Despite inflation hitting a 40-year high, consumer spending during the back-to-school season is projected to increase 7.5%, excluding automotive sales, from 2021 levels, according to Mastercard Inc.’s SpendingPulse, which measures in-store and online retail sales across all forms of payment, not adjusted for inflation.  Department stores are expected to be …

Abra, a financial-services company specializing in digital assets, and American Express Co. have announced they will offer a rewards credit card that will let users pay with U.S. dollars but earn rewards in cryptocurrency. The new card, expected to debut late this year, will feature benefits such as Amex Offers, …

Despite a persistent shortage of microchips, global shipments of contactless cards hit the 2-billion mark for the first time in 2021, totaling 2.63 billion for the year, according to the Smart Payment Association, a Munich-based trade group.  Propelling the surge was the shipment of an additional 269 million contactless cards …

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has sent a letter to the chief executives of JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, Bank of America, Capital One, Discover, and American Express asking them to explain the practice of omitting data about consumers’ monthly credit card payments when sending information to credit-reporting companies. The CFPB contends the …

Mastercard Inc. says the future of payments at the point of sale includes the ability to make a point-of-sale payment using a facial image without having to present a credit or debit card or a mobile device. Under its new Biometric Checkout Program, Mastercard has begun testing the service, the …

In a nod to consumers’ preference to have all the contents of a physical wallet digitized—including driver’s licenses and vaccine cards, in addition to payment cards—Alphabet Inc.’s Google subsidiary has introduced a new Google Wallet. The new wallet, which Google plans to make available in more than 40 countries, is …

A key business for international card companies is cross-border travel, which took a big hit with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic early in 2020. But now it appears that business is staging a comeback. Mastercard Inc. reported Thursday its cross-border volume in March climbed above numbers last seen in …

Fiserv Inc. in recent years hasn’t been shy about entering new businesses, and now the company is preparing for an expansion of its stake in a market that has picked up considerable momentum in recent years: the data management that lies at the foundation of such operations as open banking. …

With consumers—and criminals—flocking to e-commerce, card issuers and merchants are not only experiencing a significant increase in fraud, but also in so-called friendly fraud committed by cardholders who dispute legitimate purchases after the fact. As a result, merchants’ need for stronger cardholder verification tools is growing. To address that need, …

Visa Inc. has spent more than $9 billion over the past five years to boost cybersecurity and reduce fraud, according to an announcement the network made in a blog post Tuesday. Of that amount, $500 million has been spent on artificial intelligence and data infrastructure. As a result of its …