Fed's long-awaited CBDC report arrives

The Latest

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  Mastercard links with Instacart on new card

  Mastercard has lined up two new partnerships this week, bringing its card benefits to the grocery store aisle as well as the NFT marketplace.

  Retail

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  Walmart signals crypto, NFT plans with trademark applications

  While plenty of companies are eyeing digital asset technology, a potentially large push from the big-box retailer could go a long way in spurring mainstream consumer adoption.

  Retail

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  Settlement in Amazon-Visa dispute may be near

  Amazon backed off a threat to stop taking Visa credit cards in the U.K. this week, as the two companies issued statements suggesting they'll avoid a pitched battle over "swipe" fees.

  Retail

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  NMI purchases IRIS to expand merchant services

  With extensive venture capital infusions from three investment firms, NMI is making acquisitions to expand its payments reach.

  Retail

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  Grocery co-op to pilot frictionless shopping tech

  Retail cooperative Wakefern Food is conducting the test at a New Jersey location in conjunction with Israeli computer vision startup Trigo, which is making its U.S. debut with the partnership.

  Retail

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  Small businesses count on digital payments to drive growth

  Most micro and small businesses surveyed by Visa said they expect new digital payment methods to help their enterprises grow this year, with almost a quarter saying they plan to accept digital currencies like Bitcoin this year.

  Retail

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  Buy now-pay later demand hit U.S. high during holiday season

  Consumer use of the new installment financing tool in the U.S. climbed to an all-time high in December, although heady growth rates are slowing, an analyst report said. In any case, overall market penetration remains low.

  Retail

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  Save-now, buy-later startup raises $25M

  Amid the buy now-pay later buzz, fintech Accrue Savings is going a different route. CEO Michael Hershfield said Accrue is on a mission to encourage consumers to save.

  Retail

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  Powell says Fed paper on CBDC is weeks away

  The oft-delayed digital currency white paper is coming "within weeks," Powell said Tuesday, but is "an exercise in asking questions and seeking input ... rather than taking a lot of positions."

  Banking

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  Merchant group prods Fed on debit routing proposal

  The Merchants Payments Coalition took Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's appearance before Congress this week as an opportunity to call out the central bank's slow-moving review of a debit routing proposal.

  Retail

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  Column

  Why consumers like me are getting a barrage of credit card offers

  Think it's weird that my cat got offered a credit card? That's part of the wave of offers arriving as card issuers and their processing networks seek to recover from a COVID-19 credit spending drop.

  Risk

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  Is there an expiration date on Visa's main growth engine?

  One analyst thinks so. Mizuho Securities Analyst Dan Dolev, who has been covering Visa for about three years, downgraded his rating on the largest U.S. card network company because he expects time is running out on consumers converting from cash to cards.

  Retail

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  Payments firms see slam dunk opportunity with sports venues

  Digital payments players are charging into the sports and events space, bringing new technologies to arenas they say can improve the fan experience and unlock a trove of data.

  Retail

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  Opinion

  Card reward programs are the rising tide to lift all boats

  The chairman of the Electronic Payments Coalition argues "Americans— regardless of income—love their credit card rewards programs." And the programs benefit consumers and merchants alike, he contends.

  Retail

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  Crypto, privacy lead legislative priorities for payment trade group

  The Electronic Transactions Association said legislative moves related to those issues will be among the most important it's tracking this year at the state and federal government levels.

  Banking

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  ATMs headed the way of the payphone

  As cash use declines, ATMs are disappearing. The U.S. count for such automated tellers peaked in 2019 and is headed down, according to data from the research firm Euromonitor International.

  Banking

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  The potential payments peril of punishing Russia

  The international community is weighing kicking Russia out of the Swift global payments network as a sanction for the country's aggression in Ukraine, but it could backfire.

  Banking

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  Payments deals pile up in 2021

  More than $50 billion in acquisitions were announced last year by companies in the payments arena. That wasn't a record, but it still ranked among one of the industry's busiest years for deal-making.

  Retail

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  American Express delays new work model due to omicron

  The company, which had expected to bring more employees back to U.S. offices later this month, isn't alone in postponing return plans due to another rise in COVID-19 cases.

  Regulations & Policy

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  7 payments trends for 2022 as innovation climbs

  From cross-border services to BNPL to cybersecurity tools, there will be no shortage of innovation and competition in the payments industry as businesses and their regulators shape new digital tools in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

  Retail

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  Opinion

  Payments are becoming invisible. Here's why that's a good thing.

  "The next great evolution will see payments fully disappear into simplified, holistic commerce platforms," according to a U.S. Bank payments executive. That new era "will be here faster than you think."

  Banking

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  Payments firms raised record sums in 2021

  It was a banner year for payments startups in 2021, as they raked in nearly $32 billion in investments, according to research firm CB Insights. This year could be even hotter.

  Retail

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  Green Dot, PayPal helped recover $400M in stolen relief funds

  Criminals have swindled nearly $100 billion through fraudulent applications since the start of the pandemic in the U.S., the agency said. Some payment companies aided in the effort to recover the money, CNBC reported.

  Regulations & Policy

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  Mastercard buys AI firm Dynamic Yield from McDonald's

  Combining Mastercard's payment expertise and Dynamic Yield's AI capabilities could help McDonald's strengthen its digital ordering strategy, as the fast-food chain pivots toward outsourcing its technology. The card company may benefit from further scaling the Yield AI business across other industries.

  Restaurants

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  Community banks group launches lower-cost P2P option

  Unlike other platforms, the new alternative to Zelle lets consumers send money over the platform of their choice.

  Retail

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