Person-to-Person Payments

Months after the introduction of Google Wallet, Alphabet Inc. announced late Tuesday it is expanding the availability of the digital wallet to 12 more countries, bringing the total number of countries where the wallet is available to 57. Users will now also be able to make the wallet available on …

Varo Bank early Tuesday announced it has become the first digital neobank to be admitted to the Zelle peer-to-peer payments network. The bank, a unit of the 7-year-old, San Francisco-based Varo Money Inc., said it will now offer payments via Zelle through its mobile app. “Adding Zelle to our product …

As clients of payment gateways turn to them for more than connectivity to multiple processors, choosing a gateway becomes more complex. The 2022 edition of The Strawhecker Group’s Payment Gateway Directory hopes to help with that, even as gateways’ role expands. Payment gateways are a key driver in the payments …

Buy now, pay later provider Klarna AB said its service is now included in Viva Wallet, a European payment platform. Klarna says it serves 150 million active users globally, conducting 2 million daily transactions.In the wake of the implosion of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Silvergate Capital Corp. said FTX’s deposits at the bank totaled $11.9 …

Overall consumer spending per household moderated in October compared to September, up 2.9% year-over-year vs. 3.2%, according to a study from Bank of America Institute. Still, total transactions for the bank—cards, ACH, wires, bill pay, P2P, cash, and checks—increased 9%. Payments provider Green Dot Corp. reported consolidated gross dollar volume of $18.7 billion …

California grocer Ralphs has begun accepting Apple Pay in its 184 locations in the state, reported MacRumors.com, citing a company spokesperson. Ralphs is part of the Kroger Co., which Digital Transactions News reported in 2020 was testing contactless payments at some of its locations. Kroger launched its proprietary mobile-payments service Kroger Pay in 2019, but has …

During its third-quarter earnings call late Thursday, PayPal Holdings Inc. announced a multi-pronged omnichannel strategy with Apple Inc. to enhance the company’s offerings for PayPal and Venmo merchants, as well as consumers. Topping the list was PayPal’s announcement that it plans to support Apple Tap to Pay on iPhones. The initiative …

Block Inc. is the parent of the well-known Square point-of-sale equipment and processing business, but it’s the company’s Cash App unit that has been stealing a steadily growing share of the limelight at the 13-year-old company. And now Block is working to find ways to link its two big units …

SoundExchange, a non-profit that collects and distributes digital performance royalties for sound recordings, is now enabling registered soundtrack creators to receive royalty payments through Zelle and Block Inc.’s Cash App mobile-payment service. Washington D.C.-based SoundExchange is a non-profit collective rights-management organization designated by Congress to collect and distribute digital-performance royalties …

Two U.S.-based fintechs focused on blockchain payments technology have expanded their footprint into Singapore, giving both companies a jumping-off point for expanding their respective businesses in Asia. Circle Internet Financial LLC, a Boston-based company specializing in commercial blockchain and crypto applications, has received provisional approval from the Monetary Authority of …