Payments

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.

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.

Square has begun holding onto a portion of some sellers’ payments, demonstrating how liquidity shortages challenge the recovery for both businesses and the companies that process their payments.

Orka Technology Group has launched a new earned wage access tool called Orka Pay for hourly workers to gain access to their wages between pay periods.

The spending and account management capabilities of corporate prepaid cards have been given new purpose in a pandemic-struck world dependent on government and charity aid.

With Americans traveling less due to the pandemic, the card, issued by Synchrony, is tailoring rewards to everyday purchases, such as groceries. It also has a contactless feature that could appeal to shoppers fearful of touching terminals.

Consumer spending has improved as state lockdown orders are lifted but many continue to hold off on taking trips and entertainment activities.

Decentralizing staff makes strong internal controls even more important, Josh Cyphers and Derek Halpern of Nvoicepay write.

James Freis took charge of Wirecard AG on Friday and the question he faces on Monday is what, if anything, he will be able to salvage of the payment company.

Big banks will need to show how well they can withstand three different scenarios before they can pay dividends; the German payments company is still looking for $2 billion of missing funds.