Payments

The boutique fitness industry is seeing strong growth, powered by a mix of payment tech and software that enables studio owners to accept onsite and remote transactions via mobile apps, QR codes and online.

Betting the road to mass adoption of faster payments won't be smooth, the data technology company's new head of payments is rolling out products to fill potholes between slower and faster payments systems.

The card brand is partnering with PayPal, Venmo and other firms in an attempt to erase the friction that accompanies transfers between different apps.

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Marqeta's new CEO faces steep challenges in dismantling the fintech's heavy dependence on Square and finding alternative sources of revenue as consumer spending slows.

The Twittersphere erupted last week with incorrect conflations of the Federal Reserve's imminent faster payments network and exceedingly nascent interest in a central bank digital currency. Those misunderstandings could pose a real risk to FedNow implementation.

The world's largest retailer sued Capital One over their four-year-old credit card partnership, saying the bank failed to meet customer service standards. The McLean, Virginia-based bank disputed the allegations, and analysts said that the firm could compensate by landing new credit card partnerships or cutting back on marketing expenses.

Klarna, Fiserv, Worldline and other tech firms are using artificial intelligence-powered systems such as ChatGPT to modernize their offerings.

Typically called softPOS or Tap to Pay, the technology allows sellers to receive transactions without add-on hardware. It's becoming a popular payment option for small business and mobile sellers and other users.

The card network vows to make all of its new cards from recycled plastic by 2028, but even the most ardent digital-first card issuers have met obstacles in finding affordable alternatives to using virgin plastic.

Stripe said growth in payments volume slowed last year after a pandemic surge, even as it helped more large business clients handle payments over the internet. 

PhonePe backs away from a buy now/pay later acquisition, Germany fines EY for Wirecard scandal, and more.

The fintech founder was also Square's first chief technology officer and the chief product officer of blockchain-based payments company MobileCoin.

JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Mastercard will extend Hello Alice's do-it-yourself "business health" score to entrepreneurs looking to improve their creditworthiness.

Finaro, Northmill and NMI are joining with the card network to expand contactless payment acceptance via smartphones without add-on hardware.

Circle has proposed using central bank digital currencies as part of a backstop to mitigate the same sort of risk that caused its own coin to lose its peg to the U.S. dollar during the run on Silicon Valley Bank.

Responding to growing competition for merchants' loyalty, PayPal has enabled its small-business customers to accept Apple's mobile wallet, along with other features previously only available to large enterprises.

Pinwheel, which automates the setup of direct deposit at new accounts, endured a brief and unexpected surge in traffic during mid-March's bank runs.

The quest to make instant settlement ubiquitous in all countries requires scale and connectivity, creating opportunities for intermediaries that can handle the last mile.

Like bank and credit union branches, sit-down restaurants face rapid changes in consumer preferences, requiring a quick pivot to a growing range of digital service and checkout options.