Today’s global citizens face risks that extend far beyond crumbling highways. Although reliable physical infrastructure is necessary for economic growth, immature and anemic payment infrastructures may present another serious threat to the global economy, writes Tomas Likar, head of business development and strategy at Hyperwallet.

The Earnin app appears designed to look like other early wage access programs, but critics say it’s actually a payday lender and New York regulators have taken notice.

Amazon’s incursion into brick and mortar has been aggressive, but not without its share of course corrections. The latest is a new round of price cuts at Whole Foods amid whispers of slow Prime traffic at the high-end grocer.

Firm “hopes to crowdsource new uses for” its pricing and analysis system; the system could be put on a device and used anywhere to cut down on fraud.

Western Union has found a way to expand its U.S. footprint without building new storefronts through a strategic relationship it’s established with deep-discounter Dollar General.

Walmart customers will soon be able to shop for groceries online using Google hardware, giving the retailer an established market for voice ordering — that is still a distant second to Amazon's Alexa user base.

Wells Fargo & Co. has committed to converting all of its payment cards to contactless technology, beginning with credit cards and adding contactless debit cards this summer.

Randal Quarles, a senior Fed official and chair of the Financial Stability Board, sparked debate with a speech about the risks and rewards of companies like Amazon, Facebook and Apple entering the financial system.

Business payments software provider Bill.com will offer Mastercard virtual cards as part of its automated accounts payable platform for small and midsize businesses.

Jumia Technologies AG said Mastercard Inc. has agreed to invest 50 million euros ($56 million) in a private placement ahead of the Africa-focused online retailer’s planned initial public offering in New York.

The EMVCo standards organization has accredited FIME's transaction security testing labs for the upgraded EMV contactless interface software.

While many Americans and Europeans are comfortable using biometric authentication to access their smartphones and bank accounts, the real leader in biometric adoption for payments is actually the government of India.

Mastercard has spent years attempting to overhaul transit payments to allow riders to pay with a contactless credit or debit card. This time around, it expects Apple Pay to play a significant role.

The Clearing House announced moves to attract community banks and credit unions to its real-time payments system. Smaller depositories have generally been reluctant to sign up with what is seen as a large-bank effort.

Mobile technology provider Mahindra Comviva developed a software integration for issuing banks and third-party digital wallet providers to add contactless payment capabilities to their mobile products in India.

The U.K. government is consulting with train operators on smart pay-as-you-go ticketing. The goal is to enable consumers to travel across the U.K.’s entire railway network by tapping in and out with contactless cards or smartphones instead of paper tickets.

Once Apple looked at the state of its existing ecosystem, it identified a space it could uniquely deliver on, and activated the partners needed to make it come to fruition — a perfect example of the concept of ecosystem enablement, argues Frank Kenney, director of market strategy for Cleo.

The firm wants to expand its acceptance in the United States only to accommodate Chinese tourists, a company official said Thursday. But the CEO of a U.S.-based payments firm expressed skepticism.

Seeking a way to help its employed shoppers manage their money, the Instacart grocery payments and delivery service is partnering with e-commerce payments provider Stripe to offer an Instant Cashout option.

As more national banks leave smaller communities and focus on large customers, fintechs are creating an "Uber effect" with an easier experience. Small businesses are increasingly looking to borrow money and fund their growth initiatives, and need a partner who can deliver, argues William Phelan, president of PayNet.