Fintech

MoneyGram International is expanding its use of Visa Direct across Europe, allowing its customers to use the company website or mobile app to send money in near-real time to Visa debit card holders in various parts of 25 countries in Europe.

COVID-19’s impact on travel has been dramatic, and it has forced both consumers and travel executives to re-imagine what travel will look like going forward.

Many financial institutions have made initial moves into real-time payments via P2P services, and the use cases will jump over time, says Fiserv's Matt Wilcox.

The Connecticut company said it will take several years to shut down the locations, which are located in Stop & Shop stores. About 80% of the branches are within five miles of traditional locations.

Consumers have largely kept up with their payments during the pandemic, but Discover chief Roger Hochschild says he expects defaults to rise as structural changes in the economy lead to more layoffs of white-collar workers.

Digital financial services platform Wari is working with Lycaremit to add low-cost fund transfers across Europe, Africa and the Middle East to its network.

Southern Bancorp, which recently raised $35 million in capital, agreed to acquire DeWitt First Bankshares, the parent of Arkansas County Bank.

The Bank of France will shut down more than a third of its cash handling centers by the end of 2022 as the Covid-19 pandemic accelerates a decline in the use of notes and coins.

The company, poised to complete its purchase of Radius Bank, will enjoy new cross-selling opportunities, gain additional sources of fee income and capital as well as benefit from greater regulatory clarity, CEO Scott Sanborn says.

European digital investment platform Bitpanda is launching its first plastic product, a Visa debit card that combines currency, cryptocurrency and precious metal assets into one card.