John Adams

Valuations for payment technology companies skyrocketed over the past year, pushed by a wave of public listings and record venture capital investments. Some potential acquirers are waiting for prices to cool.

The automaker plans to overhaul its online car-shopping portal, while also developing an in-car system for purchasing fuel, parking and other goods and services.

The card brands are pursuing partnerships with banks, government agencies and merchants, with a goal of building networks and services to accommodate the rise of central bank digital currencies.

If the payments company moves ahead with a digital currency rollout, its network of merchants and consumers as well as its retail-payments focus could give it the upper hand over banks, whose products are limited to cryptocurrency exchanges, wholesale payments and other specific uses.

The debut of new mobile wallets ahead of the Winter Olympics in Beijing is an impetus for the Federal Reserve to bring its own central bank digital currency project up to speed.

The credit bureaus plan to add repayment data for installment loans, a move that can inform credit decisions and help answer regulators' questions about how such borrowing affects consumers' financial health.

The inquiry looks into the tech company's requirement that developers use its in-app payment system, which has also faced scrutiny in the U.S. and elsewhere.

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.

As Visa and Mastercard weigh raising rates and retail heavyweights like Amazon push back, the fintech sees an opening for a lower-cost payments alternative that banks and credit unions can offer merchants.

The company, which will keep the Square brand for its card readers, also supports music, cash transfers, Bitcoin trading and other financial services.

The video-sharing site has rolled out a new feature that allows viewers to tip creators, adding to Stripe's network of clients in the crowdsourced entertainment industry.