During a fireside chat at the Semafor World Economy Summit on Wednesday (April 23), he said that “hard data” from Mastercard’s Economics Institute tells a different story.

The payments giant, which tracks real-time spending across its network and the broader economy, said it saw a 1.4% increase in consumer spending for March, contrary to what consumer confidence surveys showed.

The hard data “is not reflecting where the consumer is,” Miebach said. “The consumer today is an empowered consumer that will still stick to what they want to do.” While consumers may be paring down on how much they’re spending, “they still want to make that trip.”

“We don’t see any change at this point,” he added.

But if an economic slowdown does come, how will Mastercard cope?

Miebach, who took the helm at Mastercard at the start of the pandemic in 2020, said the company’s diversification across services and geographies — it operates in 210 countries and territories — would be a buffer.

While Mastercard is known for facilitating the purchasing of goods and services, less known is that it also provides a whole range of services that are “tied to powerful underlying secular trends that have nothing to do with the economy,” Miebach said.

One example is cybersecurity, he said. Mastercard is one of the largest providers globally.

“Our scenario planning isn’t one of dark clouds,” he added. “Right now, there isn’t a scenario … where this is a dramatic impact on us.”

Read more: Report: Visa Offers $100 Million to Get Apple Credit Card Business

That Rumor About Apple Pay

Miebach was asked if reports that Visa might take over Apple Pay from Mastercard were true. Miebach said he has seen the headlines but flatly denied that Apple is ditching Mastercard: “It’s not happening.”

Earlier this month, Visa offered Apple about $100 million to take over Apple Pay from Mastercard, which processed the Goldman Sachs’ Apple credit card.

The paper said there is fierce competition not only to take over from Goldman Sachs — among big banks including JPMorgan Chase and Synchrony Financial — but also among the payment networks that process the transactions: Visa and American Express.

As for how Mastercard differentiates itself in a crowded digital payments landscape, Miebach acknowledged the explosion of payment options available to consumers today — from cash and cards to stable coins and crypto balances.

Miebach said people should think of Mastercard in a different way, not as a business-to-consumer provider. “We power the Sonys and Walmarts with our solutions on the backside,” he explained, claiming, “We love the competition. We love the choices that are now on the market.”

Miebach said Mastercard focuses on solving customer problems rather than fixating on competition.

For example, for retailers, one pain point is the checkout experience. “Who wants to stand in line, or who wants to have a complicated checkout page on the web?” he asked.

Mastercard’s answer to this challenge is biometrics. “If that can work on your phone [and] if that can work on anything, wouldn’t that be wonderful? We created that standard,” Miebach said.

By 2030, Mastercard plans to phase out the need to enter card numbers, static passwords and one-time codes for online purchases. It will replace the process with a new one enabled by a combination of tokenization and biometric authentication, to make checkout smoother and more secure.

Currently, Mastercard is further retooling its customer experience by leveraging generative artificial intelligence (GenAI).

Adding GenAI

It had been using machine learning and rules-based AI to process 160 billion transactions through its system. Now, the company is leveraging GenAI for what Miebach calls “agentic commerce” — smart AI agents that know the customer and simplifies things like gathering reward points and applying them to travel planning. The agents will even book the trip.

“In the world of agentic commerce, you have a smart agent that knows all your preferences, all of your (credit, debit and loyalty) card balances,” he said. “We enable travel, we enable commerce, and we have a lot of data.”

When asked where AI has delivered the most financial impact for Mastercard, Miebach pointed to cybersecurity and fraud management. “Since 2018, we’ve invested $11 billion in keeping our own four walls safe and putting out safety and security products for our customers,” he said.

Mastercard’s goal is to save $120 billion in fraud by 2030, in part by using GenAI to scan the dark web for compromised card data and alert banks in real time, analyzing 1 trillion data points.

Photo: Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach from livestream

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The digital banking and payment services company saw its net income leap 30% year over year in the first quarter to reach $1.1 billion, according to the release.

Shepherd said Discover’s financial performance benefited from “strong net interest margin and positive credit trends.”

The company’s net interest margin rose by 115 basis points compared with the previous year and reached 12.18%, according to the release.

The rise in net interest margin was “primarily driven by lower funding costs,” according to a presentation released Wednesday.

Discover’s good credit performance was highlighted by a reserve release and lower net charge-offs, per the presentation.

The company’s provision for credit losses decreased $253 million from the same quarter last year, dropping to $1.2 billion, according to the earnings release. This was enabled by a $190 million favorable reserve change and a $97 million decrease in net charge-offs.

Credit card net charge-offs and delinquency rates improved year over year, according to the presentation. Personal loan net charge-offs were up year over year, but were stable quarter over quarter, as were delinquencies.

“Total loan net charge-offs were in line with expectations; delinquencies reflect a downward trend,” the presentation said.

This earnings release came days after the Friday (April 18) announcement that Capital One received the regulatory approvals necessary to complete the merger with Discover and that the merger is now expected to close around May 18, subject to customary closing conditions.

“These results reflect our good execution and the strength of our business model,” Shepherd said in the release. “We are pleased that Capital One has received all required approvals and look forward to completing our merger.”

The companies said Friday that they received approvals from the Federal Reserve Board and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, meaning they had received all required regulatory approvals for the proposed acquisition.

Capital One CEO Richard Fairbank said Tuesday (April 22) that the combined entity will create a “leading consumer banking and payments platform.”

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In a Wednesday (April 23) post on X, Tesla shared a video of passengers hailing and riding in one of its vehicles, as a driver sat in the front.

FSD Supervised ride-hailing service is live for an early set of employees in Austin & San Francisco Bay Area.

We’ve completed over 1.5k trips & 15k miles of driving.

This service helps us develop & validate FSD networks, the mobile app, vehicle allocation, mission control &… pic.twitter.com/pYVfhi935W

— Tesla AI (@Tesla_AI) April 23, 2025

According to a Wednesday Bloomberg report, the ride-hailing service uses a suite of features Tesla has dubbed full self-driving. Despite the name, the cars still require continual driver supervision, and that doesn’t make its vehicles autonomous.

Citing an earnings call where executives spoke with investors, Bloomberg said Tesla is planning on unveiling a driverless version of the software that will still be supervised remotely.

“It’ll start in Austin with 10 to 20 Model Y vehicles before scaling further, with plans to add other cities and vehicle models to the fleet,” Bloomberg reported.

Tesla also plans to eventually use a purpose-built two-seater vehicle called a Cybercab, which has no steering wheel or pedals. The vehicle is expected to undergo large-scale production next year, per the report.

Tesla executives also discussed the company’s sluggish sales. The company reported its worst quarter in years. In response, CEO Elon Musk said he plans to pull back “significantly” from his work with the U.S. government to refocus on the automotive firm.

“There’s been some blowback for time that I’ve been spending in government with … DOGE,” Musk said.

The CEO had faced criticism for not paying enough attention to Tesla amid his increased involvement with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and other political activities. 

“His alliance with President Trump also brought dismay to many consumers, which has depressed Tesla demand and ignited acts of vandalism against some Tesla dealerships,” PYMNTS reported Tuesday (April 22).

Tesla’s shares have fallen 41% year to date and it has gone through many crises and “near-death experiences,” Musk said. “This is not one of those times. We’re not on the ragged edge of death — not even close.”

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The company expects its artificial intelligence (AI) agents and other new products to generate more sales than its ChatGTP chatbot by that time, The Information reported Wednesday (April 23), citing information OpenAI shared with potential and current investors.

It is not clear what the new products will be, but executives have considered selling ads or charging affiliate fees with which it would get a cut of sales that begin through ChatGPT or its AI agents, according to the report.

OpenAI did not immediately reply to PYMNTS’ request for comment.

The company ended 2024 with revenues of $3.7 billion, which was nearly four times the prior year’s sales, according to the report.

OpenAI expects to spend $46 billion in cash over the next four years and turn cash flow positive in 2029, when it expects to generate about $2 billion in cash, the report said.

The company said April 16 that its latest AI models are poised to bring more capable AI agents to business.

The new o3 and o4-mini reasoning models are the “smartest” it has released to date and represent a “step change” in ChatGPT’s capabilities, according to an OpenAI blog post.

These models represent a big step toward more robust agentic AI systems that can independently execute tasks on behalf of users, the company said.

On April 14, OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar said the company is building an AI agent that can do all the work of software engineers, not just augment their skills.

Friar added that OpenAI is moving beyond being solely a model builder to becoming a comprehensive AI infrastructure provider and applications developer.

“Today, OpenAI is so much more,” Friar said. “We’re going down into data center technology … and we feel like we’re creating a lot of IP there, and it’s really important for us to own that.”

On April 11, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the generative AI company has reached 800 million people.

“Something like 10% of the world uses our systems, now a lot,” Altman said.

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Economic activity, at least as measured in March, was mixed. In other words, things could have been worse.

But across the 12 central bank districts, the change from February to March was palpable in terms of sentiment: Uncertainty tied to tariffs and trade wars was “pervasive,” according to comments from bankers. Overall, four districts saw growth.  Three districts saw things as relatively unchanged. That left five districts with declining trends.

Spending, overall, was lower, at least for non-automobile purchases. In a demonstration of front-loading ahead of tariffs, vehicle sales gained ground.

The Federal Reserve released the third installment of this year’s Beige Book showing decreased performance on consumer spending in six of 12 districts, while only three saw an uptick. On a positive note, five districts reported improvements in the job market while three reported worse conditions.

Given the front-loading, the banks’ observations indicate that retail figures for the sector may worsen in the near term due to this substitution effect.

As recently reported by PYMNTS, motor vehicle and parts dealers performed strongly in March, growing 5.3% over the month after contractions in January (-3.4%) and February (-1.6%). Compared to March 2024, the sector experienced an 8.8% increase.

Wait and See Approach

Regarding employment, reports indicate that hiring was generally slower for consumer-facing firms than for business-to-business firms. Another symptom of the underlying uncertainty can be found in several districts reporting that firms were taking what has been described in the report as a “wait-and-see approach” to employment, pausing or slowing hiring until there is more clarity on economic conditions. Reports of upcoming layoffs remained scattered.

This generally coincides with the latest batch of government data on the topic. The most recent Jobs Openings and Labor Turnover Survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics points toward muted but stable trend of job openings and separations, consistent with a general strategy of reducing headcount by attrition rather than layoffs.

A rather lackluster performance in the job market can soon become a deterrent to consumer spending. A recent survey run by the New York Fed shows that just 54.8% of respondents were satisfied with their wage at their current job in March 2025, down from 55.9% in November 2024 and 55.6% in March 2024.

This means that nearly half of consumers find their current compensation insufficient or incompatible with their professional proficiency. The share of respondents satisfied with prospects for advancement at current job also fell in March, to 48.7% from 50.4% in the November run.

Reports from multiple economic outlets, like the Conference Board, point toward depressed consumer sentiment as a key limitation to the economy operating at its full potential, inducing downward adjustment to economic projections. We may not be in the recession zone — but connecting the dots shows that many observers anticipating disappointing economic growth.

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During a fireside chat at the Semafor World Economy Summit 2025 on Wednesday (April 23), the veteran automotive executive said that the automaker is aligned with the president on his overall goal.

“The president and the administration want to have a strong manufacturing sector in this country, and I think they very much believe they want to have a strong U.S. auto industry. So from that perspective, we’re very much aligned,” said Barra, who has led GM since 2014.

Barra said the conversations have been “constructive” as GM makes an effort to help the administration understand the capital-intensive, multiyear investment cycles of the automotive industry and its complex supply chain.

While declining to specify the potential financial impact of tariffs ahead of GM’s earnings report next week, Barra believes that harming U.S. automakers “is not the intent” of the administration’s policies.

During this period of uncertainty, she said GM is focusing on driving organizational efficiency and eliminating bureaucracy.

Barra said GM has been enhancing the resiliency of its supply chain after going through such shocks as COVID-19 and the chip shortage.

What the auto industry needs is “clarity” and “consistency,” Barra said. There is a five- to six-year development cycle for new vehicles, so predictable public policies are crucial to help GM make decisions.

When asked about competition from Chinese automakers, Barra acknowledged that their vehicles are competitive while pointing out that “the industry is subsidized by the country.”

She said GM’s vehicles “stack up quite well” component-by-component against Chinese rivdrals but emphasized the need for fair trade.

“I generally believe in free trade, but I think you have to have a level playing field,” Barra said. “I think that’s what the administration is looking to achieve.”

Read more: Report: GM Cuts 1,000 Jobs at Cruise After Ending Robotaxi Project

EV and AV Updates

On the electric vehicle (EV) front, Barra remains a believer in EVs for GM’s future and expressed confidence that consumers will eventually prefer them to gas-powered vehicles.

Last year, GM said it would delay plans for a new Buick EV as well as push back the opening of an EV truck factory, according to The Wall Street Journal. It also sold its stake in a Michigan battery plant joint venture.

Barra did acknowledge that price and the insufficient number of chargers are barriers to EV adoption. Many current EV owners still maintain a gasoline vehicle for longer trips due to “charge anxiety,” she said.

However, GM is investing in charging infrastructure, including a partnership with Pilot Flying J to build charging stations along interstate highways, and a deal with Tesla to access its Supercharger Network.

Once the infrastructure is in place, Barra said consumers will go electric. “If you’ve had an opportunity to drive an electric vehicle, never having to go to the gas station, the fact that you have instant torque, EVs … I think over time,” EVs will be the consumers’ choice.

Barra said GM has been recruiting top talent from tech companies to lead its EV transformation, including executives from Apple, Cisco and Tesla. “In our industry, that is so competitive and moving so quickly … you can’t afford to get it wrong in your first cycle,” she said.

Regarding GM’s plans for autonomous vehicles (AVs), Barra said safety remains the primary consideration. Last December, GM shut down its Cruise robotaxi business and absorbed the technology and its engineering staff. Barra said GM is now focusing on personal autonomy rather than shuttling the public in robotaxis.

Barra then cited the success of GM’s Super Cruise system — a driver assistance, but not autonomous, technology. It lets drivers take their hands off the wheel and feet off the pedals. Drivers still need to pay attention, but “you’ll arrive at your destination much more relaxed.”

She said 85% of drivers who have experienced it “would either not buy a car that didn’t have it or would strongly prefer it in their next vehicle.”

GM is working to advance Super Cruise from the current Level 2 autonomy (driver assistance) toward Level 3 and eventually Level 4, where “the vehicle is responsible and the individual is really no longer required to pay attention all the time,” Barra said.

As GM navigates these industry shifts, Barra remains focused on the company’s mission to “create a world with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion,” while it is “always going to be guided by the consumer.”

Photo: GM CEO Mary Barra from livestream

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Weinberg, whose company is a search engine and browser rival of Google, said this while testifying during the Google antitrust trial, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.

In that trial, the court is considering remedies after determining that Google has a monopoly in the search market. One remedy proposed by the Department of Justice would require the company to sell Chrome.

In his “back-of-the-envelope” estimate of the value of Chrome, Weinberg said he focused on the browser’s user base, according to the report.

The estimate is higher than the $20 billion value estimated by Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Mandeep Singh in November, and a $50 billion price tag could reduce the number of offers for the browser, the report said.

OpenAI Head of Product and ChatGPT Nick Turley told the court Tuesday (April 22) that OpenAI and “many other parties” would try to buy Chrome if it were available.

ChatGPT can be downloaded as an extension for the Chrome browser, but it would be a better product if Chrome were more deeply integrated into OpenAI, Turley said.

In that case, OpenAI would “have the ability to introduce users into what an AI-first experience looks like,” he added.

Turley also told the court Tuesday that OpenAI approached Google about a partnership to power ChatGPT last summer but got turned down.

OpenAI was experiencing issues with its existing search provider and was years away from having ChatGPT be able to answer most queries using its own search technology, so the company asked Google about an API that would improve the AI chatbot’s ability to deliver accurate and up-to-date answers, Turley said.

Google declined the request in August, he added.

This three-week antitrust trial started Monday (April 21) and is being heard by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, the same judge who ruled in August that Google illegally maintained a monopoly in the search business with practices like paying Apple to make its search engine the default option on that company’s devices.

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Apple breached the DMA’s anti-steering obligation by imposing restrictions that prevent app developers from informing consumers about offers that are available outside Apple’s App Store, the commission said in a Wednesday press release.

Together with the fine, the commission ordered Apple to remove these restrictions, per the release.

Apple did not immediately reply to PYMNTS’ request for comment.

In a statement provided to CNBC, the company said: “Today’s announcements are yet another example of the European Commission unfairly targeting Apple in a series of decisions that are bad for the privacy and security of our users, bad for products, and force us to give away our technology for free.”

In the case of Meta, the commission said in its press release that the company breached the DMA’s obligation to enable consumers to choose a service that uses less of their personal data but is otherwise equivalent to the “personalized ads” service.

Meta’s “Consent or Pay” model, which was introduced in November 2023 and required EU users of Facebook and Instagram to consent to personalized advertising or pay a monthly subscription for an ad-free service, does not comply with the DMA, the release said.

Another model that Meta introduced in November, which uses less personal data to display ads, is being assessed by the commission and is not included in this decision, according to the release.

Meta responded to the decision with a statement saying that the commission is trying to handicap American businesses while allowing Chinese and European ones to operate under different standards.

“This isn’t just about a fine; the commission forcing us to change our business model effectively imposes a multibillion-dollar tariff on Meta while requiring us to offer an inferior service,” Meta Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan said in the statement. “And by unfairly restricting personalized advertising, the European Commission is also hurting European businesses and economies.”

These are the first penalties imposed under the DMA, Reuters reported Wednesday.

The report added that Google and X may be the next firms to face such fines.

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A Reuters report said the entity will launch with over 42,000 bitcoin (valued at about $3.6 billion), positioning it as the third-largest corporate bitcoin holder globally.

Stablecoin issuer Tether will contribute $1.6 billion in bitcoin, with its affiliated exchange Bitfinex kicking in $600 million and Japanese technology investor SoftBank adding $900 million, the report said.

A statement from the company Wednesday (April 23) said Twenty One Capital will be majority-owned by Tether and Bitfinex, with SoftBank holding a minority stake.

Strike CEO Jack Mallers will lead the company as co-founder and CEO, according to reports. “We’re not here to beat the market, we’re here to build a new one. A public stock, built by bitcoiners, for bitcoiners,” Mallers said in a statement.

The investment vehicle was reportedly inspired by the success of bitcoin acquirer Strategy (formerly known as MicroStrategy). Bloomberg reports that Strategy has amassed about $45 billion worth of bitcoin.

According to Reuters, bitcoin is trading at $94,166, gaining more than 40% in the past six months.

Financial and real estate services holding company Cantor Fitzgerald is headed by Brandon Lutnick, the son of U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. PYMNTS reported on the deepening ties between Cantor Fitzgerald and Tether in November.

A Reuters report said Cantor Fitzgerald holds 99% of Tether’s U.S. Treasury reserves.

The statement from Twenty One Capital said the partner companies plan to raise $585 million in additional capital through a combination of convertible bonds and equity financing.

CoinDesk reported that Twenty One Capital will merge with the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Cantor Equity Partners, which will keep its “CEP” NASDAQ ticker until the transaction is finalized. It is unclear when the deal is expected to close.

Twenty One Capital will trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol “XXI” after the deal closes, the report said.

Twenty One Capital also plans to report its performance in bitcoin per share (BPS) and bitcoin return rate (BRR), the company statement said.

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Bitcoin has surged past $90,000, signaling renewed investor confidence in crypto markets after a classically volatile first few months of 2025. Simultaneously, major financial institutions are integrating blockchain technologies and regulatory frameworks are becoming more defined.

This convergence of factors is ushering in a new era for digital finance, characterized by increased institutional participation, innovative stablecoin applications and strategic moves by unexpected players.​

Regulatory Clarity and Institutional Integration

The crypto industry in 2025 finds itself at a critical juncture, shaped less by speculative booms and more by its confrontation with regulation.

As Dan Boyle, partner at Boies Schiller Flexner, told PYMNTS’ Karen Webster this week, “crypto is not getting a get-out-of-jail-free card”— a nod to the end of the industry’s regulatory gray area and the beginning of its era of accountability.

“There’s some strategic value to being a world leader in digital assets … If my competitor is issuing a stablecoin or tokenizing assets, am I missing out if I don’t?” Boyle added.

In a sign of the changing times, Paul S. Atkins was sworn into office as the 34th chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday (April 21) after being confirmed by the Senate earlier this month. Atkins, who has been personally involved with digital assets, is viewed favorably by industry advocates.

This shift is pushing institutional players out of the shadows, as evidenced by news this week. Major global banks, like ING, are in fact beginning to partner on stablecoin projects, motivated both by the fear of being left behind and the opportunity to define new standards. These are robust, multi-bank consortia aiming for real-world use cases — cross-border payments, corporate treasuries and eventually programmable money at scale.

Meanwhile, settlement infrastructure is catching up. The Lynq network — developed by Arca Labs, Tassat Group, and tZERO — promises real-time, yield-bearing settlements, a marked upgrade from legacy systems that still settle on T+2 timelines. This settlement innovation, which also includes participation from U.S. Bank, is critical for both risk management and unlocking new forms of financial products.

But regulation is not just a hurdle; it’s also an on-ramp for credibility. By building within clearer rules, crypto firms are opening doors to mainstream adoption. In this way, the “compliance crunch” is less a death knell and more a growth spurt — setting the stage for new business models and products that would have been unimaginable in the industry’s early days.

Putting an exclamation point on today’s landscape, a Cantor Fitzgerald affiliate business is teaming up with SoftBank and Tether to create a multi-billion-dollar corporate treasury vehicle with the goal of accumulating bitcoin.

They aren’t alone. Upexi, a consumer products firm, is raising $100 million to accumulate Solana, echoing the “corporate treasury as crypto hedge” playbook pioneered by MicroStrategy. This signals not just speculative belief, but operational integration: companies see blockchains not only as investment vehicles but as potential infrastructure for their own business models.

Stablecoins: The Battle for Everyday Utility

Stablecoins — digital tokens pegged to fiat currency — were supposed to be crypto’s killer app. In practice, their journey has been more complex.

On one hand, there’s an acceleration in the development of stablecoin infrastructure. Circle’s launch of a stablecoin orchestration layer aims to make stablecoins “invisible” in the best sense: moving money across borders, across blockchains and into the hands of consumers without them needing to understand the underlying tech. Major financial institutions are taking notice, not just with experimental projects but with real investment and product launches. 

There are efforts to merge cash and crypto worlds. The partnership between CompoSecure and MoneyGram exemplifies this. By enabling cash-to-crypto conversions at thousands of global MoneyGram locations, stablecoins are made accessible to the unbanked and underbanked, potentially reshaping remittance and financial inclusion.

But there’s a disconnect: if stablecoins are so promising, why aren’t they ubiquitous at the cash register or online checkout?

As PYMNTS explored, merchant adoption is lagging. The reasons are myriad: regulatory uncertainty, concerns about fraud and reversibility, technical integration hurdles and the simple inertia of established payment methods. There’s also a user experience gap — most people are not clamoring for change, especially if it’s more complicated than swiping a card.

Additionally, tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs) is gaining steam. With Visa, Mastercard and JPMorgan testing tokenized forms of cash, treasuries and even real estate, we’re beginning to see the outlines of a future where everything of value can be transacted in programmable, composable digital units. 

Still, widespread adoption will hinge on regulatory harmonization — especially for cross-border use cases — and the resolution of critical technical bottlenecks. The race is on: can stablecoin projects solve for “spendability” before their window of opportunity closes?

What’s clear is that the market is bifurcating. “Crypto as casino” remains, but is being joined by “crypto as capital market.” The result: a more mature, complex and — paradoxically — less predictable ecosystem.

Taken together, these three trends — regulatory maturation, the real-world quest for stablecoin utility and the institutionalization of digital assets — mark a turning point. The Wild West days of crypto are fading, replaced by a convergence with mainstream finance.

The stakes are enormous. Success could mean a financial system that is faster, fairer and more inclusive, leveraging the strengths of both centralized and decentralized models. Failure — or stagnation — could see the space captured by legacy interests or fragmented by regulatory balkanization.

In the end, the future of crypto will be shaped not just by code, but by collaboration — between innovators, regulators, financial giants and the everyday users whose adoption will determine which experiments take root and which fade into history.

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