P-to-P payments

The pandemic’s physical distancing requirements appear to have accelerated transaction volume and overall use of Zelle, the P2P app operated by the bank-owned Early Warning Services LLC.

As a cryptocurrency entrepreneur who helped launch Stellar and Dogecoin, Marshall Hayner has long been interested in finding a way to use blockchain — the digital ledger technology originally developed for Bitcoin — to solve some of the data privacy issues relating to payments.

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.

Fintech is providing real, viable and more affordable options for money remitters, to continue to be the lifeblood for communities all around the world, says Ding's Rupert Shaw.

The payments company is buying Finicity, which powers platforms for Rocket Mortgage and others; the small N.J.-based lender to fintechs is the fourth largest PPP provider.

The move to digital providers could mean cheaper cash transfers for a demographic that has been hard hit by this pandemic, with both senders and receivers being financially affected.

Square has added fuel to its growing Cash transfer service by agreeing to buy Verse, a Spanish P2P app.

While open banking is a fascinating movement poised to benefit consumers and spark significant innovation in financial services, the world must weigh convenience vs. risk and approach the inherent privacy and security concerns with caution, says Imperva's Terry Ray.

Due to the U.K.’s coronavirus lockdown, many British people are socially isolated in their homes, and rely on friends to get their groceries for them. They face the problem of how to reimburse people for their expenses, since cash is no longer acceptable.

Telecommunications company Tigo Tanzania has expanded digital money transfers, allowing customers to send and receive money from their mobile wallets with other providers in the East African region.

OCBC Bank has integrated Google Pay into its P2P transfer service, thereby expanding its customers’ options for reducing their cash usage during the coronavirus crisis.

The amount of money migrant workers send to their home countries usually holds up well in a crisis. Not this time.

The “hold” period has shrunk considerably, from 10 business days to typically now three, one or zero, making it harder to spot suspicious activity, says FICO's Liz Lasher.

In the tug-of-war between banks and third parties over who controls access to customer account data, payments are primed to play a key role as banks start to take action and regulators begin to weigh in.

The growth and monetization of Square’s Cash App boosted the company's quarterly earnings, along with the sale of its food delivery unit Caviar.

Trish Burgess, who helped lead Apple Card and Apple Pay, will lead P2P payments at Banco Santander, which is spending $22 billion on digital projects over the next four years.

Western Union's online strategy is paying off, as web transfers help overcome softness in troubled local markets.

What Google ultimately does with its Google Checking service for banks will have a major effect on how mobile payments at all levels — from point of sale, to e-commerce, P2P and bill pay — will move forward.

Plaid may be a more problematic acquisition than Visa made it out to be. But without Visa, those problems were likely to get a lot worse.

Facebook Pay's relatively limited scope has raised less opposition than the company's crypto project, argues Infinite Convergence's Anurag Lal.