Payments

A recurring theme across last week's payments-focused newsletters was Stripe's dealmaking activity. Fintech Wrap Up published a deep dive on the structural logic behind Stripe's acquisition of the OpenRouter AI Gateway, while Fintech Radar covered the same acquisition in its Issue #172, alongside notes on Ramp building a similar tool and Experian's placement in ChatGPT. American Banker Fintech reported that Stripe and Advent have suspended their pursuit of PayPal. Stripe also appeared in coverage of Revolut's stablecoin launch, discussed below.

Stablecoins and international payment infrastructure drew attention as well. Payments Wrap Up covered Revolut's launch of a euro-pegged EURR stablecoin, and Stack and Story covered the same stablecoin, noting that it is issued by Stripe. Banking Dive Newsletter reported on RTP gearing up for international reach. Connecting the Dots in FinTech covered Airwallex's move beyond payments into autonomous finance, without elaborating further on the details.

American Banker Fintech carried several other items: a Florida gambling lawsuit targeting payment processors, Affirm extending its hot streak in a way that challenges the credit card industry, and Global Payments hitting the road amid a small business battle. Fintech Wrap Up also published a piece by Michael Blau, founder of Drip, on how AI agents will search and buy premium content.

Finally, Linas's Newsletter covered Klarna's Q2 2026 results, describing 42% growth that it characterizes as really 20%, a hidden $2B Google win, and a 23% drop in KLAR stock, alongside a separate note on reluctance to pay for the smartest AI.