PayThink

Free financial education programs and easier access to safe small-dollar loans are among the ways banks could help put low-income minority households on a path to prosperity.

Merchants are making a miscalculation on data management, says FreedomPay's Chris Kronenthal.

Regulators are right to encourage environmentally responsible lending, but with the transition to a low-carbon economy likely to take decades, they can’t allow banks to cut off lending to polluting firms cold turkey — especially to those making good-faith efforts to lower emissions.

COVID-19 has taken a great deal away from us in the past 12 months, but from a digital payments perspective, it has also opened the doors for new innovation and activity, says Cognizant Softvision's Karla Ch'ien.

People are reluctant to use physical point of sale terminals, putting biometrics in the middle of the contactless payment wave, says Fingerprints' Christian Fredrikson.

The ability to manage both domestic and international invoices through the same AP automation and workflow creates enormous operational advantages for finance teams and the line of business, says MineralTree's Nicolette Medina.

Major projects like Diem are moving crypto beyond its fan base, according to Icon Solutions' Simon Wilson.

Over the past 10 months the payment industry has seen several products and services of bygone eras that have been reconstituted, repackaged and positioned to help customers and small businesses to manage their finances and cash flow, says Avenue B Consulting's Maria Arminio.

A voluntary effort to include more members of underrepresented groups in the C-suite and on corporate boards would help banks avoid government mandates.

Moves to protect competition will help fintechs and push innovation, says AppBrilliance's C. Eric Smith.