Visa follows Mastercard in disclosing potential impact from Russia-Ukraine conflict

Visa disclosed Wednesday that Russia and Ukraine made up 5% of its 2021 revenue. Mastercard earlier in the week called Russia and Ukraine "important contributors" to its business and said sanctions triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine could impact 6% of its revenue.

By Lynne Marek • March 2, 2022

Affirm, Klarna meet CFPB deadline, others mum

There’s plenty at stake in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proceedings. The buy now-pay later companies were asked for voluminous amounts of data that could lead to additional scrutiny in the future.

By Jonathan Berr • March 1, 2022

Explore the Trendline➔

Embedded payment tools make inroads

Business customers demanding integrated tools is likely to keep driving a trend toward more embedded payments tools.

By Payments Dive staff

FTC report shows consumer fraud losses jumped last year

Consumers lost a whopping $5.9 billion to fraud in 2021, with bank payments and cryptocurrency transactions generating the highest losses, the government report said.

By Caitlin Mullen • March 1, 2022

Toast gears up for growth despite challenges

Toast CFO Elena Gomez says helping the company weather different markets is an opportunity for a CFO to demonstrate leadership, and she's focusing on what she can control, which is executing the growth plan.

By Maura Webber Sadovi • March 1, 2022

Zip to buy Sezzle in bid for US expansion

The Australian buy now-pay later company agreed to buy Minneapolis-based Sezzle as it seeks scale in the U.S. and positions itself to take on larger competitors such as Block's Afterpay. 

By Lynne Marek • Feb. 28, 2022

Consumers prefer physical gift cards, despite digital growth

Nearly half of consumers polled by payments processor Fiserv bought more digital gift cards than physical ones amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but a slight majority still favor the hard copy version.

By Caitlin Mullen • Feb. 23, 2022

BNPL provider Sezzle moves into healthcare

The service may appeal to the nearly 30 million people in the U.S. that the Kaiser Family Foundation estimates lack health insurance, or the 43% of adults the nonprofit Commonwealth Fund estimates are underinsured against the costs of medical treatment.

By Jonathan Berr • Feb. 22, 2022

Firms tackle ballooning BNPL fraud

In another sign of buy now-pay later’s skyrocketing popularity, companies that tackle fraud are rolling out tools to address risk related to the payment option.

By Caitlin Mullen • Feb. 22, 2022

Klarna puts BNPL on a card

After a U.K. rollout last month, the Swedish buy now-pay later firm is bringing its physical Visa card to the U.S. – but not before making prospective cardholders wait.

By Caitlin Mullen • Feb. 17, 2022

Visa, Amazon settle fee dispute

Although the dispute was tied to Visa cards originating in the U.K., the settlement was global in scope. Neither the e-commerce behemoth or the card giant provided details.

By Jonathan Berr • Feb. 17, 2022

Discover backs card-free payments

As the discussion around credit card swipe fees heats up, Discover Financial Services is partnering with a fintech company that enables consumers to make direct electronic payments from their checking accounts through merchant apps.

By Caitlin Mullen • Feb. 16, 2022

Decline of cash spotlights swipe fees

"At a time when the economy is still building back from the pandemic, these rising fees desperately need to be brought under control, and the rapid move toward an all-electronic economy with little cash makes the need to do so all the more urgent," writes National Retail Federation Vice President Leon Buck.

By Leon Buck • Feb. 16, 2022

SIM swap schemes threaten mobile payments

The FBI says SIM card swap fraud, where cybercrooks snatch sensitive data from mobile phones, is on the rise. The Federal Communications Commission is trying to do something about it, but it's not an easy crime to stop.

By Mercedes Cardona • Feb. 15, 2022

Frictionless checkout startup adds convenience store partner

Grabango's frictionless checkout system will appear in two Mapco convenience stores in Tennessee later in 2022, and deployments with grocers will likely ramp up next year, Grabango founder and CEO Will Glaser said.

By Sam Silverstein • Feb. 15, 2022

Consumer spending withstands omicron, inflation: Visa, Mastercard

Consumer spending has risen across multiple categories despite inflation and omicron concerns, Visa and Mastercard indicated in recent reports.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Feb. 14, 2022

Global Payments puts Netspend on sales block

The Atlanta payments processor aims to offload its Netspend consumer debit card business so it can focus more exclusively on B2B operations. "We intend to retain its B2B assets as we further expand this new pillar of our strategy," the company's CEO said.

By Lynne Marek • Feb. 11, 2022

Apple offers merchants phone pay tool

The new iPhone feature won't require additional hardware and will work on iPhone XS or subsequent devices. Apple is playing catch-up with rivals in the market, and bringing new competition, too.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Feb. 9, 2022

UnionPay expands pact with Fiserv

Fiserv tapped UnionPay to expand services internationally, allowing the Shanghai-based card company to reach more consumers and merchants. "We have several notable international wins in the quarter, including an expanded partnership with UnionPay International," said Fiserv CFO Bob Hau during the company's Tuesday earnings call.

By Lynne Marek • Feb. 8, 2022

Apple eyes more payments services

Will Apple angling for a bigger push into the payments sector roil the competitive landscape? Rival Block, and its point-of-sale service, may be squarely in the tech giant's sights.

By Jonathan Berr • Feb. 4, 2022

Big banks best fintechs in merchant satisfaction survey

Industry-wide efforts to streamline fee structures, improve customer support and speed up payments have merchants more satisfied with their card payment processors, a J.D. Power study found.

By Caitlin Mullen • Feb. 4, 2022

Retail startup links with UST for checkout tech

Checkout technology provider UST Global is partnering with Georgia retail startup Nourish + Bloom Market to launch an autonomous grocery store concept with a plan to open some 500 locations.

By Sam Silverstein • Feb. 3, 2022

PayPal scraps account growth goal

The digital payments company shifted away from a plan to collect 750 million customer accounts by 2025, after reporting a fourth-quarter drop in profits and forecasting slower revenue growth this year. 

By Lynne Marek • Feb. 2, 2022

Card companies count on travel recovery

Rising international travel late last year was a boon for card companies, until the omicron variant arrived. Now, Visa, Mastercard and the other card companies are just beginning to see positive signs of that cross-border travel recovery again.

By Lynne Marek • Jan. 28, 2022

Amazon plans suburban stores with grab-and-go tech

Like Amazon's urban Go locations, the suburban stores — slated to open in Washington and California — will feature the e-commerce giant's Just Walk Out frictionless checkout technology.

By Sam Silverstein • Jan. 27, 2022

Walmart buys into 'super app' services

The retailer's fintech startup said it will buy earned wage access facilitator Even and digital financial services company One Finance to help Walmart sell consumers a financial services "super app."

By Lynne Marek • Jan. 27, 2022