Payments

Block's merchant unit is deploying a virtual assistant to sweeten its offer to merchants, while Amazon pushes Pay by Bank. Plus, Zelle reaches a milestone and more in American Banker's global payments and fintech roundup.

The D.C. Court of Appeals declined the D.C. Attorney General's request to hear a mid-case appeal after the lower court dismissed a portion of the state's case against EarnIn.

Delinquencies on credit-card debt mostly held steady at the end of last year, but certain groups of consumers are faring better than others.

Top takeaways from American Banker's 2026 Predictions report finds that midsize bankers push for app investments and are concerned about wire transfer fraud.

Following a massive earnings miss three months ago, the bank-technology seller on Tuesday reported signs of stability and an embrace of new payments and financial services technology.

The iOS technology enables payments without requiring merchants to add extra hardware. The card network is embedding the option into a broader suite of merchant technology to bolster its services strategy amid competition from Mastercard and fintechs like Block and Stripe.

Federal Reserve Gov. Christopher Waller said comments from banks and fintech firms reveal sharply different priorities in the creation of the central bank's proposed "skinny" master accounts.

Jack Dorsey's payments company also laid off employees early in 2025 and 2024 following a self-imposed employee cap of 12,000 in November 2023.

Fintech and crypto groups said in comment letters to the Federal Reserve that the proposed "skinny" master account is too limited and could keep firms dependent on banks. Banking groups asked for more time to comment.

While the e-commerce giant has deemphasized the technology, banks and payment firms are testing the biometric option.

By pairing its real-time transfer app with China's UnionPay card, Visa is pursuing business in the huge country, where shifting regulations create hurdles for outside companies.

CEO Max Levchin said the lender is testing technology that allows merchants to perform more advanced testing of promotional financing offers.

American Banker's 2026 Predictions report finds that nonbank entities and check fraud are major threats to local banks in the coming months.

This month, Bank of America plans to unveil new incentives for cardholders with higher account balances. Reworking the rewards program is one lever the firm is pulling in its effort to lift the annual profit of the consumer unit to $20 billion by the end of the decade.

Noelle Acheson argues that growing demand for dollar-denominated stablecoins is going to give the Treasury Department increasing influence over the direction of the U.S. economy, perhaps at the cost of the Federal Reserve.

The search giant has added Klarna to its growing list of companies that are supporting standards for agentic commerce. Also, Payoneer has added Indonesia and Mexico to its collections network and more in American Banker's global payments and fintech roundup.

The payment company opened a new office in Dublin to battle rivals like Adyen, Stripe and PayPal.

The "exorbitant privilege" the U.S. has long enjoyed because of the dollar's status as the world's reserve currency would be supercharged if global adoption of stablecoins leads to greatly increased demand.

Prosecutors claim the Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree maintained two sets of books to hide Kalder's actual revenue of just $60,000.

The buy now, pay later lender is carving out a lane for itself with exclusive deals with Intuit's Quickbooks Payments and Expedia's websites. It also will be the default BNPL provider for Bolt's one-click checkout.