Payments

Deserve, a credit card technology startup, raised $50 million from backers including Mastercard and Ally Financial’s strategic investment arm, its chief executive said in an interview.

Low card penetration and sparse borrower information in the region make it hard to determine an applicant's identity and ability to pay. Buy now/pay later lenders instead focus on factors such purchase activity, social media presence and even the speed at which users type their personal information.

The bank is working with DailyPay and The Clearing House's RTP network to bring a smidge more speed — and certainty — to earned-wage access payments.

Upgrade, a lending startup that counts Banco Santander SA and SVB Financial Group’s Silicon Valley Bank as investors, is seeking to triple its valuation in a fresh funding round, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

Six major international banks have committed to preparations for and testing of Swift's new transaction management platform, a process designed to enable new services, improve efficiency and reduce costs for international payments.

Roxe says the distributed ledger technology that removes costly middlemen from international transactions can also lower expenses for currency conversions.

Gripes against peer-to-peer payments services spiked during the past year as U.S. consumers flocked to Venmo, Cash App, Zelle and the like to transfer money.

Resorts World is building its entire customer experience around a digital app, hoping to eliminate the need for — and costs of — handling paper money.

Goldman Sachs Group has begun offering cash management and treasury services in the U.K. as it builds out its new transaction-banking arm.

During lockdown, adoption of services like mobile order-and-pay, biometric authentication, contactless fare collection and digital currency accelerated. Consumers have more options than ever — and their behaviors will guide further innovation.

Inventory shortfalls continue to constrain commercial lending, while the savings glut is holding back consumer borrowing, industry executives say. The good news: At some banks, pipelines are at or above pre-pandemic levels.

Teampay is using the card network's technology, which was first designed for the Apple Card, to offer virtual accounts for corporate spending.

Under the deal, the $425 billion-asset bank will become the exclusive card issuer for the home furnishings retailer, which long partnered with Alliance Data Systems.

Eight months after its debut, more than 10,000 customers have signed up for the service, which allows transgender and nonbinary consumers to use their chosen name.

Six Clovers, a digital payments company founded by two former PayPal developers, designed its Rapid platform to enable fast cross-border transactions using cryptocurrencies backed by government-issued money.

The data analytics provider has deployed cloud hosting to scour international payments for signs of fraud and money laundering.

The social network now lets people send links and QR codes to request funds through the Messenger app, but users may have little incentive to switch — or to trust Facebook with more of their data.

There’s a new unicorn in Latin America: Clip, a payments fintech in Mexico targeting small and midsize companies.

Brian Doubles, who became the card issuer’s chief executive in April, also expressed optimism that pent-up consumer demand will spur renewed spending this year.

Klarna Bank AB is raising fresh funds led by SoftBank Group that value the Swedish fintech startup at $45.6 billion, just months after two separate investment rounds sent the company’s valuation soaring.