John Adams

The U.S. government will shortly funnel trillions of dollars into the economy to soften the coronavirus’ impact on a variety of industries and small businesses. Payment companies that are also lenders will soon find out if it’s enough to save the market.

Transit systems are suffering a dramatic loss in ridership, and must find a way to welcome back riders after the coronavirus pandemic ends, since many commuters will have canceled their monthly passes.

Payments technology is a relative bright spot as coronavirus’ economic fears hit venture capital, since an emergency can be a catalyst for early-stage innovation designed to ease digital commerce.

The coronavirus stimulus package has resurrected calls for the U.S. government to offer a central bank digital currency, public mobile wallets and postal banking—controversial ideas that are hard to pull off, but exist outside the U.S. and could dent interchange fees and private stablecoin projects like Facebook’s Libra.

The coronavirus is hitting small businesses hard, slamming one of Square’s core markets just as the payments company got a long-awaited industrial banking license.

Even for companies that support remote work, having an entire staff working from home on short notice opens new complications for B2B payments and accounts receivable.

The payments industry bridges many markets — including technology and finance — that haven't always demonstrated diversity at their highest ranks. Things are changing, and this year's Most Influential Women in Payments honorees demonstrate the importance of women to all aspects of the payments industry and all corners of the globe.

It’s a rare occurrence for a business to receive a huge business spike while also shutting parts of the operation, but that’s where the coronavirus has landed Farmstead.

Governments are directly advancing real-time digital payments — a welcome move for Ripple, which is applying its relationship with MoneyGram and a growing base of eager partners to expand its network.

The nationwide lockdown in Italy has necessitated changes for Pellegrino personally, and for his business. The two worlds often intersect.