International trade and commerce are a major piece of the payments industry, with volume only increasing year over year as digital options further connect the globe – and yet, many of the systems that businesses and retail consumers alike rely on to make these payments remain too slow, too complex, and expensive. There’s a growing need to fundamentally rethink the payments … [Read more...] about Innovation and Regulation: Building Better International Payments
London Looks to FinTech Savior
"Where will you find the leading lights in financial technology?" It's London, according to a full-page ad placed by UK's investment office in this week's edition of The Economist. London is looking for an edge to maintain its position as Europe's financial center after Brexit and a brutal pandemic year. "UK fintech review unveils how the government can help the country stay … [Read more...] about London Looks to FinTech Savior
An Approaching Crisis in Consumer Lending
The past year’s been tumultuous for consumer loans – while almost every sector of the economy has been impacted in some way, federal moratoria on foreclosures and evictions in combination with mortgage forbearances have put a huge piece of consumer loan servicing on an indefinite hold, as deadlines have shifted from initial positions at the end of February to the end of June, … [Read more...] about An Approaching Crisis in Consumer Lending
Buy Now, Pay Later Eats Credit Card Profits
Discover Financial reported last week that credit-card loans were down 9% for the year ending Jan. 31, 2021, reports Crain's Chicago Business. Meanwhile, Affirm, a leader in installment lending, announced a debit card with BNPL features to make the increasingly popular financing method easier to use at retail point-of-sale, according to PaymentsSource. "The trend eats away … [Read more...] about Buy Now, Pay Later Eats Credit Card Profits
Payments FinTech Continues to Rise
PayPal wants to be a "super app." Stripe gets a new valuation from investors of $115 billion. Marqeta, a global card-issuing platform, files for an IPO. All three companies are more evidence of the shift in the payments applications and revenues to technology platforms. Investors are betting on the tech firms. Stripe's payment volumes are relatively small, Forbes … [Read more...] about Payments FinTech Continues to Rise
Digital Transformation Challenges Remain for Banks
The world of payments is going digital. That’s been a story for years, now – and one that took on a new urgency in the wake of a pandemic that demanded real changes to the ways banks do business. But for financial institutions to really achieve the kind of digital transformation that the times demand, they’re going to need more than a website or online balance … [Read more...] about Digital Transformation Challenges Remain for Banks