Loyalty and rewards

The challenge is to digitize digital currency rewards in such a way where a retailer could issue its own token, and that token could be used at a multitude of retailers, says cryptocurrency lawyer Felix Shipkevich.

While American Express initially lost customers after JPMorgan Chase introduced the popular Sapphire Reserve premium card in 2016, the firm said it's seen a 60% increase in growth in Platinum accounts.

PayPal is adding rewards to its Venmo credit card in a way that seems to echo Apple's strategy with Apple Card.

Uber launched a series of financial services to provide real-time wage payments and enhanced account features in a single app, seemingly putting Uber in the role of a digital bank.

American Express has updated its classic Green card with a new set of travel and dining perks and a significantly higher annual fee.

Visa is retooling its small-business credit cards by expanding credit card lines, adding travel insurance and product-warranty extensions and making it easier for business owners to integrate card accounts with accounting software.

Mastercard plans to acquire loyalty and marketing company SessionM to help its merchant clients build their brands and grow their businesses.

The retailer and credit card giant are rolling out two new card offerings. The move could hit especially close to home for CUs with branches inside Walmart locations.

New technology allows AmEx to see a startup’s bank balance to let fledgling firms qualify for cards, said Anna Marrs, president of global commercial services.

American Express is adding a new dimension to its year-old partnership with PayPal by giving credit card customers more options for splitting a restaurant check and paying with loyalty points.

Tennessee-based Tractor Supply Co. originally sold farming tools by mail, but digital technology has put the expanding 81-year-old company at the forefront of loyalty marketing.

Annual fees for Platinum cards for consumers and small businesses will increase to $250 from $195, while Reserve cards go up by $100 to $550. Gold cards will rise slightly from $95 to $99.

When the payments industry's decision makers gathered in Los Angeles at SourceMedia's annual PayThink conference, certain topics dominated the discussion.

The launch of the products comes more than a year after Capital One wrested the Walmart partnership from Synchrony Financial.

In a sign of how much Walmart Inc. is betting on e-commerce, the retailer’s revamped credit-card program with Capital One Financial Corp. offers better rewards for online shopping and checking out with its mobile app.

Retailers have raised the bar in how they attract customers through rewards and loyalty programs, but not all are well-versed in how their technology also lures fraudsters.

Apple keeps sweetening the deal for prospective Apple Card users, with Walgreens the latest to offer cash-back rewards.

Its newest offering is called Delivery Unlimited, which at $98 a year undercuts Amazon Prime's $119 fee.

Mobile order, delivery and payment apps are proliferating at restaurants, but they're also becoming less distinguishable, posing an entirely new challenge as deep discounts become the weapon of choice.

It took a few years for mobile wallets to get past the aura of just a "cool technology" looking for a problem to solve, but Google Pay and its peers are clearly finding their niche as a way to embed payments with customer engagement tools.