Payments

United Arab Emirates plans to launch a central bank digital currency this year; Adyen adds travel payment cards; and more.

Travel disruptions make it crucial for hospitality providers to handle bookings, cancellations and postponements — and the underlying payments and refunds — with ease. Software vendors are tailoring their products to address the needs of this and other niches.

With Apple pushing into the lending business with a buy now/pay later service, the company is laying out rules for how it will approve transactions. One key factor: whether you've been a good customer in the past.

The San Francisco bank entered into a multiyear partnership with Choice Hotels, which operates brands such as Radisson, Comfort and Econo Lodge. The company had previously partnered on its credit cards with Barclays.

Providers such as Klarna, Clearpay and PayPal will be required to give consumers key information about their loans and issue credit that is affordable, while users will have the right to take complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Dozens of vendors are joining real-time settlement networks from the Federal Reserve and The Clearing House. These partnerships are the first step toward making both systems interoperable.

The payments company said the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has closed a probe it began in 2020 after a consumer advocacy group accused PayPal of offering students at for-profit universities high-cost financing for unaccredited courses.

As a stand-alone company, Worldpay will have more leeway to pursue mergers and acquisitions, FIS CEO Stephanie Ferris says.

Super Bowl spending spikes, Openpay closes, Mastercard takes aim at gamers, and more in banking news this week.

PayPal is pausing work on the project as regulators increase scrutiny of cryptocurrencies and a key partner faces a probe by the New York State Department of Financial Services.

Coinbase shares fell the most in more than six months after rival Kraken was forced to stop providing an investment service also offered by the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange.

Sluggish single-digit e-commerce growth drove PayPal to postpone its forecast for the coming year, as CEO Dan Schulman, who plans to retire this year, itemized further cost cuts.

Schulman, president and CEO of PayPal since 2014, will leave at the end of 2023. He will continue to serve on the company's board and will join in its search for a successor, the company said.

The Dutch fintech company's hiring plans stand out amid a wave of tech industry layoffs as funding slows.

The payments app is gradually adding network support for substitute card numbers, which can reduce friction at the point of sale while providing fraud protection.

Amex and Microsoft are developing a business-travel expense approach that gives users a green, yellow or red code indicating whether an expense is approved, under consideration or rejected.

The buy now/pay later lender posted larger-than-expected losses, and following its layoffs it will deemphasize products with an uncertain short-term outlook, such as crypto trading.

Bank of England releases digital pound details, CBA adds anti-scam tech, and more. Here's what's happening around the world.

The loyalty tech provider aims to bypass credit card networks with an account-to-account payment option leveraging faster payment rails. Observers say it faces long odds for mass adoption.

Visa is opening a new office in Atlanta as the payments giant proceeds with plans to triple its workforce in the city even as rivals cut back on their staffing.