John Adams

Part of the coronavirus’s economic story is the sudden boom in installment payment services — a sure sign of consumers and merchants wanting a haven from revolving debt. But the rush to simpler credit is also a reflection of how the crisis has changed the way people are living and managing their lives.

The global digital currency race has heightened the threat to traditional monetary policy and the dollar’s dominance, enough for the Federal Reserve of Boston to make a concerted effort to keep pace.

7-Eleven’s not a quick serve restaurant chain or an e-commerce marketplace, but it still found substantial use for its app as a way to quickly address the health worries of its customers.

By slicing clutter out of international payments, Ripple managed to turn rivals into partners once before. It hopes a hunger for sharable authentication can make that happen again.

The past few months have provided no shortage of crises that call out for faster access to funds, giving developers a new impetus to hasten transaction processing.

An obscure government initiative tied to Obamacare’s troubled online rollout could position Sen. Kamala Harris, Joe Biden's running mate, as a key figure in modernizing government stimulus and disbursement payments.

Stripe is expanding its digital payment technology into new industries, and is also welcoming a series of notable executives with backgrounds that are mostly outside merchant technology. But they also have experience with much larger companies, a necessary skill as Stripe tries to grow out of its status as fintech upstart.

For ‘big tech’ bundling is the new battle — and a driving factor for Facebook, which is corralling several of its commerce divisions to show its substantial network of users how much they can do without leaving the social network.

Schools are still figuring out how they will open this fall, with some districts providing online education while others try a hybrid approach of online and in-person instruction. This complicated structure also upends how schools handle fees and payments.

PayPal is improving its ability to reach innovators, adding a key executive in its recent hire of former Wells Fargo senior vice president and fintech veteran Peggy Mangot to be operating partner at PayPal Ventures, PayPal’s VC team.

The point of sale terminal industry was already under pressure to go digital before the coronavirus pandemic made this transition much more crucial to its survival.

The major card networks have heavily invested in broader services as transaction processing loses its luster, a strategy that’s provided a ray of hope as retail and travel industries remain sidelined.

A public listing would improve Affirm’s competitive position against other point of sale credit providers, which have made recent deals to cement their scale among global merchants.

Mastercard reported a sharp decline in payments in its most recent quarter, but some digital seeds it planted before the coronavirus pandemic are already bearing fruit.

The coronavirus outbreak has caused economic activity to crater, and Visa says its focus on services, partnerships and e-commerce has provided stability and a route to growth.

Republicans and Democrats are negotiating a new coronavirus stimulus package, but there’s still no law on the books designed to erase the problems that prevented many stimulus payments from getting directly to recipients.

Bill Clerico created WePay during the last financial crisis, and sees a similar opportunity now. The coronavirus pandemic is affecting different markets in vastly different ways, and easing the flow of capital is just one way to provide help.

Checkout-free stores still feel experimental, but the coronavirus pandemic is pushing more retailers to contemplate how to reduce human interaction in larger settings.

Installment payments are gaining mainstream appeal as an alternative to traditional credit products, prompting Affirm to boost its visibility in an increasingly crowded market.

Universities are facing the same uncertainties as any other business during the coronavirus pandemic. This is especially true for universities that cater to international students.