Law and Regulation

Square and Cash App parent Block Inc. announced late Thursday its Square Financial Services Inc. industrial bank has received approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to make consumer loans through Block’s Cash App Borrow feature. Square Financial Services launched as a Salt Lake City-based, FDIC-chartered industrial bank in 2021 …

A leading merchant association and a group representing stablecoin interests early Thursday threw their weight behind efforts to bring stablecoins into the payments mainstream in the United States. The move by the Merchant Payments Coalition and the Payment Choice Coalition seeks to “promote their shared goals of enhancing innovation, competition, …

The Electronic Payments Coalition has launched the latest salvo in its offensive against legislation seeking to regulate credit card interchange. This time the thrust takes aim at federal and state legislative efforts. At the federal level, EPC executive chairman Richard Hunt said during a press conference late Wednesday morning the …

E-commerce fraud prevention specialist Riskified has launched Adaptive Checkout, an app created to drive higher conversion rates by reducing false positives. The app leverages artificial intelligence to analyze each transaction based on its risk profile and the shopper’s purchase history. For example, a merchant’s best customers can be sent straight …

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday voted 51-47 to scrub a regulation issued in November by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and aimed at mobile wallets and digital money transfers. The repeal legislation, which now moves to the House of Representatives, comes as major payment-app developers like Apple Inc., Block Inc., …

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau late Tuesday dropped its lawsuit against Early Warning Services LLC, operator of the Zelle person-to-person payments network. The suit had also named Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo as defendants. The financial institutions are three of the seven bank owners of Early Warning. …

The Federal Reserve announced its FedNow real-time payments network this summer will raise its transaction limit to $1 million from $500,000. FedNow was launched in 2023. Kasheesh Inc. launched a loyalty program called Kasheesh Rewards, aimed at letting users earn rewards based on spending. Kasheesh’s platform allows users to split transactions across credit, debit, and …

With expectations growing that the Credit Card Competition Act will soon be reintroduced in Congress, proponents of the bill feel its prospects for passage are better than ever. Helping fuel this optimism is growing bipartisan support for the bill, proponents say. “The Senate Judiciary Committee [hearing in November] showed there …

Sightline Payments, a specialist in payments for the gaming industry, announced it has completed a recapitalization, with participation from “most” existing major investors. The 15-year-old company estimates the U.S. digital gaming industry at $30 billion in annual revenue. Generation Z is overwhelmingly adopting digital-payment methods, with 92% using peer-to-peer payment …

A top executive at Coinbase Global Inc. said Friday the Securities and Exchange Commission has withdrawn an enforcement action against the cryptocurrency platform, a move the executive lauded as a “victory not just for Coinbase, but for our customers, the United States, and individual freedom.” “We’ve always maintained that we …