Monoup weekly digest: main updates in fintech industry
As always, fintech industry is eager to offer users new convenient payment experiences, and merchants need to stay informed and be ahead of the wave. Monoup team has gathered the most essential events you shouldn't miss amidst the flow of routine information.
Get ready, as we'll be discussing the latest news over the next five minutes in our blog!
Payments in USDT without TRX balance
Starting with crypto, where unexpected updates are the normal stance. Tron founder Justin Sun announced on his X (formerly Twitter) account that the Tron Gas Free feature is now available for USDT payments. This means users can make payments in USDT without TRX on their balance.
The public reaction, as expected, has been enthusiastic. For both beginners and advanced users, this enhancement increases convenience of using USDT and eliminates the constant need to monitor their TRX balance. However, it is still unclear how this will work and which wallets will support this feature. Justin Sun has invited interested wallets and services to contact the company for support in the coming weeks.
1-Click PIX payments around the corner
A new payment method 1-Click PIX, which eliminates the need for redirect to the payer's bank page, is now released. The service was implemented by Brazilian payment system PagBrasil, with a similar option already available from the open finance provider Belvo, under the naming Biometric PIX.
The nature of this new service is that entire payment process occurs on a single page without redirecting to the bank's environment. Confirmation is also embedded on the same page via biometric authentication or a token/code. According to the creators of this new flow, Brazil leads the world in terms of abandoned shopping carts percentage for online stores. And the goal of this PIX is to solve this problem and provide a seamless payment experience with minimal steps.
Here we can once again note the differences in user preferences from country to country. For instance, Europeans still prefer paying by card and going through multiple confirmation steps, considering themselves advanced in fintech. In contrast, Brazilians are reluctant to proceed to a second page for payment confirmation via PIX. Although PIX is one of the most user-friendly payment methods, it still has room for improvement.
Mastercard to introduce numberless cards
Continuing the trend of innovations, Mastercard has announced its plans to implement entirely new payment cards by 2030. The issue of card security has long been discussed in the payment world, as cards are often main target of fraudsters, and card data is frequently stolen by malicious actors. We all know that this is a common occurrence, unfortunately.
To protect against such incidents, various technologies and anti-fraud and AML measures are already in use. However, reducing these risks to zero has not yet been achieved, and Mastercard has come up with a radically new approach: eliminating the very data that can be stolen from cards. Thus, new generation of bank cards will not have a 16-digit number, and payments will be confirmed using a token unique to each transaction.
Implementing this development will be a significant undertaking, as it will involve not only Mastercard but all other participants in the financial system. Whether this can be achieved by 2030 remains to be seen, but the ambition is quite notable.
Massive card data leakage in darknet
In another incident related to bank card fraud, a significant data breach occurred on February 19, 2025. The complete details of 1,018,014 bank cards were shared on the darknet resource B1ack’s Stash, making them available for free to all portal users.
It has been reported that, in addition to card numbers and CVV codes with expiration dates, the database included names and addresses of cardholders, their phone numbers, and email addresses. Malicious actors gained access to all this data using special scripts attached to payment pages on ordinary online stores. Users entered these details for purchases, after which they were fully copied and stored in an archive. Some believe that such behavior is nothing more than a marketing ploy of the website to promote its illegal activities.
Banks are advising their clients to check security of their card data and merchants to ensure the safety of their resources.
On this important note, we wrap up today's issue and, as payment experts, also recommend our readers keep an eye on the security and safety of your personal data. Whenever possible, conduct online shopping only on trusted websites and resources, and if there are any doubts, it is better to block the card and get new one from your bank. Stay vigilant with Monoup!
