Square

Square has been adding myriad services as it seeks to become a full-service merchant gateway.

The Independent Community Bankers of America is formally opposing a bank charter application by payments processor Square, accusing it of trying to “avoid” certain “legal prohibitions and restrictions.”

With Apple’s WWDC, Zelle, PayPal’s Venmo and Square Cash, competition in the consumer payments space is about to kick into high gear, writes Josh Hawkins, vice president of marketing for the Boston-based digital payments company Circle.

Meetings between bank regulators and technology giants like Amazon and PayPal underscore Silicon Valley's growing involvement in the financial services arena, and may presage pursuit of a bank charter.

Arthur Levitt says seemingly daily scandals highlight the lack of oversight and corporate governance shortcomings of financial technology firms, but two marketplace lending executives responded that more mature companies have just as many problems.

Square Inc. struck an agreement to process payments for ticketing service Eventbrite and made a strategic investment in the startup, part of the digital-payments company’s push into online commerce, an area dominated by larger players like PayPal Holdings Inc.

Readers chime in on debates about ILCs, the CFPB’s arbitration rule, the financial services ambitions of tech firms and more.

The payments processor Square has big plans in banking — but even after filing an application to charter an industrial loan company, it still doesn’t see itself as a competitor to most financial institutions.

The Independent Community Bankers of America had initially called for a moratorium in response to SoFi's application, and says now that Square's bid "has significantly increased our concerns."

Few lawmakers have stated positions on fintech applications for industrial loan company charters. It may not stay that way.