Flywire Corp., a specialist in payments for higher education, said it has widened the availability of its third-party invoicing platform, which lets third parties pay tuition and fees on behalf of students. Buy now, pay later provider Afterpay said Gen Z consumers—those born between 1997 and 2012—increased first-quarter 2024 spending at small …

The National Retail Federation and the Merchants Payments Coalition have lined up against the Federal Reserve, arguing that while a rate reduction on debit card transactions is welcome, the Fed’s proposed pricing does not go far enough. The two industry trade groups sent their respective letters to the Fed on …

Paysafe Ltd. wants to do more to sign merchants directly, and to that end it’s hiring salespeople—lots of them. The London-based merchant processor, which has a big operation in North America and aspirations for a larger one, hired 55 salespeople in the first quarter and plans to add 170 in …

Block Inc.’s Square point-of-sale technology unit announced a slew of restaurant initiatives, including a link with distributor Performance Foodservice to market Square to 125,000 U.S. and Canada-based clients; integrations with dining-technology providers; links to restaurant associations in Illinois, California, and New York state; and a recommendation engine based on machine learning. Square …

More Americans are being asked to tip, but it doesn’t seem to have much positive impact for some workers, especially those employed by restaurants. Only 29% of these workers say their tips have increased in the past year, according to the “Beyond Gratuity: Perspective of Restaurant Staff Tipping Practices” report …

Text-to-pay technology received a boost late Thursday as San Francisco-based fintech EarnUp Inc. launched a text-to-pay app for mortgage lenders. The white-label app allows lenders to send text reminders of upcoming mortgage payments with an embedded link to make payments using a debit card. Consumers can initiate payment using Apple …

Square, the acquiring arm of Block Inc., is the latest to launch a dedicated kiosk for quick-service restaurants. Announced Tuesday, Square Kiosk combines hardware and software to enable self-ordering and payment. Available later this summer for all Square for Restaurants merchants, Square Kiosk accepts multiple payment methods including contactless and …

Chase, the banking arm of giant JPMorgan Chase & Co., introduced a suite of digital products it says will help small businesses improve their cash flow and payment processing. Among the services are the ability to choose a payment speed, such as standard automated clearing house, same-day ACH, or real-time …

The war over the proposed Credit Card Competition Act shows no signs of abating as combatants on both sides of the fence continue their efforts to sway legislators and public opinion on the matter of card-acceptance costs. The latest battle centers on data from payments consultancy CMSPI that says merchants …

It’s May, and that means it’s time for our annual exercise to seek out and describe the payments players, apart from the big networks, that are rewriting the rules for the digital exchange of value. Capital One Financial Corp.’s bombshell announcement in February that it is offering to acquire Discover …