Robinhood's acquisition of crypto firm puts UK, Europe in its sights

The purchase of Ziglu, which is in the good graces of the Financial Conduct Authority, marks the second attempt by the stock-trading app to broach the U.K. market. Terms of the deal were not disclosed Tuesday.

By Dan Ennis • April 19, 2022

Revolut, Cross River link up to offer US consumer loans

Customers who use the personal loan offering, which will be available in the coming months, won't be subject to late fees, origination fees or prepayment penalties, neobank Revolut said.

By Anna Hrushka • April 19, 2022

Explore the Trendline➔

Payments industry seeks to keep pace with fraudsters

As losses from fraud in payments have climbed, companies are seeking new tools to combat illicit schemes.

By Payments Dive staff

Waiting for action on hidden cross-border fees

An executive with the cross-border payments company Wise Payments calls on the federal government to expose the hidden fees buried in international remittance transactions.

By Rina Wulfing • April 18, 2022

Lawmakers seek to cancel card fee increases

Four members of Congress are suddenly pushing Visa and Mastercard to cancel the credit card "swipe" fee increases they planned to impose this month. The lawmakers cited inflation and a lack of competition in the card industry.

By Lynne Marek • April 18, 2022

Mastercard, Interos partner on risk management tools

Mastercard's new partnership with the software provider is the latest in a string of added ties to fintechs aimed at expanding its payments and risk assessment tool offering.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • April 14, 2022

Inflation hands cards a mixed bag

Higher spending due to inflation is poised to drive up credit card volumes, according to an S&P Global Market Intelligence report. Card issuers have been eager to see stronger loan growth, but if delinquencies rise, that could be concerning for the industry.

By Caitlin Mullen • April 13, 2022

Despite pandemic, travel perks draw premium cardholders

Travel-related benefits remained a favorite perk for premium credit cardholders, according to a S&P Global Market Intelligence report, even as the COVID-19 pandemic has squashed travel plans. But as card issuers have hiked premium card fees, they may have hit the limit on cardholders' willingness to pay more.

By Caitlin Mullen • April 12, 2022

Payments players caught in venture capital squeeze

The flow of venture capital to startups ebbed in the first quarter for the biggest quarterly decline since 2012. Payments players, which have been big beneficiaries of such investments, are beginning to feel the pinch.

By Lynne Marek • April 12, 2022

Amex takes on banks in bid for new generation of clients

With the launch of its new checking service, American Express aims to expand its relationship with cardmembers — and not miss out on attracting consumers drawn to debit cards. 

By Caitlin Mullen • April 11, 2022

CBDC will take years to develop, Yellen says

Despite new technologies, payments often take too long, the treasury secretary said in her first remarks on digital assets since a March executive order on the topic. Regardless of where assets are stored, regulation should be "tech neutral," she said.

By Dan Ennis • April 8, 2022

FDIC: Banks should alert agency of their crypto-related pursuits

The regulator said it supports safe and sound innovations, but is concerned that the risks associated with crypto assets and crypto-related activities are not well understood.

By Anna Hrushka • April 8, 2022

Toomey bill envisions 'payment' stablecoins

The Republican senator's draft bill would preserve state-registered money transmitter status for most existing stablecoin issuers and would clarify that insured depository institutions are permitted to issue the digital currency.

By Anna Hrushka • April 8, 2022

Banks aren't likely to undercut cards with Zelle

The banks earn billions of dollars from credit and debit card interchange fees so why would they want Zelle stepping in to connect consumers directly to bank accounts? "Banks would never want to jeopardize interchange revenue," said one analyst.

By Lynne Marek • April 7, 2022

There was no stopping credit card fee hikes this year

Merchants are incurring tens of millions of dollars in additional interchange, or "swipe," fee increases that the big credit card companies Mastercard and Visa are deploying. There was a loud silence about the inevitability of those boosts this year.

By Lynne Marek • April 7, 2022

Crypto buyers see long-term investment value

As cryptocurrency adoption grows worldwide, many Americans are increasingly interested in it, according to several new surveys. However, many consumers acknowledge they still don’t fully understand cryptocurrencies.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • April 6, 2022

Russian Mir payments may benefit from US exit

While overall Russian card payments volume is expected to decline as U.S. card companies exit the country, Russia's Mir payments system and related cards may benefit, according to new research. U.S. payments companies are expected to forgo about $2.4 billion in annual revenue.

By Jonathan Berr • April 6, 2022

Digital outages resolved, Amex says

An American Express spokesperson said Wednesday all systems were working once again, after some customers had encountered website and mobile app outages that persisted through the weekend.

By Caitlin Mullen • Updated April 6, 2022

U.S. Bank teams with Lithia on real-time payments tool

U.S. Bank and Lithia Motors are teaming up to test a new real-time payments tool for customers selling their used cars to the auto dealer in their driveways. The pilot in Portland, Oregon, is expected to be rolled out nationwide this year.

By Lynne Marek • April 4, 2022

Sen. Cruz seeks to restrict Fed role for CBDC

Sen. Ted Cruz's legislation, which follows a companion House bill introduced earlier this year, would prevent the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency directly to consumers.

By Jonathan Berr • April 1, 2022

Cross River reaches $3B valuation, eyes global expansion

The banking-as-a-service company, has a sweet spot in payments. Cross River's clients include payments juggernaut Stripe, buy now-pay later provider Affirm and crypto exchange Coinbase.

By Anna Hrushka • March 31, 2022

CEOs Sound Off: Confronting a lack of diversity in payments

Payments CEOs recognize the need to draw more women and people of color into the industry, and the need to promote them. To effect change, these CEOs are changing job descriptions, casting a wider net in recruiting and showcasing how they're different.

By Lynne Marek • March 31, 2022

Congress mulls a different digital dollar

While talk of a digital dollar has mainly focused on creation of a central bank digital currency through the Federal Reserve, a group of House Democrats on Monday proposed legislation that pivots in a different direction, creating an electronic dollar through a new program administered by the Treasury Department.

By Lynne Marek • March 29, 2022

4 steps to modernize your company's money movement

What you need to know and consider as you set up payment operations for your business.

March 28, 2022

Shift4's Finaro purchase entangled with Russian oligarch

With its acquisition of financial services firm Finaro, Allentown, Pennsylvania-based payments company Shift4 awaits not only European regulatory approval but also a license from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control due to a Russian oligarch’s minority stake in Finaro.

By Caitlin Mullen • March 25, 2022

Fed's Powell lists 4 qualifications for a US CBDC

A digital dollar must ensure user privacy, be "identity verifiable," be "intermediated" and be widely accepted as a means of payment, the central bank chief said Wednesday during a panel discussion hosted by the Bank for International Settlements.

By Dan Ennis • March 24, 2022