The Financial Conduct Authority is pushing for a review of fintechs that provide payment technology, out of concern that the coronavirus may be harming their financial performance.

The coronavirus pandemic is driving a rapid increase in NatWest’s U.K. small-business merchant acquiring unit, with many being first-time card acceptors.

Checkout-free stores would seem to be the perfect fit for germaphobic shoppers during the coronavirus pandemic, but until now the model has been mostly experimental.

Customers normally receive debit and credit cards inside a branch. Now banks are shifting the process to their drive-throughs and finding alternative ways for cardholders to key in their PINs.

Unlike past economic recessions where businesses and consumers have had to adjust their payment habits and debt levels over the course of months or quarters as the economy shrank, the coronavirus-induced economic crisis has forced many to make much more abrupt financial adjustments.

The challenge posed by digital-only remittance services has prompted a rapid change at MoneyGram.

To get a better handle on the coronavirus-driven boom in Latin American e-commerce, cross-border processors are ramping up digital alternatives for shoppers who pay cash for online purchases.

As many countries and U.S. states now begin to lift stay-at-home orders, fraudsters too are being unleashed to return to familiar targets such as bank branches, ATMs and retail stores.

As consumers dump cash and traditional point of sale hardware for contactless payments, PayPal has added support for QR codes in 28 countries.

The $43 billion deal was one of a series of payment mergers in 2019 that were designed to combine bank technology and merchant acquiring across multiple markets and industries while warding off ascendant fintechs offering fast access to digital payments and working capital.

Arizent, the parent company of PaymentsSource, has released a broad industry survey on both the impact of the crisis and emerging responses. The survey found the pandemic has forced many companies to implement new or modified business continuity plans, appoint executive response teams and invest in new technologies to enable a remote workforce. The pandemic is also expected to lead to a greater investment in technologies that reduce the reliance on face-to-face interactions for both coworkers and clients.

The coronavirus pandemic has had an immediate impact on a wide swath of consumer spending habits and payment choices — some of which may remain in place for some time after the crisis subsides — as certain categories such as travel have fallen to the wayside and others such as grocery stores have risen as more consumers eat meals at home.

There is one area of commerce that has experienced an uneven consumer response to the coronavirus crisis: subscriptions. Some companies have benefited greatly while others have not.

Ever since people started sheltering at home to limit the spread of coronavirus, payments industry experts have wondered how this would affect the use of cash and cards.

Fintechs in the payments industry saw problems coming when the CARES Act’s SBA Paycheck Protection Program opened the floodgates for millions of coronavirus-stricken small businesses to apply for loans.

During a time of business lockdowns and layoffs amid the general population attempting to stay healthy during the coronavirus crisis, one thing is quickly bubbling to the surface of the minds of consumers, small-business owners, banks and regulators: The state of the credit card market, and where it could go from here.

As millions of U.S. consumers are beginning to see stimulus checks electronically deposited into their bank accounts as part of the CARES Act, many companies are wondering how Americans will spend these funds.

While reports of toilet paper and hand-sanitizer shortages may be common stories on the nightly news, one consumer goods category is flying off the shelves at an even faster pace, one never seen before – guns and ammunition, increasing payments volume for gun shops, a merchant category financial service providers traditionally avoid.

While the $2 trillion stimulus package just signed into law provides enhanced unemployment benefits, it is little solace to those out of work with dim prospects of their jobs returning to normal anytime soon.

For a growing number of people, the coronavirus has disrupted their daily lives in how they work, where they eat and how they spend their money. This drastic change has caused a boom in some sectors of the economy and a bust in other areas.