Online payments

The company's results put firm numbers on one of the most discussed business trends of the pandemic economy — the acceleration of digital payments.

Citing the benefit of making purchases from home during the coronavirus pandemic, China's UnionPay International is partnering with digital platform Glovo to enable its cardholders in Europe to participate in on-demand shopping.

The coronavirus outbreak has caused economic activity to crater, and Visa says its focus on services, partnerships and e-commerce has provided stability and a route to growth.

E-commerce payments provider dLocal has added a merchant dashboard to provide a simpler display of transactional data and multi-currency management for cross-border payments.

The global card issuer will provide its tokenization technology for JPMorgan Chase's virtual card program in early 2021.

Installment payments are gaining mainstream appeal as an alternative to traditional credit products, prompting Affirm to boost its visibility in an increasingly crowded market.

Universities are facing the same uncertainties as any other business during the coronavirus pandemic. This is especially true for universities that cater to international students.

The COVID-19-induced shock to the world’s largest economy has created a rush of interest in the subscription industry, as millions of captive consumers with almost nowhere to go and plenty of time — and for those employed, plenty of unspent money — on their hands.

Merchants finally have a range of alternatives to accepting payment cards in Europe, thanks to open banking initiatives. But switching to instant payments is no easy decision, even if it's cheaper on paper.

Businesses affected by the pandemic are accepting online and touchless in-person payments from consumers with the help of technologies developed originally for B2B invoicing and payments.

Traditionally, consumers take summer vacations to recharge from the hustle and bustle of daily life, as well as to reconnect with families and friends, before moving on to the next phase of their lives such as the restart of schools or going back to work – but not this year.

In a simple job posting and reference to a subscription platform, Twitter drew attention to how it could use its platform to embed in numerous use cases that tie social tools, recurring revenue and digital commerce.

For the past several years, the concept of sharing transaction data between merchants, processors and issuers has been considered a good security measure to curb fraud. But someone has to compile and compare that data in such a way to not only stop fraud, but assure legitimate transactions are not declined.

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.

Health care payments provider RevSpring has launched software that adds a payment button for patients using its MyChart or Hyperspace portals.

Even the independent sales organizations that heeded the warnings of colleagues and experts for the past decade about not letting advancing payments technology pass them by weren't fully prepared for what the coronavirus pandemic would throw at them.

Amazon's Dash devices were an early, blunt take on the internet of things. But over the years Amazon has gradually phased out its Dash product line in favor of voice-based Alexa shopping and other alternatives.

Brick-and-mortar merchants that have shifted to online have changed their risk profile, causing conflicts with the fintechs like Square that handle their payments. And that could be an opportunity for banks.

Three years ago, Alipay began its brick-and-mortar conquest of North America, promoting acceptance of the Alibaba affiliate Ant Group's mobile wallet at shops targeting Chinese tourists, eventually reaching thousands of U.S. and Canadian stores.

Even though a portion of retailers could rely on e-commerce to keep active during coronavirus shutdowns, reopening brick-and-mortar shops may be even harder amid new safety concerns.