John Adams

In global news this week, Grab gets approval to offer digital banking in Malaysia; Italy's post office invests $27 million in a a buy now/pay later lender; Apple struggles to appease Dutch regulators; and more.

"Apple may have restricted competition, to the benefit of its own solution Apple Pay," Margrethe Vestagar of the European Commission said. It's an accusation Apple's fought many times across the globe.

About two dozen banks in the U.S. and Europe, including ABN Amro and Bank of America, are working with The Clearing House and EBA Clearing, using technology from SWIFT, to make instant international transactions ubiquitous for business and e-commerce sales.

The global microchip shortage is being exacerbated by Russia's war in Ukraine and the COVID lockdowns in China. Experts are warning of an impending strain on the manufacture of cards and point-of-sale hardware.

The recovery for airline and related spending has been robust — and thus far immune to geopolitical and inflationary pressures — according to the card network, following similar reports from Visa and American Express.

The country was a large part of the card brand's cross-border digital business, though expansion in other markets and new services will help offset the negative impact, according to CEO Alfred Kelly.

The card network will use artificial intelligence to improve authentication via its latest team-up with the tech giant.

While most consumer sectors have been going digital, many physicians' offices, hospitals and clinics cling to a reimbursement system that relies heavily in printed statements, checks and manual processing.

In global news this week, The Bank of London named Tom Wood its next deputy chief executive for the United Kingdom market, Tencent began testing a digital wallet that supports transactions in e-CNY China's central bank digital currency, Uber's online order and delivery platform expanded its payment acceptance choices to include Rakuten Pay, and more.

Nandan Sheth hopes his experience as a fintech founder and as an executive with firms such as Fiserv will help the installment lender become a better partner for card issuers.

A few months after cutting ties with its Diem stablecoin project, the company formerly known as Facebook is testing a virtual world marketplace.

"With ACH payments there's a latency in how they are processed; it can take two to five days. Things can happen," warns Silvana Hernandez, senior vice president of digital payments at Mastercard.

Each company has introduced its own program to give dealerships access to real-time digital transactions.

Firms such as Visa, Mastercard, PNC and Fiserv say employers can address the labor crunch by making it easier for employees to access and move their money through services such as earned wage access, crypto bonuses and digitized expense management.

What good is a travel card when virtual reality eliminates the need to leave home? Amex's patent filings explore the possibilities.

The renewal of the e-commerce giant's cobranded card cements an alliance between two giants of their industries — just as both companies are pushing ahead with products such as buy now/pay later loans that put pressure on traditional credit cards.

Firms such as Mesh Payments and TripActions are anticipating that the trend for flexible and remote work will make it harder to distinguish personal and business purchases on the road.

PayPal is making it possible to "Venmo" an income tax payment, while GoDaddy is taking aim at simplifying sales tax calculations for its merchant clients.

The digital payment company, which recently got back into digital assets after a multiyear hiatus, has launched a suite of merchant services and industry partnerships to support payments and risk management.

Russian banks are reportedly courting the Chinese payment network to overcome the loss of Visa and Mastercard. The strategy would test China's willingness to provoke a response from the international community.