Kate Fitzgerald

Payrailz created its own bill payment technology and a peer-to-peer product for smaller banks wary of Zelle, but Jack Henry can scale it faster by absorbing the Connecticut-based fintech.

Founder Jason Gardner plans to drop CEO duties for a new role at the payment technology firm, which is expanding its focus to larger financial institutions as some existing clients slump.

In another sign that the pandemic-fueled migration to digital transactions is here to stay, Capital One is dropping a mobile-payment incentive for REI credit card customers as it takes over issuance of the Mastercard from U.S. Bank.

"Super apps," embedded commerce and buy now/pay later loans are hoovering up consumer data with little clarity over the consequences for users, according to a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau report.

An outage with the issuer's bill payment site unleashed a torrent of complaints on social media and to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — even after the company said it had resolved the issue.

The payment company's strategy includes cost cutting, new products such as a Venmo account for teens, and welcoming input from Elliott Management, an activist investor that took a $2 billion stake in the firm.

As competition tightens in the buy now/pay later arena, fintechs including Klarna, Afterpay and Zilch are upgrading perks to keep consumers from straying to their rivals.

Visa and Mastercard credit card-issuing banks with more than $100 billion in assets would be required to give merchants a lower-cost choice for processing each transaction under a new bill proposed to spur competition.

American Banker's second annual Most Influential Women in Payments, Next recognizes women under 40 who have demonstrated a strong talent for leadership and an expertise in their respective fields.

Longtime credit card interchange critic Sen. Dick Durbin reportedly plans to introduce a bill this week challenging the control Visa and Mastercard have over credit card swipe fees by expanding competition among merchant card-processing networks.

Personal spending on travel and entertainment has bounced back to pre-pandemic levels and corporate travel is slowly recovering. Younger consumers are also providing a boost.

The card network's shares fell 10% on Thursday from news that it's conducting an independent investigation of its student loan operation, signaling potentially costly regulatory actions ahead.

American Express, Capital One and JPMorgan Chase hope to entice affluent travelers by enhancing access to airport lounges, many of which have reached capacity after travel rebounded.

Issuers that offer cash rewards can benefit from consumer anxiety over rising prices for gas and groceries, but have to find ways to make sure their own costs don't rise in tandem.

Some banks in Europe, Latin America and Asia are issuing contactless cards that use fingerprints instead of PINs to authenticate users, but observers think the technology's U.S. prospects are limited.

The startup FuturePay is working with Cross River Bank to offer an instant line of revolving credit in a manner similar to how BNPL lenders operate.

With alternative payment methods one app or click away, a short service disruption can lead to a permanent loss of trust.

Inflation isn't only driving up travel costs — a key category for credit card spending — it's making shoppers more selective about how they earn and redeem loyalty points for products hit hardest by price increases.

Contactless payments went mainstream during the pandemic, but now some merchants are giving incentives for cash payments at the point of sale to offset higher fees owed to card networks due to inflation.

The rising use of peer-to-peer transfers continues to attract scammers due to the transactions' speed and finality. If the banking industry can't solve the problem, regulators or judges are likely to step in.