Payments

Mounting liabilities are raising the stakes for an economy that has come to rely more and more on high-end consumer spending to power expansion.

Jack Dorsey's Block Inc. is adding a group payments feature to its Cash App as it aims to attract out of network users to its peer-to-peer money transfer and banking app.

Bank technology provider Fidelity National Information Services Inc. is partnering with Circle Internet Group Inc. to offer financial institutions the ability to conduct transactions using Circle's stablecoin.

The big box retailer is trying to increase share among its business clients by adding financing options for businesses that are navigating economic volatility.

Like its sibling app Zelle, Early Warning's digital wallet is trying to build a brand that can attract new members. Star One Credit Union is an early win.

Fedwire has migrated to ISO 20022, a messaging standard designed to make it easier for digital real-time processing rails to work together. It's a difficult lift for banks, but the agency promises it will be worth it.

Bread Financial continues to keep its eye on the potential inflationary impacts of the Trump administration's trade policies, despite the fact that its delinquencies and losses declined in the second quarter.

The fintech has made its core payment app interoperable with Venmo and will connect 2 billion users through partnerships in India, China, Brazil and other major digital commerce markets.

As the U.S. moves to make central bank digital currencies illegal, projects in other countries are moving slowly. Also: U.K. regulators look for new ways to monitor Apple and more in the global payments and fintech roundup.

The bank is reportedly considering allowing bitcoin and ethereum to back loans. Volatility in digital assets would make it a difficult market, according to payment experts.

The credit card issuer renewed and extended its 15-year partnership with Amazon and touted fresh partnerships with Walmart and PayPal as wins, but lowered its full-year guidance due to lower purchase volumes and higher payment rates.

Paxos and Mastercard are among the firms betting that legal clarity will lead to a wider range of stablecoin users.

Kate Luft, a former chief of staff for Citi CEO Jane Fraser, is now running the company's U.S. retail banking business. In her first interview since getting the job, Luft discussed what banks can learn from airlines and the advantages that incumbents have over fintechs.

Car manufacturers and apps have made it easier for customers to pay for fuel, parking and other services seamlessly from their cars or smart devices.

Bank earnings have been largely positive in the second quarter despite concerns that tariffs would increase inflation and stifle economic activity. Payment divisions at banks reaped the rewards, too.

The banking subsidiary of Western Alliance Bancorporation is discarding six brand names to unify under the Western Alliance Bank moniker; longtime JPMorgan advisor Vishal Idnani will join Western Alliance as its next CFO; First Community in Lexington, South Carolina, will acquire Signature Bank of Georgia; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

To reverse the trend in payments fraud, regulators and the private sector must work together to expand how we define verification. It must be a dynamic, intelligence-driven process embedded at every point of the payment journey.

With the big banks honing in on Amex's high-end card turf, Steve Squeri said his company's past success will drive the future.

The U.K. fintech's shares fell about 5% in London, partly due to international currency volatility. It hopes a U.S. listing will improve the company's ability to raise capital.

Noelle Acheson points out that the GENIUS Act is right to ban interest on payment stablecoins, and suggests that the bigger debate should be around the current banking model.