Utility Pricing Shock for SMBs: Portland General Electric filed for a 29% rate hike for large-load data centers, while cutting rates for everyone else—residential down 1.3% and small business down 3.7%—as Oregon’s POWER Act shifts infrastructure costs to high-growth users. Cross-Border Payments Push: XTransfer and BBVA signed an MoU to expand B2B cross-border payments across Latin America, Europe and Hong Kong, targeting trade-linked SMEs facing slow onboarding, FX constraints and compliance friction. SME-Friendly Privacy Debate: A U.S. House subcommittee hearing on the SECURE Data Act split parties over whether a single federal privacy rule would help businesses or weaken stronger state protections. Kenya Freelancers Hit by PayPal Holds: PayPal froze and closed some Kenyan accounts tied to overseas payments, demanding heavier verification (including physical address proof) and restricting withdrawals/sending for non-compliant users. Trade & Logistics Growth: Jacksonville’s JAXPORT expansion aims to capture more Asia-linked cargo as manufacturing shifts toward Vietnam, Thailand, India and Malaysia. SME Digital Gaming Compliance: Fairplay rolled out an enhanced user verification framework to meet India’s 2026 online gaming rules, focusing on identity checks, security and transparency.