Economic news

Bradley Riss is chief commercial officer at Checkout.com, a firm that acts as a payment gateway, acquirer and processor through a single channel, covering cards, passthrough wallets, stored value wallets and alternative payment options such as point of sale credit. It charges a fee based on processing and card payment costs rather than the percentage+ model that most payment API companies charge. The model is designed to make the service customized to different merchants and serve as a base to offer other merchant products.

The heads of the Federal Reserve and Treasury are urging passage of legislation that would replace Libor with the Secured Overnight Financing Rate in certain contracts. That would spare banks litigation over trillions of dollars of contracts when Libor expires in 2023.

China’s central bank said its planned digital currency will coexist with technology platforms like Ant Group’s Alipay, Tencent and WeChat Pay, which currently dominate the online payments market.

The pandemic changed consumer priorities quickly--and payment companies need to keep up since the trend is likely permanent, says Signifyd's Indy Guha.

Democratic leaders are encouraging the Federal Reserve to develop its own digital currency to expand financial services access. Chair Jerome Powell indicated the central bank plans to take a methodical approach.

The Secured Overnight Financing Rate stemmed from years of discussion between regulators and a broad group of industry stakeholders about a safer alternative to Libor. Critics who say big-bank control of the new benchmark exacerbates risk are wrong.

Potential central bank digital currencies would need to be integrated into existing payment systems alongside cash and other forms of money, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said.

Providing incentives for banks to transition legacy loan contracts from the London interbank offered rate to the new Secured Overnight Financing Rate, as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed budget does, is a gift to megabanks and limits pricing options for smaller lenders.

Rakuten Inc. plans to raise 242 billion yen ($2.2 billion) by selling shares to investors including Tencent Holdings Ltd., Walmart Inc. and Japan Post Holdings Co., bankrolling expansions into AI, finance and mobile.

With so many personally and financially impacted by COVID-19, consumers have made it clear that the way customers pay for goods or services can no longer follow a one-size-fits-all approach, says eBay's Alyssa Cutright.

As the Federal Reserve continues to explore issuing a digital U.S. dollar, the Biden administration and key congressional leaders are endorsing the idea as a way to expand banking access for underserved consumers.

As government debt swells, the outer limits of what the U.S. can safely borrow are becoming less and less clear.

Jumia Technologies is expanding in online food delivery as the pioneering Africa e-commerce business looks to grow beyond its main market of trading phones and electronics.

The U.K. should overhaul its stock listing rules and visa requirements to help the country’s fast-growing fintech industry compete after Brexit, a government-backed review has found.

More people are joining the gig economy, and a major driver of this trend — particularly for those working multiple gigs — is a need for faster access to cash to meet expenses.

Financial services firms, from traditional banks to fintech payment processors to data companies, need to beef up their compliance teams, raise standards and improve education to ensure teams are ready to tackle the latest types of financial fraud, says ACAMS' Rick McDonell.

The shift from cash has boosted digital and called attention to the importance of standards, says EMVCo's Brian Byrne.

Governments are digitizing money, creating a need for banks to provide rails to connect consumers and central banks.

Best Buy is expanding its test of a new store format that reduces the space for customers to browse by nearly half to focus more on getting digital orders out the door, according to people familiar with the move.

Making gig workers’ pay automatically available at no cost each day or after each completed shift would benefit everyone, while providing a win-win scenario for the worker and platform alike, says Payfare's Marco Margiotta.