Merchant

Business owners are changing banks at three times normal levels, a trend researchers attribute to their difficulty in obtaining emergency loans. If the forgiveness stage of the Paycheck Protection Program proves arduous, that rate could climb much higher.

The agencies said late Friday that they will provide information on small businesses that received $150,000 or more from the Paycheck Protection Program.

Activity in the Paycheck Protection Program has waned, but some argue that many small businesses, especially those owned by minorities, will miss out if the June 30 application deadline isn't extended.

Worried about a lack of demand and that some of their customers are ineligible, community banks are still on the fence about participating in the effort to back loans for businesses recovering from the pandemic crisis.

A blueprint that includes more CRA and tax credits for lower-income African Americans would help a demographic disproportionately harmed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Loan forbearances are wreaking havoc with firms that normally clean up during recessions; the Fed’s latest rescue plan is off to a rocky start as few banks show interest in making the loans.

Splitit has boosted its merchant access in the crowded install payment market through a series of deals with large payment companies, the latest being a five-year agreement with Mastercard.

Merchants prevailed in a long-running legal battle with Visa and Mastercard in the U.K. over whether interchange fees the payment card networks charged for years in Britain were anticompetitive, which could increase scrutiny on U.S. card interchange rates.

Even though a portion of retailers could rely on e-commerce to keep active during coronavirus shutdowns, reopening brick-and-mortar shops may be even harder amid new safety concerns.

The coronavirus’ economic fallout has drawn more attention to buy-now-pay-later options, leading to fresh creativity in business models and marketing.