John Adams

The short-term coronavirus response revealed most merchants will need a more robust option for digital payments — and that’s prompting fresh investment in what was expected to be a slow period.

Visa pulled its financial outlook for the rest of the year, but it already has visibility into permanent changes that result from the coronavirus — such as an aversion to handling cash.

Amazon, Walmart and Facebook are using point of sale credit, deliveries and in-app payments to outflank Paytm in India, honing services that they see as vital to shaping the global economy's recovery.

Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga says he is certain that science, medicine and innovation will lead the world out of the coronavirus pandemic, but there is little indication of when that will happen.

Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency has been climbing uphill from the start, losing many prominent partners along the way — though the recent addition of Checkout.com will partially make up for those setbacks.

While the entire economy will slow due to stay-in-place orders and temporary economic shutdowns, payments fintech is expected to fare much better than other investment sectors due to these trends.

Like other businesses, hospitals have been forced to make instant emergency changes because of the coronavirus. But many hospitals are concurrently getting a rush of demand for service with an unclear revenue stream.

Businesses have turned to workarounds to accommodate the coronavirus’ impact on brick-and-mortar stores, emergency measures that will likely become permanent in order for these businesses to survive into the future.

Google’s reported plan to offer its own version of the Apple Card is less of a play for credit and more of a play for its mobile users' bank accounts.

Fast-moving payments innovation was already threatening comfortable connections between consumers and businesses before the pandemic turned the trend into an outright crisis.