Are digital wallets prepaid accounts? A federal regulator says yes. PayPal just said no. Much is riding on who’s right. Time was, it was pretty clear how to tell a prepaid account. Almost always, it consisted of an account held by a bank or merchant and funded by somebody who …

PINs are past their prime. Signatures? Forget it. With criminals increasingly on the prowl, much more robust technology is needed. The good news is such tech is available. But will consumers tolerate it? Despite a now almost 3-year-old decision by the four major U.S. card brands to make signatures optional …

A fight is brewing over the future of mobile wallets. On one side is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which believes that the heart of every mobile wallet is a prepaid card. On the other is PayPal, which believes that mobile wallets are so different that they should not be …

PayPal Holdings Inc.’s latest financial-institution collaboration emerged Monday with news that institutional clients of Citigroup Inc. will be able to make payments directly into PayPal digital wallets globally starting in the first quarter. The arrangement opens up for PayPal Citi’s WorldLink cross-border payments network, which will be used to connect …

Sitting in a meeting in New York City, Clay Wilkes put his company’s latest innovation to the test. “We onboarded a company, funded the master funding account, created an individual account, and moved funds from the master funding account, and bought a gift card on Amazon,” he recalls. “Someone in …

In recent years, independent sales organizations and payment processors have generated plenty of lucrative business by working with software developers and marketers—businesses usually known as independent software vendors, or ISVs. But now a report indicates the software market is getting increasingly crowded, a development ISVs fear is pressuring prices. It’s …

After years of looking to make fare payment easier, mass-transit agencies have found the answer in contactless cards. That’s giving consumers a compelling reason to use contactless on a broader scale. Mass adoption of a new technology requires giving consumers a compelling reason to use it on a daily basis. …

No sooner did Facebook Inc. pull the covers off its Libra cryptocurrency project this past June than the social-media giant ran into a buzzsaw of criticism—from Congress, central bankers, the press, and seemingly right-thinkers everywhere on the planet. Seldom has a payments announcement—let alone one that has to do with …

Southwest Airlines will join the roster of merchants that accept Apple Pay, according to an announcement Wednesday from CellPoint Digital and UATP. UATP, the airline-owned payment network, and CellPoint Digital, a travel industry payments specialist, said Dallas-based Southwest will make Apple Pay available across all channels to buy tickets and …

From back offices to the point of sale, and from digital wallets to the blockchain, fintechs are fomenting a revolution in loyalty and rewards. Here’s how that’s playing out—and where it’s heading. By Maria Arminio and Bo Berg Bank and merchant card issuers are looking for ways to distinguish their …