John Adams

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.