Payments

This week in global news: Canada cuts Visa and Mastercard fees; PhonePe draws new funding, and more.

The success of central bank digital currencies will be directly tied to their usability — by both individuals and businesses.

The product, designed for wealth management customers, is the first in the U.S. to implement Mastercard's Touch Card, which helps people distinguish credit, debit and prepaid cards through a notch on the card's edge.

To demonstrate the value of a central bank digital currency to small businesses, the U.S. card network is using Brazil's Real Digital to cut costs for local growers.

The Cincinnati, Ohio, bank targeted Rize Money due to its "ease of accessibility," according to Fifth Third's head of wholesale payments. The acquisition comes as the $205 billion-asset bank has seen wealth and asset management revenue decline in recent years.

A processing rail that's always turned on can potentially help a credit union that's multiple time zones away from partners, or a community bank looking to automate payroll.

Data-aggregator Kasheesh enables consumers to fund purchases and build credit scores using a combination of credit, debit and gift cards, based on recommendations powered by artificial intelligence.

The government's routine disbursement of funds to millions of workers, contractors, and retirees could become uncertain if it's forced to default.

Ripple buying a Swiss crypto-custody firm, Binance leaving Canada, and more.

The bank is working with The Clearing House and real estate tech company EMTransfer and is hoping to cut paper and time from the process of selling property.

The U.S. Postal Service wants to help banks fight a rise in check scams by adding electronic locks and other security at mail collection sites, but the problem has many causes.

As fintechs struggle, the bank is introducing a line of credit and plans new installment lending products shortly after launching its buy now/pay later product on Amazon Pay.

Balances reached nearly $1 trillion at the end of the first quarter, up 17% from a year earlier. The increase reflects higher spending by well-off consumers on travel and entertainment, as well as the pressure that lower-income households are facing from inflation and higher interest rates.

The several high-profile failures in the digital-asset sector haven't deterred the financial institution from forging ahead with a plan to expand support for payments.

In their rush to control pandemic-related payment crime, many organizations deemphasized protections against older schemes that are now resurgent.

Delinquency rates in credit cards, auto and personal loans are effectively back to normal after three years of unusually strong credit performance. Industry executives say the current situation is easily manageable, but they do anticipate that key metrics will continue to worsen.