The pandemic has “fast-tracked” adoption of the automated clearing house network for business-to-business payments, while transactions cleared and settled through the network on the same day they’re initiated are booming, according to full-year 2021 numbers released Thursday by Nacha, the governing body for the nationwide network. The annual results complement …

As all payments companies know, some active accounts are more active than others. On Tuesday, PayPal Holdings Inc.’s top executives made it plain the company’s 2022 priority is to emphasize—and pour money into promoting—accountholder activity. “The shift is, we’re not going to throw marketing dollars at low-value customers coming in,” …

Silvergate Capital Corp. late Monday confirmed widespread reports that it has acquired assets from the stablecoin venture Diem Group. The deal, valued at $182 million in cash and stock, includes Diem’s intellectual property and “other technology assets related to running a blockchain-based payment network,” according to the announcement. The La …

Consumers worldwide went online in unprecedented numbers following the onset of the pandemic, but along with that trend comes an increasing need to establish the identities of users, according to a report issued Monday by Juniper Research. As a result, revenue for companies around the world that develop technology that …

Visa Inc.’s top executives made it plain Thursday afternoon that the story of the company’s growth into the near future is threefold, including cryptocurrency, cross-border transactions, and the buy now, pay later trend. “Visa is enabling scale for BNPL, crypto, and wallets,” Visa chief executive Alfred Kelly told equity analysts …

Top executives at Mastercard Inc. made it plain early Thursday the card network is determined to develop its account-to-account payment capabilities, while maintaining its distance from the dispute between its rival Visa Inc. and the e-commerce juggernaut Amazon.com Inc. over transaction pricing. “That’s fundamentally a question for Visa and Amazon,” …

The turbulent story of the Diem digital currency recorded yet another twist with reports on Tuesday that the two-and-a-half-year-old project is seeking to dispose of its assets. The latest news, first reported by Bloomberg, comes less than a year after the Diem Association moved its headquarters from Switzerland to the …

American Express Co. saw its crucial travel-and-entertainment business continue to recover in the final three months of 2021, leading top company executives Tuesday morning to express considerable optimism for 2022. But don’t look any time soon for the New York City-based card giant to make any major forays into buy …

The Federal Reserve’s release last week of a discussion paper exploring a central bank digital currency for the United States has evoked interest from a group that emerged two years ago to help launch just such an initiative. The Digital Dollar Project on Friday applauded the Fed’s effort and underscored …

The Federal Reserve Board released a paper Thursday afternoon on the question of a central bank digital currency for the United States, and even though the Fed would play a crucial role in any such venture, observers looking for hints on how the central bank is leaning on the issue …