Kate Fitzgerald

Facing Wall Street analysts for the first time after the murder of George Floyd, CEOs of major payment companies joined other financial services firms in promising to improve fairness and opportunities for Black people and other underrepresented groups.

Paystand's Zero Card leverages its proprietary blockchain-based bank-to-bank payments network in combination with a virtual Mastercard.

The coronavirus outbreak initially looked like it might torpedo U.K.-based Paysafe’s plan to expand in the U.S. in 2020. But several months into the pandemic, the payments conglomerate sees ways it can grow by helping bruised small businesses retool operations.

Womply is joining the growing niche of providers offering card-based bill-payment services for cash-strapped small-business owners.

Most consumers globally have changed the way they pay to avoid coronavirus risk, and almost half say they’re using cash less often since the pandemic began, according to a study from Visa.

With its acquisition of Montreal-based Mobeewave, Apple has placed a long-term bet on where it sees the payments industry headed.

The pandemic’s physical distancing requirements appear to have accelerated transaction volume and overall use of Zelle, the P2P app operated by the bank-owned Early Warning Services LLC.

TD Bank has hired Jyotsana “Jo” Jagadish to head commercial operating products and payment innovation, where she will oversee TD’s expanding fintech partnerships.

Vending machines for years have been gradually shifting to contactless payments, but coronavirus has sparked changes in the machines’ core technology to enable hygienic use with social distancing.

TransUnion is expanding the geographic reach of its instant Document Verification service in response to the pandemic, with more users requiring ID confirmation from remote locations as fraud risks hit new highs.

Eric Grover, principal at Intrepid Ventures, talks to PaymentsSource senior editor Kate Fitzgerald about how the high-flying German fintech fell to scandal — and whether it could happen again.

Mastercard is stepping up its involvement with cryptocurrencies by inviting digital payment operators to launch crypto cards through its platform, beginning with U.K.-based Wirex.

Merchants finally have a range of alternatives to accepting payment cards in Europe, thanks to open banking initiatives. But switching to instant payments is no easy decision, even if it's cheaper on paper.

One of the many fraud risks coronavirus triggered is criminals leveraging stolen personal data to open bogus accounts, along with siphoning off credit card rewards, loyalty points and miles from consumers idled during pandemic-related lockdowns.

Fraudsters hit U.S. banks and merchants hardest with bogus credit card applications in April, while most consumers were in full pandemic lockdown, according to new data from Socure.

In the tech-centric payments industry, the number of women in C-suite roles is rising after decades of incremental progress, but the path to leadership for Black people in the payments industry remains steep and lonely.

American Express Global Business Travel has developed a new service enabling small businesses to manage travel, office purchases and cash flow on a single platform.

Tokyo-based payment card network JCB International is positioning itself for post-pandemic tourism growth by signing a deal with 3C Payments to expand payment acceptance in Europe, beginning in Spain.

Payments technology company WEX has received a $400 million investment to offset negative effects from coronavirus, and will back out of a $1.7 billion pair of deals announced six months ago.

Amex is offering cash rewards on a global scale for customers who shop at small businesses that are trying to recover from coronavirus lockdowns. The card brand also pledged $10 million to support Black-owned small businesses over the next four years.