The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is looking at creating a rule to define so-called larger companies in the consumer-payments industry, according to a notice the regulator posted on Tuesday. The rule if established would clarify the CFPB’s supervisory authority with respect to nonbank payments companies, lending more impetus to a …

Few retail markets have rebounded from Covid lockdowns as fast as restaurants have. And few have attracted as much attention from payments companies. No wonder. Sales at what the National Restaurant Association calls “eating and drinking places” in the United States totaled $88.1 billion in April, up 0.6% from March. …

As proponents and adversaries wrangle over the newly resurrected Credit Card Competition Act, a market-research firm has raised by more than one-third its estimate of how much the bill could save U.S. merchants. A year ago, the firm, Atlanta-based CMS Payments Intelligence Inc., calculated the bill would result in $11 …

The Credit Card Competition Act is making a comeback, this time with more bipartisan support. The bill, originally launched last summer by Sens. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan,), is expected to be reintroduced in the Senate, apparently with few changes, as early as this week, according to an …

Two major practitioners of the art of payments orchestration have announced cloud-based payments vaults within hours of each other. Both new services, from Spreedly Inc. and Gr4vy Inc., promise sophisticated management of a wide range of payments data in a bid for more efficient transaction routing and settlement on behalf …

Fiserv Inc. will discontinue its longstanding Popmoney peer-to-peer payments service on June 30, the processing giant said, following notices being posted by participating banks. The move comes as the processing giant shifts its priorities to supporting the bank-owned Zelle network, according to a Fiserv spokesperson. “Due to the tremendous success …

Citing a strong user preference for PayPal and Venmo, the digital-disbursements provider Onbe early Tuesday said it is adding the two channels to its menu of payment choices. The move brings two major payments platforms to the Chicago-based company’s payout options, which includes the mobile -payments providers Apple Pay and …

U.S. investment managers have grown bullish about Bitcoin’s prospects despite recent events that have roiled digital-currency markets, research released Wednesday indicates. Feeding the renewed optimism are prospects for “improved regulation” and expectations of a “recovery in valuations” for Bitcoin, according to the research, in which 30 major investment managers were …

PayPal Holdings Inc. announced early Monday it is launching a version of its Venmo peer-to-peer payment service tailored for teenagers. With the new program, parents holding a Venmo account can open one for a child aged 13 to 17 that will include a Mastercard debit card. Parents can exercise control …

Few, if any, business sectors are as hotly competitive these days for payments providers as hospitality, and in particular, restaurants. Major firms from Block Inc.’s Square unit to Toast Inc. to Shift4 Payments Inc. have big stakes in this market. But that hasn’t stopped one other entrant, Lightspeed Commerce Inc., …