' access to cash. Some 23,000 ATM's are expected to be closed, leaving just 15,000 across the country, according to the UK's ATM network, Link.
