Persistent coronavirus fears have accelerated consumer interest in checkout-free retail options like Amazon Go, just as new technologies like 5G make such concepts more practical to implement.

The card brand's recent deals to buy Tink and Currencycloud for a combined $3 billion are meant to give it a stronger presence in fast-growing fintech markets.

These nine fintechs have made their market debuts or signaled plans to do so in the past few weeks, continuing a robust year for both IPOs and e-commerce.

For years mobile wallets have been a solution in search of a problem — until now.

While pandemic restrictions cloud the sector's outlook, the London-based payment and fintech company is making hotel booking and other services part of its financial super app strategy.

The card brand's spots will focus less on credit cards and more on real-time payroll, cryptocurrency and mobile commerce.

The technology holds great promise for financial services, but it could be just as powerful for scammers looking to break payment card encryption. Visa, Mastercard and others are already building new defenses.

Apple Inc. is working on a new service that will let consumers pay for any Apple Pay purchase in installments over time, rivaling the buy now/pay later offerings popularized by services from Affirm Holdings Inc. and PayPal Holdings Inc.

The card network and telco are designing systems that use 5G to support more payment processes hosted in the cloud rather than on local hardware. The goal is to make services such as autonomous checkout available to small businesses.

The payments technology provider is adding a handprint biometric digital ID to its authentication system through a partnership with the French fintech A3BC.