P-to-P payments

Just months after revealing it was testing lending directly to consumers through its Cash App, Square says it is buying the tax business of Credit Karma to bring tax preparation to Cash App customers.

JoomPay Europe S.A. is launching a person-to-person payment app throughout Europe that it says will give consumers an instant money transfer tool similar to what U.S. residents have in Venmo, Square Cash and Zelle.

Xoom, PayPal’s international remittance unit, has launched a direct money transfer feature for its U.S. customers to send funds domestically to bank accounts and debit cards.

It will take years to fully complete the project, but Mastercard has announced the availability of real-time account-to-account corporate payments for U.S. firms through its Mastercard Track Business Payment Service (BPS), with plans to add cross-border payments next year.

Crypto played a key role in Square's 140% year-over-year growth in revenue for the third quarter — and 212% growth in gross profit for the Cash App alone.

It is a frustrating reality during a time of national crisis that emergency payment options for vulnerable populations remain such a complex and inefficient landscape, says Flourish Ventures' Sarah Morgenstern.

Reflecting the rapid transition to digital payments, PayPal has reported its strongest growth in total payment volume and revenue in its history, coupled with strong growth for Venmo, its P2P app.

The person-to-person network is being used more often for purchasing, with consumer payments to small businesses up sharply.

Though the COVID-19 pandemic continues to stifle economic growth globally, Western Union again pointed to its fast-growing digital services as key to keeping the company on a positive trend.

Bank of America has seen a 33% increase in cash gifts flowing through the Zelle P2P app since the start of the pandemic, with total gifting volume reaching $1 billion.