Payments

Bank of America acquired the health care technology company Axia Technologies as the financial giant continues to build out its products for helping merchants take payments.

The Texas company has agreed to acquire HubTran, which offers artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities for the transportation sector.

Technology is moving forward at a pace that could push real-time payments into new settings in the near future, with several countries already using systems that could become models for the U.S.

Visa and Mastercard are facing fresh opposition from U.S. retailers in a long-running legal fight over the fees merchants pay each time consumers swipe their credit or debit card at checkout.

Visa has expanded its push payments platform to enable businesses and their customers to make real-time domestic and cross-border payments.

As accounts payable departments add robotics and other innovation, workflows and skill sets will adjust--but people won't disappear, says Nvoicepay's Lauren Ruef.

Some institutions have experimented with cash-based rewards to kick-start membership growth, but it's unclear whether the strategy will be widely adopted.

Large banks that counted on airline and hospitality points to drive loan growth in the credit card business are anticipating renewed demand once safety concerns subside. But they’re also cautioning that the recovery in travel spending is likely to be gradual.

Fattmerchant is capitalizing on the subscription concept by taking a majority stake in Canadian billing software firm Fusebill, which competes with Chargebee and Chargify in the fast-growing arena of managing subscription revenue for merchants.

Potential central bank digital currencies would need to be integrated into existing payment systems alongside cash and other forms of money, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said.