The Covid-19 virus is taking a fearful toll not only on lives but also on U.S. commerce, and now even everyday staples are feeling the pinch. Grocery stores saw a sharp spike in card-based purchase volume in March as consumers scrambled to lay in supplies against the rapid spread of …
Read More »PayPal Announces Fee And Loan Relief for Merchants Impacted by Covid-19
As the Covid-19 pandemic impacts businesses worldwide, global payments companies are starting to respond with relief. The latest is PayPal Holdings Inc., which on Tuesday announced several measures aimed at cutting fees and deferring loan payments for merchants. More than 24 million businesses accept payments or other services from PayPal. …
Read More »Dwolla Appoints Payscape’s Harris to Succeed Founder Milne As CEO
Dwolla Inc. said Monday it has hired Brady Harris to be its new chief executive, replacing founder Ben Milne. Harris comes to the Des Moines, Iowa-based payments provider from Payscape, an Atlanta-based merchant processor. Milne, who indicated this winter he wanted to step down as CEO, will stay with Dwolla …
Read More »With Stimulus Cash Pending, a Fintech Works With Banks to Get Money to the Underbanked
With the U.S. House of Representatives expected to sign off Friday on a $2 trillion stimulus bill in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic ravaging the United States, some payments executives are focusing on how to get a share of that cash into the hands of the country’s underbanked and …
Read More »Prepaid Payments Veteran Dan Henry Takes Over at Green Dot As the Firm Looks to Rebound
After what it calls a “comprehensive search process,” prepaid-payments and banking-services provider Green Dot Corp. has found a new chief executive to replace founder and long-time CEO Steven Streit. The Pasadena, Calif.-based company said Wednesday payments veteran Daniel Henry is taking over from interim CEO William Jacobs, who has served …
Read More »In Response to Infection Concerns, the U.K. Raises Its Contactless Payment Cap by 50%
With much of the world locked down in combatting the novel coronavirus pandemic, a financial trade group in the United Kingdom said Tuesday the country would increase the spending limit on contactless transactions by 50% effective April 1. The move will allow consumers to pay without touching a keypad or …
Read More »WorldRemit Partners With Paykii to Enable Users in One Country to Pay Bills Digitally in Another
Often overlooked in the market for digital bill payments is the need for immigrants, expats, and other persons living in one country to pay bills to service providers based in another country. To make that connection, international remittance service WorldRemit Ltd. said on Monday it is working with bill-payment platform Paykii …
Read More »Experts Expect Even Faster Growth for Same-Day ACH As a $100,000 Cap Goes Into Effect
Faster payments got a boost Friday as Nacha, the governing body for the nation’s automated clearing house network, raised the limit on same-day payments from $25,000 to $100,000. The move follows a similar action earlier this year by The Clearing House Payments Co. for real-time transactions and is expected to …
Read More »Square Wins FDIC And Utah Approvals for Its ILC, Sparking Heated Banking Opposition
The federal government and the state of Utah this week cleared the way for a controversial industrial loan corporation to be set up by Square Inc. that could help the payments company cement ties with its merchant base. But the approvals also drew fierce opposition from banking groups concerned about …
Read More »No Safe Haven: Bitcoin And Other Cryptos Plunge Along With Equities in the Face of the Coronavirus
As stock markets swoon in the face of the novel coronavirus outbreak and its effects, prices for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are sliding as well, disproving at least for now the idea that cryptos can serve as a so-called safe haven for investors. Bitcoin, the leading digital currency, was trading at …
Read More »