The race to provide coronavirus relief for small businesses is opening new routes to fund payments, including underused credit lines.

As merchants are challenged to adapt their business just to survive, and consumers push for greater control over where and how they spend, the payments industry is in a position to align the various needs, says Splitit's Brad Paterson.

The agency sought industry feedback on a host of potential changes to ensure that rules are “sufficiently flexible and clear in light of the technological advances that have transformed the financial industry over the past two decades."

Bankers have become more uncertain about how to serve marijuana businesses owing to confusion about which states deem them essential.

Innovating is tough even in ordinary times, but during the coronavirus pandemic many payments startups had to dig into deeper reserves of creativity and resilience to meet expectations.

The challenges may seem daunting, financial institutions and fintechs must focus on identifying meaningful opportunities based on the financial priorities of consumers and businesses to help them weather these difficult times.

Recent steps that would help nonbank lenders enter the traditional banking system, like a proposal clarifying the industrial loan company charter, are needed but face strong opposition.

Many of the payment innovations of the past decade got an early start in Canada, building a base of users and habits the nation hopes will make the pivot to post-coronavirus commerce easier than other markets.

The new product, which comes as an earlier partnership with the online lender Kabbage is sputtering, figures to appeal to companies with tight cash flows.

New technologies can provide recommendations and proactively engage with customers and members to help them pay their bills or pay friends and proactively manage their financial well-being, says Payrailz's Mickey Goldwasser.

With no way of knowing just how many borrowers will need the mods after the coronavirus forbearance period ends, lenders are deploying artificial intelligence and servicing protocols to tame the ferocious piles of paperwork awaiting them.

While open banking is a fascinating movement poised to benefit consumers and spark significant innovation in financial services, the world must weigh convenience vs. risk and approach the inherent privacy and security concerns with caution, says Imperva's Terry Ray.

By targeting the API rather than scripting a form fill, bad actors are leveraging the same efficiency and flexibility that APIs provide developers, says Cequence Security's Matt Keil.

U.K. fintechs are using their technology to assist British businesses and consumers during the coronavirus pandemic by helping banks disburse emergency business loans, enabling e-commerce merchants to offer installment payments to consumers, and giving employees access to salary advances.

Relationships with third party suppliers and regulators have never been more important, says says Genpact's Manish Chopra.

Bankers have become more uncertain about how to serve marijuana businesses owing to confusion about which states deem them essential.

New authentication methods make it harder to fake biometrics, Eric Setterberg of Fingerprints argues.

The Financial Conduct Authority is pushing for a review of fintechs that provide payment technology, out of concern that the coronavirus may be harming their financial performance.

Ignoring those that came before you, understanding the importance of scope and capacity, and rushing to be the next big thing can help payment startups in good and bad economies, says Leaseweb's Global's Stephane Ngali.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are some examples of technology available now to help combat money launderers profiting from the pandemic.