Merchant

Wages, marketing spending and technology investments are all on the rise. While higher interest rates should eventually help tame inflation, it's not clear how quickly banks will be able to limit their spending increases.

The move could impact payments providers that rely on Apple’s iPhones to facilitate sales, such as Block’s Square, which dominates the market.

JPMorgan Chase's recent purchase of a stake in the Greek fintech will allow the U.S. company to offer new services like merchant credit in Europe, where it is No. 5 among merchant acquirers.

Acquiring the earned-wage-access firm and challenger bank would further efforts by the retailer and its partners to develop a "super app" featuring mobile financial tools.

The buy now/pay later craze already has retailers demanding lower fees, according to Klarna.

The Pennsylvania bank is working with the data provider Enigma and Capital One on a platform they are hoping other banks will use. The technology handles all aspects of the loans and provides data and analytics on borrowers.

Though the retailer's threat to drop Visa in the U.K. appears to have subsided, companies like Clik2pay, Affirm and Curve have seized on an opportunity to advance account-to-account transactions, buy now/pay later and cryptocurrency.

The deal is the latest example of a mainstream bank buying a point-of-sale lender focused on financing home improvement projects.

The company sold small businesses a credit-building product that fell short of its promises, and also failed to help them fix inaccuracies in their credit reports, according to the Federal Trade Commission. D&B has agreed to give refunds to many customers.

Though the dining sector has been hit hard by COVID-19, restaurateurs have pivoted to drive-thru and curbside options, and rising grocery prices are making eating out comparatively less pricey.