Washington Weighs the Future of Central Bank Access as Federal Reserve Faces High-Stakes FinTech Decision

WASHINGTON — A quiet yet fiercely contested debate over the plumbing of the American financial system has reached a critical juncture. At the heart of the controversy is a foundational question: Who should be allowed to plug directly into the Federal Reserve’s payment rails, bypassing commercial bank intermediaries entirely? For years, nonbank financial firms, digital…

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Mastercard Weighs Divestiture of UK Payments Pillar Vocalink Amid Mounting Geopolitical and Regulatory Pressure

By PYMNTS | July 13, 2026 In a move that could reshape the landscape of British financial infrastructure, Mastercard is reportedly exploring the potential sale of Vocalink, its U.K.-based retail payments business. The news, first reported by the Financial Times, comes at a time of heightened scrutiny over the foreign ownership of critical national payment…

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