Payments

The Federal Reserve has signaled the need for congressional authorization if the central bank moves ahead with creating a digital currency. But senators raised questions at a hearing about whether it would help consumers, how it would complement private-sector banking and other issues.

COVID-19 economic pressures have pushed more adults living paycheck-to-paycheck to want their income early, calling into question the value of decades-old payroll practices — and highlighting disparities along economic, racial and gender lines.

Amazon.com is fielding bids to replace JPMorgan Chase as the issuer on its popular co-brand credit card as a fresh wave of competition for new card customers emerges.

Global Payments' TSYS subsidiary and BM Technologies will offer the program, which allows transgender and nonbinary consumers to use their preferred name on payment cards.

The product, which will compete against Citi’s Double Cash card, is the first step in CEO Charlie Scharf’s revamp of a business segment that has long trailed top competitors.

The move furthers the retail giant's strategy to become a one-stop shop for payments and financial services.

The bank and card brand will combine digital connections for supply chain finance and corporate disbursements.

Apple will allow some iPhone users to scan their driver's license and protect it with the same security used for payment cards in Apple Pay.

Emory Healthcare of Atlanta is using RevSpring's platform, which allows patients to key in card data that is shielded from customer service representatives.

The card brand now offers tuition to Paul Quinn College, one of 107 historically Black colleges and universities in the U.S.

Square Inc. Chief Executive Jack Dorsey said the digital payments company is considering building a Bitcoin hardware wallet, a device that holds the digital currency but isn’t connected to the internet.

Billers have long had the edge in handling users' bill payments. Fiserv says it can change that through faster transactions, but it faces fresh competition from fintechs.

From China to the Bahamas, central banks are rushing to create digital currencies that could be used for everything from attending the Olympics to helping the unbanked. Here are some notable initiatives.

Nearly 90% of central banks are considering or deploying digital currencies to speed transactions and reach underserved communities. But the larger the economy, the more difficult these projects are to implement.

The EMV specifications technology body has revised its requirements to ensure a consistent payment experience for cards, smartphones and wearables.

Allied Payment Network is linking to the digital banking platform of Tyfone for community banks and small businesses.

Users of the Goldman Sachs-issued card found themselves unable to make payments or view account details.

The store-branded credit card issuer is expanding from three sales divisions to five, a move that CEO Brian Doubles says will help by “aligning our organization for faster growth and execution.”

The central bank said the proposed measure governing transactions on FedNow — a real-time service expected to be available in 2023 — would be similar to the framework for the current Fedwire Funds Service.

Michael Moeser, senior analyst at PaymentsSource, talks to Atif Siddiqi, Founder and CEO of Branch, about the future of providing faster access to earned wages.