Payments

Payment firms including Mastercard and Block are banding together with fintech companies to press Canada to move faster on rules that may boost competition in financial services.

The bank-led peer-to-peer payment system reportedly wants to standardize how it handles reimbursements for fraud. The move would have to both reassure consumers and keep regulators at bay.

In global news this week, WeChat Pay enables instant payments outside China, Mastercard takes a minority stake in Societe Generale subsidiary Treezor, Sella Group tests a fingerprint payment card in Italy, and more.

Firms like Visa, Mastercard, Barclays and JPMorgan Chase are expanding hubs and accelerators as technology experts look for new jobs and entrepreneurs look for new ideas.

The collaboration with Thunes enables millions of underbanked mobile wallet users and merchants to perform digital cross-border sales, providing another route to cut processing costs.

Russia's international ambitions for its homegrown alternative to Visa and Mastercard have been dashed as even some of its closest allies have dropped its Mir payment system following a threat by the U.S. to sanction anyone who helps or supports its use.

U.S. consumers are more likely to apply for a credit card, and less likely to get rejected, than they were last year, according to a New York Fed survey. The card industry is growing even as the mortgage and auto lending sectors show signs of retrenchment.

A partnership with Singapore authorities and a project with a network of banks aim to demonstrate the viability and interoperability of central bank digital currencies.

Visa's Qatar 'face payments' rollout, Regions' continuing-ed perk and more in banking news this week.

The London-based challenger bank will also launch a streamlined version of its app as it works to break into non-European markets.

Sometimes the right worker has the wrong skills. The card network's lab in Chicago is hiring people with general technology expertise, then training them for specific tasks.

Longtime Visa president Ryan McInerney will become CEO in February 2023 when Al Kelly steps down from the post he's held since 2016. Kelly will become executive chairman of the board following the transition.

TAB Bank's debit account, which rewards users with partial stock shares, is boosting the company's appeal among consumers who are younger, tech-savvy and underbanked.

The companies are improving the way older, "offline by nature" industries like steel and food services handle transactions and financing.

A group of unions filed a complaint against Starbucks Corp. with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, asking the agency to investigate how the coffee chain accounts for unused money left on customers' stored-value cards and accounts.

In global news this week, Spanish banks test a CBDC, RBC offers buy now/pay later in Canada, and Microsoft expands its relationship with a British fintech.

Visa is working with online travel agencies to promote the use of virtual cards and tokens to streamline payments, refunds and add-ons.

Square will launch an Amex-branded credit card next year through its app, targeting its U.S.-based sellers using the card network's fintech-centric approach.

Younger borrowers and those with lower incomes added the most to their card balances in the third quarter, according to a New York Fed report. Delinquency levels are also on the rise, a sign that more consumers are struggling to pay off higher debt loads.

The financial institution is offering tools for merchants to make better use of the viral video platform.