John Adams

As the adoption of real-time payments grows, companies like Mastercard, ACI Worldwide and The Clearing House are bringing together data from banks, credit unions and merchants to catch scammers.

Card networks are poised to connect to nonfungible tokens, issuers are revamping rewards, and regulators are taking greater interest in installment loans. These developments and more bear watching in the year ahead.

Consumers are pushing card networks and issuers to develop programs that reward them for spending on sustainable products and other initiatives to mitigate climate change.

The social network, now called Meta Platforms, is buying the South Dakota bank's name for $60 million.

The tax preparation company, which is building out its own financial services business, says Square's new brand "would improperly capitalize on the goodwill and consumer trust cultivated by [H&R] Block since 1955."

Kabbage and other firms are extending credit to fund higher salaries at the small merchants that are struggling to hire new employees.

Now that JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Capital One and others offer the alternative credit option, the startups that created this market are adding products to cement their hold on consumers and merchants.

The United States is threatening to curtail transactions into and out of Russia to discourage it from invading Ukraine. The standoff heightens existing friction between U.S. payments companies and Moscow, which could impose new restrictions on them in response to sanctions.

The card network's new cryptocurrency advisory service aims to help financial institutions catch up with companies like Square and PayPal by spotting opportunities to support stablecoins, nonfungible tokens and central bank digital currencies.

Research shows the number of fraudulent transactions and dollar amounts involved are soaring as merchants increasingly go digital. Credit card and other companies are expected to more than double what they invest in AI and other tech to fortify their systems.