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Stripe's new $95B valuation makes it the most valuable Silicon Valley startup

The payments processing company's new valuation is based on raising $600 million in new capital that it plans to use for further expansion in Europe.

Fintechs Chime, Current beat legacy banks with stimulus check distributions

Meanwhile, customers criticized Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase over the weekend for slow distribution.

Payments company Flywire to IPO, estimated $3B valuation

"Flywire becomes the pay button" for international students to pay U.S. businesses in their home currency, CEO Mike Massaro said.

Lightspeed POS to acquire retail software company Vend for $350M

Lightspeed will leverage Vend's complementary technology stack and user experience capabilities to deliver commerce capabilities to retailers around the world.

Durbin targets Visa, Mastercard fees at antitrust hearing

The new Senate Majority Whip argued credit card fees historically have been "far in excess of any reasonable measure of cost and far higher than they would have been charged in a competitive market."

Mobile wallet industry to reach $3.5 trillion by 2023, report finds

Western countries are behind in adopting the technology, but the pandemic accelerated the digital transformation of payments, according to a report from Finaria. 

Ride-hailing, payments startup Grab reportedly weighs SPAC with $40B valuation

The startup has established both a digital wallet as well as a rewards system and numberless credit card. 

Goldman Sachs bows to clients, embraces 'digital money,' bank president says

"There's no question in our mind, there's going to be more digital commerce, a lot more, an explosion in digital commerce," said Goldman President John Waldron.

New car tipping app arrives for Sonic carhops

The new tipping option, which Sonic customers requested, is being rolled out systemwide by the end of 2021. 

Why Cardlytics acquired fintech Dosh for $275M

With Dosh, Cardlytics gets access to a younger user base, a roster of fintech clients and a toolset to launch new cash back reward offerings in weeks instead of months.

Shift4's acquisition of VenueNext paves way for payments in sports, entertainment

"We're in a position ... to go and literally displace almost every one of the software players" in the sports and entertainment market, Shift4 CEO Jared Isaacman said during the Wolfe Research fintech conference.

JPMorgan to pull Chase Pay from merchant apps, sites March 31

The bank announced in 2019 it would shut down the platform's stand-alone app. Merchant acceptance — about 1% in 2019 — has paled in comparison to competitor Apple Pay's 40%.

Credit card debt cut by $83B in 2020, study finds

Consumer frugality dropped the country's overall credit card tab under $1 trillion, but spending picked up again in Q4 and Americans are likely to be back to their old habits soon, data firm WalletHub found.

PayPal to acquire digital asset firm Curv

The acquisition follows PayPal's recent expansion of its digital wallet capabilities, including enabling buying, selling and holding cryptocurrency.

Deep Dive

Can banks win in the booming buy-now-pay-later space?

While BNPL represents a relatively small niche of the payments ecosystem, banks should take note of what the growth of that silo says about the next generation of consumers, one consultant said.

Kings of Leon releases new album as a 'non-fungible token'

NFTs, a part of a crypto uptick in the music industry, let musicians see royalties for album sales much faster than with traditional royalty payments, Yellowheart CEO Josh Katz said.

Dallas Mavericks to accept crypto Dogecoin to buy tickets, merchandise

Critics contend the move to accept "joke coins" is a mistake, and the cryptocurrency's instability may harm consumers.

Plaid payroll product streamlines income verification

Plaid Income is the second product the company has launched since the termination of a proposed $5.3 billion tie-up with Visa, signaling the scrapped deal is not slowing the expansion of the fintech's suite.

Panda Express opens first ghost kitchen in San Francisco

The delivery-only location is Panda's initial step in offering faster dining solutions for off-premise guests, with plans to test more concepts this year. 

Mastercard, Visa, Fiserv and others band together as renewed battles over swipe fees brew

Credit card companies, their trade groups and Washington politicians are gearing up for renewed tension over credit card fees.

PayPal CFO: Pandemic has created 'inflection point' for digital payments

The virtual payments processor does not anticipate a post-pandemic drop in business, and intends to double its user base and triple total payment volume, according to John Rainey.

SEC picking crypto 'winners and losers,' Ripple tells court

The company's CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, criticized the timing of the suit and vowed to challenge it. The coin lost 60% of its value in the week after the court action, which one Twitter user called a "kill shot."

UPDATED: March 5, 2021 at 8 a.m.

SEC chair nominee promises to write crypto guidelines

Gary Gensler aims to zero in on which cryptocurrencies should be treated as securities.

Column

Goldman crypto trading desk relaunch portends softer industry stance on Bitcoin

The bank follows BNY Mellon and JPMorgan in greater crypto acceptance, in a reversal from a May report in which Goldman called Bitcoin an "unsuitable investment." Citi this week said the currency is at a "tipping point."

Seattle-based payments company suffers ransomware attack

The company Automatic Funds Transfer Services offers payments processing, billing and other services for customers and municipalities in Washington and California.