Payments

Wall Street gets an automated nonfungible tokens machine, credit union arrivals and departures, and more in banking news this week.

The firms are working to make this subset of cryptocurrency — which is designed to avoid wild swings in valuation — easier to adopt and more useful for routine transactions by focusing on "last mile, or user experience layer," says Jeremy Allaire, Circle's CEO.

Cloud-hosted systems add flexibility to develop payment and lending services that aren't possible on legacy platforms. “We want to develop products that suit our customers rather than what our core provider tells us to provide,” said Samantha Pause, chief marketing and benefit officer at Mascoma Bank in New Hampshire.

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is among the world leaders pushing for a ban, and U.S. President Biden was grilled about the possibility during a press conference where he announced sanctions in response to Russia's military action in Ukraine.

Block, the digital payments firm run by Jack Dorsey, reported strong quarterly sales that were in line with expectations but failed to impress investors.

Billing is becoming part of faster payments, a development the bank contends makes paper-based B2B payments "unsustainable" for businesses facing equipment and staff shortages.

Marqeta COO Vidya Peters and Plaid COO Eric Sager discuss their plan to bypass the use of microdeposits — small transfers that are used to verify identity when linking accounts — to improve speed and security for consumers.

The activist investor ValueAct Capital Management has been awarded a seat on the board of Fiserv as part of a settlement with the financial technology and payments firm.

Paywallet CEO DK Sharma has raised about $14 million for a system that facilitates loans of up to $10,000, with installments coming out of borrowers' pay. It's meant to be an alternative to payday lenders.

Klarna Bank is adding the option for customers to pay immediately at checkout in nine new markets while expanding its rewards program, as it targets becoming a one-stop lender for consumers.