Payments

At their peak over Cyber Weekend, payments were 50% higher than the average day in 2021. Cyber Weekend refers to the four-day period beginning on Black Friday, the unofficial kickoff of the U.S. holiday shopping season.

Now that JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Capital One and others offer the alternative credit option, the startups that created this market are adding products to cement their hold on consumers and merchants.

Citigroup and Macy’s renewed their longtime credit card partnership after the two spent months renegotiating the terms of the agreement.

The United States is threatening to curtail transactions into and out of Russia to discourage it from invading Ukraine. The standoff heightens existing friction between U.S. payments companies and Moscow, which could impose new restrictions on them in response to sanctions.

Bank of America is turning to private jets and exotic cars to compete with American Express and JPMorgan Chase and lure big spenders to its credit cards.

Purchases by adults between the ages of 25 and 40 have risen 50% over 2019, and the same group accounts for 75% of sign-ups for American Express’s pricier new cards.

Immigrants from Brazil, Nigeria and Kenya will be able to get scores based on their home country credit histories under a partnership between American Express and Nova Credit.

Research shows the number of fraudulent transactions and dollar amounts involved are soaring as merchants increasingly go digital. Credit card and other companies are expected to more than double what they invest in AI and other tech to fortify their systems.

By acquiring First Sound Bank in Seattle, the fintech would control the strategic direction of the combined company and won't have to share revenue, CEO Luvleen Sidhu says.

As Visa and Mastercard weigh raising rates and retail heavyweights like Amazon push back, the fintech sees an opening for a lower-cost payments alternative that banks and credit unions can offer merchants.