New Vision 3, a Bulgarian venture capital firm backed in part by European Union grants to encourage SMB innovation, has announced it's dividing a $2.7 million investment among three Bulgarian fintech firms.

Founder Brett King will now focus on the enterprise software side of the business, which provides mobile banking software to traditional banks.

The U.S. government will shortly funnel trillions of dollars into the economy to soften the coronavirus’ impact on a variety of industries and small businesses. Payment companies that are also lenders will soon find out if it’s enough to save the market.

Online lenders can help the agency distribute loans faster as it gets set to deploy emergency funding to small businesses.

Digital payment firms and fintechs are nimble and responsive, but that also creates web supply chain attack risk, says Jscrambler's Rui Ribeiro.

No online lenders are approved for the agency's traditional programs, but they could make loans under the COVID-19 stimulus package if they get special approval.

Payments technology is a relative bright spot as coronavirus’ economic fears hit venture capital, since an emergency can be a catalyst for early-stage innovation designed to ease digital commerce.

Many borrowers will suffer unless the program, the central bank's latest response to the coronavirus pandemic, includes consumer loans issued by fintechs.

Fintech companies only think they want to be banks. Banking may seem like a natural evolution, but that doesn’t mean fintech firms should become banks, says nbkc bank's Zach Anderson Pettet.

By embracing technology such as magnetic stripe when it seemed modern, the U.S. has been slower to catch up with much newer digital innovation, argues MSTS' Brandon Spear.