American Express Co. posted second-quarter numbers Friday indicating the card giant is very nearly back to its pre-pandemic performance and reflecting a steady recovery from the travel restrictions that hampered the company for most of 2020. Driving the improved results was steady improvement in the company’s vital travel-and-entertainment business and …

Visa Inc. has been concentrating on building out its “network-of-networks” strategy for some time, and it’s latest move in that project came early Thursday with the news that it has agreed to acquire Currency Cloud Ltd., a London-based developer of application programming interfaces that can simplify cross-border payments. The deal values …

Card-based cryptocurrency transactions at the point of sale require conversion of the crypto assets to fiat currency for acceptance by the card networks. Now, the two top card networks are starting to change that. Mastercard Inc. early Tuesday said it will work with a pair of issuing banks and several …

For years, one of the fastest-growing trends in payments has been the idea of weaving transactional capability into business and consumer software. Now, one of the most prominent platforms in that business has launched a network to help connect software firms with payments companies and resources. “We’re doubling down on …

The buy now, pay later trend has gained enough steam that the major card networks can’t afford to ignore it. The latest evidence that the credit card giants want to hedge their bets came this week with the news that Discover Financial Services invested $30 million in Minneapolis-based Sezzle Inc., …

As banks, merchants, and fintechs scramble to win share in the payments business, they can easily lose sight of the fact that not all payments process properly. In fact, many don’t. Some two-thirds of organizations sustain more than 20,000 failed payments each day, while the toll taken globally by all …

Wireless connectivity at faster speeds and with more reliable service could be more widely available to the payments industry in as few as two years or less. Mastercard Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc.’s Verizon Business unit announced Tuesday morning they intend to work together to make 5G connectivity available in …

With volumes rising fast in both e-commerce generally and in the buy now, pay later business, BNPL payments provider Klarna AB has made a play to secure its position in both markets. The company announced Friday it has acquired Hero Towers Ltd., a 6-year-old social-shopping service that lets consumers interact …

The SPAC trend has come to the blockchain industry. Circle Internet Financial Inc. announced early Thursday it has agreed to be acquired by Concord Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, in a deal that will take Circle public and values the 8-year-old company at $4.5 billion. That valuation would …

As the gig economy grows, startups are emerging to meet an expanding market for payment. An especially ambitious example is Willa Inc., which on Wednesday announced an $18-million Series A funding round led by FinTech Collective and including sums from existing investors EQT Ventures and Entrée Capital. The Ventura, Calif.-based …