Payments

Many consumers started using digital payments out of necessity once the pandemic struck. They may continue as it recedes because they like the convenience.

Square Inc., the digital-payment company run by Jack Dorsey, has held talks to acquire the music-streaming service Tidal as part of a push to diversify, according to a person familiar with the situation.

While there has been a general trend of paying people faster for work already performed, starting with gig workers, COVID-19 has created (or exposed) many issues that are fueling the shift toward on-demand pay, especially for hourly workers.

Ultimately, whatever options banks and fintechs deliver for this next phase of the pandemic must appease not only the merchants but their customers as well.

Homeis, an internet platform that creates social immigrant communities, has partnered with money transfer fintechs Remitly, TransferWise and Afriex as it registers its millionth user.

JPMorgan Chase is partnering with Air Canada, the bank's first new cobranded card partner to be announced in years.

Cross-border online payment service provider PrimeiroPay is partnering with Visa payment management platform CyberSource to open high-growth Latin America markets to merchants seeking access to those regions.

The U.K. Supreme Court has rejected Mastercard’s attempt to force individual lawsuits over claims the card brand overcharged consumers and negatively impacted competition for more than a decade.

Payment technology developer MyPINPAD has upgraded its point-of-sale app to allow merchants to accept and authorize contactless payments through a consumer mobile device — and to potentially provide a less expensive option for PIN transactions for smaller merchants.