How payments companies are driving their businesses forward

Payment-processing giant Mastercard is looking to take on a new role as an intermediary between banks and third parties in the expanding world of open banking. Recently announced partnerships with JPMorgan Chase and BNPL lender Zip among others signal the company's intent.

"Our position in the U.S. open-banking industry allows us to work with our customers and partners to enhance secure data-sharing methods as APIs become more available," said Jess Turner, EVP of open banking at Mastercard.

While potential new CFPB rules on open banking will extend protections for consumers over their data, the firm is unperturbed. "Consumers and businesses own their data; they should control it and benefit from its use," said Turner.       

Read more: Mastercard adds open-banking partners as it preps for CFPB rules

American Express' nearly three-decade relationship with Delta Air Lines hit a patch of rough air recently after Delta's changes to its rewards program generated several complaints from their frequent flyers, but nothing that Amex chairman and CEO Steve Squeri is too worried about.

"As Delta makes changes, we are in lockstep with them all the way," said Squeri during the company's earnings call in October, referring to the shift in Delta's SkyMiles program to providing rewards based on the amount of money spent rather than the number of miles flown.

Despite the change, Amex's business with Delta is flying high. "As far as spending goes there has been zero impact," said Squeri. "Delta card spending is up 20% year over year." 

Read more: American Express CEO brushes off Delta's controversial rewards shift

PayPal has moved firmly into the cryptocurrency payments market with the launch of its PYUSD stablecoin, joining crypto-native companies, such as BitPay with USDC and Tether with USDT.

Early usage has been less than enthusiastic, but with more than 400 million consumer accounts and 33 million merchant accounts, PayPal has scale on its side. 

"We're not surprised by PayPal's slow start with PYUSD," said Bill Zielke, CMO at BitPay. "It takes some time for a new coin to get traction. USDC started slow and it's now 15% of our payment volume."

Read more: PayPal's stablecoin: Who are the early adopters?