JPMorgan Chase to Charge Fintechs for Customer Data Access
Fintechs like PayPal and Block may soon have to pay for access to banking customers’ data if JPMorgan Chase proceeds with plans to impose access fees. Financial technology firms have been central in the digital banking zeitgeist, with many banks and credit unions partnering with third parties to offer services ranging from credit score monitoring […]
Embedded Finance: Bringing Payments Under a Single Umbrella
For too long, payments have been seen as a necessary evil—plagued by compliance headaches and operational friction, with little opportunity for revenue generation. Embedded finance is flipping that notion on its head, transforming payments into a strategic growth lever. Where payment solutions were once siloed, modern platforms now reconcile across product lines, powering the next […]
Wawa Moves from Private-Label to Cobranded Card
After ending its decade-long partnership with Citi, Wawa is relaunching its credit card as a cobranded offering with First National Bank of Omaha (FNBO). This shift from a private-label card to a cobranded one is expected to provide greater flexibility for Wawa customers, allowing them to use the card beyond just Wawa’s convenience stores. Wawa […]
Next Up: Stores Exclusively for AI Agents?
Now that agentic AI is handling shopping on behalf of consumers, the next step may be an AI-only shopping platform. A new collaboration between Visa and startup New Gen is exploring the possibilities in that direction. New Gen has announced a platform for AI-native storefronts, enabling agentic commerce through AI-initiated transactions. In combination with Visa, […]
Fulfilling the Promise: Making Real-Time Payments a Reality
Venmo entered the mainstream sphere in 2015. At the time, there was genuine doubt that consumers would adopt a digital payment platform as their primary means of transferring money and making payments. Ten years later, Venmo hosts 92 million active users, and most people keep an average balance of more than $200 in their accounts. […]
FTC’s “Click-to-Cancel” Subscription Rule Won’t Go into Effect
A federal appeals court has blocked a “click-to-cancel” subscription rule issued by the Federal Trade Commission during the final months of the Biden administration. The rule, which was scheduled to take effect next week, aimed to make it easier for consumers to cancel unwanted subscriptions and memberships. Under the rule, businesses would have been required […]
The Rich Benefits of In-House Payment Systems
Bringing payment processes in-house can be expensive, but the rewards can be great enough to make that investment worthwhile. Merchants turn to do-it-yourself payment solutions to take advantage of benefits such as customer data, more control over the experience, and more options. It’s not a way for them to save money; it’s a way to […]
Paper Check Usage Is in Freefall
The federal government’s efforts to phase out checks comes at a time when check usage is already in sharp decline. From 2015 to 2024, check payments dropped from 6% to 2.5% of consumer transactions, according to data from the Atlanta Fed. The study underscores how broad and consistent the decline has been. Consumers across all […]
Beyond Plastic: Why Digital Cards Are the Future of Credit
Digital cards saw a significant boost in adoption during the pandemic, initially driven by necessity. However, it quickly became clear that hygiene was just one of many benefits—and not even the most compelling one. Both consumers and retailers have found digital to be faster, more cost-effective, and more efficient than traditional physical options. In a […]
Cross-Border Plan Re-Emerges at BRICS Summit Meeting
A long-discussed cross-border payment system aimed at facilitating transactions among the ten member nations will be among the key topics at the BRICS summit meeting in Brazil this week. Although previous efforts were stalled by technical concerns, the looming threat of tariffs from the Trump administration has brought the issue back to the forefront. Leaders […]