Payments

Western Union confirmed yet again that for a payments company to survive the coronavirus pandemic, it needed to enter the crisis with a strong footing in digital payments.

Payment processor Elavon purchased Sage Pay four months ago, completing the acquisition on March 11. Two days later, Elavon's entire workforce was operating remotely as the coronavirus forced it into lockdown.

The pandemic has had a tremendous impact on the global and US economies, household incomes, and consumer spending. The world's most valuable financial services firm is ready to share insight around the global and US effects of COVID-19.

MoneyGram International's digital transformation came at just the right time, considering walk-in traffic at MoneyGram locations in certain regions of the world was stymied for months by the coronavirus pandemic. But for many people, digital is still no replacement for the human touch.

Cross-border payments do not and should not exist in a vacuum, says Veem's Marwan Forzley.

If bankers have learned anything from treading a pandemic, it’s that providing personal services at the moment of need has become even more essential than it was before, says Jack Henry's Tede Forman.

Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks said the agency plans to issue new assessment procedures within weeks as a follow-up to recent Community Reinvestment Act reforms. He also touched on the “true lender” issue and why the agency is considering a narrow-purpose payments charter.

Seven trade groups said they would fight any effort by the agency to establish a tailored license for payments providers such as PayPal, Stripe and Square.

One way banks can prepare for a smooth cutover to new standards is by implementing a core banking / payment solution that uses ISO 20022, says Infosys Finacle's Peter Ryan.