Payments

Banks shouldn't let the legal and regulatory hurdles deter them, attorney Felix Shipkevich says.

The facial recognition development trail is dotted with starts and stops in its search for consumer adoption, from Mastercard's "selfie pay" to Apple's 3-D facial scan tests and the Federal Trade Commission's approval of biometric authorization.

Payroll advance provider Branch has partnered with Mastercard and Evolve Bank & Trust to offer a debit card that allows hourly workers to instantly access a portion of their earned wages ahead of their periodic paycheck.

Italian banking group Intesa Sanpaolo has made a €7 million ($7.8 million) investment in MatiPay, an Italian cash acceptance network that leverages wireless vending machines.

Rapid-fire acquisitions, partnerships and investments in the likes of Uber, Lyft and Grab are transforming these ride-sharing providers. And much of this activity is built on their ability to handle payments seamlessly as part of the experience.

Incumbents and challenger fintechs dominate the remittance market, leading Majority to forge a very narrow use case for its initial corridor.

Majority, which will launch nationwide later this quarter, will use networks of immigrants to sell a mobile phone-based account that features unlimited remittances and international calling services.

In a move to tap into an underserved market opportunity — but with the potential for political backlash — Sallie Mae launched three different cash-back reward credit cards aimed at college students and young adults.

Intuit has partnered with Visa to enable QuickBooks users to get faster access to funds through Visa Direct, the network’s debit push payments service.

Merchants with multiple Square accounts will have a new app designed to help analyze business data and trends through Square's partnership with business management company Domo.