The Strawhecker Group (TSG) conducted a survey of over 1,500 U.S. consumers in early 2021 with the goal of understanding domestic attitudes and perspectives on the use of BNPL services.
The Strawhecker Group (TSG) and the Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) surveyed over 500 U.S. SMBs in April to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic is currently impacting SMB operations and payments acceptance, and how the market compares to April 2020.
Download the full 35-page report here. The report helps the payments industry understand how to best support the SMB community as they continue to manage the pandemic while moving towards a goal of greater recovery.
Tesla CEO and self-dubbed Technoking is back-peddling on the company’s stance about bitcoin and has suspended purchases of its electric vehicles with the cryptocurrency. The change of stance, which was delivered via tweet, comes just weeks after Tesla CFO and dubbed “Master of Coin” Zach Kirkhorn said the company believes in the longevity of bitcoin, despite its volatility. The tweet from Musk sent the price of bitcoin down more than 4% (and falling). The price of bitcoin is down more than 7% for the day, although some of that decrease occurred prior to Musk’s tweet.
American Express is diving further into installment lending, launching a new option for credit card customers to pay for flights in monthly chunks through its travel platform.
Customers are now able to use Amex’s "Plan It" feature — which lets customers set up installment plans for card purchases above $100 — for any flights they book on the American Express Travel website. That essentially moves the Plan It feature up directly to the point of sale, rather than requiring customers to log into their Amex accounts and switch a prior card purchase to an installment plan after the fact.
PayPal is making another acquisition in the e-commerce space as it moves beyond payments and into physical and online retail. The digital payments giant announced a deal to acquire start-up Happy Returns for an undisclosed amount. The 120-person Santa Monica-based company lets people return things they bought online, in person.
ByteDance Ltd.’s TikTok is working with brands including streetwear label Hype to test in-app sales in Europe, a move that will intensify its competition with Facebook Inc. and further blur the line between social media and online shopping. The popular video app is hoping to replicate abroad the success of its Chinese-only cousin Douyin, which racked up $26 billion of e-commerce transactions in just its first year of operation. TikTok has begun working with merchants in markets including the U.K. on ways they can sell products directly to millions of users within the app, people familiar with the matter say.
Affirm Holdings Inc. topped revenue expectations Monday afternoon while delivering an optimistic forecast for the current quarter. The buy-now-pay-later company posted a fiscal third-quarter net loss of $247.2 million, or $1.06 a share, compared with a loss of $85.6 million, or $1.80 a share, in the year-earlier quarter. The company’s loss figure reflects an increase in stock-based compensation following Affirm’s AFRM, -9.99% January initial public offering and a $78.5 million adjustment that reflects a change in the fair value of the contingent consideration liability associated with its acquisition of PayBright, which was driven by changes in the value of Affirm’s common stock.
Repay Holdings Corporation, a leading provider of vertically-integrated payment solutions, announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire BillingTree for approximately $503 million. The acquisition will be financed with approximately $275 million in cash from REPAY’s balance sheet and $228 million in newly issued shares of REPAY Class A common stock to be issued to the seller.
Nacha’s Afinis Interoperability Standards, a membership-based organization that focuses on the rapid delivery of APIs and other financial services standards across the U.S. and globally, announced its new Board of Directors and Board Officers. The 12-person Board will guide the strategic direction of the organization, which develops standardized APIs to bring intelligent innovations to market to advance efficiency, surety, security and interoperability throughout the financial services industry.
In Shenzhen, the high-tech metropolis that just extended China’s largest digital yuan trial, participants interviewed by Bloomberg showed little interest in switching from mobile payment systems run by Ant Group Co. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. that have already replaced cash in much of the country. Some balked at the possibility a digital yuan might give authorities easier access to real-time data on their financial lives.
Treasury Prime, a banking-as-a-service startup that delivers its product via APIs, announced that it has closed a $20 million Series B. The capital comes around a year since the startup announced its Series A, and around 1.5 years since it raised its preceding round. For Treasury Prime, the new capital was an internal affair, with prior investors stepping up to lead its new round of funding. Deciens Capital and QED Investors co-led the round, with Susa Ventures and SaaStr Fund also putting cash into the transaction.
At Square’s fifth annual partner and developer conference, Square Unboxed, the company announced three new developer tools, including early access of the long-awaited Snippets API for Square Online. Snippets API, the first API built on top of Square Online, enables developers to create plugins that help sellers create engaging online experiences. The ability to build extensions for Square Online was one of the most requested developer features over the past year due to the rapid growth of online selling. By combining Snippets API with other Square APIs, developers can create new, interactive ways for sellers to engage their customers online - helping to secure initial sales, build long term loyalty, and increase conversion rates.
Alphabet Inc's Google has launched international money transfer partnerships with remittances firms Wise and Western Union Co for users of its U.S. payments app. Google Pay users in the United States can now transfer money to app customers in India and Singapore, with plans to expand to the 80 countries available via Wise, and 200 via Western Union by the end of the year. Google's foray in the $470 billion remittance market, marks a further step by the technology company to expand its financial services offering, ramping up competition in the digital payments sector.
Canadian processor Lightspeed POS Inc. announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Vend Ltd., a New Zealand-based provider of cloud-based retail management software. The cash and stock deal is valued at $350 million. Lightspeed will pay $192.5 million in cash and issue subordinate voting shares in the capital of Lightspeed valued at $157.5 million. The deal is expected to close in late April.
The Facebook-backed Diem Association is withdrawing its application for a payments system license from the Swiss Financial Markets Authority (FINMA) and will move its primary operations to the U.S. from Switzerland. The association said its subsidiary, Diem Networks U.S., will instead register as a money services business with the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and run a blockchain-based payment system that allows the real-time transfer of U.S. dollar-backed stablecoins.
Stampli, a software platform that optimizes corporate invoice management, announced a $50 million Series C financing round, led by Insight Partners with participation from Signalfire and Nextworld Capital. The company launched in 2015 with the goal of simplifying the process of invoice management.
German payments software firm Serrala has been put up for sale as its private equity owner Waterland hopes to benefit from high sector valuations, people close to the matter said. The Dutch buyout group, which is working with Deutsche Bank, has sent out information packages to prospective buyers for the financial automation software maker, which could be valued at significantly more than 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) on sales of 120 million euros this year, they said.
The Fed is required by law to cap the interchange fees that banks with more than $10 billion in assets can collect when consumers use their debit cards at retailers. Since 2011, the limit has been set at 21 cents, plus 0.05% of the transaction. The central bank has long ignored pleas from both sectors to make changes. But now, in light of a decade-long decline in the banks’ processing costs, the Fed faces growing pressure to lower the price ceiling. *May require subscription to read
As the pandemic drove consumers online en masse to make purchases, consumer anxiety around fraud saw a considerable spike, according to a new survey by Marqeta, the global modern card issuing platform. The company surveyed 2,000 consumers across the United States and United Kingdom about their experiences and attitudes toward payment fraud and how they felt about the threat of fraud in the aftermath of COVID-19.
Some of the largest U.S. banks plan to start sharing data on customers’ deposit accounts as part of a government-backed initiative to extend credit to people who have traditionally lacked opportunities to borrow. JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co., U.S. Bancorp and others will factor in information from applicants’ checking or savings accounts at other financial institutions to increase their chances of being approved for credit cards, according to people familiar with the matter. The pilot program is expected to launch this year.
Inflation in April accelerated at its fastest pace in more than 12 years as the U.S. economic recovery kicked into gear and energy prices jumped higher, the Labor Department reported Wednesday.The Consumer Price Index, which measures a basket of goods as well as energy and housing costs, rose 4.2% from a year earlier. A Dow Jones survey had expected a 3.6% increase. The month-to-month gain was 0.8%, against the expected 0.2%.
Americans are paying down their credit-card debt at levels not seen in years. That is good news for everyone but credit-card issuers. Large card issuers that cater to borrowers ranging from the affluent to the subprime say that overall card balances—and thus the firms’ interest income—are falling. To make up for it, issuers are spending more on marketing and loosening their underwriting standards. *May require subscription to read
Adyen announced the launch of Planet, the company's latest addition to its Impact product suite1. Planet allows Adyen's merchants to offer their shoppers the opportunity to offset the carbon footprint of their purchases at the end of the checkout process. This optional feature, which can be implemented at no additional cost to the merchant, directly supports climate action projects (e.g. reforestation or renewable energy). Planet is easy to integrate for merchants and causes no additional friction in the payment process, as the option to balance out the carbon footprint occurs after checkout.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta announces the formation of a Special Committee on Payments Inclusion focused on finding solutions for cash-reliant individuals to become better connected to the economy, including to innovative financial services. The committee will work to advance ubiquitous access to safe, efficient, and inclusive payments for everyone.
Thryv Holdings, Inc., the provider of Thryv® software, the leading end-to-end customer experience platform built for growing small businesses, announced it has launched a free ThryvPaySM app designed specifically for service-based businesses. The app is available for download at no cost on iOS and Android devices and transforms the way service-based businesses accept and process payments from their customers. Typically handling larger payment amounts, they can now accept safe, contactless payments in just a few simple clicks with unique built-in features that save them significant time and money.
MoneyGram International, Inc., a global leader in cross-border P2P payments and money transfers, and Coinme Inc., the largest licensed cryptocurrency cash exchange in the U.S., announced the launch of a new partnership to enable the cash funding and payout of digital currency purchases and sales. The partnership, which utilizes MoneyGram's modern, mobile and API-driven payments platform and Coinme's proprietary cryptocurrency exchange and custody technology, will bring bitcoin to thousands of new point-of-sale locations in the U.S., with plans to expand to select international markets in the second half of 2021.
State Farm is incrementally deploying digital payout technology from Fiserv, which will enable the company to offer customers speed and flexibility in how they receive auto and fire claim payments. With the launch of Digital Pay, claims that have been reviewed and approved can be paid digitally. If a claimant opts for a digital payout, funds can be received in their personal account in a matter of seconds – and disbursed via the payment method that best suits their needs, including to a debit card or directly to their bank account.
Remitly, the mobile-first provider of remittances and financial services for immigrants, today announced new funding from Visa, a world leader in digital payments. On the heels of a meaningful year for Remitly, Visa has made an equity investment in the digital provider, showcasing confidence in the quality and continuity of Remitly's vision to provide transformative financial services products for immigrants across the globe.
NCR Corporation acknowledged that Cardtronics shareholders held their meetings on May 7, and in excess of 99% of the shares voted at the meetings were voted in favor of the transaction with NCR. The transaction is expected to close in mid-year 2021, subject to receipt of regulatory approvals and satisfaction of customary closing conditions, one of which was approval by Cardtronics’ shareholders.
ACI Worldwide announced that it has expanded its partnership with KNET, Kuwait’s national electronic banking company, to launch a number of new and innovative digital payment services to support its customers during the COVID-19 pandemic. KNET, a long-standing ACI customer, offers end-to-end payment solutions for all financial institutions in Kuwait. With the help of ACI Enterprise Payments Platform, KNET last year launched its hugely popular 3edeti service, which provides users with the ability to send Eidia electronically to any mobile number registered in Kuwait.
Flexa, the global leader in pure-digital payments, announced that it has partnered with Aurus Inc., a unified payments platform, to bring digital currency payments to retailers around the globe. Using Flexa, merchants connected to Aurus can now opt in to seamlessly accept any of the dozens of digital currencies supported on the Flexa network, including cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and Dogecoin (DOGE).
Small business owners in Canada using the popular Clover® platform from Fiserv, a leading global provider of payments and financial services technology solutions, now have the option to offer PayBright's buy now, pay later (BNPL) plans at checkout.
Billtrust, a B2B accounts receivable automation and integrated payments leader, announced that Bottomline Technologies, a leading financial technology provider, will connect its Paymode-X payers to new card acceptance endpoints via Billtrust’s Business Payments Network (BPN). Bottomline customers are now able to use BPN’s connected platform of suppliers to quickly and efficiently send and receive digital payments through BPN’s digital lockbox. Customers also will reduce processing time and costs as they continue their migration from legacy payment types such as checks.
Orlando-based "AP Payments as a Service" company Finexio announced the appointment of Joe Proto, EVP Senior Advisor at Mastercard, to its Board of Directors. Proto brings over four decades of executive-level experience scaling multi-million-dollar enterprises in the billing and payments space. Proto's distinguished career includes building successful companies including Transactis, acquired by Mastercard in 2019, and REMITCO, acquired by First Data in 2000.
Google Pay users in the United States, India, and Singapore will be the first to benefit from Western Union’s linking of its cross-border platform capabilities with Google Pay. Western Union, a global leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement and payments, and Google have teamed up to provide users in the U.S. with access to Western Union’s highly rated digital money movement experience via the Google Pay app.
Payroc, a leading merchant acquirer and payment processor has partnered with Ingenico to offer new payment technology that meets the most demanding use cases. This product launch will provide agents and merchants with a greater availability of features for secure and swift payment acceptance. This line of devices is designed for restaurant, retail and mobile payment acceptance. The Ingenico Tetra devices are also fully integrated with RewardPay Choice, enabling businesses to save thousands in monthly processing fees through compliant surcharging.
Inmar Intelligence, a data-driven technology-enabled services company, revealed findings on e-commerce consumer insights, including what shoppers would give up just to get free shipping on their purchase. In a survey of over 1,000 U.S. consumers, Inmar Intelligence uncovered the power of free shipping and offers guidance for retailers and marketers on the importance of shipping costs in relation to consumers buying more.
