Square buys BNPL player Afterpay for $29B

The acquisition of the Australian buy now-pay later company is 12-year-old Square's biggest ever. With it, CEO Jack Dorsey aims to expand both Square's product suite and geographic reach.

By Lynne Marek • Aug. 2, 2021

U.S. payments volume rises on B2B, Healthcare

The national automated payments network led by Nacha logged another quarterly record, with the digital payment volume for the second quarter jumping nearly 10% and the value of those transactions soaring almost 25%.

By Lynne Marek • Aug. 2, 2021

Explore the Trendline➔

Cross-border payments targeted for upgrades

When it comes to cross-border payments, businesses, non-profits and governments alike are determined to increase the speed of transactions and cut the cost.

By Payments Dive staff

Klarna acquires Apprl to boost retail marketing

By absorbing Apprl, Klarna will be better able to help retailers create social shopping content and track related sales.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Aug. 2, 2021

Google Pay taps Marqeta for virtual card

The two big payments brands are teaming up to deliver a virtual card that expands Google Pay users' purchasing power.

By Lynne Marek • July 29, 2021

PayPal builds services as EBay breaks away

The digital payments company's second-quarter net income slumped as it took a bigger blow than expected from "ripping off the Ebay band aid."

By Lynne Marek • July 29, 2021

Payment fintechs attract record capital in 2Q

Fintech startups supercharged by a rise in e-commerce drew more capital from investors in the first half of this year than ever before.

By Lynne Marek • Updated July 30, 2021

Mobile wallet use projected to surge

Mobile wallet use among North American consumers is growing, but not at the heady rates in other parts of the world, according to a new study that projects a worldwide surge.

By Wendy Cole • July 27, 2021

Payments M&A is hot, but deals could face antitrust scrutiny

The fintech industry faces “a wave of consolidation” for the remainder of 2021 and 2022, according to an industry report.

By Vaidik Trivedi • July 26, 2021

Card companies go green, but hurdles remain

Card issuers, networks and manufacturers are working to shrink their carbon footprint as consumers become more environmentally conscious and global carbon emissions climb.

By Vaidik Trivedi • July 22, 2021

Tap-to-phone payments expected to gain traction, industry experts say

As the need for mobile point-of-sale devices grows, companies are looking toward smartphones to streamline contactless payments.

By Vaidik Trivedi • July 22, 2021

Discover optimistic about robust growth in 2022, experiences low delinquencies

Discover is looking to "substantially increase" its share repurchase authorization and is optimistic about its "modest loan growth in 2021 and more robust growth next year," according to its Q2 earnings report.

By Vaidik Trivedi • July 22, 2021

How the pandemic has accelerated digital payments in telehealth

Digitalization can simplify the medical bill payment process and give patients more information, earlier on, about their financial responsibilities, experts say.

By J. Duncan Moore, Jr. • July 21, 2021

Failed payments cost over $33 billion for North American banks: report

The problem is costing financial services firms money and customers, the Accuity report found.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • July 20, 2021

Square launches business banking, savings products

Banking will allow Square to strengthen client relationships and drive higher customer lifetime value as it targets sellers who use the company's payment devices and inventory-management products, analysts said.

By Suman Bhattacharyya • July 20, 2021

Card companies' earnings likely to reflect rebound

U.S. consumers are boosting their credit card spending as the country emerges from COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, but that may not necessarily mean a windfall for card companies' second-quarter results being released over the next two weeks.

By Lynne Marek • July 19, 2021

Discover invests $30 million in BNPL company Sezzle

Discover becomes the latest card network company to jump into the burgeoning buy now-pay later space.

By Vaidik Trivedi • July 19, 2021

Powell clarifies timeline on Fed CBDC paper

In two congressional hearings this week, lawmakers grilled the central bank chair on digital dollar development and pressed for his second term — or a change in leadership.

By Dan Ennis • July 16, 2021

Onbe taps Janakiraman to replace Spottiswood as CEO

Onbe’s new CEO plans to double down on the company’s strategy for digitizing corporate payments.

By Vaidik Trivedi • July 16, 2021

Fed seeks to dismiss or move retailers' North Dakota lawsuit

Retail associations' case against the Fed's setting of debit fee caps is resurfacing familiar arguments from a prior battle over the issue. 

By Lynne Marek • July 16, 2021

It's CardX versus AmEx at state capitols nationwide

The startup CardX is fighting American Express from coast to coast as states reassess whether merchants should be able to slap surcharges on credit card purchases.

By Lynne Marek • July 15, 2021

Intuit's new Quickbooks card-reader joins the POS payments fray

With the debut of new payments hardware, the accounting software company is bolstering its bid for small business clients amid a slew of competitors.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • July 15, 2021

Visa rolls out BNPL for merchants

The credit card network company is making the new installment payment option available to merchants in Canada, where buy now-pay later adoption has been growing fast.

By Vaidik Trivedi • July 13, 2021

Sam's Club expands Scan & Go payment app

The updated app lets shoppers scan purchases, pick a payment option and ship them directly to their homes.  

By Maria Monteros • July 13, 2021

CBDCs could give 'clean slate' for cross-border payments, BIS report says

Global coordination for central bank digital currency "designs could lead to more efficient cross-currency and cross-border payments,” the Bank for International Settlements report this week said.

By Vaidik Trivedi • July 13, 2021

Merchants say they're losing revenue to online fraud, FIS report finds

Six in ten merchants across the globe reported higher rates of e-commerce fraud in 2020 and are struggling to cope with rising payments fraud that impacts business revenue, a recent FIS report stated. 

By Vaidik Trivedi • July 12, 2021