TransferWise started out as an upstart processor enabling international remittances, but now it’s expanding into a much bigger arena. On Tuesday, it announced the availability of virtual accounts that let small businesses pay and receive payments internationally as if they had a local account. The service, called Borderless Account, covers …

Like it or not, Bitcoin has momentum behind it. On Saturday, the digital currency breached the $2,000 level for the first time ever, and by Monday morning it was trading just shy of $2,200, according to CoinDesk, an online service that tracks cryptocurrency. That represents a quintupling in value since …

• Universal Secure Registry LLC, a developer of computer-security and mobile-payment services, alleges in a federal lawsuit that Apple Inc. and Visa Inc. infringed on its patents for electronic payments and identity authentication as they developed their mobile-payment services. Apple and Visa did not immediately respond to requests for comment. • The …

• U.S. Rep. Ted Budd, R-N.C., a former retailer, delivered a speech in the House of Representatives in favor of repealing the Durbin Amendment, drawing praise from the Electronic Payments Coalition, a lobbying group for banks and card networks. The House is considering H.R. 10, the Financial Choice Act, which would overhaul …

• An increasing number of small-business owners have a positive outlook on the economy and on their own prospects, according to a survey from American Express Co. Some 72% of respondents expressed this optimism with respect to the next six months, up from 64% last year and 67% in 2015, according to …

• Mobile-payments provider LevelUp said it has closed a $50 million funding round with participation by existing investor JPMorgan Chase & Co. as well as US Boston and CentroCredit Bank. LevelUp, which says its user count is nearly 1 million, is the subject of a lawsuit by competitor CardFree Inc. alleging LevelUp fraudulently …

• EVO Payments International announced it purchased the remaining ownership interest in Zenith Merchant Services, a Montreal-based payments provider. Terms were not disclosed. • Payments processor Computer Services Inc. has integrated data from Dow Jones Risk & Compliance for sanctions screening to help clients control the risk of doing business with politically …

While much of the corporate world has high hopes for a business-friendly bent from the Trump Administration, two policy analysts on Wednesday poured cold water on some of the payments industry’s fondest hopes for regulatory relief. One such hope, to scrap a 1,689-page rule regulating prepaid cards, was sinking fast …

Efforts to make the EMV payment process more appealing to consumers and merchants got another boost with Mastercard Inc.’s announcement Thursday that point-of-sale equipment maker VeriFone Systems Inc. and payment processor Global Payments Inc. now support the card brand’s M/Chip Fast protocol. The protocol, announced a year ago, enables developers …

• The National Retail Federation on Friday launched a multimedia advertising campaign urging the House of Representatives to protect the Durbin Amendment. The campaign, which includes radio commercials targeting the districts of key Congressmen who have expressed support for repealing Durbin, comes as the House prepares to take up the Financial …