Payments

COVID-19 quickly altered the hierarchy of borrower debt, with home financing payments taking precedence over credit cards and auto loans, according to TransUnion.

The agency announced it was rescinding seven policy statements issued last year meant to help companies combat fallout from COVID-19 but that the bureau's current chief said came at the expense of consumers.

Bradley Riss is chief commercial officer at Checkout.com, a firm that acts as a payment gateway, acquirer and processor through a single channel, covering cards, passthrough wallets, stored value wallets and alternative payment options such as point of sale credit. It charges a fee based on processing and card payment costs rather than the percentage+ model that most payment API companies charge. The model is designed to make the service customized to different merchants and serve as a base to offer other merchant products.

The fintech world is expanding at a sometimes breathtaking pace. Much of that growth is driven by venture capital, but how do VCs decide which companies to invest it in--or not? Join Greycroft partner Will Szczerbiak in a discussion with Olugbenga Agboola, the founder and CEO of Flutterwave, the San Francisco-based startup building the largest payments infrastructure in Africa. Guest host James Ledbetter, editor and publisher of the fintech newsletter FIN, will explore these questions: What are VCs looking for in a fintech startup? What are the hottest fintech sectors in 2021? How has the rise in fintech valuations affected the market? Where will growth be strongest in the next few years?

New technological innovations, consumer behavior shifts, competition from fresh digital entrants, and regulatory reforms herald the payment environment of tomorrow. In addition, the current pandemic is pushing players to rethink their market fundamentals in an already transitioning industry. Join John Adams, Executive Editor of PaymentsSource and our special guest, Andrew Jamison a virtual card expert with twelve plus years at American Express and CEO & Co-Founder of Extend, in a discussion about the business strategy, management, and innovations in the post pandemic ecosystem and how it can serve the way the economy is headed.

The COVID-19 pandemic has radically changed consumers’ attitudes and behaviors toward money and payments. What has changed?

In too many places, identity verification and other vetting is still done manually, says Signicat's John Erik Setsaas.

New research finds that it's become harder than ever to acquire new customers — and equally challenging to engage newly acquired ones

Credit card balances declined most sharply as consumers cut back their spending due to the coronavirus pandemic and associated shutdown orders, the New York Fed said Thursday. But delinquencies also fell across all debt categories, thanks to government and lender relief efforts.

The pandemic has had a tremendous impact on the global and US economies, household incomes, and consumer spending. The world's most valuable financial services firm is ready to share insight around the global and US effects of COVID-19.

The outbreak has completely upended whatever expectations the industry had heading into 2020. Here's key areas that have been shaped by the pandemic, some potentially forever.

Mastercard has agreed to acquire Finicity for a reported price of $825 million, a move the card brand says will strengthen its open banking platform and expand financial services through more real-time access to data.

The agency has freed companies from reporting requirements and provided flexibility on exams to help them deal with COVID-19 fallout. It has also finished other regulatory relief efforts that were in the pipeline before the pandemic hit.

Incoming chief Frank Bisignano downplays any pressure to find $1.2 billion in cost cuts promised to shareholders from the acquisition of First Data. Instead he emphasized his track record of producing revenue growth and pledged to keep funding innovation projects.

A surge in demand for home loans drove the increase, but the second quarter could see a slowdown in borrowing and more delinquencies as consumers contend with the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

Credit inquiries for auto lending, revolving credit cards and mortgages fell sharply in March as unemployment surged, according to a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau report.

Five Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee sent a letter to Director Kathy Kraninger calling the agency's response to COVID-19 “tepid and ineffectual at best.”

The agency has relaxed some reporting requirements and joined other regulators in encouraging banks to help borrowers, but pressure is building on the bureau to do more to aid consumers suffering financial hardship.

The reprieve from mortgage data collection was among several changes to the agency’s supervisory and enforcement procedures to help firms responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The agency's director said both steps will come as part of an ongoing review of agency rules and show her "commitment under the law to be effective and evidence based” in providing clarity to stakeholders.