Payments

After his aggressive cost-cutting raised profits above analysts' expectations, Block's CEO aims to retool several features of Square and Cash App to enable them to operate like a "social bank."

The payment company is working with Google Cloud to develop new forms of machine learning on a larger scale.

Some analysts said that the Capital One-Discover deal would undercut the reasoning behind the Credit Card Competition Act — authored by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. — which aims to spur competition for Visa and Mastercard.

London-based global money-transfer firm TerraPay has hired Ruben Salazar Genovez, the longtime global head of Visa Direct, in a new role as the startup's president; U.K. challenger bank Revolut has added a tool that uses machine learning to flag payments for fraud; and more.

The combined company could streamline card payments in a manner similar to American Express' "three party network" — while also doing more with artificial intelligence and other technologies.

Data, volume and potential regulatory carve-outs are among the benefits Capital One Financial would get upon the completion of its deal to buy Discover Financial Services.

The Supreme Court justices grappled with the question of whether a newly formed company can challenge a regulatory rule after the six-year statute of limitations has expired, a decision that could have broad impact on plaintiffs' ability to challenge agency rules.

The recently announced merger of Capital One and Discover would create a credit card behemoth, but would also create a credible challenger to the Visa-Mastercard duopoly. Regulators will have to choose between having both or neither.

Capital One Financial's proposed acquisition of Discover Financial Services would create a credit card behemoth with its own payments network. The deal is likely to draw tough regulatory scrutiny, though analysts say there are many compelling strategic reasons for the combination.

Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts asked Early Warning Services, which operates the payment platform Zelle, to clarify its reimbursement policy around impostor scams.