Payments

The inquiry looks into the tech company's requirement that developers use its in-app payment system, which has also faced scrutiny in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Several providers are building technology to try to prevent malware attacks when retailers accept contactless payments directly through their smartphones.

During the pandemic, consumers have become more willing to do their food shopping remotely. Companies like LG and Blue Apron are building on that interest through the addition of networked technology, mobile apps or card rewards.

Alliance Data Systems, which saw key clients like Pier 1 Imports shuttered during the pandemic, has diversified into buy now/pay later loans and other credit products it offers to consumers directly and through merchants.

As the adoption of real-time payments grows, companies like Mastercard, ACI Worldwide and The Clearing House are bringing together data from banks, credit unions and merchants to catch scammers.

Card networks are poised to connect to nonfungible tokens, issuers are revamping rewards, and regulators are taking greater interest in installment loans. These developments and more bear watching in the year ahead.

There are more than 20,000 Holocaust survivors in the New York City area, and roughly a third of them are said to live in poverty. New York-chartered financial institutions should voluntarily waive transfer and processing charges on payments to reparations recipients, the state’s financial services regulator says.

Consumers are pushing card networks and issuers to develop programs that reward them for spending on sustainable products and other initiatives to mitigate climate change.

The pandemic-era shift to digital payments gave prepaid cards a jolt worldwide. In Canada, the government's likely adoption of the cards for disbursing benefits and other payments could drive further growth as it did in the U.S.

Alloy Labs Alliance, a consortium of community banks, is working with the fintech Payrailz on a project called "Chuck" that would route peer-to-peer payments over different networks, based on which is least expensive for each transaction.