John Adams

The card brand has been pitching itself as a testing ground for central bank digital currencies, a payment portal for stablecoins and — most recently — an accelerator for startups.

The card brand's recent deals to buy Tink and Currencycloud for a combined $3 billion are meant to give it a stronger presence in fast-growing fintech markets.

Western central banks trying to develop sovereign cryptocurrency models face pushback from lawmakers and other obstacles, while the digital yuan has a much clearer path.

These nine fintechs have made their market debuts or signaled plans to do so in the past few weeks, continuing a robust year for both IPOs and e-commerce.

CEO Stephen Squeri told analysts a fresh crop of rivals, possibly including Wells Fargo, will be quick to fill the void created by Citi's departure from the high-end market.

Buying the cross-border payment and software company can help the card brand provide more services to fast-growing challenger banks.

While pandemic restrictions cloud the sector's outlook, the London-based payment and fintech company is making hotel booking and other services part of its financial super app strategy.

The European Union has updated value-added-tax regulations that predate digital payments, hoping to reduce compliance burdens for foreign online sellers and simplify consumer billing.

The Reserve Bank of India says the card brand failed to comply with a requirement to store transaction details locally. The handling of payment information has become a point of contention between the Asian nation and American firms.

The technology holds great promise for financial services, but it could be just as powerful for scammers looking to break payment card encryption. Visa, Mastercard and others are already building new defenses.