Payments
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Chime, Apple debut credit score-boosting products
The challenger bank's entry into the credit card market comes a day after Goldman Sachs and Apple launched an initiative that gives rejected Apple Card applicants suggestions as to what they can do to be approved.
By Dan Ennis • July 02, 2020 -
Permission granted by Upgrade
How Upgrade plans to use its latest $40M investment
Upgrade's latest funding round boosts the startup's valuation to $1 billion, giving it "unicorn" status alongside other neobanks such as Chime, Dave, Monzo, Revolut, N26 and NuBank.
By Anna Hrushka • June 25, 2020 -
Verizon, Synchrony launching consumer credit card
The mobile-phone provider joins Samsung among telecom giants offering cards this year. In a nod to pandemic spending, groceries net the card's richest reward — 4% back. But rewards are redeemable only on Verizon purchases.
By Dan Ennis • June 24, 2020 -
Andrew. (2011). "Los Angeles" [Photograph]. Retrieved from Flickr.
Welcome Technologies, Green Dot target Hispanic immigrants with bank account, card
Welcome is banking on the trust it says it's built to serve a community largely reluctant to use traditional financial institutions. But the company faces a twofold challenge, an analyst tells Banking Dive.
By Ken McCarthy • June 19, 2020 -
Uber
Kabbage rolls out simplified PPP process for Uber drivers, contractors
At least 40% of coronavirus relief applicants through the online lender are self-employed, said the company's co-founder, Kathryn Petralia, adding that Kabbage is the fourth-largest PPP provider.
By Kate Patrick Macri • June 16, 2020 -
Fotolia
Will COVID-19 push contactless payments into the mainstream?
Reports show contrasting figures on the adoption of touch-and-go tech, but the coronavirus — and perhaps a push from card issuers or retailers — may prove the catalyst to change consumer behavior.
By Tatiana Walk-Morris • June 11, 2020 -
Alibaba rolls out interest-free financing for small businesses
The program isn't a replacement for loans the conglomerate offers with Kabbage, an Alibaba executive said. But Kabbage stopped processing new loan requests through Alibaba in March in favor of financing PPP loans.
By Dan Ennis • June 05, 2020 -
Gijs Bolmeijer
Western Union offers to take over MoneyGram: Bloomberg
Traditional money-sending businesses have seen their model undercut by startups offering lower remittance fees — and by the coronavirus, as people lean away from cash-handling transactions in brick-and-mortar locations.
By Dan Ennis • June 02, 2020 -
Fotolia
Brex lays off 62 employees amid 'restructuring'
"Three months in, it's clear that the impact of COVID-19 won't be short-lived," Brex's co-founders wrote in a blog post. "We know that the pace of growth won't be what we expected for the foreseeable future."
By Anna Hrushka • June 01, 2020 -
American Express moves 'hundreds' of salespeople into collections roles
Spending on the company's cards is down about 35% from a year ago. Meanwhile, a half-million AmEx customers are enrolled in short-term forbearance and other relief, accounting for $5 billion in balances.
By Dan Ennis • May 29, 2020 -
JPMorgan, Mastercard data reveal coronavirus spending impact, potential recovery
The more than 40% drop in credit card spending the JPMorgan Chase Institute found in March and early April is eight times steeper than average during the first month of unemployment.
By Dan Ennis • May 15, 2020 -
Remitly partners with Cross River Bank to speed up cross-border payments
As the coronavirus limits access to brick-and-mortar locations across the globe, the digital remittance company's CEO says the deal gives its customers more choices to send money internationally.
By Anna Hrushka • May 14, 2020 -
Courtesy of Samsung
Samsung to launch US debit card this summer with SoFi
The South Korean company joins competitors Apple and Google, as more tech giants announce plans to offer banklike products.
By Anna Hrushka • May 11, 2020 -
More than half of US consumers paying contactless, Mastercard finds
Banks such as HSBC, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America have ramped up their efforts to push consumers toward tap-and-go technology. The coronavirus may prove the catalyst for behavioral shift.
By Dan Ennis • April 30, 2020 -
Visa, Fiserv tapped to get stimulus payments to hard-to-reach taxpayers
The CFPB made the move to deliver money via prepaid card possible by issuing an interpretive rule reclassifying the coronavirus relief so it would not be considered a government benefit.
By Dan Ennis • April 30, 2020 -
Sen. Gillibrand calls on Congress to reestablish postal banking service
A return to the postal banking system would aid in the delivery of coronavirus stimulus checks, said Mehrsa Baradaran, a law professor specializing in banking law at the University of California, Irvine.
By Anna Hrushka • April 28, 2020 -
Mastercard turns brand-building effort toward streaming as consumers stay home
"The brand has to be visible. We cannot go dark," Chief Marketing Officer Raja Rajamannar said. "But the time is not to sell, this is a time to serve."
By Peter Adams • April 23, 2020 -
Digital bank Current flexes quick delivery of coronavirus relief checks
About 45% of the stimulus money that's been issued to Current's customers has already been spent — mostly on essential items, such as gas and groceries, said Adam Hadi, the company's vice president of marketing.
By Anna Hrushka • April 15, 2020 -
Permission granted by Upgrade
Upgrade accelerates launch of contactless card amid COVID-19 pandemic
"Going contactless in this environment, if there's ever been a time to do so, that's now," the challenger bank's co-founder and CEO, Renaud Laplanche, told Banking Dive.
By Anna Hrushka • April 09, 2020 -
Permission granted by SoFi
Personal finance startup SoFi to acquire payments platform Galileo for $1.2B
Because many of Galileo's clients are SoFi competitors, the deal could raise conflict-of-interest questions, one expert says.
By Anna Hrushka • April 08, 2020 -
Plaid pushes payroll sharing as fintechs wait their turn on SBA loans
The product is meant to speed the verification process for banks submitting applications of behalf of small businesses that may not have time to lose.
By Dan Ennis , Kate Patrick Macri • April 07, 2020 -
Colorado bank renamed to reflect Latvian owners' focus on payments
The new name, Transact Bank, is meant to convey "the range of payment processing and card issuing solutions" the bank will be providing, CEO Mark Moskvin said in a press release.
By Dan Ennis • April 02, 2020 -
Getty Images
Banks, fintechs prepare for flood of SBA loan applications
As small businesses across the country shutter amid the pandemic, many fintech lenders are concerned traditional lenders won't be able to process loans quickly enough to get business owners the cash they need.
By Anna Hrushka • March 31, 2020 -
Green Dot
Green Dot hires former Netspend chief as CEO
The prepaid card provider renewed its most valuable partnership last year but lost hundreds of thousands of customers — and about 60% of its stock price.
By Dan Ennis • March 26, 2020 -
Unbanked would get digital accounts for virus relief under Senate bill
Legislation is aimed at giving more than 8 million U.S. households — and even more underbanked Americans — access to outbreak-related stimulus checks.
By Anna Hrushka • March 25, 2020
