Technology

The companies could bring something new, such as merchant acquiring to community banks, but their merger could also cause anxiety about giant vendors.

Bank technology giants FIS and Fiserv are spending nearly $66 billion between them in just the past few weeks to add a broad swath of payments technology — including a few key nuggets that will help them go toe to toe with fintechs.

JPMorgan Chase said it wants to improve training for technology-related jobs and help community college programs. The five-year initiative is one of several the company has announced in recent years in the name of community development.

The tech company has taken World Wire, its blockchain-based cross-border payments network, live in 72 countries.

Given the size of the deal — which includes about $9 billion of Worldpay’s debt on top of a $34 billion bid — the pressure’s on to build a global powerhouse that can counter other major fintech mergers announced in the past weeks. FIS must also emerge as a nimble rival to the startups that threaten the old order.

An initiative by Visa and Lloyds doesn't go far enough and is counterintuitive to the card network's move to reduce cash, argues Mark Horwedel, a strategic consultant to CMSPI.

The financial services technology company FIS has agreed to buy Worldpay. The deal is valued at $43 billion and will allow FIS to counter the transaction processing scale Fiserv received when it acquired First Data this year. The merger price is based on a $34 billion bid plus $9 billion of Worldpay's debt.

A movement to eliminate cash for routine transactions has been building for years, with sports stadiums often seen as an ideal setting to test whether consumers are willing to ditch cash for a full day out.

An overwhelming amount of transactions can cause noncompliant payments to fall through cracks. New technology such as AI can be helpful, says Josephine McCann, a senior marketing associate at AppZen.

BB&T-SunTrust deal came together with remarkable speed; Citi and Chase take on fintechs at their own game; CECL spells trouble for small banks, consumers; and more from this week’s most-read stories.