The Federal Reserve’s release last week of a discussion paper exploring a central bank digital currency for the United States has evoked interest from a group that emerged two years ago to help launch just such an initiative. The Digital Dollar Project on Friday applauded the Fed’s effort and underscored …

Looking to help fintechs speed development of new banking applications, Unit, a banking-as-a-service platform, announced Thursday a pilot production environment that allows fintechs to instantly build and validate applications using real funds. The new product is expected to enable fintechs to build and test live bank accounts and issue virtual …

The Federal Reserve Board released a paper Thursday afternoon on the question of a central bank digital currency for the United States, and even though the Fed would play a crucial role in any such venture, observers looking for hints on how the central bank is leaning on the issue …

Add Las Vegas’s T-Mobile Arena to Shift4 Payments Inc.’s growing list of sports and entertainment venues to which the company provides payment processing. T-Mobile Arena is home to the National Hockey League’s Las Vegas Golden Knights franchise and hosts other entertainment events on the Las Vegas strip.  Shift4 will process …

Terminal maker Verifone Inc. expanded its buy now pay later options Tuesday through a partnership with Affirm Inc. The deal will enable merchants using Verifone terminals to automatically offer Affirm as a payment option online and in-store. Merchants will be able to offer Affirm’s full range of payment options, including …

Celero Commerce made its second acquisition in a month with its deal to acquire Omega Technology, a Fort Thomas, Ky.-based payments provider. Nashville, Tenn.-based Celero says the combined company will process payments for more than 50,000 merchants at approximately $20 billion in annual card volume. Celero acquired Everest Payment Solutions in …

Amazon.com Inc.’s decision to pull back from its threat to stop accepting Visa cards issued in the United Kingdom may have evoked a sigh of relief among some consumers, not to mention at Visa itself, but it also could betoken some complex dynamics behind the decision-making at both corporate giants. …

Mastercard Inc. said it is enabling Mastercard-branded cards to be used for purchases on Coinbase’s upcoming NFT marketplace. NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are digital goods.Accounting-automation company Bookkeep announced integrations with Stripe, Sage Intacct, and NetSuite. The company, which serves more than 600 retailers and restaurants, also offers links to Shopify, Square, Amazon, and …

Stripe Inc. announced Monday a five-year deal with Ford Credit, Ford Motor Company’s financial-services arm, to develop new e-commerce applications for Ford customers and dealers in North America and Europe. The agreement also includes processing payments for the automaker’s dealer network and providing Ford dealers with an improved payment-acceptance platform.  …

Open banking, single-click checkout wallets, and the hot buy now, pay later trend will all help drive e-commerce volume worldwide in the coming five years, predicts Juniper Research in a report released Monday. This momentum is likely to push online sales long after the short-term impetus from the pandemic subsides, …