Technology, fees and a mega-merger: top payments news of 2024 | PaymentsSource

The payments industry is evolving at a rapid clip. 

Technologies such as instant payment schemes, account to account, digital wallets, virtual cards and stablecoins are gaining greater adoption as the industry looks to modernize the speed and ease with which money moves. 

The tides are also shifting with the major payment companies: Fiserv this year sought a bank charter; Capital One is looking to acquire Discover in what would mark one of the largest acquisitions since SunTrust and BB&T merged in 2019; and Visa is battling an antitrust dispute with the Department of Justice that is threatening its debit-card-processing stronghold. 

Of course, mounting fraud and the shifting regulatory environment were also top of mind. 

American Banker readers flocked to articles focused on forthcoming change in the industry. 

Read on to see which payments stories were the most read in 2024.