Cards

Kikelomo Lawal, chief legal officer and corporate secretary for Interac Corp., has helped to drive a seismic shift in how Interac works, which means an evolution of how payments happen for Canadians.

One thing that excites Kim Bynan most about her job is seeing firsthand how new payments technology changes our everyday lives.

Even as Uber drivers and other gig-economy workers gained the ability to be paid every couple of hours through debit push payments, other workers still had to wait for a batched paycheck.

Through its acquisition of digital payments and fundraising provider Benefit Mobile, the National Gift Card company is positioning itself to help charitable organizations grow and to strengthen the mobile offerings of retail merchants.

P2P transfer apps aren't just for splitting the rent — they can also be portals to a wider array of financial services, as Canada’s national Interac debit network plans to prove.

Banks and Apple Pay have not always had easy partnerships, but a hot market for co-branded cards gives Goldman Sachs a chance to advance its consumer ambitions and Apple an opportunity to offset slumps in device sales.

The results suggest that consumers who buy Green Dot cards are using them with greater frequency or for longer periods of time than they have in the past.

In the tug-of-war over merchants refusing either cash or cards embroiling local governments in New Jersey, New York City and Philadelphia, the Iowa State Fair is taking the middle ground. Beginning next year, all fair vendors will be required to accept cash, cards and contactless payments through First Data’s Clover devices.

While consumer spending on Valentine’s Day doesn’t approach that of the larger holidays, certain retailers — such as jewelers and florists — benefit more than others, while restaurants, bars and other dining establishments tend to see significantly more traffic for those couples who want an evening out. Increasingly, it’s also a special day for pets.

While many public policy initiatives focus on the 1.7 billion “unbanked,” we rarely hear about the nearly 1 billion people who do have a bank account and a smartphone but have no credit card nor cross-border-enabled debit, writes Eric Rosenthal, managing director of the Americas at Rapyd.