Payments

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau wants to make it easier for those who lack bank accounts to receive pandemic relief payments authorized by Congress.

Suneera Madhani, CEO of the digital acquirer Fattmerchant, tells PaymentsSource how the coronavirus pandemic has affected how her employees go to market with new payments technology — and how making the shift to digital helps both the acquirer and its clients.

The mainstream adoption of Bitcoin is getting a boost from credit card giant Visa Inc., which joined startup Fold to offer a card that earns rewards denominated in the cryptocurrency instead of airline miles or cash.

Fintechs, startups and bank-led projects were already working to excise generations of inefficiencies out of supply chains. The coronavirus has heightened the need for smooth payments.

The amount of money migrant workers send to their home countries usually holds up well in a crisis. Not this time.

For decades, automated check reconciliation stood out as the lone sanctuary for AR professionals. However, the advent of payment automation indicates that electronic payment reconciliation is more than capable of taking up the baton, says Nvoicepay's Kim Lockett.

The “hold” period has shrunk considerably, from 10 business days to typically now three, one or zero, making it harder to spot suspicious activity, says FICO's Liz Lasher.

The acquisition would give SoFi control of a technology platform that is currently used by some of its competitors in digital banking.

The coronavirus pandemic is likely to force a great leap forward in the fight to crush paper checks, which still account for about half of B2B payments, by moving more invoice payments online.

Analytical technology will be key for firms looking to appeal to the next generation of customers. Having come of age in the midst of the 2008 financial crisis, secure personal finance is extremely important to this generation, says Axis Communications' Stephen Joseph.