POS and Retail

A digital-payment trend that began during the COVID pandemic is being bolstered by features such as rewards and state ID storage.

With countless fintechs nipping at its heels, the bank is working harder to be a one-stop shop for e-commerce, retail store management, payments and authentication.

As the Senate debates this year's defense spending package, analysts say the highly partisan politics of this Congress, as well as the banking industry's lobbying, make it difficult for Sen. Dick Durbin's, D-Ill., credit card legislation to slip through this round.

Two executives behind BMO's purchase of Bank of the West from BNP Paribas discuss how the deal happened and what comes next for BMO.

Supermarket chain Kroger refused to accept Apple Pay and similar options in stores for nine years. It's changed its mind — but Walmart, Home Depot and Lowe's remain holdouts.

Not every shopper wants to charge the same card every time — but many do. Retailers like Adorama and Nordstrom, and payment companies like PayPal, are digging into their data to determine when an invisible payment is the best option for a customer, and when it's a pain point.

The more that stores reinvent the physical point of sale — or remove it entirely — the more they gather insights that go beyond just the payment. This can be extremely valuable to retailers that know how to use this new information, particularly for targeted marketing.

Thieves are getting more organized and aggressive in how they steal from shelves to fund bigger schemes. Emerging checkout systems that track shoppers can deter some of this activity, but not enough to address the full scope of the risk.

The metaverse is already blurring the lines between physical and online commerce, and many retailers are profiting from it. Banks and payment companies can play an even bigger role by helping money move without friction.

Starbucks and Kroger have invested heavily in payment technology over the years to gain an edge over their competitors. Their newest systems are focused on shaving off valuable seconds at checkout.

Bipartisan legislation co-sponsored by Reps. Lance Gooden of Texas and Peter Welch of Vermont would require large banks to support at least one network other than Visa or Mastercard. Banking industry groups argue that it would help big retailers at the expense of consumers.

The banks that own the peer-to-peer payment network are reportedly considering a retail launch that could fend off rival payment methods — or simply cannibalize the sizable revenue issuers get from credit and debit cards.

Acquiring the earned-wage-access firm and challenger bank would further efforts by the retailer and its partners to develop a "super app" featuring mobile financial tools.

The buy now/pay later craze already has retailers demanding lower fees, according to Klarna.

Though the retailer's threat to drop Visa in the U.K. appears to have subsided, companies like Clik2pay, Affirm and Curve have seized on an opportunity to advance account-to-account transactions, buy now/pay later and cryptocurrency.

The e-commerce giant has threatened to ban Visa cards in the U.K., and its partnerships with the likes of Affirm and Venmo give it alternative ways to accept payments — and the means to make good on that ultimatum.

The partnership pits the buy now/pay later company against the e-commerce company's issuer partners, JPMorgan Chase and Synchrony Financial, and adds to the fintech's allure as an alternative to payment cards.

The card network plans to start removing stripes on cards in three years and will eliminate them entirely by 2033. That is expected to be enough time for most merchants to adjust, but gas station operators worry they won't be ready when the transition begins.

The e-commerce giant is adding a surcharge for Visa credit card payments in Singapore. It's a tactic reminiscent of the time its big-box rival outright banned the card brand in Thunder Bay, Ontario, in a bid to lower its costs.

A problem caused by the pandemic appeared to be resolved, but has returned in recent months. Here’s what happened.