Kate Fitzgerald is an Arizona-based senior editor for American Banker and longtime payments reporter. Fitzgerald began her journalism career at the San Diego Tribune, and has worked as a reporter and editor at several other publications, including Advertising Age and the Arizona Republic. She is a graduate of Lewis & Clark College and holds a master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
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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.
April 20 -
The companies, which partnered to create a new digital shopping experience, say it made sense to focus on mom and pop stores that had to pivot to e-commerce during the pandemic. These businesses will be the first to get collaborative cloud-based tools including maps, marketing and payments.
April 19 -
As rising inflation and supply-chain shortages create new urgency for businesses to settle transactions quickly, more community banks and credit unions are recognizing the need for instant payments, according to The Clearing House.
April 14 -
Bread Financial — formerly Alliance Data — offers its first general-purpose Amex credit card to expand consumer finance options following a couple of tumultuous years.
April 13 -
People with a wealth of crypto holdings are loath to trigger a taxable event by cashing out. But they still represent a sizable market for the payments industry, according to the bank and fintech. "Demand for transacting in crypto is building, and we're preparing," said GreenBox CEO Fredi Nisan.
April 11 -
The banks that own the peer-to-peer payment network are reportedly considering a retail launch that could fend off rival payment methods — or simply cannibalize the sizable revenue issuers get from credit and debit cards.
April 7 -
To increase its share of global card spending through gig-economy fintechs and startups, Amex is extending its rewards through a partnership with digital issuing vendor i2c.
April 7 -
The newest version of the Mastercard gives users the most cash back for checking out with their PayPal accounts instead of for spending in specific categories.
April 5 -
The company provides incentives through the online statements of many large card issuers — but it faces more competition than ever from fintechs and "super apps." To stay in the game, Cardlytics is scooping up more data to sharpen its pitches.
April 4 -
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau heard from proponents and critics of buy now/pay later lending amid its probe of five of the most prominent companies in the space.
March 30 -
ChargeAfter doesn't offer installment loans. Instead, it's tapping into the BNPL craze by bringing together the banks and merchants that are active in the market.
March 25 -
The change in branding reflects a shift in priorities for the retail credit card issuer, which saw several clients face bankruptcy during the pandemic.
March 23 -
As Mastercard Installments nears launch, the card network is lining up tech partners to connect issuers to its buy now/pay later ecosystem.
March 21 -
The pandemic brought a flood of digital transactions to Visa's network. Fraudsters tried to take advantage, but "It’s my team’s job to be a step ahead of the bad guys," said Kelly, the card network's global head of risk strategy.
March 17 -
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra should exercise his power to extend the full protections of Regulation E and the Fair Credit Billing Act to the booming installment loan sector, the advocacy group U.S. PIRG says.
March 15 -
This year's Most Influential Women in Payments honorees span the globe, demonstrating the universal importance of personal connections and career mobility, as well as the ways technology can connect a hybrid workforce and propel commerce.
March 15 -
Martincevic, one of American Banker's Most Influential Women in Payments for 2022, immigrated to the U.S. alone at age 17 without knowing how to speak English. She became the first person in her family to obtain a college degree.
March 15 -
Early Warning Services, which operates the Zelle peer-to-peer payments network, is working to educate consumers about common scams, but it faces criticism over how its banks respond to victims.
March 9 -
Visa and Mastercard are set to cut interchange rates for some transactions, but merchants argue that they will still pay more overall and want Congress to put a stop to the card networks' plan.
March 8 -
The Merchants Payments Coalition is appealing to lawmakers to reform credit card interchange rates as Visa and Mastercard prepare to increase some fees next month after a yearlong delay.
March 2
