Payments

The average rate on variable-rate cards rose above 18% this week, the highest level since 1996, according to data from Bankrate.com. The industry has been enjoying large profits, which has caught the attention of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The new card is meant to make the advance-payroll offering a more appealing way to fight rising expenses.

Revolut Ltd. is launching a one-click payment feature in a bid to rival PayPal Inc. and other tech giants at online checkouts.

The total value of transactions flowing through Early Warning Service's peer-to-peer payments service rose nearly 30% during the second quarter, as more consumers used Zelle to pay recurring expenses.

The card network's test enables consumers to round up transactions to the nearest $1, $5 or $10 for donations to the organization of their choice.

In global news this week, Russia unveils its alternative to SWIFT, Revolut faces pressure in the U.K., Hong Kong reaches out for fintech talent, and more.

The credit-cards-as-a-service model allows small banks to develop more products — and keep more revenue — than they had when working with agent banks.

The e-commerce technology firm has built dozens of partnerships to expand services its clients can offer.

Technology designed to direct more consumers online can create difficulties for groups that rely on branches and other in-person services, according to Janis Bowdler, a racial equity counselor with the Treasury Department.

Everyware, a text-based billing company reports strong demand for installment loans — due in part to the immediacy with which people respond to messages that pop up on their phones.

The startup hopes these perks will help set it apart from the other issuers that use bank-account data to vet applicants who don't have robust credit histories.

Many BNPL lenders can credit their meteoric rise to the unique circumstances of the pandemic. As their market shifts, these companies are forced to find new avenues of growth under the increased scrutiny of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The payments subsidiary of U.S. Bank's is taking a new approach that it says can address the expense of setting up a new business.

Zepz Group, the U.K. financial technology startup and parent of the payments company WorldRemit, has named Mark Lenhard as its new chief executive, replacing Breon Corcoran.

The Federal Reserve will roll out its much-anticipated instant payments system, known as FedNow, in the middle of next year. Yet many questions remain about who it will serve, how it will work and how quickly community banks will buy in to it.

10 things to know in August: Community banks are partnering with smaller core providers for tech overhauls, Bread's outage leads to a consumer uproar and more.

This week in global news, Afterpay makes way for Block's Cash App, Singapore plots a crypto crackdown, U.K. calls for fintech deregulation, and more.

Small business' concerns over cash flow and billing cycles are pushing bank competitors like Resolve and Ramp to offer short-term products that bear a resemblance to installment lending.

Three New York City pensions filed shareholder proposals with Mastercard and American Express urging the credit card companies to improve tracking of gun sales.