Network rules

Major payment companies have long looked on at cryptocurrencies as too risky to touch, but too tempting to ignore. Mastercard's latest move indicates that the card brands are ready to make a firm pitch for crypto spending.

The major card networks have heavily invested in broader services as transaction processing loses its luster, a strategy that’s provided a ray of hope as retail and travel industries remain sidelined.

The agency's voice carries even more weight in light of the coronavirus pandemic, which has hastened the transition to digital and remote payments.

EMVCo has developed guidelines that allow the travel industry to provide more data to issuers authorizing ticketing transactions as a way to reduce fraud in air travel, hotel and car rental purchases.

The coronavirus pandemic has generated more interest in pay-at-the-pump apps, a growing segment of the payments industry that may not have grown fast enough to be ready for the sudden surge of interest in contactless payments.

The role of EMVCo — which is often seen as an extension of the card brands that deals only with chip-based EMV plastic cards— has come into sharper focus.

At a time when many have shifted to digital payments to weather the coronavirus pandemic, the four main U.S. credit card brands are aggressively expanding their own take on digital commerce.

More than a dozen large European banks plan to launch a payment system that would rival U.S. payment companies and technology firms, an idea that hasn’t worked in the past but may have a better chance given the current global health, economic and political crises.

The economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic could lead to the ongoing expansion of workers’ access to early, or earned wages (EWA) through advances and instant payouts, including to new types of users.

The coronavirus pandemic has changed the way many industries conduct business — and that's especially true of the legal cannabis industry, which was already struggling in the U.S. to find the best way to handle noncash payments.